Duke Settles with Environmental Groups
Duke Energy agreed to quit burning coal at its share of the Wabash River Station power plant in western Indiana by June 2018 under a settlement with environmental and citizens groups that also calls for the company to increase its investments in renewable energy. The Natural Resources Defense Council ranked the Wabash River Station ninth among 25 coal-fired power plants it says are responsible for half of the mercury pollution in the Great Lakes region.
The settlement ends the activist groups’ challenge of Duke’s state air permit for its new $3.5 billion, coal-gasification plant in Edwardsport that went online this summer.
More: Associated Press
MARYLAND
PSC Delays Vote on Wind Farm Deadline
The Maryland Public Service Commission deferred action for one week on a request from Dan’s Mountain Wind Force LLC that its deadline to start building wind turbines be extended until Dec. 31, 2014. The PSC staff recommended approval of the extension request, saying the company had solved financial problems with an agreement with Exelon Corp. to fund construction and eventually purchase the project.
More: Cumberland Times-News
NEW JERSEY
NJ to Build Micro Grid for Transit System
The U.S. Department of Energy and the state of New Jersey announced plans to design a small electric grid that will serve the state’s transit system and withstand the onslaught of storms like Superstorm Sandy. The micro grid will power the transit system’s rail operations between Newark, Jersey City and Hoboken.
More: Reuters
Critics: PSEG Solar Program Too Costly
The Chemical Industry Council of New Jersey and the state’s Division of Rate Counsel are balking at the expansion of PSEG’s solar power program, calling it too expensive. Public Service Electric & Gas won state regulatory approval of a plan to expand its “Solar4All” program by putting solar panels on factories, warehouses and landfills.
The chemical trade group says power costs for New Jersey industrial customers are already 59% higher than the national average.
More: The Trentonian
NORTH CAROLINA
Thousands Say No to Duke Coal-Ash Settlement
Virtually all the nearly 5,000 comments filed on a proposed settlement of coal-ash lawsuits against Duke Energy opposed the deal or called for hearings on it. North Carolina filed suit in August against 12 Duke Energy coal-fired power plants where it said ash has polluted water.
The actions followed earlier suits against Duke’s Riverbend and Asheville plant, meaning that all 14 of Duke’s North Carolina coal plants are now the targets of state litigation.
More: The Charlotte Observer, WCNC
A.G.: Duke’s Profit Margin Hurts Consumers
Attorney General Roy Cooper said a state Supreme Court ruling should lead to lower utility profits and customer rates. The court backed Cooper’s appeal of Duke Carolinas’ 2011 rate case, which increased rates 7.2%, saying that the state Utilities Commission didn’t fully document the impact to customers of the return on equity granted Duke.
Cooper says state regulators should heed that ruling in reducing ROE in a rate case currently before them.
More: The Charlotte Observer
OHIO
AEP Denies Report It’s Likely to Sell Ohio Plants
American Electric Power says there is no basis for an analyst’s report suggesting the company might sell its Ohio power plants. The report, from UBS Investment Research, comes as AEP is changing its structure to make the Ohio plants into a new subsidiary.
An AEP spokeswoman said there are “no current plans to sell that business.” AEP has about 9,000 MW of generation in Ohio, the company’s largest market among the 11 states where it has utility customers.
More: Columbus Dispatch
Kasich Aide Rebuffs Query Over EPA Chief’s Ouster
The spokesman for Ohio Gov. John Kasich mocked a Democratic legislator who asked the governor to release documents on the sudden resignation of the Ohio EPA’s chief water expert. “If she had her way, we’d all be living on a collective farm cooking organic quinoa over a dung fire,” Kasich’s spokesman said. “So, I think we’ll take her views in context.”
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that coal interests have contributed about $50,000 to Kasich and another $170,000 to state lawmakers since 2011.
More: WOUB Public Media, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Associated Press
DPL: No Gimmicks to Win Retail Customers
Dayton Power and Light Co. won’t be offering gimmicky plans to lure customers as its Ohio market opens to retail competition, company officials said. “We’ll try to keep it on the straight and narrow,” CEO Phil Herrington told the Dayton Daily News in an interview.
More: Dayton Daily News
PENNSYLVANIA
Pa. Board Drafts New Gas Drilling Rules
The state Environmental Quality Board approved a draft regulation that officials said will strengthen environmental performance standards for oil and gas activities.
The proposal includes provisions covering exploration in parks and wildlife areas, spill prevention, waste management and the restoration of well sites after drilling. The rule also includes standards on the construction of gathering lines and temporary pipelines and provisions for identifying and monitoring abandoned wells.
The Department of Environmental Protection is recommending a 60-day public comment period on the new rules, with at least six public hearings across the state.
More: PA Dept. of Environmental Protection
TMI Clean Up to Cost $1 Billion
FirstEnergy Corp. estimated it will cost nearly $1 billion to decommission Three Mile Island Unit 2, which has been idle since its partial meltdown in 1979. The company disclosed the figure at a public hearing in Hershey Aug. 28.
FirstEnergy says it will continue to maintain the facility until Unit 1, operated by Exelon Nuclear, is shut down. Unit 1 has a license to operate until 2034.
More: York Daily Record
PPL Rates Up for Residential Customers
The price of electricity for PPL Electric Utilities’ default residential customers will increase slightly while default commercial customers’ rates will drop. The new “price to compare” for residential customers will be 8.5 cents per kWh, up from the current 8.2 cents.
More: The Morning Call
Court Rejects Challenge to PPL Power Line
A federal judge threw out a lawsuit by conservation groups to block construction of a high-voltage power line by PPL and PSEG through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.
More: The Morning Call
PPL Fined for Diverting Crew in 2011 Snowstorm
PPL agreed to pay a $60,000 fine to settle a complaint that it transferred a repair crew working on a high-priority outage in a 2011 snowstorm to fix a low-priority outage. The switch — a violation of the state utilities code — meant 1,326 customers in the higher-priority area were left in the dark about four hours longer than necessary.
More: The Morning Call
14 MW Solar Project Wins OKs
A 14 MW solar project that will be Pennsylvania’s largest has won local land use approvals. Orion Renewable Energy Group, LLC should begin construction in about a year on the 100-acre site near Chambersburg in Franklin County.
More: Public Opinion
VIRGINIA
Va. Gov. Hopefuls Debate Energy Issues
In a joint forum on energy issues, Virginia gubernatorial hopefuls Terry McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli sparred over McAuliffe’s electric car company and Cuccinelli’s position on climate change and involvement in a dispute over gas royalties.
More: The Washington Post
Dominion Updates Long-Range Electric Plan
Natural gas-fired generation is the foundation of Dominion Virginia Power’s updated long-range energy plan, which also includes emissions-free resources to respond to U.S. greenhouse gas regulations.
More: Associated Press, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Regulators OK First Prepaid Electric Program
The State Corporation Commission (SCC) has approved rules allowing Rappahannock Electric Cooperative customers to participate in a voluntary prepaid electric service program, the first offered in the state. The program allows a customer to prepay for electric service and permits the cooperative to suspend service when sufficient funds are not available.
Customers using the prepaid option will pay the same for electricity as those using traditional billing but will avoid having to pay a large deposit, late payment fees, or reconnection charges. The coop serves about 155,000 customers in a rural region from Fredericksburg to Front Royal.
More: Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, Virginia State Corporation Commission
WEST VIRGINIA
Potomac Ed: Cooperating with Billing Probe
Potomac Edison said it is complying with a West Virginia Public Service Commission investigation into the company’s billing practices, after residents complained about irregular billing and a lack of meter-reading.
More: WHAG Online
PSC Seeks Feedback on Renewable Program
The West Virginia Public Service Commission is seeking suggestions for simplifying its application process for homeowners seeking credits for rooftop solar systems.
More: The Journal
