Pepco Holdings Inc. Chairman and CEO Joseph Rigby announced yesterday he will step down as chief executive this year after a turbulent tenure marked by criticism over the company’s reliability.
Frank Heintz, lead independent director of the Pepco board, said the company has hired executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates and expects to name a new CEO by the end of the third quarter of 2014. Rigby, 57, will remain chairman of the board until the company’s 2015 shareholders meeting.
“The board has been focused on senior executive succession for several years,” Heintz said in a statement.
Pepco delivers electricity and natural gas to about 2 million customers in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland and New Jersey.
The company came under blistering criticism after widespread outages in the Washington region in 2010 and a Washington Post analysis found that the company’s customers suffered longer and more frequent outages than their counterparts in other major cities. One 2009 survey found the company’s customers experienced 70% more outages than customers of large urban utilities and the lights stayed out more than twice as long.
It was called the “most hated company in America” in 2011, based on the American Consumer Satisfaction Index.
Customer outrage led the Maryland legislature to order the Public Service Commission to hold electric providers accountable for service quality.
Rigby became chairman and CEO in 2009. He told the Post in an interview yesterday, “A lot of that criticism was, frankly, deserved.”
“This company needed to recognize that we had a hell of a lot of work to do to improve the day-to-day reliability,” he said.
Pepco doubled its budget for construction and infrastructure improvement between 2009 and 2012 and plans to spend $5.8 billion on infrastructure through 2018.
Rigby began his career at Atlantic City Electric, which Pepco acquired along with Delmarva Power, in 2002. He told the Post that although the company has boosted its reputation with customers and regulators, the perception of improvements is “somewhat tenuous.”
“That’s just a realistic view of the situation we’ve been in,” he said.
FirstEnergy Corp. formed through merger of Ohio Edison Co. and Centerior Energy Corp.
Holding company for Ohio Edison (and subsidiary Pennsylvania Power Co.), The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co., The Toledo Edison Co.
11th largest investor-owned electric system in the U.S.: annual electric sales of 64 billion kilowatt-hours; total assets nearly $20 billion; 10,000 employees; 2.2 million customers; 13,200 square miles of northern and central Ohio and western Pennsylvania; 12,000 MW generating capacity.
2001:
FirstEnergy merges with GPU Inc.
Nearly doubled revenue (more than $12 billion) and customers served (4.3 million).
GPU acquisition adds 2.1 million customers in a 24,000 square-mile service area in Pennsylvania and New Jersey (Metropolitan Edison Co.; Pennsylvania Electric Co., Jersey Central Power & Light Co.)
2011:
FirstEnergy merges with Allegheny Energy (1.6 million customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia).
More than doubled supercritical coal capacity “and provided opportunities for the company to grow and expand into new markets with a stronger, more focused competitive operation.”
Public Service Enterprise Group and the National Football League have installed and tested systems to make sure they avoid power-system failures at the Feb. 2 Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. A blackout at the New Orleans Superdome interrupted last year’s Super Bowl for 34 minutes, an embarrassment for the city and Entergy, the host utility.
That failure, and power losses at other sporting events, put enormous pressure on PSEG and the NFL, particularly because this is the first Super Bowl in a cold-weather-state open stadium. At MetLife, “There are redundancies to our redundancies,” an NFL spokesman said. PSEG says the event will use up to 20 MW.
Constellation said it has more than 164 MW of solar generation in operation or under construction in 10 states and the District of Columbia, making it the third-largest commercial solar developer in the U.S. The company added 38 MW in 2013 at sites in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Arizona, California and New York.
Stephanie Raymond is PPL Electric Utilities’ new vice president for transmission and substations, a new officer-level position that the company said “reflects the importance to our customers — and to the reliability of our electric system — of our transmission and substation network.” Raymond joined PPL in 2011 and has led the transmission and substation organization since 2012.
UGI Corp. named Daniel Platt treasurer. Platt previously was treasurer of Sunoco Inc. and Sunoco Logistics Partners LLC and held treasury positions at Technitrol, Inc. (now Pulse Electronics), EB Games (now Game Stop), Aetna U.S. Healthcare and Delaware Valley Financial Services.
A bill requiring members of the Public Service Commission to file financial disclosure statements for public view went to the governor’s office for signature after the House of Representatives approved it last week. The Senate approved it in May.
Big Rivers’ D.B. Wilson Station (Source: Big Rivers)
Big Rivers Electric says its closing of two coal-fired plants as a result of the loss of 850 MW of load from two Century Aluminum smelters will be temporary. The cooperative will close the 417 MW Wilson plant in February and the 443 MW Coleman plant by late June.
A spokesman said the cooperative has proposed deals with other customers to replace the smelters’ load but can’t say when the plants might reopen. Although Century said it ended its contract with Big Rivers to find better rates, Big Rivers notes that its average industrial rate is 4.6 cents/kWh, compared with a national average of 6.8 cents.
Lawmakers Say Potential NOx Law Will Hurt AES Plant
State lawmakers from the district where AES’ Warrior Run coal-fired plant is located are trying to head off what they say is draft legislation that would require the 205-MW plant to install nitrogen oxide controls. “The folks at AES said it would be hard on them. It would make it hard for them to stay in business,” one of the legislators said. Their efforts are directed at legislation they say has been drafted by the state Department of the Environment that would “force all carbon-based power plants across Maryland to further reduce nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide.” According to the group of four lawmakers, the law would make AES cut its already-low emissions by 83%. They want it to be killed or to exempt Warrior Run.
NRG Energy said it told PJM that it wants to retire 1,200 MW of coal-fired generation, five units at two plants in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, in 2017. The company attributed its decision to low gas prices and the possibility of stronger environmental controls at the units. Gas- and oil-fired units at the plants would continue to run.
The Sierra Club asked the Board of Public Utilities to adopt an energy efficiency portfolio standard that would require annual reductions of 1.5% in electricity use and 1% in natural gas use. “The status quo is untenable,” the club’s petition to the BPU says. According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, New Jersey used to be an efficiency leader but its energy savings averaged under 0.5% between 2001 and 2011, far less than some other states in the region. The Sierra Club says utility energy efficiency programs have fallen to $35 million in fiscal year 2014 from $124 million in 2010.
Duke Energy plans to ask the Utilities Commission to reduce the amount it has to pay homeowners for the solar power they produce. Duke’s more than 1,300 solar installations, totaling 11.5 MW, now get Duke’s full retail price of 11 cents/kWh. Duke’s 11-cent price covers generating stations and fuel, CEO Lynn Good said. But “effectively what the solar panel is replacing is the fuel. It’s not replacing the grid.”
Rep. Walter Jones (R) has asked to meet with a Defense Department official about the proposed Mill Pond wind power project, which would consist of about 40 turbines near Newport. Jones identified concerns about radar interference and obstruction of military flight paths associated with Marine Corps stations Cherry Point and New River.
Another wind farm could be added to Catawba County, where eight such facilities have already sprouted and more are on the horizon. Development in the county mirrors activity in other parts of the state, where the Utilities Commission is entertaining numerous applications.
FirstEnergy repaired a reactor coolant leak at its Perry nuclear plant that deposited tritium in groundwater near the plant. The leak, discovered by cameras that monitor a steam tunnel, was reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Anti-Renewables Bill Gets Hearing as Debate Resumes
Wind power opponents spoke out at the year’s first legislative hearing on SB 34, a measure that would eliminate the state’s requirement that electricity companies source 25% of their supply from alternative energy by 2025.
Tesla drivers now will be able to charge their cars in Ohio for free and shop or have dinner as they do it. Tesla has installed two of its supercharger facilities in towns near the Ohio Turnpike: one in Maumee, near Toledo, and one in Macedonia, near Cleveland. The new stations enable Tesla owners to drive across the country, charging quickly for free on the way, the company says. Macedonia’s mayor is excited, seeing a boost to local businesses from drivers as their cars charge up.
Gov. Tom Corbett’s new “Energy=Jobs” plan, which the governor said takes an all-of-the-above approach to energy development, met mixed reviews. The plan touts free markets for customers to choose their energy sources, promotion of the state’s diverse energy portfolio, pushing industry to use state-produced energy, protecting the environment, and more.
John Quigley, a former Department of Conservation and Natural Resources secretary, criticized Corbett’s plan for trying “to appease everybody.” He wants a policy that builds renewables with gas-fired power plants, fueled by in-state gas, backing them up.
The Pennsylvania Coal Alliance’s John Pippy liked Corbett’s plan, which he said “acknowledges the direct link between Pennsylvania energy and economic opportunity.”
Cable and internet giant Comcast may soon have a “quadruple play” offering for customers in the state, says Public Utility Commission Chairman Robert Powelson, which would give Pennsylvania a boost in the quest to ramp up competition. The state already is ahead of most others in the rate of customer shopping, but Powelson said it wants to challenge Texas, the leader by far. According to Powelson, Comcast will be teaming with a retail energy provider to add electricity to its cable, internet and telephone service offerings. The company also offers some home energy-control services.
Philadelphia’s Northeast sewage treatment plant is burning methane to produce heat and power instead of burning it off as in the past, following completion of a $47.5 million project. Ameresco partnered with the city to build the cogeneration facilities. Bank of America owns it, leasing it to the city for 16 years with an early buyout option. The project qualifies for an investment tax credit of about $14 million and a $3.9 million state energy efficiency rebate.
The PennFuture Energy Center launched the Clean Energy Wins campaign, with a website to educate citizens and political candidates about choices the state can make. The organization is taking a survey of clean energy businesses and stakeholders and collecting data to develop a clean energy “roadmap” report that it plans to release in March.
NextEra Energy Resources says it might take months to determine why a turbine at the Mill Run Wind Energy Center collapsed Jan. 16. The turbine was one of 10 that started operating in 2001.
PPL Electric Utilities’ plan to upgrade a 69-kV line in the Pocono plateau won Public Utility Commission approval. The $33 million project involves a 24-mile line that will become 138 kV. The plan drew no local opposition.
PJM is making its eSuite tools more functional and more compatible with current web browsers.
PJM’s Gautam Punjabi told the Members Committee webinar yesterday that legacy applications such as eCredit, eMKT, eData and eDART will support Internet Explorer 9, while refreshed applications such as Gas Pipeline, InSchedule, Bulletin Board, and Data Miner will work with IE 9 and the latest offerings from Firefox, Chrome and Safari. These tools will no longer support Internet Explorer 7.
In addition, PowerMeter and ExSchedule will be renamed eMTR and EES, respectively, and updated to improve security and create consistency with other refreshed apps on the PJM website. The changes above are expected to be completed by March 31.
Account Manager and eMKT will be refreshed later this year, with eData and OASIS updates planned for 2015.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted PJM’s request to lift the $1,000 offer cap as the RTO entered a second consecutive week of frigid temperatures that have strained generators and pushed natural gas prices to new records.
FERC’s order came as PJM issued alerts yesterday warning that resources would be increasingly strained Tuesday and Wednesday. PJM and state regulators also appealed to the public to reduce power use, particularly during today’s evening peak.
Load is projected to approach 140,000 MW tonight, just short of the 141,500 MW winter peak record set Jan. 7.
PJM requested a waiver to lift the cap last week after natural gas prices jumped to triple digits as heating and electrical demand for the fuel surged.
FERC’s order (ER14-1144) effectively lifts the cap on offers beginning Jan. 24 by allowing generators to seek make-whole payments for the difference between their costs and the clearing price.
The commission has not yet ruled on PJM’s separate request to allow generators to offer above the cap for future trading days through March 31, 2014 (ER14-1145). PJM asked FERC to rule by Feb. 10.
Spot prices at Transco Z-5 and Transco Z-6 (non-NY) averaged over $120/mmBtu on Jan. 21 and 22, with prices as high as $140/mmBtu. “These gas prices are record-setting for the PJM Region (if not for the nation), shattering even the records set just earlier this month during the `polar vortex’ extreme cold weather event,” PJM said.
PJM said simple-cycle combustion turbines buying gas at current prices would have marginal costs of about $1,200/MWh. On January 21, PJM said, about 5,000 MWs of generation made day-ahead offers of $999/MWh, indicating their costs were above $1,000. About 4,000 MWs were ordered to operate.
In granting PJM’s waiver request, the commission noted that the Market Monitor reviews all cost-based offers to ensure they are legitimate. The commission ordered the Monitor to submit a report within 30 days of the expiration of the waiver on how much energy was accepted over the bid cap, the cost of that energy and any unverifiable bids that were rejected.
The RTO said it will ask stakeholders to consider changes to the Operating Agreement as a long-term fix for what it called the “unprecedented conflict” between the $1,000 offer cap and the generation must-offer requirement.
“The remarkable conditions present in the `polar vortex’ event less than two weeks ago gave the first clear indication that actual fuel costs could collide with the offer cap, but before PJM could take action to address that concern, this week saw an even greater leap in fuel prices that made this conflict concrete,” PJM said in its filing.
PJM did not ask FERC for relief for generators whose costs may have exceeded the cap before Jan. 24 but said it may make a supplemental filing to seek make-whole payments later.
In a letter to FERC in support of PJM’s request, Calpine Corp. CEO Thad Hill stated, in all capitals: “The stability of the power markets in the PJM region are dependent on the commission’s granting of PJM’s waiver today.”
The waivers will not affect demand response, which is limited to $1,800 ($1,000 plus two times the penalty factor). PJM called on DR several times last week to meet loads as arctic cold followed snow.
PJM’s Chris Pilong told members in a briefing yesterday that unplanned outages from last week’s arctic blast occurred most frequently in the eastern portion of PJM, unlike earlier this month, when outages were more evenly spread across the RTO.
Commuters brave winds outside Union Station, Washington, D.C., yesterday.
The cold is expected to continue throughout the PJM footprint most of this week.
PJM yesterday issued three alerts for Tuesday: a Voltage Reduction Alert, reporting that estimated operating reserves are less than the synchronized reserve requirement; a Primary Reserve Alert, warning that estimated primary reserves are only 1,000 MWs, half the 2,000 MW objective; and a Maximum Emergency Generation Alert, calling Maximum Emergency Generation into operating capacity.
PJM also issued a Cold Weather Alert for Wednesday.
Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio are expecting lows at or below zero through Wednesday. Below zero lows are also forecast for Chicago.
Lows in Washington, D.C. will be in the teens most of the week.
Plunging temperatures sent natural gas spot prices soaring again this week, prompting PJM to seek approval from federal regulators to lift the $1,000/MWh price cap on generation.
Natural gas prices for generators in PJM peaked at $140/mmBtu Tuesday, pushing operating costs for generators above the price cap.
As a result, PJM officials told members they will ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to allow the RTO to waive the price cap for the remainder of the winter.
Demand Response Dispatched
Transco Zone 6 Non-NY Prices as of 1/23/14 (Source: Natural Gas Intelligence)
PJM called on about 150 MW of emergency demand response Wednesday night, and about 500 MW Thursday morning and afternoon. DR was called again this morning. About three-dozen Post Contingency Local Load Relief Warnings — advance notice to a transmission owner of the potential for manual load dump in their area – have been issued since Tuesday.
Adam Keech, PJM director of wholesale market operations, said the RTO called on DR because of concerns about generation lost to breakdowns, fuel shortages and environmental restrictions.
PJM had “thousands of megawatts” of generation trip Tuesday night, particularly in the Baltimore area, Keech told stakeholders at a meeting of the Energy Market Up-lift Senior Task Force Thursday.
With reserves tight, “if you have any [generator] problems you’re going to get into trouble in a hurry,” he said.
All generation capacity resources that do not qualify to take a forced outage under PJM’s rules are required to submit an offer into the day-ahead market subject to the system offer cap of $1,000/MWh. Non-capacity resources may submit emergency offers in excess of the system offer price cap.
Waiver Filing
PJM’s FERC filing will seek a retroactive waiver of the system offer cap to make whole generation resources that can document costs exceeding $1,000. Keech said the waiver would apply to generation dispatched this week but would not affect dispatches from the polar vortex in early January. The waiver would seek permission to reimburse affected resources through uplift payments (Balancing Operating Reserve).
“PJM has consulted with counsel and believes the anticipated retroactive waiver request will likely be accepted by the FERC,” PJM said in a notice to members.
In addition, PJM will seek to lift the cap going forward for cost-based offers from generation resources through March 1, 2014. Such resources would be eligible to set Locational Marginal Prices, Keech said. “That’s the intent in having them submit [prices above $1,000] as an offer rather than making them whole” afterward, Keech said.
The waiver will not affect DR, which is limited to $1,800 ($1,000 plus two times the penalty factor).
Gas Prices
Natural Gas Supply-Demand Balance (Source: EIA)
Spot gas prices in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic this week exceeded the heights of early January, Natural Gas Intelligence reported. The high on Transco Zone 6 non-N.Y. hit $140/mmBtu Tuesday. Prices for delivery today were $87.13, a drop of $34.09.
Below is a chronology of operator actions in response to this week’s cold.
Wednesday
Load had a “pretty steep pickup” Wednesday morning, Keech said, but the snow that blanketed the area Tuesday provided some relief as closed schools and offices dampened demand.
PJM dispatched demand response and issued a Maximum Emergency Generation Action — dispatching generation above the maximum economic level and warning that off system energy sales may be recalled — at 14:00 Wednesday for the BGE transmission zone, adding the BA/PEP area of PEPCO for transmission contingency control at 17:20.
At 19:30, a Maximum Emergency Generation Alert was called for the AP and Dominion control zones.
Shortly after 20:00, the RTO issued a Voltage Reduction Alert for the PEPCO and BGE transmission zones for Thursday due to fears that operating reserves might fall below the Synchronized Reserve requirement.
Prices hit $1,800 in the areas where DR was dispatched, Keech said.
Thursday
About 04:30, operators called demand response and issued a Maximum Emergency Generation Action in the Mid-Atlantic, Dominion and AP control zones. Twenty minutes later, PJM issued a request for emergency energy from 05:30 through 07:30.
Load, expected to hit 135,500 MW, came in about 2,000 MW below that, and the DR was not needed, Keech said.
PJM also issued a public appeal for energy conservation Thursday evening and Friday morning.
Operators issued another Maximum Emergency Generation Action at 14:00 for transmission contingency control in Mid-Atlantic, Dominion and FE-South/APS.
DR was dispatched in the AP and Dominion control zones, BGE and PEPCO transmission zones.
Load peaked at 134,988 MW at 8 p.m.
Friday
A Maximum Emergency Generation Action was issued and a call for short and long lead-time DR was issued at 04:30 in the AP and Dominion control zones. Load peaked this morning at 138,522 — above the forecast of 138,289 MW — with available economic capacity of 157,477 MW.
After a brief warm-up this weekend, more arctic cold is expected throughout the PJM footprint next week.
Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio are expecting lows at or below zero Monday through Wednesday, with a possible low of -16 in Columbus Monday. Up to 4 inches of snow is expected to fall Saturday.
Below zero lows are also forecast Monday and Tuesday for Chicago.
Philadelphia is forecast to be below freezing for virtually all of the next seven days, with only a high of 34 Monday breaking the streak. Lows below 10 degrees are forecast on several days and the area may receive another inch or two of snow Saturday.
Lows in Washington, D.C. will be in the teens most of the next week.
RTO Insider will update this story with the FERC filing and other operational developments as they become available.
At the annual National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners conference in Orlando last November, the Todd Snitchler Show was one of the hottest tickets.
NARUC gatherings are not known for their production effects or sense of humor, but Snitchler — the moderator of a session titled “The Environmental and Economic Implications of Carbon Restrictions” added a bit of show biz flair. The session opened with a soundtrack featuring Pink Floyd’s Money and a clip from a Will Ferrell movie. The six speakers stood at podiums, debate-style, while Snitchler strode among the audience like Oprah with a handheld microphone.
Snitchler won’t be enlivening any future NARUC conferences. The colorful, controversial chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio announced last week he won’t seek reappointment, ending a three-year run during which he championed electric choice and alienated environmentalists with his Twitter posts expressing skepticism about renewable power and climate change. The 43-year-old Republican’s term as head of the 320-person agency ends April 10.
Legacy
Don Mason, an energy attorney and former PUCO member called Snitchler “one of the finest regulators that Ohio has ever had.”
“Wicked smart,” was the way Gov. John Kasich described Snitchler when he appointed him to the commission. Kasich praised the chairman in a statement last week as an “effective leader” and a “fierce defender of the PUCO’s independence.”
The Columbus Dispatch summed up his legacy in less glowing terms, writing, “Snitchler has been part of decisions that angered utility companies, consumer advocates and large businesses, sometimes all at the same time.”
Electric Deregulation
In an interview with RTO Insider yesterday, Snitchler expressed few regrets and said he was proud of his agency’s role in the state’s transition to electric deregulation.
Ohio PUC Chair Todd Snitchler at FERC technical conference on capacity markets, September 2013.
“I think we have moved steadily and consistently into a more competitive posture,” Snitchler said, citing the “dramatic increase” in the number of competitive suppliers and the increased shopping activity by individuals and municipal aggregators. The PUC announced last month that, for the first time, more power customers are buying their power from alternative suppliers than incumbent utilities.
Consumer advocates give Snitchler and the commission he headed mixed marks, acknowledging that electric prices declined since 2009, due to the combined effects of the recession and the influx of cheap natural gas.
“The outgoing chair is very much a devotee of the free market, à la the Texas model, which our organization doesn’t see as very advantageous to consumers,” said David Rinebolt, executive director of Ohio Partners for Affordable Energy. That model forces everyone to shop rather than allowing default service providers, which Rinebolt said forces consumers to absorb marketing costs.
While Ohio law requires default service in electricity, it doesn’t in natural gas. Rinebolt’s group is currently challenging a move to eliminate default service for some commercial gas customers.
Rinebolt praised Snitchler, however, for pushing electric distribution companies to use competitive procurement to obtain energy for their standard service offer.
Sam Randazzo, counsel to the Industrial Energy Users-Ohio, faulted PUCO for allowing utilities to collect “massive amounts” of transition, or “stranded” costs. As a result, he said, Ohio businesses and individuals are paying rates that are much higher than what are reflected in PJM capacity prices.
ALEC
Gov. Kasich appointed Snitchler in January 2011 to complete the term of former Chairman Alan Schriber.
Then a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, Snitchler was, like Kasich, active in the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative group that promotes free markets and reduced regulation. Snitchler was a keynote speaker at an ALEC task force meeting in April 2011 after joining the PUC.
Last year, Ohio legislators battled over legislation backed by ALEC to weaken or repeal the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS).
The legislation targeted Ohio’s “25-by-25” standard, which requires power companies to get 12.5% of their electricity from renewables and an equal amount from “advanced energy,” such as fuel cells, “clean coal” or new-generation nuclear power by 2025.
The legislation stalled in committee in December in the face of opposition from stakeholders including the Ohio Manufacturers Association and the Ohio Office of Consumers’ Counsel.
Snitchler and PUCO took no public position on the legislation. But he has made clear his misgivings about renewable power in frequent Twitter postings.
Tweets
The Columbus Dispatch reported a year ago that among more than 1,000 tweets from the previous year, “Snitchler did not once share anything positive about renewable energy.”
Among the tweets: “After [Hurricane] Sandy no one lined up for wind turbines,” and the “‘green’ religion is taking over from Christian religion.”
He also shared posts expressing doubts about climate change, quoting a report that noted that “the Himalayas and nearby peaks have lost no ice in past 10 years.”
On another occasion, he re-tweeted a story from the Communist Party newspaper Pravda, titled “Elites of West have cranked up myth of Global Warming.” Snitchler said he found the article “interesting.”
State Rep. Mike Foley, a Democrat, called Snitchler’s posts “radical.”
“The First Amendment entitles Snitchler to say what he wants. But Ohio isn’t paying Snitchler to do stand-up,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote in an editorial. “Ohio is paying Snitchler to do the judgelike job of setting utility rates. That requires an open mind, not a juvenile one.”
“The guy is a right-wing ideologue and he doesn’t belong in a regulatory body that’s supposed to be impartial and protect the consumers, which he’s not doing,” Henry Eckhart, former commissioner who now represents utility consumers, told the Massillon, Ohio, Independent.
He quoted America’s Natural Gas Alliance so often that one commenter said “on some days @snitch92 might be confused for the ANGA’s feed.”
In fact, Snitchler has expressed concerns about the state becoming overly dependent on natural gas as an electric source, and called for a continued role for coal.
“While shale gas may be a major component in the here and now planning by our utilities there is no doubt coal needs to continue to play a major role in our future generation mix,” he told an Ohio House committee in October.
Snitchler declined yesterday to talk about specific postings or his view of climate change science.
“That’s not been a focus of my effort at the commission,” he said. He acknowledged, however, “You always learn lessons about better ways to communicate, and that was a lesson learned on my part.”
AEP Solar Project
The tweets came to light after Snitchler voted with a 3-1 majority to reject American Electric Power’s proposed Turning Point solar energy project.
The 50 MW project — about 250,000 solar panels on a reclaimed strip-mine — would have been the largest solar farm east of the Rocky Mountains. It had been championed by Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, during his unsuccessful 2010 reelection campaign against Kasich.
The PUCO staff supported it, saying additional solar capacity was needed to comply with the state’s renewable mandates.
Ohio’s industrial energy users and FirstEnergy Corp. were among those who opposed the project, criticizing the funding mechanism AEP sought — a surcharge on all AEP distribution customers, including those who purchase power from competitive suppliers.
Snitchler joined with Commissioners Lynn Slaby and Andre Porter — now Kasich’s Commerce Department director — in finding that the project sponsors had failed to demonstrate it benefited ratepayers and was in the public interest.
“It wasn’t a question of being anti-renewables or anti-solar,” Snitchler said. “The Ohio Power Siting Board, on which I also served, approved a number of renewable projects, particularly wind, during my tenure.”
Former PUCO Commissioner Cheryl Roberto, now the Environmental Defense Fund’s Associate Vice President of Smart Power, said although she disagreed with Snitchler on environmental issues, she found him “pragmatic” and cooperative.
“I really enjoyed working with Todd,” said Roberto, who left the commission in December 2012. “I think Todd works very hard to understand some very complex and arcane issues.”
Travel Expenses
Snitchler came under criticism this month after the Dayton Daily News reported that the commission spent nearly $35,000 to send the five commissioners and 15 staff members to the NARUC conference.
The Ohio PUC delegation was the largest among those attending from PJM states. The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission was second with 16 attendees. None of the other state regulatory agencies sent more than seven attendees.
“You don’t need 15 staff people listening to a bunch of lectures,” former PUCO chairman Henry Eckhart told the Daily News. “Get a copy of the handouts and bring it back.”
A PUCO spokesman responded to the criticism by noting that the commission is the fifth largest state regulatory agency in the country.
Voluntary Departure?
Kasich and Snitchler described the end of the chairman’s tenure as Snitchler’s choice. After five years of commuting weekly to Columbus from his Canton-area home two hours away, Snitchler said, he wanted to spend more time at home, particularly with a daughter about to enter her senior year of high school.
Some in Columbus, however, speculated that Snitchler wanted to keep the post, which pays more than $124,000 annually, but was rebuffed by the governor.
“Those folks are wrong,” Snitchler insisted. “I thought long and hard about it…Everybody has an expiration date.”
Snitchler, who previously had a private legal practice, said he hopes to continue working in the energy field but has no landing place yet.
Before his term expires, he hopes to complete PUCO’s investigation into whether the state’s electric utilities have a true separation between their regulated and unregulated sides. A staff report issued last week recommended the commission audit utilities every four years to ensure compliance with code of conduct rules that bar sharing of competitive information between regulated and competitive subsidiaries.
Replacement
Under state law, the five-member commission can have no more than three from any political party. Snitchler’s departure will leave it with a single Republican, Slaby, Democrat Steven Lesser and two members not registered with either party, Asim Haque and Beth Trombold.
Twenty-seven aspirants applied to replace the chairman by last week’s deadline, including two PUCO staffers, former elected officials and several attorneys and engineers. All but two of the candidates are men.
A 12-member nominating council that includes consumer, labor and industry stakeholders will screen the candidates and forward a list of four finalists to Kasich.
PJM’s dispatch of demand response helped avoid the need to shed load during the polar vortex Jan. 7, when the RTO set a new winter demand record of about 141,500 MW.
PJM dispatched DR for both the morning and evening peaks. An estimated 2,029 MW responded for hour ending 1800, according to the graphs released by PJM last week (above). Actual reductions will be known after customer meter data is provided.
AEP Transmission Holding Co. is partnering with AltaLink to bid on the Fort McMurray West 500-kV project in Alberta, Canada. The joint venture was selected by the Alberta Electric System Operator as one of five qualified bidders for the 300-mile project, designed to meet large industrial load growth. The company expects to submit its proposal in November and have a decision late in the year. If successful, the project would be developed by AEP Transmission subsidiary Transource Energy LLC.
The other bidders are NorSpan Partners LP (EPCOR Utilities Inc. and LS Power Associates LP); Alberta PowerLine (Canadian Utilities Limited and Quanta Capital Solutions Inc.); TAMA Transmission LP (MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company and TransAlta) and TransCanada/Elecnor (TransCanada PipeLines Limited and Elecnor S.A.).
Dominion named seven new vice presidents effective Jan. 1. Corynne Arnett became vice president for financial management at Dominion Generation; Michael Frederick vice president for LNG Operations; Lee Katz vice president and general auditor, reporting directly to CEO Thomas Farrell; Mark Mitchell vice president for generation construction; Brian Sheppard, vice president for pipeline operations; Alma Showalter vice president for tax; and Chester Wade, vice president for corporate communications.
New York, Connecticut and a shareholder advocacy group agreed to withdraw their shareholder resolution on the subject after FirstEnergy committed to study and report on ways it could help meet President Obama’s goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050. The New York State Comptroller’s Office has won other such settlements with utilities, and has outstanding submissions with CMS Energy and Ameren.
Iberdrola USA named an eight-member board of directors as part of a corporate reorganization that structured Iberdrola S.A.’s U.S. business to align with the international company’s other structures. Board member Robert Kump, CEO of Iberdrola USA Networks, has also been appointed chief corporate officer, leading U.S. strategy.
The board, led by Iberdrola Chairman Ignacio Galan, includes four independent members: John Baldacci, former member of Congress and governor of Maine; Jose Fernandez, former assistant secretary of state; Alan Solomont, former ambassador to Spain and Andorra; and Alfredo Ayub, former director general of the Comision Federal de Electricidad in Mexico. Other members are José Sainz Armada, chief financial officer for Iberdrola Group and Pedro Azagra Blázquez, chief development officer for Iberdrola Group.
GDF Suez Energy North America named Eric Bradley senior vice president of strategy. In addition to heading the strategy function, Bradley also will oversee acquisitions and financial analysis, communications, government and regulatory affairs and new business incubation.
