Federal Briefs

EPA issued a formal notice amending its 2012 rules governing toxic air pollutants from power plants in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling them illegal.

The agency issued a formal notice amending the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, saying that the costs of regulating emissions such as mercury, nickel and arsenic are reasonable and far outweighed by the public health benefits. EPA had issued a similar finding, but while the rules were being written. The Supreme Court ruled that the cost analysis should have been done before.

The court remanded the rules back to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which declined to halt their enforcement. EPA’s new cost analysis is largely based on its earlier one, with some supplementary material.

More: The Hill

EPA Ups Methane Emissions Estimates

EPA last week increased its estimates of U.S. methane emissions, a change likely to figure in a battle over regulations the agency plans to issue on oil and gas drillers. The change, which increased 2013 emission estimates by 13%, were contained in an annual inventory the agency submitted to the U.N.

The agency said the new data show that the oil and gas sector is the largest source of methane, accounting for a third of U.S. emissions. The agency had said previously that cattle and other livestock were the largest source.

Methane has a much larger effect on global warming than carbon dioxide but dissipates more quickly than CO₂.

More: The Washington Post

Brenner Returns to FERC As Administrative Law Judge

FERC Chairman Norman Bay appointed veteran jurist Lawrence Brenner as senior administrative law judge.

The appointment marks Brenner’s second appointment as a FERC administrative law judge. He also served as an ALJ for the Department of Labor and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Additionally, Brenner has been a Maryland Public Service Commissioner since 2007.

Prior to his appointment, Brenner practiced law in Maryland, D.C. and New York. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Brooklyn College and his doctorate from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Brenner also served in the Army in the Vietnam War.

More: FERC

Feds Seek Review of Dakota Access Spill Plan

EPA, the Department of the Interior and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation want the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take a closer look at the Dakota Access pipeline plan.

The three federal agencies have asked the corps to perform another review of its spill contingency plans for the Energy Transfer Partners project. If constructed, the pipeline will stretch from North Dakota to terminals in Illinois. The corps has a role in the review process because of the pipeline’s multiple waterway crossings.

The pipeline received the final state regulatory approval from Iowa on April 8, but construction cannot begin before all federal approvals are obtained. There are also numerous legal challenges to the proposed pipeline, which could delay the start of construction.

More: The Associated Press; Newton Daily News

Company Proposing Nuclear Waste Storage Facility in NM

Holtec International has filed a letter of intent with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build a $5 billion storage facility for nuclear waste near Carlsbad in Lea County, N.M. The company intends to build a long-term facility, with the idea that it would handle the waste while a permanent solution is found.

Holtec, a major supplier of stainless steel vessels used for dry-cask storage of nuclear waste, said its facility would store waste for up to 100 years, but it plans to initially apply for a license for 40 years.

If approved, it would give federal authorities time to come up with a longer-term solution for storing waste from commercial reactors. The government planned to use the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada, but opposition led the Obama administration to pull the plug on that facility.

More: The Associated Press

Former NRC Scientist Gets Prison for Hacking Attempt

A former Nuclear Regulatory Commission scientist was sentenced to 18 months in prison for attempting to infect the Department of Energy computer network with malware.

Prosecutors said Charles Harvey Eccleston, a disgruntled, ex-NRC employee, first tried to sell email information to a foreign country at its embassy in the Philippines.

He later met with undercover federal agents in a sting operation, agreeing to upload a virus onto government computers.

More: The Associated Press

FERC Approves Transco Expansion in Jersey

FERC has approved Williams Partners’ Transco Garden State Expansion Project, a series of compression improvements to an existing line aimed at boosting delivery in central New Jersey.

The $116 million New Jersey project will deliver an additional 180,000 dekatherms a day of natural gas to customers of New Jersey Natural Gas, which serves about 500,000 customers in Monmouth, Ocean, Morris, Middlesex, Sussex and Burlington counties.

Opponents complained that FERC’s action is another illustration of the agency’s willingness to side with pipeline operators.

More: Williams Partners; NJ.com

TVA to Seek Early Permit for Small Modular Reactors

The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to apply for an early site permit for building small modular nuclear reactors on its Clinch River site, but federal design approval is expected to take a decade.

TVA’s application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will only evaluate the possibility of constructing an as-yet chosen design at its Clinch River site. It is starting the process with public meetings to discuss environmental and safety aspects.

The NRC review of the early site permit is expected to take three or more years. Design certification of a small modular reactor is expected to take up to five years, so a project could not realistically begin construction until the early 2020s.

More: Oak Ridge Today

Mass. Staffers Say Pipeline Co. Filed Misleading Documents

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection staff accused Tennessee Gas Pipeline of filing misleading information to FERC in a bid to get permission to begin logging a pipeline right of way in a state forest.

The department says the Kinder Morgan subsidiary told FERC that Massachusetts officials wouldn’t require a water quality certificate before allowing logging operations in a bid to get approval for tree cutting in the Otis State Forest as part of a pipeline construction project.

Tennessee Gas officials mischaracterized statements from state authorities, the department said.

More: The Republican

Forest Service Allows Pipeline Surveying in Va.

The U.S. Forest Service has granted developers of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline permission to survey new routes through the Monongahela and George Washington national forests. The agency previously rejected the planned route for the $5 billion, 500-mile project.

The agency is still requiring developer Dominion Resources to investigate alternate routes that don’t go through national forests. The Forest Service previously criticized surveys done by project contractors, suggesting the surveys were flawed and shouldn’t be used by FERC in determining approval.

More: Augusta Free Press

US Nuclear Workers Allegedly Sold Information to China

An East Tennessee resident who worked as a senior manager in the Tennessee Valley Authority’s nuclear program is one of six Americans workers in the nuclear industry accused of selling information to China’s top nuclear power companies.

None of the workers was named in a federal espionage conspiracy indictment against China General Nuclear Power, Chinese nuclear engineer Szuhsiung “Allen” Ho and Ho’s firm, Energy Technology International. Ho allegedly conspired to solicit information that would allow his country to produce nuclear material based on American technology.

Aside from the Tennessee resident, whose gender was not specified, the Americans referenced in the indictment are engineers. Four work for an unnamed Pennsylvania-based nuclear energy firm, while the fifth works for a Colorado-based firm that supplies technical support to the nuclear industry.

More: Knoxville News Sentinel

Damages Awarded to Nuclear Plant Operators

The Court of Federal Claims has ordered the federal government to pay $76.8 million in damages to three New England nuclear plant operators for failing to create a permanent repository for spent nuclear fuel.

The ruling is the third time that the government has been ordered to pay Connecticut Yankee, Maine Yankee Atomic Power and Yankee Atomic Electric for costs they incurred for on-site storage of nuclear fuel at their decommissioned plants in Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut. The companies sued in 1998, and the latest order covers costs incurred by the three companies from Jan. 1, 2009, to Dec. 31, 2012.

More: New Haven Register

April 18, 2016

ITP Work Continues as Transmission Planning Improvements Loom for SPP

By Tom Kleckner

SANTA FE, N.M. — Only a few months away from revising its transmission planning process, SPP is continuing to work under the old Integrated Transmission Planning (ITP) format.

The Markets and Operations Policy Committee last week approved the scopes for the final studies to be conducted under the old rules. (See “MOPC Approves TWG, ESWG Recommendations” below.) Members then sat through the Transmission Planning Improvement Task Force’s joint education session for the MOPC and the Strategic Planning Committee, getting an early look at recommendations that will be made in July.

The task force, assigned to develop “progressive, forward-thinking, regional planning processes,” shared its current recommendations, which include:

Implementing an annual ITP planning cycle;
Using a standardized study scope;
Establishing common reliability planning models; and
Creating a staff/stakeholder accountability program by stressing timely data exchanges, reviews and approvals within the planning process.

Brian-Gedrich,-NextEra-Energy-Transmission-&-Harry-Skilton,SPP-at-MOPC ITP SPP — Skilton, Gedrich *© RTO Insider*

“We want to treat this as a process improvement,” said NextEra Energy Transmission’s Brian Gedrich, the task force’s chair.

SPP currently conducts a 20-year assessment focused on a strategic economic study (ITP20) without issuing notices to construct (NTCs); a 10-year assessment that can issue NTCs for mostly 100-kV projects and above; and a near-term assessment aimed at reliability needs and maintaining long-term firm service over a five-year horizon.

Gedrich said the current process winds up creating too many models “that don’t necessarily line up with each other,” and that scope documents can be “a real problem.”

“We recreate a scope every time we start, and that can take a lot of time to get through the approval process,” he said. “What’s key to speeding up the process is [eliminating] slippage that has to be re-evaluated. Today, we basically have a three-year cycle. The [studies] are done sequentially in their own silos. We’ve found the three-year planning cycle to be too long … it can’t be responsive to changes.”

Gedrich said using a “holistic” planning approach and reducing the number of futures in new analyses to three would also speed up the process.

“We need to standardize the scope up front and not recreate the document every time,” he said. “The futures would be more incremental changes.”

The task force is recommending a transition to the new planning process in September 2017. The model builds and scope development would lead to the initial ITP assessment, to be completed in July 2019.

To keep up with the timeline, the current planning cycle will need to be completed and the necessary revisions to the new process would have to implemented. Those changes would include modifying the Tariff and other governing documents and securing the necessary tools and resources.

“The goal is results,” Gedrich said. “We don’t want to fail at the beginning. We want to be ready, so we don’t hit a glitch.”

The task force has a white paper out for review and comment. It will come back to the MOPC and Board of Directors in July for final approval.

MOPC Approves TWG, ESWG Recommendations

The MOPC accepted the Transmission Working Group’s 2017 near-term and 2017 10-year assessments, an assessment of the system’s compliance with NERC transmission planning (TPL) reliability standards, and re-evaluations of the 2016 near-term assessment and NTC evaluations.

The 2016 ITPNT identified 86 proposed upgrades comprising 49 projects and recommended 35 NTCs be issued. Fourteen additional NTCs are to be modified. The assessment will also result in eight NTCs being withdrawn, primarily because alternative projects were identified. The $140 million in withdrawn NTCs leaves the 2016 ITPNT with nearly $230 million in approved NTCs.

The recommended 2017 ITPNT scope will evaluate as potential violations NERC TPL-001-4 planning events that do not allow for nonconsequential load loss or curtailment of firm transmission service.

Stakeholders debated the scope’s use of NERC standards. Antoine Lucas, SPP’s planning director, said staff is seeking to incorporate the new TPL standard into the planning process rather than doing TPL assessments separately as in the past.

“This will be the last ITPNT as we know it,” American Electric Power’s Richard Ross said. “I don’t want staff [spending] a whole lot of time trying to fix problems with a process that’s about to be abandoned.”

The committee also approved the TWG’s recommendation to remove consideration of TPL-001-4 events not already considered in the 2017 ITP10’s original scope. The motion passed with 13 nay votes and five abstentions.

TWG Chair Travis Hyde, of Oklahoma Gas and Electric, said the group’s review of the TPL-001-4 standard revealed the 2017 ITP10 models did not meet SPP’s modeling requirements and that the assessment could not be used for compliance.

The committee also approved the Economic Studies Working Group’s updates to the 2017 ITP10 scope, which will result in using natural gas prices from the ABB reference case rather than NYMEX futures and updating language to allow for a Clean Power Plan and a reference case portfolio.

The ESWG must still complete needs assessments and develop solutions and a portfolio for the 2017 ITP10.

April 18, 2016

PJM: MOPR Could be Improved, but not by BRA

By Suzanne Herel

PJM last week asked FERC not to order changes to the RTO’s minimum offer price rule before May’s Base Residual Auction but agreed the standard should be changed to counter subsidized offers from existing generators. The RTO said revisions could be made for next year.

pjm mopr base residual auction BRA Davis Besse Nuclear Power Plant — Davis Besse Nuclear Power Plant *Source: Wikipedia*

Eleven generating companies had asked FERC to expand the MOPR, which currently applies only to certain new resources (EL16-49).

The complaint was filed before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved power purchase agreements for FirstEnergy and American Electric Power. PUCO unanimously approved modified versions of the PPAs, which the companies said are crucial to keeping underperforming members of their Ohio fleets running, on March 31 (14-1297-EL-SSO and 14-1693-EL-RDR). (See FERC Action Awaited Following PUCO OK on PPAs.)

In their complaint, the generators said they feared such agreements could lead to below-cost offers from existing resources that would suppress capacity clearing prices.

AEP and FirstEnergy told FERC last week that granting the complaint would lead to higher prices for consumers.

PJM: Don’t Rush Changes

In its answer, PJM said FERC should not rush to change the MOPR by next month.

“However, PJM agrees that under certain circumstances and given the existing PJM MOPR, sell offers in [Reliability Pricing Model] auctions submitted by existing generation capacity resources could result in unjust and unreasonable rates when such resources are subsidized by state-approved out-of-market payments,” the RTO said.

FERC could find the MOPR provisions to be “incomplete and unsustainable” and direct PJM to revise the rules in time for the May 2017 BRA, it said.

Delaying changes “would allow the commission to carefully and comprehensively identify the problem raised by complainants and allow an orderly process to consider alternatives through an open stakeholder process,” PJM said. The RTO suggested that FERC keep the issue open so that it could report back with results from its analyses.

“Such a ‘staging’ of this proceeding would provide stakeholders an inclusive role in formulating a rule having widespread application and send the appropriate signal that the issue requires further analysis and focus,” PJM said.

The RTO said that if the commission decides to take action before next month’s auction, it should consider two narrowly drawn, short-term alternatives: PJM could reject a sell offer that it believed would result in an unjust and unreasonable outcome, or FERC could order PJM to require a price floor for the PPA-related resources.

Higher Prices?

In its protest, AEP called the complaint “the latest in a continuing effort by various generators and marketers … to block AEP and FirstEnergy from implementing reasonable measures to benefit Ohio retail customers in a way that does not interfere with wholesale markets.”

There is no “emergency” requiring immediate FERC action, it said, calling “fanciful” the complainants’ notion that “the effect of the AEP PPA will be to dump thousands of megawatts of otherwise uneconomic generation into the upcoming capacity auction and materially suppress prices.”

On the contrary, it said, excluding 6,000 MW from the AEP and FirstEnergy PPA units “for no valid economic reason could cause a substantial unwarranted cost increase to consumers in the PJM region.”

It also said that because the complaint was filed before PUCO ruled, it doesn’t take into account the amendments the commission made to the company’s proposal.

FirstEnergy said the complaint was based on flawed assumptions.

“The complainants create a so-called market solution that is facially discriminatory and preferential and that would penalize and harm the retail customers of FirstEnergy and AEP while likely benefiting the complainants’ shareholders with increased market share,” the company said.

It, too, said there was no reason to address the issue before the May BRA.

April 18, 2016

State Briefs

Constellation, Bloom Energy Begin Microgrid Construction

The City of Hartford, Constellation and Bloom Energy have started construction of an 800-kW fuel cell microgrid that will provide 100% of the electricity for a school, a library, a senior center and a health clinic during nonemergencies. It will also provide emergency power to these locations in addition to a local fuel station and grocery store.

Constellation is providing engineering, procurement, construction and operation services. Bloom Energy is providing the fuel cells. The city will buy the electrical output at or below current market rates through a 15-year power purchase agreement.

The project, the state’s first to be developed through a public-private effort, is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2016.

More: Constellation

State’s Clean Energy Budget at Risk

Environmentalists, union leaders, solar company executives and several lawmakers condemned a proposal by lawmakers to divert $22 million in clean energy funding to help close a state budget gap.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has proposed an alternative budget proposal that would close the budget shortfall without tapping into the funds. The state is facing a budget shortfall of $933 million.

More: Hartford Courant

IOWA

MidAmerican Energy to Build 2,000-MW Wind Farm

MidAmerican Energy says it will spend $3.6 billion to build a 2,000-MW wind farm in the state. Gov. Terry Branstad called it the largest economic development project in the state’s history.

The cost of the project will be recovered through federal wind energy subsidies over 10 years, MidAmerican CEO Bill Fehrman said. When completed in 2018, it will bring the amount of wind energy produced by the company to 85% of its total annual sales, he said.

Fehrman would not say where the wind farm would be located. Negotiations are ongoing with state property owners, he said.

More: The Gazette

MAINE

New Solar Bill Passage Longshot Without Support

A bill aimed at boosting the state’s solar industry passed the House 81-69 but faces a likely veto from Gov. Paul LePage. Opponents say the measure would saddle customers with higher electricity prices to pay for solar subsidies.
The bill would replace the current net metering system with hourly metering and a 20-year price guarantee on the rate that businesses and homeowners are compensated for producing electricity. Proponents say it would help create jobs in the solar industry and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

State officials are sharply divided on the benefits, or lack thereof, of the bill, however. Public Utilities Commission Chairman Mark Vannoy has said it would cost ratepayers $22 million in the fifth year of the plan; Public Advocate Tim Schneider, meanwhile, says the bill would save consumers $122 million over the 20 years.

More: Portland Press Herald

MICHIGAN

Groups: Enbridge Violating Mackinac Pipeline Pact

A group of environmental organizations and Native American tribes are calling on state officials to terminate the flow of oil through Enbridge’s Line 5, alleging the twin pipelines’ advanced corrosion violates terms of a 1953 easement.

The groups cited data posted on Enbridge’s website from a 2013 inspection that shows the pipeline suffers from corrosion in nine places, two dents and 35 weld cracks. One area of corrosion shows a 26% loss of pipeline wall thickness; the original easement agreement called for the pipes to be at least 0.812 inches thick.

“The law and this easement agreement are clear: State leaders cannot wait another year or more while Enbridge continues to violate safety conditions it agreed to and withholds safety inspection and other data from the public and the state,” said environmental attorney Liz Kirkwood.

More: Detroit Free Press

Michigan State Now Coal-Free

Michigan State University’s T.B. Simon Power Plant has switched from coal to natural gas, ending the university’s use of coal. President Lou Anna Simon announced the transition on April 14.

Bob Ellerhorst, the university’s director of utilities, said that the coal plant would have required expensive emissions controls to continue operating.

MSU first announced its coal-free intentions in 2012 as part of the university’s Energy Transition Plan, which also stipulates that 40% of campus power will come from renewable sources by 2030. Currently, 15% of MSU’s electricity is sourced from renewables.

More: Lansing State Journal

Entergy’s Palisades at Center of Public Forum

A public forum concerning the relicensing of the Palisades nuclear plant is scheduled for April 21 in Kalamazoo.

The Sierra Club of Southwest Michigan, Michigan Safe Energy Future and D.C.-based Beyond Nuclear will lead a discussion on whether Palisades’ operating license should be renewed. At 45 years old, the Entergy-owned plant is one of the oldest in the U.S. with one of the most brittle reactor vessels.

Kalamazoo is one of many cities in the state within a 50-mile secondary radiation zone of Palisades, which is situated on Lake Michigan.

More: MLive

MONTANA

DEQ to Keep Studying Suspended Coal Mine Project

State environmental officials will continue to study the potential effects of the proposed 20-million-ton-per-year Otter Creek coal mine near the Wyoming border, even though its sponsor, bankrupt producer Arch Coal, suspended the project.

The Department of Environmental Quality said it wants to determine the extent to which streambeds need to be protected at the site near Ashland. The work would prove valuable if the mine is revived or another proposal takes its place, a department official said.

A filing in Arch’s federal bankruptcy case reveals the company lost a key coal lease for Otter Creek more than three months before the St. Louis company announced it was suspending its application.

More: Billings Gazette

NEBRASKA

Lawmakers Pass Wind, Climate Change Resolutions

The state Legislature passed a bill boosting wind energy development by a 34-10 vote, which proponents said will reduce regulatory obstacles for wind developers and make the state competitive with neighbors that produce more wind power.

Lawmakers followed up that tangible support for wind power by approving a non-binding resolution calling for official recognition of climate change. The resolution, passed by a vote of 28-3 in the nonpartisan body, calls for a special panel of legislators to examine climate change. “I think that’s progress,” sponsor Sen. Ken Haar said.

Wind power appears to be gaining support in the state. “Our customers are demanding a certain mix of renewables, and we have to recognize that,” said Sen. Dan Watermeier, who previously opposed wind energy.

More: Lincoln Journal Star

Pipeline Regulator Agrees to Recuse Self from Keystone Issues

The new director of the Public Service Commission’s division overseeing national oil and gas pipelines, a former engineer for Keystone XL pipeline sponsor TransCanada, said he will recuse himself from working on any issues related to the pipeline.

Scott Coburn made the promise before he was hired by the PSC by a 4-1 vote. Commissioner Crystal Rhoades opposed, saying the hiring gives the appearance of a conflict of interest.

TransCanada has withdrawn its plan to build the pipeline to existing lines leading to Gulf refineries, but the company has reserved its right to reapply.

More: The Associated Press

NEW HAMPSHIRE

North Country Chamber Drops Northern Pass Opposition

The North Country Chamber of Commerce has halted its opposition to the Northern Pass transmission project, which would import Canadian hydroelectric power. The chamber switched its position to neutral, citing a divided membership.

“We represent members who are both in favor and opposed to the Northern Pass project,” the group said in a press release. “Therefore, we would like to be listed as neutral interveners and be the conduit for sharing information to our members.”

Two chamber board members resigned in protest and a third said the board was pressured by developer Eversource Energy. The chamber voted three times over a five-day period in March and April until it finally changed its position from “opposed” to “neutral.”

More: New Hampshire Union Leader

NEW JERSEY

Officials, Customers Blast Jersey Gas Rate Hike

Local elected officials and customers of New Jersey Natural Gas held a media event in front of a pizza joint to denounce the company’s proposed 24% rate increase, which came after its executive compensation in 2015 increased about 40% from the previous year.

“What makes the 24% increase really outrageous and unacceptable is when you juxtapose it to the excessive increases in compensation for the executives at New Jersey Natural Gas,” Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty said. “We’re talking about Wall Street-type salaries to manage the smallest gas utility in the state of New Jersey.”

The company defended the request, saying it is the first rate filing since 2007. The filing is now undergoing review by an administrative law judge.

More: NJ.com

NEW MEXICO

Anti-Coal Advocates Protest As PNM Rate Hearings Begin

About 50 climate change activists protested outside the state’s Public Regulation Commission offices last week at the start of three weeks of hearings over Public Service Company of New Mexico’s $123.5 million rate case. The protesters are calling for the utility to reduce its reliance on coal generation.

PNM’s proposal involves a contract with Navajo Mine Coal Company to supply fuel to the Four Corners Power Plant. The company has defended its continued use of coal, calling the fuel an “affordable and reliable option” and contending that rates would be pushed even higher without it.

PNM says the 15.8% rate boost, its first in five years, is required to recover more than $650 million the company has spent improving its distribution network. The commission last year rejected a rate-increase request by the company.

More: Santa Fe New Mexican

Commission OKs Complaint Against PNM

The Public Regulation Commission voted unanimously to require Public Service Company of New Mexico to respond to a complaint by a clean-energy advocacy group over its loan to another company for the purchase of the San Juan Coal Mine.

PNM revealed earlier this year it formed a subsidiary, New Mexico Capital Utility, to loan Westmoreland Coal $125 million to purchase the mine on property adjacent to the San Juan Generating Station.

The PRC last month voted against a request by New Energy Economy, an anti-coal nonprofit, to investigate PNM’s dealings in the mine purchase. But last week, the commission decided to allow a new complaint by New Energy to move forward and gave PNM 20 days to answer the complaint.

More: Santa Fe New Mexican

NORTH CAROLINA

State to Require ‘Environmental Justice’ Reviews of Landfills

The state will begin requiring “environmental justice” reviews of any landfills that it permits in response to objections that low-income residents and racial minorities are disproportionately affected by Duke Energy’s statewide coal ash cleanup.

While the reviews are still being developed, advocates say they are expected to exceed state and federal health requirements. They will evaluate adverse socioeconomic, environmental and health risks associated with the facilities.

Coal ash, the byproduct of coal-burning generators, contains substances including mercury, cadmium and arsenic that can be harmful to people. An attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center said people of color and low-income residents live closest to some of the state’s coal ash waste sites.

More: North Carolina Health News

OKLAHOMA

Commission Rejects OG&E Solar Billing Plan

The Corporation Commission voted 3-0 against an Oklahoma Gas & Electric plan to change the way it calculates the bills for rooftop solar users and directed the utility to fully explore the issue in its pending rate case.

The order came almost two weeks after the commission indicated it wasn’t happy with its options in OG&E’s distributed generation tariff. The utility filed the case under a state law that allows regulated utilities to charge a different rate to rooftop solar users if they aren’t paying their fair share of grid costs.

OG&E proposed a demand charge for the first time on residential and small commercial customers. The typical solar residential customer using 6 to 8 kW would pay $16 to $21 per month in demand charges.

More: The Oklahoman

PENNSYLVANIA

Judge: Sunoco May Build Pipeline Without Landowners’ Permission

A Lebanon County judge has ruled that Sunoco Logistics may bury a natural gas liquids pipeline across the properties of three landowners who refused to sign easement agreements.

The Mariner East 2 pipeline will run 350 miles from the Marcellus Shale to a Delaware River terminal near Philadelphia.

The residents say they will appeal the ruling. They say Sunoco should not be considered a public utility, as the Public Utility Commission deems it, because most of the product flowing through the new line is expected to be shipped overseas.

More: Lebanon Daily News

SOUTH DAKOTA

County Officials Approve Brady II Wind Farm’s Construction

Hettinger County officials have approved a permit for a second phase of the 72-turbine Brady Wind Energy Center project. The Planning and Zoning Board and the County Commission voted unanimously to approve the conditional-use permit, but it must still receive Public Service Commission approval.

Brady Wind II is technically a separate project with a separate power purchase agreement than the nearby Brady Wind I project. Developer NextEra Energy Resources has said that if Brady Wind I is denied by the PSC, it may not move forward with Brady Wind II.

Combined, the two phases of Brady Wind call for 159 turbines generating about 300 MW of power. SPP member Basin Electric Power Cooperative has signed a PPA with NextEra for Brady II’s energy.

More: The Bismarck Tribune

TEXAS

Tribes Protest Coal Mine on Mexico Border

Members of several Native American tribes joined long-running attempts by environmentalists and local activists to shut down the Eagle Pass coal mine near the Mexican border, which they say threatens ancestral burial grounds. The tribes say transporting the high-sulfur coal, which is shipped to Mexico, would release hazardous particles into the air, and that the discharge from the operations would run off into a creek that ends in the Rio Grande.

Members of the Lipan Apaches, the Pacuache Band of the Cohuiltecan Nation and the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe have teamed with the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma to criticize Dos Republicas, a company owned by Mexican companies partnered with the North American Coal Corporation and its subsidiary Camino Real Fuels.

More than 100 activists marched 9 miles from the Rio Grande to the mine on Saturday.

More: The Texas Tribune; San Antonio Express-News

VERMONT

Hearings Contentious on Renewable Energy Siting

The state’s process for deciding where solar and wind energy projects can be located were the subject of contentious hearings before two House of Representatives committees.

Margaret Cheney, a member of the Public Service Board, criticized several aspects of a Senate-passed bill now under consideration in the House, which would give the public more leverage over siting decisions. She said the bill called for the board to reopen a study of wind turbine noise complaints that would require a new case to be brought to the board.

Cheney said the vast majority of projects draw no complaints, but of those that do, “I think that some of it is growing pains in a changing world.”

More: The Associated Press

WYOMING

Developer Says Wind Farm To be Operational by Year-End

SPower says construction has begun on the controversial 46-turbine Pioneer Wind Park, the first new wind farm in the state since 2010. The 80-MW project could provide as many as 179 temporary construction jobs.

Pioneer’s power purchase agreement with Rocky Mountain Power requires it to be in commercial operation by the end of 2016. The project also faces a legal challenge. The Northern Laramie Range Alliance is appealing state regulators’ decision last year to amend its permit after sPower acquired the project from Wasatch Wind.

The NLRA has challenged Pioneer at the state Supreme Court, FERC and in federal court, losing in each venue.

More: Casper Star-Tribune

April 18, 2016

SPP to Cut Planning Reserve to 12%, Reduce Capacity Needs by 900 MW

By Tom Kleckner

SANTA FE, N.M. — Capitalizing on their $5.6 billion transmission buildout, SPP members voted last week to reduce the RTO’s planning reserve margin to 12% from the current 13.6%.

Mike Wise, Golden Spread Co Op SPP planning reserves capacity needs — Wise © *RTO Insider*

The Markets and Operations Policy Committee approved a recommendation by the Capacity Margin Task Force that members said will reduce SPP’s capacity needs by about 900 MW, saving about $1.35 billion over 40 years. The Strategic Planning Committee endorsed the task force’s recommendations, contained in four white papers, as well.

The culmination of almost two years of work by the task force left SPC Chairman Mike Wise almost giddy with excitement. Wise said the reduced margin was made possible by SPP’s transmission expansion.

“We’ve tied all of the real old legacy balancing authorities together in a substantial way,” said Wise, senior vice president of commercial operations and transmission for Golden Spread Electric Cooperative. “One example of that is the old [Southwestern Public Service] area in SPP. That only had 59 MW [of] import capability. Now that capability is approximately 2,300 to 2,500 MW. … No longer is it an island.”

The white papers captured the task force’s work related to load-responsible entities (LREs), the planning reserve margin (PRM) and PRM assurance policy, and included a deliverability study. (See SPP Capacity Margin Task Force Shares ‘How Low’ Reserve Margin Can Go.)

The MOPC approved the policy package with one no vote and four abstentions. If approved by SPP’s Board of Directors next week, the capacity margin policies would become effective next summer.

“These policies identify who is responsible for resource adequacy, what the resource adequacy requirement is, and how and when the resource adequacy requirement can be and should be met,” said Sunflower Electric Power’s Tom Hestermann, the task force’s chair.

Tom Hestermann, Sunflower Electric SPP planning reserves capacity needs — Hestermann © *RTO Insider*

He said the policies are dependent on each other to balance economic and reliability benefits, and said they should be approved and implemented collectively.

The reserve assurance policy addresses concerns that current mechanisms to ensure sufficient reserve margins are inadequate. The policy incents LREs to correct planning reserve deficiencies.

Hestermann said the deliverability policy recognizes the Integrated Marketplace’s successful performance and the expected adoption of the assurance policy. It would allow SPP to determine the deliverability of generating units within its footprint, enabling entities to purchase capacity on a short-term basis through bilateral contracts to meet the PRM requirement.

The Nebraska Public Power District’s Paul Malone said he couldn’t support the use of non-firm resources in transmission planning.

“You’re putting firm resources on par with non-firm resources,” he said. “I don’t see how you can do that.”

“The task force was very adamant that firm transmission be necessary in order to deliver to resources to serve load,” responded Lanny Nickell, SPP’s vice president of engineering. “You could still use the transmission services process, with the added benefit of getting [transmission congestion rights].”

Malone offered a motion directing staff to evaluate the use of coincident peaks in determining the reserve margin. The motion was amended to add an evaluation of other regions that include non-firm resources in their reserve margin calculations and passed unanimously.

As it has done during every step of the process, Oklahoma Gas and Electric abstained from the vote. Greg McAuley, OG&E’s director of RTO policy and development, said his company wouldn’t stand in the way, but it would voice its concerns.

“The deliverability issue, to us, is a theoretical exercise. It sounds good on paper, but it hasn’t been tested,” he said. “We’re not convinced this has been vetted enough to the extent we’ll be comfortable with it. If this turns out to be a bad decision, it’ll be difficult to go back. We urge caution and a methodical approach to this … we would like to see more thought and more study go into it.”

Changes will need to be made to SPP’s Tariff and planning criteria, as the policies would replace “capacity margin” terminology with “reserve margin” terminology.

The task force will now turn its attention to developing a resource-adequacy workbook and guidelines with SPP staff.

April 15, 2016

MISO’s 4th Capacity Auction Results in Disparity

By Amanda Durish Cook

MISO’s annual capacity auction again produced disparate, roller coaster results, with prices in three zones more than quintupling compared to last year while results in Zone 4 dropped by half.

MISO said unit retirements and capacity exports throughout its Midwest region led to six of the 10 zones clearing at $72/MW-day in the fourth annual Planning Resource Auction. In contrast, the entire MISO South region cleared at just $3/MW-day. Zones 2-7 relied more heavily on imports from other zones, driving an uptick in clearing prices:

Zone 1 cleared at $19.72/MW-day, almost six times last year’s $3.48;
Zones 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 each cleared at $72/MW-day, a nearly 21-fold increase for zones 2-3 and 5-7, and a 50% drop for southern Illinois’ Zone 4; and
Zones 8, 9 and 10 each cleared at $2.99/MW-day, a 9% drop for zones 8 and 9. This was the first year for Zone 10, which covers Mississippi.

Save for Zone 4, all of the zones cleared below $3.50/MW-day last year.

MISO said 135,483 MW cleared for the planning year June 1 to May 31, 2017, a 1% drop from last year. The cleared resources include 122,379 MW of generation resources, 3,462 MW of behind-the-meter generation, 5,819 MW of demand resources and 3,823 MW of external resources.

The dip in available capacity in the 2016/17 planning year reflected data collected on the 2015 OMS-MISO Survey, the RTO said.

“The generation fleet across MISO is rapidly changing,” said Richard Doying, executive vice president of operations and corporate services in a statement Thursday. “While more generation is retiring, resulting in a tighter supply across the MISO region, the auction results show that there are sufficient resources to maintain reliability for this planning year.”

MISO said the creation of Zone 10 in Mississippi had no impact on capacity auction results.

MISO said the results were affected by FERC’s Dec. 31 order requiring the RTO to make several changes in its auction rules (EL15-70, et al.). (See MISO Seeks Adjustments on Capacity Import Limits.)

MISO’s rules allow mitigation of offers that exceed “conduct thresholds” that indicate potential economic withholding. MISO’s threshold equals 10% of the cost of new entry (CONE) plus the applicable “reference level.” Any resource desiring to offer above the threshold had to convince the RTO’s Independent Market Monitor that it had costs that warranted a higher offer.

Previously, MISO had based its reference level on opportunity costs — what a capacity resource could earn by exporting to PJM. FERC said the $155.79/MW-day maximum bid MISO used in last year’s auction was too high, because transmission constraints and PJM’s heightened Capacity Performance rules meant exporting was not an option for all capacity resources. The order required MISO to set the initial offer reference price level to $0.

In press conference Friday, Doying said most units in this year’s auction offered at prices below the conduct threshold.

The Dec. 31 order also said MISO’s approach to determining capacity import limits didn’t take into account counter-flows. MISO said the changes required “generally expanded import capability” into local resource zones and decreased local clearing requirements for most zones.

“I want to point out that supply is getting much tighter. … We expect to see further reductions in the future, so we may see more volatility in the future,” Doying said.

He also said he didn’t know where prices would have cleared without the new auction rules. “We don’t run ‘if’ scenarios,” he said.

Doying pointed out that Zone 4’s local clearing requirement was not binding this year, which contributed to it clearing uniformly with Zones 2-7. Regional constraints also were not binding, so zones were able to import and export freely with each other, and a single generator was able to set prices in multiple zones, Doying explained. On the other hand, Zone 1 had a limitation on exports, so capacity remained trapped in the zone and kept prices low.

The auction used a transfer limit of 876 MW between MISO South and MISO North/Central regions — down from 1,000 MW — as a result of the RTO’s settlement with SPP over the use of its transmission.

MISO’s Monitor has reviewed the offers and certified that the auction was conducted properly.

In a stakeholder conference call Friday, DTE Energy’s James Czech asked if stakeholders can expect changes to capacity import limits every year. Laura Rauch, MISO’s manager of resource adequacy coordination, said the limits would be recalculated for next year’s auction and were changed this year to include PJM pseudo-ties. At a Thursday Resource Adequacy Subcommittee meeting, MISO said it expects to make a CIL compliance filing by Monday.

David Sapper of Customized Energy Solutions asked MISO to explain the disparity between the pre-auction supply data and what was actually offered in the auction. “I think it’s important to understand the delta there,” he said.

Ron Ryckman, also with Customized Energy Solutions, asked for details on which facilities asked for facility-specific reference levels.

John Harmon, MISO manager of resource adequacy, said those issues would be discussed at the May 5 Resource Adequacy Subcommittee meeting.

The results were released as MISO is proposing rule changes that would result in a separate forward capacity procurement for deregulated areas such as Zone 4 and the addition of seasonality and external zone constructs. (See Stakeholders React to MISO Proposed Auction Design.)

MISO officials had hoped for an unremarkable auction after last year’s nine-fold price increase in Zone 4. Watchdog organization Public Citizen claimed Dynegy improperly withheld capacity in southern Illinois after the company acquired four Zone 4 generators from Ameren. Public Citizen, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the Illinois Industrial Energy Consumers and Southwestern Electric Cooperative filed complaints against MISO last May and June.

The issue was also the center of a FERC technical conference in October, and FERC’s Office of Enforcement is conducting a nonpublic investigation into whether last year’s auction clearing prices in southern Illinois were manipulated. Dynegy officials insist they did nothing wrong.

April 11, 2016

Company Briefs

Westar Energy is the target of a potential acquisition by Ameren and a group of investors, Bloomberg reported last week. Ameren is reportedly working with an investor group that includes Borealis Infrastructure Management and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Bloomberg said, quoting people familiar with the matter.

Westar, Kansas’ largest electric utility, has hired Guggenheim Partners to represent it in talks, Bloomberg said. Initial bids for the utility, which has a market value of about $7 billion, are due this week.

More: Bloomberg

CEO Flexon: AEP Icing Dynegy out of Plant Sales

Dynegy CEO Robert Flexon says that American Electric Power is blocking companies that opposed its controversial power purchase agreement before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio from bidding on power plants that AEP is trying to sell.

Flexon told Columbus Business First that Dynegy can’t get its foot in the door to bid on power plants that AEP is selling because Dynegy opposed AEP’s successful campaign to win regulatory approval for the PPA. “The funny thing there is AEP has specifically excluded anybody that dare speak against them in Ohio,” Flexon said.

PUCO recently allowed AEP’s distribution companies to enter into power purchase agreements with several of the company’s power plants, providing them with guaranteed income supported by ratepayers. AEP meanwhile is trying to sell several other plants not included in the PUCO ruling. AEP spokesperson Melissa McHenry said the company wouldn’t comment on plant sale details.

More: Columbus Business First

Southern Co.’s Kemper CCI Plant Costs Up — Again

The price of Southern Co.’s much-delayed Kemper clean coal power plant rose by $18 million in February, the company reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The increase puts the total cost of the coal gasification plant in eastern Mississippi at $6.6 billion, three times the original estimate. Southern Co. subsidiary Mississippi Power previously said the Kemper plant would be in service by the third quarter of this year.

More: Atlanta Business Chronicle

KCP&L to Purchase Power From 2 Missouri Wind Farms

Kansas City Power and Light announced it will purchase power from a pair of wind farms that are now under construction in northwest Missouri.

Under the 20-year deal, KCP&L will buy from NextEra Energy’s 200-MW Osborn wind farm, scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, and Tradewind Energy’s 300-MW Rock Creek wind farm, which is expected to be in service by September 2017.

Courtney Hughley, a spokesperson for KCP&L, said the goal is to use wind power and energy storage to eventually replace base load generation from coal-fired plants like Iatan in northwest Missouri.

More: KCUR

US Rating Agencies Give LP&L Positive Reviews for Bonds

Lubbock Power & Light said last week it has received high bond ratings from all three major U.S. financial rating agencies, placing the municipal electric utility in a strong financial position as it moves forward with its transition to the regional grid.

If the utility ties into ERCOT, LP&L will issue bonds to pay for transmission lines needed to connect the city to the larger electrical system. The utility said its capital improvement projects will focus over the next three years primarily on getting its internal system ready to make the transition.

LP&L said Standard & Poor’s Rating Services gave it a “AA-” rating, Moody’s Investor Services assigned an “A1” rating and Fitch Ratings gave an “A+” rating.

More: A-J Media

Luminant Completes Acquisition Of 2 NextEra Gas Plants

Luminant completed its purchase of two combined cycle natural gas plants from NextEra Energy after receiving approval from the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

The Dallas-based generation company announced the $1.3 billion deal late last year. The 1,912-MW Forney Power Plant east of Dallas and the 1,076-MW Lamar Power Plant in northeast Texas are both located in ERCOT.

More: Luminant

AES Settles Dominican Coal Ash Birth Defect Suit

AES has settled a case in which it was accused of allowing a generator in Puerto Rico to dump 57,000 tons of coal ash in the Dominican Republic, where it allegedly caused birth defects in three children who were born without limbs.

Their families sued for about $30 million in damages in Delaware, where AES is incorporated. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

AES, which operates in 18 countries, agreed in 2007 to pay $6 million to settle a separate coal ash dumping suit in the Dominican Republic.

More: Bloomberg

SolarCity Hires Ex-FERC Chair as Chief Policy Officer

SolarCity has hired Jon Wellinghoff, former FERC chairman, as the company’s chief policy officer. Wellinghoff will advise the company on state and federal regulatory policy and regulatory affairs.

“I’ve devoted my career to advocating for the electricity consumers,” Wellinghoff said in a company statement. “And from my review there is great benefit to those consumers from distributed solar generation — clearly numerous studies have demonstrated it benefits all ratepayers, even those who don’t install panels on their roof.”

Wellinghoff is replacing John Stanton, who held the position for the past seven years and helped recruit Wellinghoff to the company.

More: Solar Industry Magazine

FirstEnergy Investing $48M In Pa. Substation Upgrades

FirstEnergy said it will spend $48 million to upgrade a substation in Wampum, Pa., as part of a reliability improvement project.

The company will install automated voltage-regulating equipment “designed to respond to real-time electrical conditions, boosting or reducing voltage as needed to maintain consistent levels on the regional transmission network.” The work will also include transformers, capacitor banks, circuit breakers and other equipment.

The new equipment will be installed on a football field-sized parcel next to the existing Hoytdale substation. The work is expected to be done by early June.

More: Crain’s Cleveland Business

Duke Energy Christens 2nd Largest Solar Farm in NC

Duke Energy activated a 65-MW solar farm last week, which it says is just the beginning of an investment of $500 million in solar energy in North Carolina.

The 850,000-panel solar farm in Warsaw, Duplin County, is the second largest in the state and the largest in Duke’s solar fleet, said David Fountain, North Carolina president of Duke Energy.

Fountain said that Duke has several other solar projects in North Carolina that are in the process of being completed.

More: WITN

April 11, 2016March 13, 2024

State Briefs

CAISO Warns of Possible Summer Blackouts Because of Aliso Canyon

The inactive Southern California Gas Aliso Canyon underground gas storage facility this summer could cause energy shortages and imperil electric reliability, according to CAISO and other agencies.

The storage facility, which was shut down after leaking 100,000 metric tons of gas this winter, represents more than 64% of SoCalGas’ storage capacity, according to a report issued by CAISO, the Energy Commission, the Public Utilities Commission and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The facility supplies fuel to 17 gas-fired power plants that account for about 70% of generation capacity in the region. It won’t be returned to service until later this year.

“Aliso Canyon plays an essential role in maintaining both natural gas and electric reliability in the greater Los Angeles area,” the agencies said in a statement. “As a result, the facility’s limited current operations create a distinct possibility of electricity service interruptions in the coming summer months.”

More: Power Magazine

CONNECTICUT

Cyber Fears Prompt Call for Utility Meetings

A Public Utilities Regulatory Authority report released last week lays out plans to strengthen the cybersecurity of water, gas and electricity systems in the state through voluntary, cooperative efforts with utilities.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said the new PURA report offers “a road map to support cybersecurity defenses” for utilities. The report calls for annual closed-door meetings with utilities to review and improve cybersecurity measures.

Electricity, water and gas utilities agreed to participate in the annual reviews, according to the report, but telecommunications companies have balked, fearing the process could lead to more state regulation.

More: Hartford Courant

ILLINOIS

Ameren Electric, Gas Customers to See Lower Rates

Ameren Illinois is expected to submit a service delivery plan this month that will decrease 2017 rates by $14 million, the fourth decrease since 2011 when the state’s Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act was adopted.

The utility said natural gas customers also should see a drop in the supply portion of their bill beginning this month because of a nearly 4-cent reduction in the per-therm cost of the fuel.

More: Belleville News-Democrat

MAINE

Misery Ridge Wind Turbines Fought Amid Bankruptcy Fears

An opposition group said that uncertainty over embattled SunEdison’s financial future is reason to stall the company’s plan to erect a wind turbine project in the state.

SunEdison, whose bankruptcy is reported to be imminent, has not yet filed a site application for a 26-turbine wind farm in Misery Ridge, but it placed meteorological towers at the site last year to measure conditions.

“We felt it was important to get it out there and let everyone know that there could be some serious problems if SunEdison goes bankrupt,” said Richard McDonald, a member of the steering committee for the Moosehead Region Futures Committee.

More: Portland Press Herald

MARYLAND

New Law Forces State to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Gov. Larry Hogan last week signed a bill that will require Maryland to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

The law, which takes effect Oct. 1, reauthorizes the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act, which compels the state to reduce emissions to 25% below 2006 levels by 2020.

It also added a new target: 40% below 2006 levels by 2030.

More: The Washington Post

MASSACHUSETTS

Man Charged in Power Line Plot

A 61-year-old man faces terrorism charges in U.S. District Court after authorities found several incendiary devices attached to National Grid high-voltage power lines, including one that started a brush fire. The lines carry power to Greater Boston from Canada.

Danny M. Kelly was held without bail after police found a note on one of the power poles that demanded that National Grid help the author persuade the judicial system to pay him back for the “damage they did to my family.” Kelly was convicted a decade ago of cutting telecommunications cables in five towns.

Authorities said that the bombs contained thermite, which could be used to cut through metal.

More: The Boston Globe

MICHIGAN

Temporary Wind Data Towers Now Require Visible Markings

A new state law will require visible markings on temporary meteorological towers used to gather data for wind energy projects, which critics say can be quickly erected and are difficult for low-flying pilots to see. The National Transportation Safety Board reports three fatal aircraft collisions with such towers since 2003.

As of May 30, any tower 50 feet or taller will be covered by the law. Previously, towers under the 200-foot federal threshold were exempt from a requirement for orange-and-white obstruction markings.

“We are very pleased the governor and Legislature passed this law quickly,” said Mike Trout, Aeronautics Commission director. The towers “can be very problematic for agricultural, balloon and helicopter pilots to see.”

More: MLive

MISSOURI

Senate Considers Formula Ratemaking Bill

A utility-supported bill that would change how investor-owned electric utilities are regulated has advanced to the floor of the Senate for debate. The “21st Century Grid Modernization and Security Act” uses formula ratemaking and would weaken state utility regulators’ authority in rate-setting.

Ameren argues the bill would provide predictable rate increases that are needed to quickly recoup investments in the aging electric grid. Several large industrial customers oppose the bill, saying the new system will cause rates to rise beyond projections.

Illinois passed a similar set of rules in 2011.

More: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

MONTANA

Governor: New Owners For Troubled Colstrip Plant

Gov. Steve Bullock said April 5 he is forming a working group to explore an ownership change for three of the four units at Washington’s 2,100-MW Colstrip power plant, one of the nation’s largest coal-fired power complexes. The plant faces pressure from competitive market forces and the increasing cost of regulatory compliance.

The units are now owned by Avista, NorthWestern Energy, PacifiCorp, Portland General Electric, Puget Sound Energy and Talen Energy. Washington state has passed a law that would allow PSE to set aside money for the closure of Colstrip’s two oldest units, built in the 1970s.

More: The Associated Press

NEBRASKA

State Lawmakers Beat Filibuster, Advance Wind Energy Bill

State lawmakers have advanced a bill that will remove a requirement that wind energy developers need a power purchase agreement in place in order to serve out-of-state markets. Advocates say the measure will encourage more private development of wind farms that would otherwise go to other states.

Opponents tried to halt the proposal by arguing it would only help prop up an industry that relies on federal tax subsidies. But supporters said it would boost development that would generate tax revenue and lease payments for state residents.

The state ranks third nationally in the intensity of its winds, but lags most surrounding prairie states when it comes to installed wind-generating capacity. The proposal would liberate wind developers from having to arrange a power purchase agreement with out-of-state electricity buyers before getting approvals for wind projects aimed at serving regional markets.

More: Omaha World-Herald

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Senate Leader Opposes Kinder Morgan Pipeline

Republican Senate President Chuck Morse is taking a stand against Kinder Morgan’s Northeast Energy Direct pipeline project, citing what he called the company’s dismissive attitude to the state’s regulatory authority.

“Given that there are pipeline projects being proposed in New England that provide similar benefits to New Hampshire with far less impacts, I believe that the NED pipeline, as currently proposed, is not the best project to address our current energy market problems,” he wrote in a recent letter to the chairman of the Public Utilities Commission and the state commissioner of environmental services.

Morse told the New Hampshire Union Leader his decision was prompted by Kinder Morgan’s letter to FERC reminding the agency that any restrictions imposed by the state would be pre-empted by federal law. The proposed pipeline would carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to New England, with an 80-mile route across the state.

More: New Hampshire Union Leader

Senate Bill Doubles Eligible Solar Sales

The Senate approved a bill that would double the statewide quota of solar energy that utilities are required to buy from customer generators and direct regulators to modify the net-metering rules to stop cost-shifting.

House Bill 1116, which would increase the amount of solar power produced from 50 MW to 100 MW, would help the industry retain about 700 jobs, proponents said. Gov. Maggie Hassan, who has called for increasing the net metering cap, said she would sign the bill.

The bill also directs the Public Utilities Commission to develop an alternative rate that would be paid to solar generators so that the rates of nonsolar customers are not adversely affected by the shift to distributed power.

More: New Hampshire Union Leader

NEW YORK

Gov. Cuomo Urged To Block Pipeline

Activists led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. protested outside the state Capitol to urge Gov. Andrew Cuomo to block a FERC-approved shale gas pipeline project by denying it state water protection permits.

The planned $750 million Constitution Pipeline, which would carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to a pipeline serving New England, needs a water quality permit from the state to move forward. FERC approved the project in December 2014 and upheld its ruling in February. (See FERC Upholds Constitution Pipeline OK.)

Climate change activists have mounted political pressure on Cuomo to halt the project, whose construction they say would harm the environment and whose operation would enable the consumption of greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels.

More: Times Union

Cayuga Fire Started During Plant Maintenance

A fire in the smokestack of the coal-fired Cayuga power plant outside Ithaca was contained within 90 minutes on Wednesday, causing no injuries and having no effect on power generation.

The fire broke out during routine maintenance of the plant’s Unit 2 turbine, according to Cayuga Operating Co. The power plant’s Unit 1 turbine remains functional. “The fire does not appear to be related to any of the generating equipment or to the power plant itself; it’s something that’s within the structure,” Tompkins County Emergency Response Director Lee Shurtleff said.

State regulators in February rejected a ratepayer-subsidized plan to repower the coal-fired plant with natural gas. A transmission project that could imperil the plant’s future was approved at that time. (See Cayuga Coal Plant in Jeopardy.)

More: Ithaca Journal

GE Installing 3 MW Of Solar Power

General Electric is installing about 3 MW of solar panels on its Schenectady headquarters and Healthcare facility in North Greenbush.

The company’s new smart grid division, known as “Current, powered by GE,” will install the solar panels on rooftops, car ports and on the ground. They will produce 75 million kWh of electricity over 20 years.

The two sites are among 18 GE facilities in the U.S. and Puerto Rico that are getting solar panels.

More: Albany Times Union

NORTH CAROLINA

Offshore Wind Farms Would Impact Beach Tourism, Study Says

A North Carolina State University economic study concludes that many tourists would be unwilling to rent beach houses if they included a view of offshore wind farms. The study from the NC State Center for Environmental and Resource Economic Policy also reports that tourists would expect to receive discounted rates if their viewshed included wind turbines.

“There was a lot of support for wind energy, but no one was willing to pay more to see wind turbines from the beach by their vacation rental property,” said Laura Taylor, the center’s director. “And if turbines are built close to shore, most people said they would choose a different vacation location where they wouldn’t have to see turbines.

“However, the good news is that our results also show that if turbines are built further than 8 miles from shore, the visual impacts diminish substantially for many survey respondents, and it is unlikely the turbines would negatively impact coastal vacation property markets,” she said.

More: CleanTechnica

OHIO

Black Fork Wind Project Gets More Time for Development

Canadian energy company Capital Power has received a two-year extension from state regulators to start work on its proposed 200-MW Black Fork wind project.

The company acquired the project among 10 solar and wind developments when it bought Element Power in 2014 for $69 million.

Construction is set to start next year on the wind farm, which will be sited on 14,800 acres in Crawford and Richland counties and interconnect with the PJM grid at the 138-kV Howard substation.

More: Renews

OKLAHOMA

OCC to Decide Fate of OG&E’s Scrubber Plans

The Corporation Commission conducted a three-day hearing on Oklahoma Gas & Electric’s plan to install costly scrubbers on its 1,138-MW Sooner coal-fired plant. This is OG&E’s third attempt for scrubber approval; regulators voted down two earlier attempts in December.

OG&E said its plan to install a $500 million scrubber upgrade at the twin-unit plant would ensure its customers get the benefits of low-price coal for another 30 years. If regulators grant scrubber approval, the utility would come back after the project is built to add the costs to customer bills.

More: The Oklahoman

SOUTH DAKOTA

TransCanada Estimates Pipeline Leak at 16,800 Gallons

TransCanada officials last week estimated that a leak in the Keystone pipeline released about 400 barrels of crude oil, or about 16,800 gallons. The cause of the leak is under investigation.

TransCanada shut down the pipeline after the leak was discovered April 2, about 4 miles from a pump station in Hutchinson County. The pipeline, with a daily capacity of about 550,000 barrels, runs from Alberta to Oklahoma. The loss of the capacity is not expected to impact the market for crude oil, which is already oversupplied.

More: The Associated Press

VERMONT

Tighter Renewable Siting Rules Concern Farmers

New rules proposed in the state that would grant local governments more power over siting renewable energy projects are raising concerns among farmers who think their interest in the energy projects might be diminished.

Regulations proposed in Senate Bill 230 could saddle landowners with added fees and siting restrictions for solar, wind and manure-digester projects. It will unfairly burden farmers, said Jeff Forward, board chairman of Renewable Energy Vermont, an industry advocacy group.

The renewable energy advocacy group also said that “last-minute amendments” to the bill primarily represent the interests of “a small, vocal minority of Vermonters” and “pose serious consequences for electric ratepayers and the more than 16,000 employees comprising our state’s clean energy economy.”

More: Burlington Free Press

WISCONSIN

Gov. Walker Lifts State’s Nuclear Ban

Gov. Scott Walker has signed 2015 Assembly Bill 384, revoking the state’s moratorium on new nuclear plants. The law orders the Public Service Commission to consider nuclear reactor construction before it can approve any new nonrenewable combustible-energy facilities.

The law revokes a 1983 state law, enacted four years after the Three Mile Island accident, which banned the state from considering new nuclear facilities until a national nuclear waste storage facility was constructed. There is still no waste repository, but nuclear advocates are renewing a push for atomic energy as a viable emission-free alternative to fossil fuel generation.

The state has one nuclear station, the Point Beach Nuclear Plant operated by NextEra Energy on Lake Michigan.

More: The Associated Press

April 11, 2016

NYPSC: Minimal Cost to Meet 50% Renewable Goal

By William Opalka

New York consumers will see little change in their electric bills as the state switches to renewable energy resources at an accelerated pace, according to a study released by the Public Service Commission on Friday.

The Clean Energy Standard cost study puts a price tag on the state’s goal of generating 50% of its electricity from renewable resources by 2030.

“New York can meet its clean energy targets with less than a 1% impact on electricity bills (or less than $1 per month for the typical residential customer) in the near term and shows net positive benefit of $1.8 billion by 2023,” the study says. “… The current combination of low energy prices, low interest rates and available tax credits presents a uniquely favorable environment for near-term investment into renewables.”

The net benefit includes EPA’s “social cost of carbon” — an estimate of climate change damages, including changes in agricultural productivity, human health, property damages from increased flood risk and changes in energy system costs. It is projected at about $24/MWh in 2023.

The CES is part of New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision initiative to switch the state’s energy generation mix to cleaner and more distributed resources. It also promotes the preservation of upstate nuclear generation during a transitional period until 2030.

The cost study builds on a white paper released in January that outlined the policy goals (15-E-0302). (See New York Would Require Nuclear Power Mandate, Subsidy.)

PPAs vs. RECs

The study’s base case assumes power purchase agreements and renewable energy credits would be used equally to procure the 5.2 GW of Tier 1 renewables envisioned by 2023, which would be dominated by land-based wind (38%) and solar power developed under the NY-Sun initiative (52%). By minimizing investors’ exposure to commodity price risk, procuring capacity through PPAs would be far cheaper than procurement through RECs, the study said.

Changes in CES program costs as a result of energy prices would be balanced by the effect on ratepayers’ overall bills. “For example, lower-than-expected energy prices could increase the CES program costs, but this would be offset by a reduction in energy bills from lower wholesale energy prices,” the study says.

Nuclear Incentives

The New York CES is unique in that it promotes financial incentives to keep upstate nuclear power plants viable through 2030 to retain their carbon-free generation as the state transitions to renewable resources. (See related story, Environmental Group Urges Ill. Legislators to Save Nuclear Plants.)

“In addition to the cost and benefits quantified in this study, there are significant economic development benefits identified — for example, the proposal to provide new support for upstate nuclear plants would protect 25,000 direct and indirect jobs, $3 billion in direct and indirect economic activity and $145 million in state tax revenue,” according to the study.

Nuclear plants would be subsidized with a formula based on their costs of service. The study used a range of program costs — from $59 million to $658 million — based on low and high assumptions of the cost of generation of nuclear power and future energy prices.

Zero emission credits for nuclear plants will be based on an “open book” assessment of plants’ costs. Detailed cost estimates were not published in the study “to avoid prejudicing this process,” the study said.

The Upstate Energy Jobs Coalition of business, labor, economic development and other organizations reacted swiftly to the news.

“The state’s analysis confirms what most of us already know, which is that the costs of allowing upstate nuclear plants, with all of their economic and clean energy benefits, to close prematurely greatly outweigh the costs of implementing the CES,” said L. Michael Treadwell, CEO of the County of Oswego Industrial Development Agency. “The closure of FitzPatrick, Ginna and Nine Mile Point would be a severe blow to the economy upstate, a region that’s already struggling to turn its economy around.”

Entergy has said its James A. FitzPatrick plant would close despite state efforts to keep it operating. (See NYPSC OKs Ginna Deal.)

April 11, 2016

PJM Operating Committee Briefs

PJM is proposing to continue winter testing but stop compensating Capacity Performance players for it.

Operating Committee Chairman Mike Bryson said the idea is that those participants would be expected to factor the cost into their offers.

After some members questioned that plan, Bryson said he would take their comments back to PJM for further discussion.

The cold weather testing for 2015/16 yielded little in the way of useful data because the winter was so much warmer than the previous season, PJM’s David Schweizer told the committee. (See “Cold Weather Testing Cheaper, Longer than Previous Year,” PJM Operating Committee Briefs.)

“We don’t have much of a story to share here. It was an oddball winter,” he said. “It’s hard to draw any conclusions.”

Phasor Data Quality Task Force Sunsetted, Issue Moved to SIS

Members voted to sunset the Phasor Data Quality Task Force and transition the issue to a quarterly special session of the Systems Information Subcommittee.

“We’d like to continue to discuss the issue, but it’s not necessary to have a whole task force,” PJM’s Suzie Fahr said.

The special session will tack on about two hours quarterly to an SIS meeting, she said.

The task force was created under the SIS in December 2013 to improve the quality of synchrophasor data so that it could reliably be integrated into operational decision-making.

Since the group’s inception, the error rate of synchrophasor production data has shrunk from 14.35% to 2.45%.

PJM to Study Frequency Response for FERC Inquiry

PJM is conducting an internal analysis in response to FERC’s Feb. 18 notice of inquiry regarding frequency response, Eric Hsia told the committee. (See FERC Seeking Comments on Primary Frequency Response.)

The commission is seeking comment on whether new or existing resources should be required to have frequency response capabilities. It also wants to know the nature of frequency response compensation within the market optimization process.

PJM will present the results of its review at the May OC meeting.

Hsia said most resources that don’t provide frequency response are 10 MW or less and lack governors. Often these are distributed resources.

Operating Review Shows Perfect Dispatch Saved $33M YTD

A review of operating metrics showed that perfect dispatch has saved $33 million so far this year, with cumulative savings of $1.2 billion since the program was implemented in 2008.

Perfect dispatch, designed to measure how well PJM commits combustion turbines, is the hypothetical least production cost commitment and dispatch — what PJM would spend if it knew and could control all system conditions in advance.

The perfect dispatch rate this year through March was 83.92%.

The average load forecast error performance for March was 1.71%, within the goal of 3%. For the first quarter, all zones had errors below 3%, excluding East Kentucky Power Cooperative, which was above 4.5% (see chart).

The average forced outage rate through March was 3.48%, or 6,252 MW, with the total rate at 13.15%, or 24,743 MW.

– Suzanne Herel