ComEd Not to Blame for Smart Meter Fires
Commonwealth Edison’s smart meters are not to blame for overheating and fires that occurred in a pilot program. State regulators said the problem was loose connections and corrosion in customer-owned casings. Three smart meters caught fire during a 2010 pilot program, in which ComEd installed 130,000 smart meters.
Meanwhile, ComEd began installing smart meters for 60,000 customers in Chicago’s western suburbs last week. The company expects to complete the installations by the end of the year and hopes to switch all of its 4 million customers to the devices by 2021.
More: Chicago Tribune
KENTUCKY
Coal Layoffs Boost E. KY Unemployment Rates
Harlan County recorded the state’s highest unemployment rate in July at 17.2% while neighboring Bell County saw its rate hit 14.5%. “The majority of the layoffs have been coal mining jobs or jobs related to the mining field,” said one official. “In Bell and Harlan counties, coal impacts almost every business and almost every family in some way.”
Eastern Kentucky lost more than 4,000 coal jobs in 2012 as production in the region fell to its lowest levels since 1965, according to the Kentucky Department of Energy Development and Independence.
More: Middlesboro Daily News; Mountain Association for Community Economic Development
MARYLAND
Ex-PSEG Exec’s PSC Appointment Criticized
Some in Montgomery County are criticizing Gov. Martin O’Malley’s appointment of a former PSEG executive to the Public Service Commission, saying the agency needs a stronger consumer perspective. Anne E. Hoskins of Baltimore, was a senior vice president of public affairs and sustainability for PSEG.
More: The Gazette
PSC Extends Deadline on Wind Project
The Public Service Commission agreed Wednesday to give a wind power developer until the end of 2014 to begin work on a 25-turbine wind farm on Dan’s Mountain in Allegany County.
Laurel Renewable Partners, developer of the project, said it was unable to meet the PSC’s original September 2013 deadline due to financial difficulties and restrictive local zoning regulations. The company says Exelon Corp. has agreed to fund the project.
More: Cumberland Times-News
NEW JERSEY
JCP&L to Partner with IBEW to Speed Storm Repairs
Jersey Central Power & Light is partnering with a local electrical workers’ union to quicken system restoration following storms. Members of IBEW Local 102 will supplement utility personnel in providing damage assessments for downed wires and other hazards, freeing up JCP&L crews to do major restoration work. Union members may also be used to repair damaged connections at homes, hook up generators and help at water distribution stations.
The company said it expects the JCP&L-IBEW Emergency Response Team program — the first of its type in New Jersey — to be adopted by other utilities.
More: NJ.com
NORTH CAROLINA
Dominion, Solar Developer Dispute `Avoided Cost’ Calcs.
Dominion North Carolina Power asked the state Utilities Commission to reject a request by the developer of a 20 MW solar project for a higher price for its power. Dominion said it is willing to sign a 15-year contract with SunEnergy1 to buy all the power produced by the $50 million solar project in Scotland Neck but not at the price the developer is seeking. The dispute centers on how Dominion computed its “avoided cost” for the power.
More: Charlotte Business Journal
OHIO
Electricity Probe Ignores Consumers, Critics Say
State regulators’ investigation of the electricity market in Ohio has focused too much on ways to help energy companies and has largely ignored consumer issues, according to a coalition of consumer groups. Those groups said consumers have little access to information about how to choose suppliers and too little protection against misleading solicitations. State regulators say that consumer issues are being addressed in a separate case.
More: The Columbus Dispatch
Enviros Don’t `Like’ FirstEnergy
More than 60,000 Facebook users reportedly signed a pledge not to switch to FirstEnergy Solutions for electricity service. A coalition of environmental groups organized the online campaign in response the company’s push to change Ohio’s energy efficiency law.
FirstEnergy is trying to attract central Ohio customers who now get their electricity service from incumbent American Electric Power. In April, a FirstEnergy executive told an Ohio Senate committee the state needs to change its energy efficiency policy, claiming it is harming electricity customers and the state’s economy.
More: The Columbus Dispatch; Columbus Business First
Anti-Fracking Group Seeks Drilling Ban in Youngstown
Members of a group seeking to ban fracking in Youngstown collected enough signatures for the charter amendment to be on the Nov. 5 ballot, but a pro-business group that helped defeat a similar anti-fracking measure in May is challenging the legality of the proposal.
Meanwhile, new research concluded that a fracking waste disposal well linked to 11 earthquakes that rocked the Youngstown area was likely also responsible for at least 98 additional temblors that were too weak for people to notice. The results were published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.
More: The Vindicator; The Columbus Dispatch
PENNSYLVANIA
Shale Taxes at Issue in PA Governors Race
U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz joined two other Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls in calling for a 5% severance tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas production. Schwartz said she would invest the tax revenues — estimated at $612 million this year — in education and transportation infrastructure.
The tax would be in addition to an impact fee enacted last year. The Democrats are vying to face off against Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, who opposes additional taxes on the industry.
More: The Patriot-News
PJM Meets State over Plant Closures; Neighbors Sue
State officials met with the PJM Interconnection in an effort to prevent FirstEnergy Corp. from its planned Oct. 9 closure of the Hatfield’s Ferry and Mitchell power stations. PJM asked the company in early August to postpone the shutdown, saying it needed more time to complete transmission upgrades to maintain reliability in the plants’ absence.
Several state legislators and representatives of the governor’s office met with PJM at the Public Utility Commission’s office in Harrisburg to brainstorm on ideas to get FirstEnergy to reconsider its plans.
Meanwhile, neighbors of Hatfield’s Ferry filed a class action suit over particulate emissions from the coal-fired generator. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, seeks to represent more than 1,000 residents living within a 1.5-mile radius of the plant.
More: Herald-Standard; Observer-Reporter
Prior coverage in RTO Insider: FE Issues Coal Plant Layoff Notices as PJM Seeks Delay
West Penn Power Energizes 138 kV Line
West Penn Power energized a new 138-kilovolt (kV) transmission line connecting a substation near Kirby, Pa., with a substation in Monongalia County, W. Va. Both substations were expanded and reconfigured to accommodate the new line. While the majority of $20 million project is located in the West Penn Power service area, the West Virginia portion of the line is expected to benefit customers of Mon Power, another FirstEnergy subsidiary.
West Penn Power plans to spend about $110 million on reliability projects in 2013.
More: FirstEnergy
PA Studying Radioactivity in Marcellus Wastes
The state Department of Environmental Protection is conducting a study of radioactive shale gas waste to determine any risks involved in its transportation or disposal. Nearly 1,000 trucks hauling 16,000 tons of Marcellus Shale waste were stopped at Pennsylvania landfill gates after tripping radioactivity alarms last year. After testing, more than 600 tons were shipped to out-of-state landfills designed to dispose of radioactive materials.
More: Associated Press
VIRGINIA
Celanese Spending $150M to Switch from Coal to Gas
Celanese Corp. has begun work on a $150 million project to replace its coal-fired boilers with ones fueled by natural gas. The project, prompted by federal air quality regulations, will include a 16-mile pipeline to connect the company’s plant near Narrows, Va., to a natural gas supply in West Virginia.
State and local governments agreed to contribute $7 million in grants and tax breaks to keep the plant — Giles County’s largest employer with more than 1,000 workers — from moving. The plant, which opened in 1939, produces acetate tow, a material with various industrial uses.
More: Roanoke Times
WEST VIRGINIA
Fuel Cost Cut for AP, Wheeling
The West Virginia Public Service Commission has approved a rate decrease for Appalachian Power Co. and Wheeling Power Co. customers. The PSC Friday issued an order reducing the Expanded Net Energy Cost (ENEC) rates for customers by more than $50 million due to lower coal costs.
More: MetroNews
Coal Plant Developer Seeks Chapter 13 Protection
Longview Power LLC, developer of a $2 billion coal-fired power plant in north-central West Virginia, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection but said neither workers nor customers will be affected in the short term. Longview said that it will continue operations while negotiating with lenders.
More: Associated Press
Dominion Clarksburg Office Moving to Bridgeport
Dominion will move its office in Clarksburg to a more modern 100,000 square foot facility in Bridgeport. About 300 Dominion employees will be affected by the move, which is targeted for late 2015.
More: Exponent-Telegram
