Page 1644 – RTO Insider

May 23, 2016

Aliso Canyon Gas Restrictions Cloud CAISO Summer Outlook

By Robert Mullin

New generation and a rebound in hydroelectric capacity mean healthy operating reserve margins for California this summer but impending restrictions on the Southern California gas pipeline system could result in load sheds, CAISO warned in its 2016 Summer Loads and Resources Assessment last week.

ISO, SP26 and NP26 Monthly Peak Demand (CAISO) - aliso canyon gas — Figure shows CAISO system peak – as well as peaks for Northern and Southern California – over 2006-2015.

As a result of the pipeline restrictions — stemming from the closure of the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility — the situation confronting the state this summer is far from normal. (See CAISO Seeks Rapid Response to SoCal Gas Restrictions.)

“We’re immediately faced with running the system in a way that it’s never been run before,” Rob Oglesby, executive director of the California Energy Commission, said at the California Energy Summit in Santa Monica earlier this month.

The ISO’s annual summer reliability report, which outlines its preparedness for California’s peak consumption season, describes a largely favorable situation.

Load in the CAISO balancing area is forecast to peak at 47,529 MW, up just 0.8% from last summer’s peak, due to modest economic growth. At the same time, the ISO has brought on 1,951 MW of net qualifying capacity — or deliverable generating output — over the past year, outpacing the projected growth in peak load.

Operating reserve margins are forecast to remain “well above” the threshold for firm load shedding under the most extreme scenarios. That analysis applied systemwide, as well as generally in the ISO’s NP26 (North) and SP26 (South) regions, although it does not break out reserves for specific load zones. The ISO also sees no shortage in flexible capacity and meet spikes in demand.

Hydroelectric conditions have improved significantly compared with the dire drought conditions seen last spring throughout California and up into the Northwest. Statewide snow water content was at 87% of the historical average as of March 30. While snowmelt is advancing more rapidly than normal, CAISO says the situation is “not significant enough” to require a revision of its hydro assumption in the summer assessment. In addition, water levels behind The Dalles Dam — a benchmark for the federal Columbia River system of hydroelectric plants — stand at 101% of average.

“There are no concerns with Pacific Northwest hydroelectric generation,” CAISO said, indicating the winter-peaking region should be able to provide California with significant generation during the summer.

CAISO’s summer concerns instead focus on Aliso Canyon’s impact on the gas system serving 9,500 MW of gas-fired generation located in CAISO’s southern region and the balancing area of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the state’s largest municipal utility.

The ISO notes that its assumed summer reserve margins do not account for the risk of gas curtailments, which could translate into the depletion of reserves in SP26, an area largely served by Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric.

Even more significant: Curtailments could be large enough to interrupt electricity service to millions of Southern California customers on as many as 14 days during the summer. The ISO attributes that risk to potential mismatches between gas schedules and gas burn, outages on pipelines and at other gas storage facilities, and prolonged heat waves that could drive increased power demand.

“The natural gas issues facing Southern California this summer will require deft management, particularly during hot days when power plants fueled by natural gas are needed to meet peak demand,” ISO CEO Steve Berberich said in a statement.

CAISO’s Board of Governors earlier this month approved a plan to mitigate the effect of gas curtailments through improved gas-electric coordination with pipeline operator Southern California Gas, new market measures incorporating a gas usage constraint and a provision for reserving transmission capacity into Southern California ahead of potential gas emergencies. (See CAISO Board Approves Aliso Canyon Market Response.)

Officials from CAISO, the Energy Commission, Southern California Edison, LADWP and Peak Reliability presented their summer outlooks to FERC at last week’s monthly commission meeting. CAISO has asked FERC to approve the gas contingency plan by June 1, the start of summer electricity operations in California.

May 23, 2016

Texas PUC OKs Undergrounding Tx Line; City Agrees to Foot Cost

By Rory Sweeney

AUSTIN, Texas — More than three years after it was initially conceived, a short but expensive transmission line to address expected growth in the suburban areas of Denton County, Texas, finally received state regulatory approval last week.

The Public Utility Commission approved a somewhat unusual “settlement stipulation” that committed the City of Frisco to paying more than half of the bill for a hybrid above/below-ground route. The 2.9-mile 138-kV project, which received more than 3,000 comments in protest of various above-ground proposed alternatives, was approved with the stipulation that more than 90% of it be installed underground. Built and operated by the Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, the line will run west along Frisco’s Main Street from an existing Oncor line tap to a new Stonebrook substation.

Based on its projected $24.5 million cost, the commissioners were reticent to approve the more expensive burying options, but they relented because Frisco agreed to pay more than $12 million to get its specified, mostly underground option approved. The agreement will allow the line to be laid underground as part of a widening and water line installation project the city had already planned for the street.

Combined with the existing $6 million cost credit for the route the PUC had been prepared to approve, Brazos will be able to recoup $12 million through transmission cost of service recovery. Should Frisco fail to make its payments, the agreement allows Brazos to revert to the all-overhead route.

State Sen. Jane Nelson, who represents the area as the state’s highest-ranking Republican, wrote a letter to the PUC in support of the agreement, saying there were few other viable options because both the Texas Department of Transportation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied use of their land. Overhead lines would have eventually conflicted with infrastructure needs for street widening and water lines, she said.

She also applauded Frisco for contributing more than 50% of the total cost and more than 67% of the incremental cost to bury the lines. The commissioners joined Nelson is noting that Frisco’s commitment is “far exceeding” that of other municipalities in similar situations.

The additional costs still didn’t sit well with commissioners, despite arguments that it was a better plan for expected future growth. “I have concerns with uplifting any underground costs to ratepayers,” Commissioner Brandy Marty Marquez said.

“There’s a heavy burden to prove that the undergrounding needs to take place because it’s so much more expensive than placing the lines above ground,” Commission Chairman Donna L. Nelson said at last week’s meeting.

But they had also heard from many citizens near the route, who had organized themselves into a group called Bury the Lines. The city acknowledged that the above-ground routes were “universally opposed” by the community.

The agreement requires that Frisco have its widening and water line project awarded within 15 months of the PUC’s final order.

May 23, 2016

Company Briefs

American Electric Power has named Judith Talavera president and chief operating officer of AEP Texas. Talavera replaces Bruce Evans, who has been named to AEP’s newly created position of senior vice president and chief customer officer, effective June 1.

Talavera, 42, the company’s first female president, will report to Venita McCellon-Allen, president and CEO of AEP Southwestern. Talavera was previously director of regulatory services for AEP Texas and began her career with the company in 2000 as manager of governmental affairs.

In his new position, Evans will oversee customer services, marketing and distribution, as well as regulatory services, business development and infrastructure and business continuity.

More: Corpus Christi Caller-Times

Xcel Lays Out Options for Improving Reliability in ND

Xcel Energy officials last week outlined millions of dollars in options for improving electric service in North Dakota and told state regulators that its Fargo system is fundamentally sound despite a recent rash of power outages.

Company officials met with the state’s Public Service Commission May 18 for an informal hearing on reliability after Xcel experienced eight outages in Fargo between April 22 and May 13, affecting more than 24,000 customers.

Xcel officials laid out options that include accelerating its schedule to replace the unjacketed cable that faulted in Fargo at a cost of $4 million, retrofitting certain utility poles to make them less prone to fire and installing more switches that automatically reroute power from unaffected areas during outages. Commissioners said Xcel would likely have to front the costs and seek to recover them from customers later, as the company is barred from seeking a rate increase until 2018.

More: Forum News Service

Enel Begins Construction On 150-MW ND Wind Farm

Enel Green Power North America has begun building the 150-MW Lindahl wind project in North Dakota. The project is designed to generate about 625 GWh annually to meet the electricity needs of more than 50,000 households.

Enel will sell the project’s power and renewable energy credits to SPP member Basin Electric Power Cooperative under a bundled, long-term power purchase agreement. This is Enel’s fourth U.S. project this year, after beginning construction on wind farms in Kansas, Minnesota and Oklahoma.

More: Energy Business Review

RES Eying Upper Peninsula For 150-MW Wind Project

Renewable Energy Systems is considering a 121-turbine, 150-MW wind energy project on the Michigan Upper Peninsula that would be roughly five times larger than the only wind farm on the peninsula, according to documents obtained by Midwest Energy News using a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing the plans because of the height of the proposed towers, and MISO confirmed that the project is in the system planning and analysis phase. RES wouldn’t confirm the project, saying only that it is “actively developing projects in Michigan and across the region.”

More: Midwest Energy News

Duke Plant Opponents Balk At $10 Million Appeal Bond

Opponents to a Duke Energy plan to build a $750 million natural gas-fired plant near Asheville are asking an appeals court to waive a requirement that they post a $10 million bond if they appeal regulators’ approval of the project.

Environmental groups NC WARN and The Climate Times said the North Carolina Utilities Commission based its bond requirement on unproven statements provided by Duke that an appeal would ultimately fail and the delay would cost the company millions of dollars.

Duke said the bond follows established law.

More: Charlotte Business Journal

DTE Opens Energy Center For Renewable Operations

DTE Energy has opened a facility in Bad Axe, Mich., that will serve as an operations center for its renewable energy operations.

The Huron Renewable Energy Center has offices, garages, a maintenance shop and warehouse, out of which about 25 employees will manage the company’s wind and solar projects in the region. It also has a 3,000-square-foot space available for community services that will be available in 2017.

DTE has four wind facilities and three solar arrays in Huron County, and two more wind facilities and 23 more solar arrays in other parts of the state.

More: The Associated Press

Archaeological Discovery Could Delay Pipeline

Energy Transfer Partners has started construction of the Dakota Access pipeline in three of the four states that the 1,150-mile pipeline will cross, but a discovery of a site in Iowa that may be culturally significant to Native Americans could delay approval there and force rerouting.

Work has started in North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois. The company is awaiting action by Iowa regulators to allow construction to begin in that state. Last week, the state’s archaeologist said he was reviewing a potentially historically significant site near the pipeline’s route.

The project is also awaiting U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approval to cross the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

More: The Associated Press

Puget Sound Bond Buyback Deal Getting Investor Pushback

A plan by Puget Sound Energy to buy back bonds at a discounted rate isn’t going over well with some of the bond’s owners, who say they deserve better terms. Puget Sound wants to retire $250 million in 6.974% bonds that aren’t due until 2067 as a way to lighten its balance sheet.

But some of the bond owners don’t think the price offered by the company is fair. The company proposed to buy the bonds back at 85 cents on the dollar. But since the company announced the buyback plan, the price of the bonds jumped 6 cents to the 85 cents the company is offering.

The company said it is going to go forward with the buyback plan despite complaints from some bondholders. “We believe it’s a fair offer,” CFO Daniel Doyle said. “I respect the right of our bondholders to make a decision whether it makes sense for them or not. We will respect their decision and go forward.”

More: Bloomberg

May 23, 2016February 12, 2025

Restructuring Roundtable Marks 150th Meeting

By William Opalka

BOSTON — The New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable met for the 150th time on Wednesday to celebrate some successes and discuss ways to continue moving the nation to a low-carbon future.

Tierney © RTO Insider

The meeting has grown from the small group of stakeholders that met in 1995 in the early days of electric industry restructuring. Last week’s session, organized by Raab Associates, filled a hotel ballroom with about 300 attendees.

Among the successes of the last 20 years: the growth of energy and capacity markets and an increasing reliance on clean energy sources and energy efficiency.

Attendees also expressed disappointment over challenges they thought would now be in the rearview mirror.

“We need to put a meaningful price on carbon. We can’t do anything unless we do that and it has to show up on” bills, said Susan Tierney, senior advisor at Analysis Group.

Howe © RTO Insider

John Howe, senior advisor to Poseidon Water and former chairman of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, agreed. “The single biggest failure was not to put a price on carbon,” he said.

While New England has cut emissions through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the record is mixed.

“RGGI is a signal accomplishment,” said Richard Cowart, director of European programs for the Regulatory Assistance Project. “This is something that will be a lesson for the world — that carbon revenue is just as important as carbon pricing,” because it can be a source of investments to lower carbon emissions through energy efficiency programs and clean energy technologies.

RGGI’s trading prices have been far below EPA’s estimated “social cost of carbon,” however, and revenues from the program have been used to fill state budget shortfalls — not solely to support lower emissions.

Cowart © RTO Insider

Even if prices were higher, RGGI would be only a piecemeal solution, said William Hogan, the Raymond Plank professor of global energy policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

“The scope of the [climate change] problem is enormous. And it’s worldwide. If you’re not doing it everywhere, you’re wasting your time,” he said. While the recent Paris Agreement shows some global movement, enacting a carbon tax in the U.S. to further its goals is “politically impossible,” he said.

Hogan © RTO Insider

But Hogan sees hope in some movement for more comprehensive tax reform in Washington. “On that day, they’re going to be doing 50 things that are politically impossible, individually, and I want to make sure a carbon tax is one of the 50.”

Despite some frustrations, Peter Fox-Penner, professor in the Questrom School of Management and director of Boston University’s Institute for Sustainable Energy, said there is promise in the future. “New England’s emphasis on renewable energy and energy efficiency shows industry is poised to meet the challenge of decarbonizing the sector while retaining reliability and affordability.”

Fox-Penner © RTO Insider

But the role of natural gas as a “bridge” fuel to that future is a question, as carbon emissions in New England have ceased to fall. The potential loss of the region’s nuclear power fleet also could harm efforts to arrest climate change.

“The dash to gas was appropriate at the time … but the time is at hand to cross that bridge and now is the time to get to cleaner and more sustainable solutions,” Howe said.

But given the low price of gas and wide availability, political and cultural shifts may be needed to resist that temptation.

“The discipline to keep the natural gas in the ground is going to be one of the great challenges of the next generation,” Cowart said.

May 23, 2016May 27, 2025

FERC Rulings in Brief: Week of May 19

Below is a summary of rulings issued by FERC last week.

FERC Finalizes Hold-Harmless Rules

FERC issued a policy statement finalizing rules regarding the use of hold-harmless commitments to protect customers from rate increases resulting from utility mergers (PL15-3).

The commitments — agreements not to seek recovery of transaction-related costs in rates unless they are offset by transaction-related savings — have become a common feature of merger applications under Section 203 of the Federal Power Act, but the commission hadn’t defined the costs with specificity, leading to inconsistencies.

The commission:

Clarified the scope and definition of the costs that should be subject to hold-harmless commitments;
Identified the types of controls and procedures that applicants offering hold-harmless commitments must implement to track the costs involved;
Clarified that an applicant may be able to demonstrate that the transaction will not have an adverse effect on rates without making any hold-harmless commitment; and
Declined to adopt its proposal to no longer accept hold-harmless commitments that are limited in duration. (See FERC to Tighten Policy on Hold Harmless Merger Commitments.)

Reliability Standard Wins Preliminary OK

FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) proposing to approve NERC reliability standard BAL-002-2 (Disturbance Control Standard — Contingency Reserve for Recovery from a Balancing Contingency Event). The rule requires applicable entities to balance resources and demand, and return their area control error (ACE) to defined values following a disturbance. The commission required NERC to modify the standard to address concerns over extensions or delay of the periods for ACE recovery and contingency reserve restoration. It also directed NERC to address a reliability gap regarding power losses above the most severe single contingency (RM16-7).

Constellation’s Reactive Payments Cut Due to Retirements

The commission accepted a petition from Constellation Power Source Generation to reduce its revenue requirement for reactive supply and voltage control service by almost $225,000 as a result of the retirements of Riverside Unit CT 6 (June 1, 2014), Perryman Unit CT 2 (Feb. 1, 2016) and Riverside Unit 4 (planned for June 1, 2016). The commission also ordered hearing and settlement judge procedures to determine whether the company’s reactive power rate for its remaining fleet in the Baltimore Gas and Electric zones should be reduced further (ER16-746-001, et al.). (See Impatient FERC Orders Immediate PJM Action on Reactive Power Payments to Retired Plants.)

SoCalEd Can Recover Abandoned Tx Project Costs

FERC ruled that Southern California Edison may recover abandoned plant costs for the canceled Coolwater-Lugo transmission project but set settlement and hearing judge procedures to determine how much of the $37 million claimed by the company was prudently incurred. The project was no longer needed after the retirement of NRG Energy’s 636-MW Coolwater Generating Station and three other generators. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the M-S-R Public Power Agency challenged the $8.51 million in overhead costs that SoCalEd included in its claim, saying the company provided little documentation for how overhead costs were allocated to the project (ER16-1025).

Settlement on SSR Units OK’d

The commission approved an uncontested settlement reached among several Illinois companies and MISO that changes Illinois Power Holdings’ annual revenue requirement for the operation of Edwards Unit 1, a 90-MW coal-fired steam boiler in Peoria, Ill., designated as a MISO system support resource. The new annual revenue requirements will be $7 million for 2013, $11.1 million for 2014 and $6.5 million for 2015 (ER14-2619-004, et al.).

Rehearings Denied

The commission also:

Denied rehearing but granted clarification of its October 2015 ruling in Order 816, which amended its regulations governing market-based rate authorizations (MBRA). (See FERC Refines Market-Based Rate Rules.)

The commission clarified that qualifying facilities in RTOs and ISOs are exempt from reporting requirements on long-term firm energy and capacity purchases. The commission also said that it did not intend to change the definition of long-term firm transmission reservations: those longer than 28 days. It also offered clarifications regarding the definition of a seller’s relevant geographic market and said MBRA applicants and sellers will not have to comply with the corporate organizational chart requirement until the commission issues an order at a later date (RM14-14-001).

Denied rehearing of its October ruling exempting American Transmission Systems Inc. and Duke Energy companies in Ohio and Kentucky from certain MISO multi-value project (MVP) transmission charges. MISO and MISO’s Transmission Owners sought rehearing to assign a usage fee to ATSI and Duke for MVPs approved before the companies moved from MISO to PJM in 2011. In the rehearing denial, FERC pointed out that MISO’s MVP cost allocation on withdrawing members was instituted in 2012 and said charging the companies would violate its rule against retroactive ratemaking. The commission also rejected arguments that MISO’s Tariff at the time of ATSI’s and Duke’s exits could be interpreted to allow for MVP-related financial obligations (ER12-715-004).
Denied El Paso Electric’s request for rehearing of a November 2015 order that required prior approval for utilities to engage in simultaneous exchange transactions involving their marketing affiliate and its affiliated transmission provider’s system (EL10-71-002).
Denied rehearing of a September 2015 order allowing future affiliates of Kanstar Transmission to use the same formula rate and incentives approved for Kanstar (ER15-2237-002).

– Rich Heidorn Jr. and Amanda Durish Cook

May 23, 2016

Aides Give Behind-the-Scenes Look at Senate Energy Bill

By Suzanne Herel and Rich Heidorn Jr.

CAMBRIDGE, Md. — Two aides from the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources gave PJM Annual Meeting attendees a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016 (S.2102), the Senate’s first major energy bill in nearly 10 years.

Left to right: McCormick, Gray, Glazer © RTO Insider, PJM General Session, Senate Energy Bill — Left to right: McCormick, Gray, Glazer © *RTO Insider*

Patrick McCormick, chief counsel to Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Spencer Gray, an aide to ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), were the featured guests in the second half of PJM’s general session. Moderator Craig Glazer, PJM vice president for federal government policy, promised the session would be “a cross between a high school civics lesson and ‘House of Cards.’”

Not ‘Revolutionary’

The bill passed the Senate on April 21 with a bipartisan vote of 85-12. To become law, however, it must be reconciled with a House bill that cleared in December with support from only three Democrats. (See U.S. Senate Energy Bill Faces Tight Calendar, Partisan Divide.)

Gray acknowledged the Senate bill didn’t contain the “revolutionary” changes of the 1992 Energy Policy Act, which mandated open transmission access and opened the industry to retail choice, or EPACT 2005, which created mandatory reliability standards.

But he and McCormick said it was nonetheless a victory over partisan gridlock — the product of weekly lunch and breakfast meetings between Murkowski and Cantwell, followed by several committee hearings and six weeks of bipartisan negotiations. It ended with a three-day markup at which some 90 amendments were considered. The final bill cleared the committee 18-4.

“I do think personal relationships matter,” Gray said. “The polarization in Congress … reflects, whether precisely or not, some level of polarization in the country. So it’s more difficult now I think to develop those relationships. And our bosses have worked hard at that.”

RTO Reporting Requirement

Gray at PJM General Session , senate energy bill — Gray © *RTO Insider*

Section 4302 of the bill requires RTOs and ISOs to report to FERC on their reliability, capacity resources, wholesale electricity prices and generation diversity.

McCormick said the provision resulted from Murkowski’s concern over the loss of baseload and intermediate generation, an issue he said was brought to her attention by former FERC Commissioner Philip Moeller.

McCormick and Gray said the reporting requirement was a compromise between members who sought more prescriptive language and those opposed to federal mandates. (Separately, Murkowski and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) also have asked FERC to study price formation. And the Government Accountability Office has begun a study at Congress’ direction to compare capacity markets in the Northeast to those in the Midwest.)

The aides noted that the 22-member committee — more than one-fifth of the Senate — is shifting from predominantly Western states but still dominated by members in regions without organized electricity markets.

‘Soft Touch’ or Not?

“We’re not well positioned to second guess individual provisions of market design, whether it’s capacity markets or energy markets or other provisions that RTOs and ISOs are considering,” Gray said. “So the approach that the committee’s taken on an issue like this has been a fairly soft touch.

“Members [of Congress] are very wary about having solutions from a particular region pushed, let alone forced on their region,” he added.

In a question-and-answer session, Marji Philips of Direct Energy took issue with the aides’ characterization of the reporting provision.

“It’s pretty widely admitted that that bill is the ‘Save the Nuclear and Coal Plant Bill,’” she said. “The language mirrors very closely PJM’s Capacity Performance requirements. And it’s great that it’s been turned from a mandate to a report, but … the report gets everybody abuzz almost as much as a mandate. So if MISO isn’t doing this or New York isn’t doing this — they all look at this and say, ‘I’m not going to be the one to report to Congress that we’re not meeting this Capacity Performance requirement.’ You actually really are in some ways imposing PJM on other regions through this legislation.”

Philips asked the aides to broaden the language in conference with the House to ensure a role for demand response, “so it doesn’t read that you must have … hard steel [in the ground] that runs baseload.”

May 23, 2016

MISO Planning Advisory Committee Briefs

MISO last week reversed its position on the possibility of developing a limited coordinated system planning study with SPP.

Eric Thoms (copyright RTO Insider) - MISO planning advisory committee — Thoms © *RTO Insider*

The Planning Advisory Committee approved a recommendation that the RTO participate in a study identifying joint transmission needs along MISO’s seam with SPP’s Integrated System in North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa.

The committee will vote on the motion via email, with results tallied at its June 15 meeting.

MISO staff last month recommended forgoing a coordinated study and focusing instead on improving the study process. SPP’s Seams Steering Committee voted in favor of embarking on a study. (See MISO, SPP Disagree on 2016 Joint Study.)

Eric Thoms, MISO manager of planning coordination and strategy, said the RTO has since adjusted its views, adding that a study focused on one target area would be more helpful than an all-encompassing study.

MISO PAC liaison Jeff Webb said the change resulted from stakeholder requests for some form of study with SPP despite the views of RTO staff.

MISO, Planning Advisory Committee — MISO stakeholders recommended the RTO participate in a study identifying joint transmission needs along its seam with SPP’s Integrated System in North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa. *Map source: MISO*

“It’s not a matter of us being tired of doing studies,” he said. “That’s what we’re here for.”

MISO is also open to a coordinated Clean Power Plan-related study in 2017 after regional needs are identified in MTEP 17.

Interregional process improvements will continue regardless of the study decision, Thoms said.

The committee rejected another motion submitted by the Transmission Developers sector that recommended that MISO perform a broader coordinated study to evaluate the “impact of higher renewable penetration [and] alternative transfer scenarios on interregional reliability needs and historical high congestion along the MISO North/Central and SPP seam.”

MTEP 17 Futures Finalized

MISO has narrowed its 2017 Transmission Expansion Planning (MTEP 17) to three futures, eliminating a limited carbon emission scenario determined to be too similar to an existing fleet future. (See MISO Proposes 3 New MTEP 17 Futures.)

The final MTEP 17 futures are:

An existing fleet future with limited fleet changes and no modeled carbon cap;
An accelerated alternative technologies future that envisions innovation fostering a 30% carbon emissions reduction; and
A policy regulations future in which federal rules drive a 25% reduction in carbon emissions.

Ellis © RTO Insider; MISO Planning Advisory Committee — Ellis © *RTO Insider*

MISO adjusted the existing fleet scenario after stakeholders pointed out that low natural gas prices increase activity in the industrial corridor of Zone 9 along the Gulf Coast. Additionally, no scenarios will assume the renewable tax credit extends beyond 2022, which stakeholders pointed out was an uncertainty.

The futures went through three rounds of formal review and “reflect a balance of stakeholder feedback [while] bookending uncertainty,” said Matt Ellis, a MISO policy studies engineer.

“Even if the [Clean Power Plan] stay is overturned, these three futures still make sense,” Ellis added.

The PAC will further discuss the MTEP 17 futures during its June and July meetings. Planning wraps up in September with a presentation of a finalized regional resource forecast.

MISO Releases EPA Air Pollution Rule Study and CPP Paper

While MISO states will be compliant with EPA’s updated Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) in 2017 even without NO_x emission trading, RTO staff say a regional trading arrangement would be the least expensive path to compliance.

That finding was the result of MISO’s own CSAPR study, according to Jordan Bakke, senior policy studies engineer for the RTO.

MISO studied three scenarios: a business-as-usual case; a no-trading scenario in which states strive for compliance individually; and seasonal NO_x trading among MISO states from May to September.

Bakke noted that 11 of the 23 states affected by the CSAPR rule are in MISO.

MISO states can meet their 2017 seasonal NO_x budget through a redispatch of natural gas for coal, but they would emit right up to their caps.

Under seasonal NO_x allowance trading, MISO production costs increase $31 million compared with a business-as-usual case without rule compliance.

If MISO states fail to adopt trading, overall costs rise, with Arkansas carrying the brunt at nearly $200 million in production, interchange and emission costs to achieve 2017 compliance. With emissions trading, Iowa carries the largest cost, at less than $25 million.

MISO used its 2015 Transmission Expansion Plan and 2017 forecast data to inform modeling, which included 2017 retirements and a projected $2.64/MMBtu Henry Hub price for natural gas. Current emissions-control technology was assumed to remain in place, with CSAPR compliance achieved only through energy and emission trading.

Footprint Diversity Study Timeline Accelerated

Stakeholders say MISO’s proposed footprint diversity study should begin sooner than the RTO first suggested. The study would examine the benefits of expanding flows on the constrained transmission interface linking the RTO’s North/Central and South regions, including exploring the option of building new transmission. (See MISO Proposes Study to Measure Benefits of New North-South Tx.)

MISO Director of Policy Studies J.T. Smith said the RTO will scope out a study process beginning in the fall, with a study targeted to begin in 2017. The Economic Planning Users Group will evaluate scope development.

— Amanda Durish Cook

May 23, 2016

FERC Approves NYISO Behind-the-Meter Rules

By Michael Brooks

FERC last week accepted NYISO’s proposed Tariff revisions allowing large behind-the-meter resources in New York to participate in the ISO’s energy and capacity markets (ER16-1213). The new rules became effective Thursday.

solar-panels-on-top-of-building-(Cubit-Power-Systems)-web - FERC, NYISO, behind-the-meter — *Photo source: Cubit Power Systems*

“We recognize the potential benefits of reducing obstacles to using excess capacity of behind-the-meter resources to support New York’s grid,” the commission said. “NYISO’s proposal advances this goal, as behind-the-meter resources that meet NYISO’s eligibility requirements will be permitted to bid energy and capacity in a comparable way to other suppliers and receive payments if they are dispatched. Their participation should improve the competitiveness, efficiency and reliability of those markets.”

Under the changes, behind-the-meter generators must be at least 2 MW, serve a load of at least 1 MW and be capable of exporting at least 1 MW to the New York grid. The new rules include calculations for determining a resource’s available installed capacity (ICAP). The ISO would also apply all of its current market power mitigation rules to BTM resources.

NYISO also proposed a new eligibility requirement for resources seeking to qualify as an ICAP supplier to guard against the possibility behind-the-meter resources would not be subject to the ISO’s interconnection procedures. For existing resources subject to the new requirement, there will be a 60-day transition period in which they may sell capacity without having to enter a class year study.

Currently, two generators serving load behind the meter are allowed to participate in NYISO’s markets. The ISO would work with these generators so they can qualify as BTM resources under the new rules, it told FERC.

Stakeholders generally supported NYISO’s proposal but several protested specific aspects of the ISO’s proposal.

The New York Public Service Commission told FERC that market power mitigation was unnecessary for distributed generation, arguing that it is too small in scale to pose a threat. FERC dismissed the regulators’ comment, saying the PSC “has not provided any support for its assertion.”

The Independent Power Producers of New York protested the transition period, arguing that NYISO had not identified to which resources the period would apply. IPPNY said that allowing resources to sell capacity without being subject to a class year study could threaten reliability.

FERC dismissed these arguments as well. “We find that the concerns raised by IPPNY regarding reliability are unsupported,” it said. “Reliability concerns will be reasonably mitigated by the limited duration of the transition period and the requirement that any grandfathered projects must have completed all required interconnection studies and have an effective interconnection agreement by May 19, 2016.”

May 23, 2016

Energy Department’s ARPA-E to Join MISO for First-Ever Market Symposium

MISO will partner with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) for the RTO’s inaugural Market Symposium Aug. 18-19 in Indianapolis.

ARPA-E staff will share insights on how technology is reshaping the electric grid. (See “MISO to Hold August Market Symposium,” MISO Market Subcommittee Briefs.) Other speakers have yet to be announced.

“MISO is excited to offer this event for our stakeholders as we explore the future of our energy markets,” said Jeff Bladen, executive director of MISO market services. “The Market Symposium will allow us to discuss challenges and opportunities around designing the energy market of the future.”

The event will feature experts speaking on industry trends and “how MISO’s wholesale market can adapt to future changes.” Topics will cover the market challenges that accompany a decarbonized wholesale fleet, commodity trends and distributed energy resources — including storage, distributed solar and other new technologies.

— Amanda Durish Cook

May 23, 2016

Federal Briefs

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is calling for better fire prevention, more stringent anti-terrorist protections and better disaster preparedness at the nation’s sites for storing spent nuclear fuel.

In a recently released report, the organization, which studied the effects of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan, said that only luck kept that incident from being much worse.

“This should serve as a wake-up call to the industry and regulators about the critical importance to be able to monitor the condition of the pools, particularly in the event that something happens like Fukushima,” said Joseph Shepherd, an engineering professor at the California Institute of Technology and lead author of the report. The Nuclear Energy Institute, however, said the safeguards are already in place.

More: The Wall Street Journal

NRC Hits Oyster Creek With ‘White’ Finding

A 22-year-old hose linking a storage tank to a pump leading to an emergency generator failed during an inspection earlier this year at Exelon’s aging Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey, leading the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to assess the plant with a “white” finding.

It is one of the lowest safety findings the commission issues, but the commission said the failure was serious enough to merit the violation.

If the finding is affirmed, the plant would be subject to increased federal oversight. Oyster Creek is scheduled for decommissioning in 2019.

More: Micromedia Publications

Entergy, NRC Settle on 2011 Leak at Palisades

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the operator of the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan have reached a settlement concerning a leak that allowed 80 gallons of radioactive water to escape into Lake Michigan in 2011. Instead of a fine, the commission said it is satisfied with Entergy’s decision to take corrective actions to ensure a leak does not happen again.

The leak, less than one drop per minute, came from a 3-inch pipe flange that showed signs of boric acid corrosion, according to documents. The commission characterized the inadequate reporting of the incident by four workers as “willful.” Entergy defined the problem as a failure of the plant’s “organizational safety culture.”

In lieu of a fine, Entergy agreed to prepare a report on the lessons learned and to upgrade training to include those lessons. It will also take steps to increase transparency with the public, agreeing to hold public meetings to discuss plant safety and to allow the public to ask questions at those meetings.

More: Nuclear Street

New York Senators Call For Stop to Algonquin Project

Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer are asking FERC to shut down construction of the Algonquin Incremental Market pipeline until health and safety reviews are conducted.

The pipeline is to run from Pennsylvania to the Hudson River Valley region in New York. The lawmakers say they are concerned about the safety of residents along the route, as well as the sensitivity because the route takes it close to the Indian Point nuclear station.

Construction on the project, which will nearly double the size of the existing 26-inch pipeline to 42 inches, has already started. FERC said it had not yet received the letter from the senators, but it does not comment on congressional correspondence anyway, according to a spokeswoman.

More: The Journal News

Eastern Shore Gas Applies To FERC for 33-Mile Expansion

Eastern Shore Natural Gas has filed with FERC to expand its natural gas transmission system, including the installation of 33 miles of looping pipeline in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.

The company would also install 17 miles of expanded line along with pressure equipment in Sussex County, Del. The system improvements would provide an additional 86,000 dekatherms of gas per day, according to the company.

More: Delaware Business Times

Seabrook Cited for Slow Response to Concrete Problem

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission cited NextEra Energy’s Seabrook nuclear plant for a low-level safety violation after a March 24 inspection.

The commission cited the New Hampshire plant because NextEra’s staff delayed completion of structure inspections after being told of an alkali-silica reaction in the plant’s concrete.

NextEra said procedures have been changed since the violation occurred. The commission and NextEra confirmed that the plant’s walls, some up to 4 feet thick, still meet federal structural safety standards.

More: The Daily News of Newburyport

EPA Issues Water Permit Even as Pilgrim Nears Closure

EPA issued a draft water use permit for Entergy’s Pilgrim nuclear generating station, updating a permit that was first issued in 1991. Although opponents of the plant have long argued that the water use permit expired in 1996, the agency said regulations allow the plant to use the original permit until a new one is issued.

The plant’s owner, Entergy, has said it will retire the plant in 2019. Most of the plant’s spent fuel is stored in pools inside, meaning the plant will still draw water from Cape Cod Bay even after it closes, opponents say. When operating at full power, the 680-MW plant draws more than 500 million gallons per day.

More: The Patriot Ledger