Big Rivers Rate Hike Protested
Big Rivers Electric’s proposal for a rate increase is generating opposition in the state. The hike — about 21% for residential customers and 25% for industry — is meant to make up for revenue the cooperative will lose when a second aluminum smelter leaves its system this month. The increase would “cause us to think about generating our own power,” a Kimberly Clark plant manager said at a Public Service Commission hearing.
More: Kentucky.com
MARYLAND
Meter-Reading Case Unsettled
A dispute between the Office of People’s Counsel and FirstEnergy’s Potomac Edison about meter reading and billing could go to a Public Service Commission law judge if the parties do not reach a settlement by this week. Customers allege overbilling because the utility did not read their meters as often as required.
More: Herald-Mail
NEW JERSEY
Pinelands Pipeline Plan Fails
The Pinelands Commission was evenly split, 7-7, Jan. 10 when it surprised onlookers by voting down South Jersey Gas’ politically hot proposal for a 22-mile pipeline through the protected area to the BL England power plant. With 8 votes required, the proposal failed, and it is unclear what steps will come next from its supporters, who include Gov. Chris Christie as well as numerous officials who back converting BL England to gas from coal.
The commission’s deliberations on the pipeline have been fraught with charges of political interference, and one columnist linked the dynamics to those involved in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal.
More: StarTribune; The New York Times
Panel OKs Retail Shopping Bill
The Assembly’s Telecommunications and Utilities Committee approved a bill sponsored by Chairman Upendra Chivukula aimed at increasing the amount of retail power shopping by residential and small business customers. Utilities oppose the measure. While the bill cannot pass the legislature this session, it is a welcome “beginning of a conversation” about the issue, said Jay Kooper of the Retail Energy Supply Association.
More: NJSpotlight
Wind Farm Awaits BPU Decision
Closing arguments in Fishermen’s Energy case at the Board of Public Utilities ended late in December, and the offshore-wind company is waiting to see if the regulators will approve the state’s first offshore renewable energy certificates to fund the project. Fishermen’s 25-MW demonstration project offshore Atlantic City first went before the BPU three years ago; several months ago the company worked out a deal with the Division of Rate Counsel to lower the cost to customers.
More: Press of Atlantic City
BPU Eyes Storm-Cost Recovery
The Board of Public Utilities begins this week to consider Jersey Central Power & Light’s request to recover $640 million in storm costs. The case is one of a number involving more than $1 billion in costs for the state’s utilities.
More: NJSpotlight
OHIO
AEP Proposes 9% Rate Cut
American Electric Power proposed to the Public Utilities Commission a retail rate cut of 9% over three years, beginning in 2015. It attributed the reduction to oversupply and sluggish demand. The state’s ratepayer watchdog says the cut should be bigger.
More: Akron Beacon Journal
PUC Travel Spending Questioned
The Public Utilities Commission spent $34,660 to send all five commissioners and 15 staffers to the Orlando annual meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners – a sum that some believe is excessive. “Twenty people to Orlando. There is no excuse for that,” one former commissioner said. Documents released to the Dayton Daily News show the PUC has paid $156,082 in commissioners’ travel since 2009.
More: Power Engineering
Low-head Hydro Company Starts Up
KW River Hydroelectric, a firm that has developed a device to capture power from low-head dams, has opened an office in Hamilton and is seeking investors and grants. The start-up was launched by a former Duke Energy executive and an Air Force retiree who invented the device, a prototype of which is to be tested on the nearby Great Miami River.
More: Journal-News
Group Promotes Green Initiative
The Ohio Energy Initiative Commission LLC, a private group whose members and backers are not identified, said it would begin this month to accept early green-energy project proposals for $1.3 billion in annual funding that would be created if state voters approve the Ohio Clean Energy ballot initiative. Supporters need to collect 385,247 signatures by July 4 to get the issue on the November ballot.
More: Associated Press; Yes for Ohio’s Energy Future
PUC Chief Won’t Seek Reappointment
Potential appointees have until Jan. 16 to apply for Public Utilities Commission Chairman Todd Snitchler’s position. Snitchler announced this morning that he will not seek reappointment. During his tenure the PUC has pushed utility restructuring and electricity competition.
More: The Columbus Dispatch, PUC of Ohio
EPA Director Out, Cryptically
Scott Nally, director of the state Environmental Protection Agency, created a stir by resigning abruptly Jan. 7 after three years in the post. He was replaced on an interim basis by Craig Butler, Gov. John Kasich’s senior director of energy and environmental policy. A cryptic resignation letter from Nally provided no reason for his departure, leading to speculation.
More: The Columbus Dispatch
Ormet Workers Picket AEP
Former employees of Ormet’s Hannibal aluminum smelter picketed American Electric Power headquarters Jan. 8 to call attention to the power rates they say forced bankrupt Ormet to shut the facility. Ormet shut the plant in October, blaming its decision on a Public Utilities Commission ruling that did not approve as large a rate discount as Ormet said it needed.
More: The Columbus Dispatch;
Wind Operational at Honda Plant
Two wind turbines began operating at Honda Transmission Manufacturing in Russells Point. The company says the turbines’ 10,000 MWh/year will supply about 10% of the plant’s needs, making it the first automotive company in the U.S. to get a substantial amount of its power from onsite wind.
More: Automotive World
Villager Wants to Disband Muni
Officials in Bethel are fighting a citizen petition to have the village disband its utility. Sponsor Jeff Coulter wants the village to turn over its electric operations to a company like Duke Energy or American Electric Power, from which the village currently buys its electricity. Coulter says cutting out Bethel Utilities as the “middle man” will save residents money. Town officials disagree.
More: Cincinnati.com
PENNSYLVANIA
Low-Income Customers Can Shop
The Public Utility Commission voted to let customers in PECO’s CAP Rate program sign up with competitive suppliers. Consumer advocates worry that suppliers might win these low-income customers initially and later boost their rates. But the PUC rejected a proposal to limit the suppliers from charging more than PECOs default rate.
More: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Storage Company Gets Big Financing
Pittsburgh-based Aquion Energy, maker of batteries and energy storage systems, closed a $55 million financing round that includes an investment from Microsoft founder Bill Gates. “We are expecting Aquion Energy’s commercial launch in 2014 to be disruptive to the world of stationary energy storage,” said Ray Lane, partner emeritus at Kleiner Perkins, the first firm to invest in Aquion.
More: Aquion Energy
Beacon Project at Half Capacity
Beacon Power’s 20-MW flywheel storage project at the Humboldt Industrial Park is operating at about half capacity and plans to be at full strength by summer, the company said. The project was among those identified in a recent “60 Minutes” segment about ventures that received Department of Energy stimulus funding and then went bankrupt. Beacon reformed after its bankruptcy, and completed a 20-MW facility in New York state and undertook the Humboldt construction.
More: The Standard Speaker
PPL Line Wins Approval
The Public Utility Commission approved PPL Electric Utilities’ proposal for a $335 million transmission line expansion and upgrade in the Poconos. The company will build three new substations and 60 miles of new 230 kV lines, and rebuild 20 miles of existing 69 kV lines in parts of Lackawanna, Monroe, Wayne, Pike and Luzerne counties.
More: The Morning Call
Duquesne Set for Smart Meters
Duquesne Light plans to install its first 5,000 smart meters this year, after the Public Utility Commission approved the installation last week. Duquesne is the third utility to receive final PUC go-ahead, following PECO and PPL. By 2020, a spokesman said, all 585,000 customer meters are to be replaced.
More: Tribune-Review
VIRGINIA
Dominion Nukes Had Best Year Yet
Dominion Resources’ four nuclear plants posted a record efficiency rate in 2013, with an average capacity factor of 93.7%, up from a 2009 record of 93.1%. In Virginia, the company’s two nuclear plants supply about 42% of its customer load.
More: Richmond Times-Dispatch
Dominion Line Case Reopened
The State Corporation Commission reopened its case involving Dominion Virginia Power’s proposed Surry-Skiffes Creek power line after the utility was unable to get a right-of-way agreement with the James City County Economic Development Authority. The SCC, which approved a route in November, reopened the case not to have it reargued but to allow further review of the on-land portion of the route. It has scheduled a hearing Jan. 29
