Company Briefs

Duke Energy has appealed a $6.8 million fine levied by North Carolina for the catastrophic Dan River coal ash spill, calling the penalty “entirely arbitrary and capricious.”

The company said the state Department of Environmental Quality raised the fine “to a newsworthy amount” after the Dan River spill attracted media attention. The appeal alleged the state improperly used admissions the company made in a federal action that resulted in $102 million in fines. And it said the punishment violates precedents that established DEQ cannot penalize a party multiple times for a single violation.

Frank Holleman, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, scoffed at Duke’s appeal. “Since Duke committed crimes that led to the Dan River spill and Duke caused such harm to the state and its citizens, you would think Duke would have the humility to pay a relatively modest fine and ask forgiveness from the people of the state,” he said.

More: Charlotte Business Journal

Whole Foods Inks Solar Deal with NRG, SolarCity

nrg Whole Foods Market Inc. has announced separate deals with NRG Energy and SolarCity to install solar systems on the roofs of many of its U.S. stores. The grocery store chain, known for selling natural foods and products, already has solar installations on 25 of its stores. With the new deals, 100 more stores will get solar panels installed.

More: The Wall Street Journal (subscription required)

Lack of NY Timbering Permits Forces Constitution Delay

The developers of the proposed Constitution Pipeline delayed the completion date of the 124-mile natural gas pipeline for six months after New York state regulators failed to approve permits in time for it to clear trees before the migratory bird season commences.

The pipeline developer, Williams Co., notified FERC that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation had not issued the permits in time for the project to comply with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommendations to complete tree cutting by March 31 to mitigate impacts on migratory birds and the northern long-eared bat. Constitution said it is pushing back the completion date of the $750 million pipeline from the end of 2016 to the second half of 2017.

The pipeline, which received FERC approval in December, would deliver 650,000 dekatherms of Marcellus Shale natural gas to the Iroquois Gas Transmission and Tennessee Gas Pipeline systems, which serve New England.

More: Times Union

Michigan Speedway Wins $29K Incentive from Consumers Energy

Consumers Energy has given the Michigan International Speedway a $29,460 energy efficiency incentive check to use toward the racetrack’s efforts to become the “greenest” NASCAR track in the country.

The utility’s incentive comes after the racetrack transitioned to LED lighting in its pedestrian tunnel and outside its administration building last year. The racetrack also installed a system to automatically control the temperature in the air conditioning system of its infield suites based on occupancy settings. The speedway said it saves an annual $60,835 in natural gas, electricity and maintenance bills through energy efficiency efforts.

Garrick Rochow, Consumers Energy’s vice president and chief customer officer, said the speedway’s projects achieve the same carbon-reduction effect as planting 796 trees each year.

More: Energy Manager Today

Great River Energy Lobbyist Retires After 34 Years

Great River Energy lobbyist Bob Ambrose has announced his retirement after 34 years of service to the Minnesota company.

“Bob has always represented us effectively with grace and dignity, and we are grateful for his 34 years of service. We will miss him,” said Great River Energy vice president and general counsel Eric Olsen.

Ambrose, a Brown University graduate, briefly pursued medical and social work degrees and taught at a public school before becoming involved in energy policy. More recently, Ambrose had been taking trips to Germany to study renewable energy, a topic he thinks should gain more traction stateside.

More: Midwest Energy News

ATC: Sales to Illinois Drive Need For New High-Voltage Line

Just two years after it opened a 345-kV transmission line in the same area, American Transmission Co. proposed a new line near the Illinois-Wisconsin border to serve higher-than-expected forecasted power demand.

ATC is trying to sell ratepayers and regulators on a $52 million to $63 million line that would run from a new substation in Wadsworth, Ill., to the nearby transmission system owned by Commonwealth Edison. ATC says it will file applications with Illinois and Wisconsin regulators this year.

The need for more transmission persists even after a $36 million line was put into service in late 2013. “Market conditions have continued to change in Wisconsin and Illinois, leading to unanticipated congestion in the Wisconsin-Illinois electrical interface,” said Luella Dooley-Menet, an ATC spokeswoman. “This project is needed to resolve that.”

More: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Developers Break Ground on Carbon-Sequestration Gas Plant

Construction has begun on a 25-MW natural gas-fired plant near Houston that will sequester its carbon dioxide emissions for use in industrial purposes or enhanced oil recovery.

The zero-emission pilot project is being developed by Net Power, a collaboration between Exelon, CB&I and 8 Rivers Capital. Exelon and CB&I are leading the funding for the $140 million project.

If successful, the developers plan to build larger, 295-MW power plants that would represent the next generation of cleaner-burning natural gas plants. The pilot project is expected to come online in 2017.

More: FuelFix Blog

Bloomberg Sources Say Westar Exploring Sale

Westar Energy is said to be in the early stages of exploring strategic options that could lead to a sale. According to Bloomberg News sources, the company is talking with potential financial advisers as it evaluates its options.

Several possible buyers have been contacted to gauge interest in Westar, one source said. Westar hasn’t yet formally hired an adviser and may still decide to remain independent, according to the sources.

A Westar spokeswoman said the company doesn’t comment on merger and acquisition activity. Westar CEO Mark Ruelle fanned takeover speculation in November when he indicated the company would be open to a sale.

More: Bloomberg News

Cleco Seeks LPSC Rehearing On Investors’ Purchase Bid

Cleco has asked Louisiana state regulators to revisit their decision to reject a coalition of Australian and Canadian investors’ purchase of the utility for $4.9 billion.

The five-member Public Service Commission said representatives of Cleco, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets have contacted them about reconsidering the PSC’s Feb. 24 decision rejecting the sale.

The $4.9 billion deal would have given Cleco shareholders a 15% premium. The new company would be privately held.

More: The Advocate

PNM Proposing $87M Program To Install Smart Meters

Public Service Company of New Mexico filed a request last month with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission to install advanced meters for its 500,000 customers. The $87 million proposal could eventually lead to the layoffs of 125 employees and a customer charge of about $5 a year starting in 2020.

The wireless advanced meters would be cost-effective and provide significant benefits for customers, including eventual savings on electric bills, PNM said. The utility contends the smart meters will save customers nearly $81 million over 20 years.

PNM asked the commission to approve the proposal in nine months so it can begin testing.

More: Albuquerque Journal

Arch Coal Abandons Plans For Controversial Montana Mine

Arch Coal, which filed for bankruptcy protection two months ago, announced it has halted plans to open a new surface coal mine in the grasslands of southeastern Montana, blaming “capital constraints, near-term weakness in coal markets and an extended and uncertain permitting outlook.”

The proposed Otter Creek mine would have been in the Powder River Basin, home to some of the most productive coal mines in the country. Although many people in the region supported the proposal, the plans have also drawn strong opposition from environmental groups, ranchers and some Native American tribes, including the Northern Cheyenne, whose reservation is nearby.

More: Los Angeles Times

FirstEnergy Coal Plant Idled For First Time in 17 Years

FirstEnergy said it idled the 2,500-MW Bruce Mansfield coal plant in Shippingport, Pa., last month because of sustained low energy prices. The last time all three units at the site were shut off was in 1999.

No restart date is planned, and no FirstEnergy workers have been laid off.

More: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Dominion Forges Ahead with Plans to Close Ash Ponds

Dominion Virginia Power is preparing to close its 11 coal ash ponds and discharge the treated wastewater into state rivers, despite pressure from environmental activists.

The millions of gallons of water set to flow into the James River — which was used to saturate the coal ash to keep it from becoming airborne — will be cleaner than the state requires, the company said.

The wastewater will be tested three times a week, with the results posted on the utility’s website. Any failed test will require Dominion to stop releasing water.

More: Richmond Times-Dispatch

Dan Eggers Moves to Exelon As SVP of Investor Relations

Former Credit Suisse managing director Daniel L. Eggers has joined Exelon as senior vice president of investor relations. Eggers also will be part of the company’s executive committee.

Eggers spent 18 years at Credit Suisse, where he was in the equity research department, and also served as co-head of U.S. energy research. He also had positions with the bank covering oilfield service and equipment sectors, and as an associate on the integrated oils and independent refiners group.

“Dan brings a distinguished track record of covering the power sector for a top investment bank,” said Jack Thayer, Exelon’s senior executive vice president and CFO. “His expertise in the electric utilities industry, as well as his long-standing relationships in the financial arena, will strengthen Exelon’s investor relations program and provide valuable insights for our senior management team.”

More: Exelon

Wisconsin Wind Tower Firm Gets $28 Million Order

Wisconsin-based Broadwind Energy announced it closed an order from an unnamed domestic turbine manufacturer to build $28 million worth of steel turbine towers.

Broadwind has built more than 2,000 turbine towers since 2008. The latest order should fill out its 2016 manufacturing capacity. The company’s interim CEO, Stephanie Kushner, said the extension of the federal production tax credit would bring stability to an industry that has seen fitful starts and stops.

“It caused developers to start and stop commercial activities based not on underlying project economics, but based on legislation toggling back and forth from full speed ahead to a dead stop,” she said. “And those of us in the supply chain were whipsawed even more, with capacity demand shifting from maximum to idle and back again and with little good planning certainty.”

More: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

March 14, 2016

MISO Touts $2.6 Billion in Member Benefits

By Amanda Durish Cook

CARMEL, Ind. — MISO provided members about $2.6 billion in economic benefits during 2015, compared with membership costs of $267 million, according to the RTO’s most recent “value proposition” study.

The benefit figure represents an average of MISO’s estimated $2.1 billion to $3.1 billion in member savings last year, which is in line with the range for 2014. MISO estimates it has generated $14.5 billion in cumulative net benefits for market participants since it began calculating the financial impact of its services in 2007. (See Year 1 Judged a Success for MISO South; Gains Limited by SPP Dispute.)

The study examined RTO services such as improving coordination with neighboring systems and helping members assess the impact of environmental regulations. Benefits are assessed across nine subject areas, which include reliability, market commitment and dispatch, wind integration, compliance efforts and generation investment deferral. MISO excludes hard-to-quantify benefits like seams management and does not calculate individual member savings.

Other highlights of the report:

The diversity of MISO’s 15-state footprint helped delay generation investments through capacity sharing across zones with different peak seasons, resulting in savings of $1.6 billion. The South region alone saved between $559 million and $753 million.
Improved unit commitment through five-minute dispatch saved members $147 million, while broader sharing of regulation and spinning reserves — along with the centralization of FERC, NERC and North American Energy Standards Board compliance responsibilities — yielded an additional $208 million.
Reliability and demand response technology improvements saved an average of $181 million and $112 million, respectively.
Wind integration efforts in the North and Central regions produced 787 MW of additional wind generation, translating into savings of $347 million. MISO credits its regional planning for resulting in more economical placement of wind resources. MISO also said improvements in generator availability incentives in those regions delayed the need for 1,694 MW of new capacity construction, saving market participants between $213 million and $263 million.

“By centrally managing the transmission system as a large region, MISO is able to deliver reliable service and provide billions in economic value,” MISO CEO John Bear said in a press release.

March 14, 2016

PJM COO Kormos Leaving; Post Won’t be Filled

By Suzanne Herel

Mike Kormos, PJM — Kormos *© RTO Insider*

Mike Kormos, executive vice president and chief operations officer for PJM, is leaving the RTO on April 15 after 27 years.

Kormos had sought last year to replace retiring CEO Terry Boston, but the post went to Andy Ott, who had long been Kormos’ equal on the organizational chart, with Kormos heading up operations and Ott running the markets.

Formerly executive vice president of operations, Kormos was given his current title and additional responsibility over the RTO’s state and member services in June, as part of a string of organizational changes set off by Ott’s promotion. But with Boston gone and Ott in place, Kormos’ career had hit a ceiling at PJM. (See Boston Retirement Prompts Additional Promotions at PJM.)

“We are grateful for Mike’s countless contributions to PJM,” Ott said in a statement. “His relentless focus on driving operational excellence has helped solidify our reputation as a grid operator. After a very long career with PJM, he has decided that it is time to move on and pursue something new. The entire executive team and I wish him the best in his future.”

In addition to overseeing state and member services, Kormos is responsible for system operations, planning and corporate compliance functions.

The RTO said that Kormos’ position would not be filled and that his responsibilities will be transferred to other members of the executive team. Until then, Ott will assume those functions.

“We have a strong management team that will carry on the day-to-day operations and execution of PJM’s long-term strategy,” Ott said.

Kormos’ top deputy, Mike Bryson, was promoted to vice president of operations, from executive director of system operations, in June.

“Mike Kormos has been a great contributor to PJM, and he’ll be missed,” said Joe Bowring, PJM’s Independent Market Monitor.

A PJM spokeswoman said Kormos has not indicated his future plans. Kormos could not be reached for comment.

March 14, 2016

SPP Briefs: Wind Records, Canadian Border as POS

FERC last week accepted SPP’s proposed Tariff revisions to identify the U.S.-Canada border as the point-of-sale for potential transactions with Canadian transmission service providers (ER16-704).

The commission’s March 8 order found “establishing a point of demarcation for transactions between SPP and Canadian entities … will clarify the regulatory authorizations required by market participants on both sides of the border for international exports and imports between SPP and Canada.” FERC said the demarcation clarifies that those transactions must be reported to the U.S. Department of Energy and Canada’s National Energy Board.

The order is subject to an SPP compliance filing, due April 7. The RTO said it will modify its Tariff by using the term “source” instead of “resource,” addressing Manitoba Hydro’s assertion that the latter term creates two distinct classes of offers that would restrict transactions by non-resource offers.

SPP gained its interconnection with Canada when Basin Electric Power Cooperative joined the RTO as part of last year’s addition of the Integrated System. (See Integrated System to Join SPP Market Oct. 1.)

SPP told FERC the interconnection allows Canadian utilities to participate in its Integrated Marketplace. It said the Tariff revisions are necessary “to allow Canadian entities to register resources and make them available under SPP’s market rules.”

The RTO completed its first international transaction late last year, importing power from Canadian electric utility SaskPower during a mid-December “emergency situation” in North Dakota. (See SPP, SaskPower Make First International Trade.)

SPP Nears ERCOT’s Wind Penetration Levels

SPP set new records for wind penetration last week, putting it within a whisker of ERCOT for the national record.

The RTO established a new record March 7, when its 9,450 MW of wind energy represented 45.08% of its total load (20,960 MW). That broke the record set the day before, when SPP reported a 44.77% penetration level (9,715 MW of 21,700 MW).

SPP’s wind penetration record is within a tenth of a percentage point of ERCOT’s. The Texas grid operator’s 45.14% record was set Feb. 18, when wind energy produced 13,907 MW.

“We continue to see a lot of wind capacity added,” SPP’s engineering vice president, Lanny Nickell, told stakeholders March 9. He said the footprint’s coal consumption has dropped by about 6% over the last three years, replaced by wind and natural gas.

Wind energy accounted for 13.5% of SPP’s electric production last year, trailing coal (55.1%) and natural gas (21.6%), but surpassing nuclear (8.1%). The RTO had 12,397 MW of installed wind capacity in 2015, accounting for 14.9% of its total. It says it has an additional 33,819 MW under development.

ERCOT has 15,764 MW of installed wind capacity. Wind energy accounted for 18.4% of its electric production in 2015.

— Tom Kleckner

March 14, 2016

CAISO Tariff Change Would Extend Market to DER

By Robert Mullin

CAISO has asked FERC to approve a new Tariff provision that would enable rooftop solar and other small distributed energy resources (DER) to participate in California’s energy and ancillary services markets (ER16-1085).

The rule changes create an “initial framework” to extend market participation to DER smaller than 0.5 MW — the current minimum for selling into the ISO’s wholesale market — by allowing for aggregation at the distribution system level.

CAISO is anticipating participation by distributed generation, energy storage and electric vehicle charging stations, but the framework leaves open the possibility for market entry by other types of resources located on either side of the customer meter. This “broad definition” of eligibility is intended to avoid excluding emerging technologies from participating in aggregation.

“The framework will accommodate various resource types as well as different business models, provided the aggregation is capable of operating as an integrated resource and meets specific technical requirements,” CAISO wrote. Those models could include microgrids interconnected to distribution systems as well as third-party aggregators and utilities operating DER.

The rules would bar some resources from participating in aggregations, including generation rated at 1 MW or greater, demand-side resources bid into the market by curtailment service providers and demand response intended to react to grid emergencies. Generating units between 0.5 MW and 1 MW would need to terminate their participating generator agreements in order to join an aggregation. Also excluded would be resources already participating in a retail net energy metering program.

New Participant Type

The Tariff revisions would introduce three new terms into CAISO’s official market lexicon:

Distributed energy resources: Any resource in the ISO balancing area with a first point of interconnection to a utility distribution company or a metered subsystem.
Distributed energy resource aggregation: A “market resource” comprising one or more DER organized to participate in the wholesale market. Aggregations can contain multiple resource types, but resources will be restricted to participating in a single aggregation.
Distributed energy resource provider: “A new type of market participant,” according to CAISO, DER providers would be owners or operators of an aggregation. They would engage the market through a registered scheduling coordinator, which would submit schedules and bids based on the aggregation’s generation distribution factors.

The rules would permit a DER aggregation to operate at a single pricing node or across multiple nodes. Regardless of the configuration, the resources are required to provide a net response at the nodal level consistent with dispatch instructions, with missteps subject to imbalance charges.

Compensation will be based on nodal LMPs, but CAISO will not directly poll meters in an aggregation, so DER scheduling coordinators must provide the ISO with settlement quality meter data in order to receive payments.

In its filing with FERC, CAISO urges approval of the changes by pointing out that distributed facilities already participate in ISO wholesale markets as both generating and demand-side resources.

“The Tariff revisions proposed in this filing do not change those arrangements,” CAISO wrote. “Instead, the CAISO is extending the same opportunity to support the reliable operation of the transmission system to aggregations of distribution-connected resources, recognizing the significant transformation in the industry and deployment of emerging technologies.”

March 14, 2016February 12, 2025

CT Power and Energy Society’s Annual Energy, Environment and Development Conference

Connecticut sees itself as an energy technology and policy innovator, but much work remains to help it maintain its leadership position, speakers said at the annual Connecticut Power and Energy Society’s Energy, Environment and Development Conference last week.

Dan Malloy © RTO Insider

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said he is looking forward to the Clean Power Plan, which he believes will be upheld in the courts. “In Connecticut and New England, what these rules are saying is ‘finally, the rest of the country is going to have to live by the same set of rules that we’ve had to live by,’” he said.

New England has long complained of being at the ‘end of the tailpipe’ from Midwest polluters. Malloy said the CPP will be good for his state’s environment — and its economy. “I think it will level the playing field, at least with respect with our ability to compete with other states [and] with respect to the cost of the eventual product, electric energy.”

David Kooris, director of the City of Bridgeport’s office of planning and economic development, recounted the difficulties the city had winning state and federal regulatory approval for a 1.6-MW anaerobic digester and cogeneration facility built near a wastewater treatment plant. “The regulatory environment isn’t yet ready to accommodate some of the new technologies we’re talking about. That was a tough regulatory process and [state environmental regulators] were working closely with us, knowing it was an objective of theirs. But it was fairly arduous just because of the outdated aspects of the regulations.”

Daniel Sosland © RTO Insider

Daniel Sosland, president of the Acadia Center, said technology is creating a historic transition in the electric industry. “The question is how fast will we get there. Will markets drive changes? Will policy keep up?” he asked. “The system that we’ve built and has been reliable is a one-way power flow … but in the system we’re building now, the centerpiece is in your community. It’s in your home, it’s in your place of work.”

Jonathan Milley © RTO Insider

Jonathan Milley is director of business development for Vionx Energy, which is developing flow battery technology that proponents say will deliver long-duration energy storage at lower costs than lithium-ion batteries. He talked about storage’s challenges in winning a place in the market. “Storage is trying to find a leg in the three-legged stool in between generation, transmission and distribution, and doesn’t quite know how to fit into the equation.”

Katie Scharf-Dykes © RTO Insider

Katie Scharf Dykes, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s deputy commissioner for energy, spoke of accommodating state public policy goals in deregulated wholesale energy markets. “I hope there’s a peaceful resolution, a productive resolution,” she said. “State public policy goals are not discretionary whims; we have a statutory mandate to cut carbon, and we have an obligation to our ratepayers and our children to address this challenge.”

Paul Hibbard © RTO Insider

Paul Hibbard, vice president of The Analysis Group, said resolving cost allocation questions is essential to overcoming the region’s infrastructure challenges. “The real confusing piece is what consumers will pay for which pieces of infrastructure, how much will that cost and what might be the alternatives.”

– William Opalka

March 14, 2016

State-Sponsored Energy Procurement Moves Ahead in NE

By William Opalka

CROMWELL, Conn. — Requests for proposals for the next rounds of multistate clean energy, efficiency and storage procurement were released on Wednesday.

The RFPs were for resources from 2 to 20 MW as well as energy efficiency and energy storage, according to Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Deputy Commissioner for Energy Katie Scharf Dykes.

“It’s clear the transformation in the energy market and the electricity market is really accelerating,” she told the Connecticut Power and Energy Society’s annual Energy, Environment and Development Conference.

In addition to the multistate procurement, DEEP also issued a draft RFP for natural gas resources. The procurements were authorized by the state’s Affordable and Reliable Energy law, passed last year.

Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island last year released an RFP for large-scale renewable energy projects, reasoning that joint proposals and larger projects would obtain lower costs than states could secure on their own. (See New England States Combine on Clean Energy Procurement.)

The selection of successful bidders will begin in late April.

Eversource Energy President of Transmission Jim Muntz said the RFP for large-scale projects provided a glimpse of how market participants would respond to multiple jurisdictions.

“This was really the first real opportunity for folks to put some reality to their idea and try to marry up with the customers who stated a willingness to pay,” he said. “This is somewhat rare to have that in the neighborhood of a big idea.”

Among the proposals is Eversource’s Northern Pass transmission line, which would carry Canadian hydropower into the region.
In total, about 4,200 MW were proposed. But “big ideas” like undersea transmission lines from Canada or large offshore wind projects were noticeably absent.

Although several projects proposed large-scale wind and transmission in Maine, none were paired with any proposals that would build transmission to move energy farther south. Except for relatively small improvements along the New York-New England interface, no solutions were offered to relieve many of the existing choke points.

March 14, 2016

Federal Briefs

Coal-fired plants represented more than 80% of the 18 GW in generation retired in 2015, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The plants that retired were mostly built between 1950 and 1970, and the average capacity was 133 MW, compared to an average 278 MW of capacity for the coal-fired fleet still in operation. Nearly half of the retired coal capacity was in Ohio, Georgia and Kentucky.

About 30% of the plants that shut down in 2015 went cold in April, when EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards went into effect. A number of plants received a one-year extension, and they are expected to retire next month.

More: Energy Information Administration

EPA Expanding Methane Crackdown to Existing Wells

epa

EPA announced it will require existing oil and natural gas wells to abide by tougher methane-emission regulations already covering new wells.

The announcement came during President Obama’s meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the expansion of the rules was necessary if the U.S. was to reach its goal of cutting emissions by 40% by 2025. “Based on this growing body of science, it’s become clear it’s come time for EPA to take additional action,” she said.

The oil and natural gas industry reacted negatively. “The administration is catering to environmental extremists at the expense of American consumers,” said Kyle Isakower of the American Petroleum Institute.

More: Houston Chronicle

Solar Market Set to Grow 119% This Year

The U.S. solar generation market is set to increase 119% this year, mostly from utility-scale projects in the pipeline, according to GTM Research in its U.S. Solar Market Insight Year in Review, published in conjunction with the Solar Energy Industries Association.

The forecasted surge of 16 GW of solar that will be installed in 2016 was caused by the expected expiration of federal tax credits in 2016. The tax credit was extended, but not before investors committed their 2016 budgets to some big projects. Utility-scale installations are expected to decline in 2017.

The report said new community solar projects are also growing, and rooftop solar continues to drive solar demand.

More: Greentech Media

Jury Taps Shale Driller for $4.2M in Tainted Water Suit

A U.S. District Court jury in Scranton, Pa., hit Cabot Oil & Gas with a $4.2 million verdict, saying the company’s gas-drilling operations contaminated the well water of two Pennsylvania families.

The families in the Susquehanna County town of Dimock alleged that their water was contaminated by methane after Cabot began drilling in the area. Cabot argued that the methane occurred naturally and was not caused by the company’s action. It vowed to appeal the verdict.

More: Reuters

NRC Annual Assessment Shows 96 of 99 Plants in Top 2 Categories

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission released its annual assessment of nuclear power plant operations for 2015, and all but three units were graded in the two highest categories. Of the 96 highest-performing reactors, 85 fully met all safety and security objectives, the commission said.

Arkansas Nuclear One Units 1 and 2 and the Pilgrim plant in Massachusetts were ranked in the fourth category and will receive increased oversight. The Arkansas units landed in the category because of two significant safety findings during inspections, and Pilgrim because of “long-standing issues of low to moderate safety significance,” according to an NRC news release.

Entergy owns both the Arkansas and Pilgrim plants.

More: Nuclear Regulatory Commission

US Nuclear Fleet Safer After Fukushima, NRC Says

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Stephen Burns said that changes the agency instituted after the earthquake-induced meltdown of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant have made the U.S. fleet safer.

“I think the plants are safer than they were five years ago,” Burns told Bloomberg BNA. “A lot of the things we’ve done, I believe, have made a safe situation safer.”

The changes, such as second sets of backup generation, batteries and pumps, addressed failures exposed at Fukushima, said Tony Pietrangelo, senior vice president and chief nuclear officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute. “When you boil it down to its basic, root causes, they lost electricity and they lost the ability to cool the [reactor] core, to maintain the containment integrity and to cool the spent fuel,” he said.

More: Bloomberg BNA

Fire Prompts ‘Unusual Event’ at Watts Bar 2

A pump motor serving the reactor at the Watts Bar 2 nuclear station caught fire, forcing a declared “unusual event” before the Tennessee Valley Authority’s newest station produced any power.

The small fire Wednesday in one of three hot-well pump motors was extinguished within 19 minutes, but the incident required TVA to declare a “Notice of an Unusual Event.”

“Plant personnel extinguished the motor fire, and there was no danger to the public,” TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said. “Other Watts Bar Unit 2 systems were unaffected. Watts Bar Unit 1 was also unaffected and remained safely online throughout the event.”

More: Chattanooga Times Free Press

Studies Show Undersea Cables Don’t Repel Marine Creatures

A trio of recent studies show that magnetic fields emitted by undersea transmission cables don’t seem to harm marine wildlife, a finding that could boost the development of offshore wind energy.

Earlier generations of cables, including undersea telecommunication cables, attracted wildlife such as sharks, which sometimes bit into the cables. Insulating the cables caused the sharks to lose interest, but magnetic radiation prompted some researchers to wonder if the cables served as “electric fences.”

The recent research suggests the magnetic fields don’t affect marine life. “There’s much less concern now,” said Ann Bull, a marine biologist at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, who presented two of the studies at the American Geophysical Union’s Ocean Sciences Meeting. Her experiments showed that even where magnetic fields were strongest, creatures such as crabs did not seem bothered.

More: Science News

March 14, 2016

State Briefs

Agencies Suspend Work on State CPP Compliance

The Department of Environmental Quality and the Public Service Commission announced they are halting an effort to draft a compliance plan for EPA’s Clean Power Plan as a result of last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to stay its implementation.

The PSC’s executive director, John Bethel, said discussions surrounding the rule’s potential implementation should carry on, however. “The stakeholder process will continue to evaluate what steps will be necessary to comply with the plan should it be upheld. Those activities might proceed on a modified timeline once we understand more what that might be.”

The state agencies said they will “continue to follow modeling efforts by the private sector of potential future energy and environmental policy scenarios.” They plan to have a technical session on energy sector modeling later this year.

More: KUAR

ILLINOIS

It Isn’t Easy Being Green, Commission Says

The Commerce Commission has proposed tightening the rules for retail electric suppliers to market their power as “green.”

Unless a customer’s residence is directly connected to a wind farm or solar panels, the electricity flowing to it cannot be said to be generated by renewable resources, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who supports the changes, told the commission.

The claim of green energy generally comes from the purchase of renewable energy credits, as all the electricity on the grid is intermingled, regardless of its source, Madigan said.

More: Chicago Tribune

MICHIGAN

Legislators Begin Overhaul of Energy Law

Legislators are considering a number of bills to update the state’s 2008 energy law. Among the provisions under debate is expanding customer choice, which is currently capped at 10% of the market.

Meanwhile, the state has halted work on its plan to comply with EPA’s Clean Power Plan until its fate is resolved in court.

More: Crain’s Detroit Business

MONTANA

Judge Upholds PSC Decision Denying Renewables Request

A Judicial District Court judge has affirmed a 2015 Public Service Commission order denying NorthWestern Energy’s request to decrease the amount paid to small wind and solar projects for their electricity.

In a March 3 ruling, Judge Mike Menahan upheld the PSC’s decision to maintain existing “standard rates” for certain wind and solar projects no larger than 3 MW. The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act requires NorthWestern to purchase power from these qualifying facilities based on the utility’s avoided cost, PSC officials said.

More: Great Falls Tribune

NEBRASKA

Bill Removing Restriction on Wind Development Stalled

Legislation that would make it easier for wind developers to advance projects in the state appears to be stalled in committee, although an effort is underway to advance the bill to a floor debate through extraordinary measures.

LB824 would remove all restrictions on developing wind energy, according to state Sen. Dan Hughes, who worries that a proliferation of wind energy would ultimately increase power rates. The legislation received the Natural Resources Committee priority designation in February but is now stuck in committee on a 4-4 vote, according to Hughes.

Hughes said it was important to realize that utilities need to also provide backup power for when the wind isn’t blowing, adding to the projects’ cost. “If we currently have excess power generation, I see no reason to build,” he said.

More: McCook Gazette

NEW MEXICO

Environmental Group Asks Energy Contracts Be Kept Public

An environmental group is asking the Public Regulation Commission not to impose confidentiality rules that would restrict public access to a coal supply contract, financial information for an Arizona nuclear power plant and other documents that are part of Public Service Company of New Mexico’s request to raise electricity rates.

Western Resource Advocates says information that affects rates charged by the utility should be open to the public. PNM is asking the commission for approval to raise residential rates by 15.8%, increasing annual revenue by about $123.5 million.

The utility said disclosing pricing information would hurt its ability to negotiate the best prices for goods and services. PNM used the same argument last year to maintain confidentiality over a coal supply agreement for the San Juan Generating Station. The PRC accidentally broke the confidentiality agreement when it disclosed the coal supply agreement and other confidential documents in response to a newspaper’s public records request.

More: Santa Fe New Mexican

Farmington-Bloomfield Utility Case Dates Back to 1960s

Farmington and Bloomfield officials have until March 17 to decide how they will proceed with a legal dispute between them after a judge said a 1960s electric utility municipalization case could be reopened.

Bloomfield argues that under the 1960 agreement in which Farmington acquired its electric system from a private owner, Bloomfield also had the rights to municipalize the power system within its city limits. Farmington had argued that Bloomfield’s rights to infrastructure within its boundaries expired in 1974 under the statute of limitations.

More: Farmington Daily Times

NEW YORK

Direct Energy Solar Leaving Market

Residential installer Direct Energy Solar will close a Rochester-area location by the end of May, saying it is no longer profitable for it to operate in the state because of low electricity prices.

“Our offer has been challenged due to the low electricity cost,” said Monica Yadav, a manager of external relations for the company. “We are going to focus on other markets in the Northeast where we have a really strong offer and a strong presence.”

The company will lay off about 50 employees, according to a filing with the state Department of Labor.

More: Democrat and Chronicle

Indian Point Unit Begins Refueling

Entergy’s Indian Point nuclear power plant Unit 2 began a planned refueling outage on March 7. Unit 2 was online 99.6% of the time since returning to service from its prior refueling outage in March 2014, according to the company. It also set a record for continuous days of operation, at 626, and a record for the amount of electricity generated, at 17.8 million MWh.

Entergy is investing more than $60 million at Unit 2, in addition to the refueling costs, to complete its installation of post-Fukushima safety enhancements. Equipment additions include portable electrical generators, pumps, cables and other equipment.

More: Entergy

NORTH DAKOTA

Xcel Customers to Receive More Refunds

Xcel Energy ratepayers will receive a one-time credit — $3 for residential customers — in a $702,656 refund granted because of a settlement over the federal government’s failure to acquire a long-term storage site for spent nuclear fuel.

The Public Service Commission approved Xcel’s request last week to distribute the customer refunds on behalf of its Monticello and Prairie Island nuclear power plants. Commission Chair Julie Fedorchak said 30% of the electricity used by Xcel’s 90,000 customers in the state comes from nuclear sources.

Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, utilities executed contracts with the U.S. Department of Energy for the storage of spent nuclear fuel, but the department never secured a site. Xcel and other utilities sued the department, and the parties settled in 2011.

More: The Bismarck Tribune

Proposed NextEra Wind Farm Hits Court Snag

NextEra Energy is facing challenges to get approval for its proposed 87-turbine wind farm in Stark County. A first proposal was rejected last year, while a new version of the project with adjusted siting is currently stalled in a court dispute.

An opposition group, Concerned Citizens of Stark County, claims in a lawsuit that the county zoning board and county commission circumvented proper public notice when it held meetings within a day of each other in December to approve the proposal. Because the suit is unresolved, the Public Service Commission announced that it would delay its public hearing until March 30, giving the citizens’ group more time to review submittals from NextEra.

Some residents are urging NextEra to construct the turbines 2,000 feet from property lines instead of the proposed 2,000 feet from residences.

More: The Bismarck Tribune

OHIO

Operators of New Gas Plant Against AEP, FirstEnergy PPAs

The operators of the newest power plant in the state have said they may take legal action if the Public Utilities Commission approves a guaranteed income plan for power producers FirstEnergy and AEP Ohio.

Oregon Clean Energy, which has nearly completed construction of an 860-MW natural gas plant in the town of Oregon, says the eight-year power purchase agreements proposed by FirstEnergy and AEP would give them an unfair advantage. FirstEnergy and AEP say they need the PPAs to keep their coal-fired and nuclear plants operating and to preserve system diversity and reliability.

Merchant power producers say they will continue to fight if PUCO rules against them. “We could very easily see a scenario where utilities go to the General Assembly to look for a solution,” said Dylan Borchers, an attorney for Oregon Clean Energy, which is owned by Ares Management LP and I Squared Capital.

More: Columbus Business First

OKLAHOMA

AEP Ready to Begin Building 60-mile, 345-kV Project

AEP Oklahoma Transmission said it will begin building a 60-mile, 345-kV transmission line later this year. The $120 million Western Oklahoma Transmission Reinforcement Project is expected to be complete by summer 2018.

The SPP-approved project was announced in 2014. Pre-construction activities are expected to begin in March with staking of the rights of way and clearing vegetation and other obstacles.

AEP’s announcement came two weeks after Oklahoma Gas & Electric announced plans to go ahead with its Windspeed II transmission line, a 126-mile line from Woodward to OG&E’s Cimarron substation northwest of Oklahoma City. The $190 million Windspeed II project is expected to be in service by mid-2018.

More: The Oklahoman

PENNSYLVANIA

PUC Explores Alternative Utility Ratemaking Methods

The Public Utility Commission is accepting public comment about alternative utility ratemaking methods through Wednesday.

The PUC on March 3 hosted a hearing to gather information from experts about how to maintain a reliable energy grid while at the same time encouraging energy efficiency and conservation programs.

Among other issues, the hearing considered whether revenue decoupling could encourage utilities to implement energy saving programs and whether such rate mechanisms would be in the public interest.

More: Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

TEXAS

PUCT Declines to Reconsider Hill Country Tx Case

The Public Utility Commission declined to reconsider its approval of a transmission line route across Hershey Ranch, a major piece of preserved land in the Texas Hill Country west of Austin.

The 13-mile line, proposed by the Lower Colorado River Authority, is part of a plan to bolster electrical infrastructure east of Fredericksburg. Such transmission lines, which involve support structures 10 stories tall or higher, are becoming more common in Central Texas as the population grows.

The PUCT’s decision can be appealed to district court.

From: Austin American-Statesman

March 14, 2016

SPP, MISO Declare Year 1 of M2M a Success

By Tom Kleckner

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — SPP and MISO staff told stakeholders last week that the market-to-market process across their seam worked well in its first year and that a memorandum of understanding between the two RTOs will solve most remaining problems.

In a meeting at SPP’s headquarters Tuesday, staff said that the process has worked as intended since it began in March 2015. M2M is designed to improve price convergence on flowgates along the RTOs’ 1,200-mile seam. They compensate each other for re-dispatching generation to reduce congestion in a way that reduces overall costs.

“For the most part, it has generally worked very well and as designed,” SPP’s Gerardo Ugalde said. “We had a few issues … and a few procedures were eliminated.”

Through Feb. 15, the RTOs have had 1,075 M2M events (343 requiring settlements), which resulted in $9.5 million changing hands, according to a review of the first year. Two-thirds of the M2M payments came from three SPP flowgates in Nebraska. The RTOs’ analysis showed the shadow prices are generally within $30 of each other.

“[Those] 1,200 miles are, by far, the largest seam of any RTO we’re aware of,” said SPP’s David Kelley, director of interregional relations. “It has become a lot more complex with the integration of the Integrated System.”

Ugalde said shadow prices and price convergence remain the biggest issues along the seam. “The majority of the time, we’re able to [keep prices] under $500” per megawatt-hour, he said. “For the most part, we tend to price converge.”

MISO and SPP told stakeholders they are continuing their development of an MOU to “ensure cost-effective solutions for both markets.” The MOU, they said, will address ineffective real-time coordination on some flowgates, correct calculation errors in settlements and improve some settlement rules.

Seven Principles

Staff has developed a list of seven principles for the MOU. Among them: excluding reciprocal coordinated flowgates from the M2M process based on a threshold test for generators that affect it; recalculating firm-flow entitlements (FFE) due to changes in facility ratings; and capping FFEs to the system operating limits (SOL) for M2M flowgates.

Another principle would give the non-monitoring RTO the ability to switch from controlling market flows to total flow control. MISO’s Ron Arness said he hoped controlling all transmission on a flowgate rather than just market flows will help moderate some of the price and power swings he has seen on the SPP side. He said new processes on the PJM seam have addressed similar situations.

“What we’ve seen with the SPP flowgates is the [swings] are more severe [than PJM’s],” Arness said. “We need to tweak that process.”

Kelley said SPP’s stakeholders are “not comfortable” with exchanging ownership of flowgates. “It’s really who has the more efficient, effective generation to control the constraint,” he said. “There’s no way you can control the SOL when MISO has 900 MW of generation flowing.”

In response to a question by American Electric Power’s Kip Fox, Ugalde said the MOU will solve “60 to 70%” of the M2M problems.

Ugalde said some of the MOU’s provisions will require JOA changes be filed at FERC, while others will necessitate software changes. The RTOs will continue to evaluate the day-ahead exchange of FFEs and settlements.

MISO’s Beibei Li shared an analysis she and others at the RTO have conducted with PJM on interface pricing. Li said the results indicate a common interface method has “merit” in resolving pricing issues.

Adam McKinnie, chief utility economist for the Missouri Public Service Commission, questioned the analysis. “A lot of time and treasure has been spent between MISO and PJM discussing these various options, but you’ve never been able to say how much this will save,” he said.

Li hedged her response by noting congestion varies from year to year. “Compared to the ideal — where we want to be and where we were — we have identified $2 million in improvement opportunities,” she said.

“I wonder whether you’ve already spent the savings on analysis,” McKinnie responded.

‘Freeze Date’

Work is also continuing through the Congestion Management Process Council, which includes SPP, MISO and PJM, to update the 2004 “freeze date” used in determining CMP allocations and FFEs, based on pre-market firm flows. Arness said the council’s members have agreed there is a need to work on freeze-date alternatives, with the goal of making a Tariff filing by year’s end.

miso, spp, m2m — Ron Arness *© RTO Insider*

“We would like to have an indication we can move forward by the end of the year,” Arness said. “We’ve heard this will be tough, but we’re still working on it.”

Arness said the CMPC has approved guiding principles for firm-flow allocation calculations and a procedure to calculate market-flow impacts associated with external pseudo-tied resources.

However, the council has not been able to move forward with using long-term auction revenue rights to develop M2M FFEs. The RTOs have compared each other’s ARR nomination process and discovered similarities and differences.