Chicago Building Efficiency Project OKd
The Chicago City Council approved a $13 million, 62-building retrofit project, the first and only one stemming from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago Infrastructure Trust initiative, which aims to make city buildings more energy efficient. The cost is only 11% of what was envisioned when the trust was launched two years ago. Bank of America is to finance the project, earning 4.95% on its investment for 15 years.
More: Chicago Tribune
KENTUCKY
LG&E, KU Ask PSC Approvals
Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities asked the Public Service Commission for approval to build a second natural gas combined-cycle plant and a solar facility. The 700 MW gas plant would be at the Green River plant site, where the utilities are retiring coal-fired generation capacity. They already plan to build a 640 MW gas unit at the Cane Run plant site. The utilities also plan a 10 MW solar facility at the Brown station.
LG&E and KU also asked the PSC to let them expand several energy efficiency programs and add an option for customers to get advanced meters. The programs to be expanded are those for home energy rebates, home and commercial energy analyses and commercial demand conservation. The utilities also would extend education and public information programs.
NEW JERSEY
A Solomon Heads BPU Again
Dianne Solomon, wife of a former president of the Board of Public Utilities, was appointed to that position last week when Bob Hanna left the presidency to assume a judgeship on the state Superior Court. Solomon’s husband, Lee Solomon, who preceded Hanna in the presidency, is also a Superior Court judge.
Gov. Chris Christie made no announcement of his appointment of Dianne Solomon, who has been a commissioner since last summer. A paralegal, she is a former commissioner at the South Jersey Transportation Authority.
More: The Star-Ledger; The Philadelphia Inquirer
DOE Deputy Meets with PSEG
U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman met with state business and community leaders in a roundtable at Public Service Enterprise Group’s headquarters to discuss electricity infrastructure needs and PSEG’s controversial grid-investment plan, Energy Strong.
More: PSEG
NORTH CAROLINA
Groups Join in Action on Duke Ash
The Southern Environmental Law Center filed court papers on behalf of seven water conservation groups that want to participate in state environmental officials’ lawsuits against Duke Energy over coal ash disposal sites. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ enforcement actions involve seven operating and retired plants.
More: Charlotte Business Journal
Invenergy, DOD in Wind Deal
Invenergy Wind Development reached an agreement with the Department of Defense to mitigate impacts of the company’s Pantego Wind Energy Project in the eastern part of the state. Turbines would be placed no closer than four nautical miles from the centerline of a flight route used by Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
The project is not a certainty, however, and Invenergy continues to evaluate its development plans, “with a specific time line still to be determined.”
More: Washington Daily News
State No. 2 in Solar Demand
A market researcher ranked the state as second highest for solar demand in 2013, behind only California. In NPD Solarbuzz’s year-ago report, the state ranked fifth. The director of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions attributed the state’s rise to solar-friendly policies, which include a 35% solar tax credit and a 12.5% renewable portfolio standard.
More: Duke Chronicle; Solarbuzz
OHIO
Bomb Threat at DP&L plant
A fired worker allegedly threatened to blow up Dayton Power and Light’s coal-fired Stuart Station on the Ohio River, but no bomb was found there. DP&L had to shut down one of four units at the plant while law enforcement agencies investigated.
More: Journal-News
New Line To Power Gas Plant
FirstEnergy’s American Transmission Systems Inc. and Ohio Edison asked the Ohio Power Siting Board for authorization to build a 3.5-mile, 138-kV line to the Hickory Bend cryogenic gas-processing plant operated by Pennant Midstream, a NiSource subsidiary.
The plant, which is almost operational, will separate wet from dry gas from the Utica shale formation. The siting board put the transmission application on an accelerated consideration track, and FirstEnergy said it could start construction as soon as February.
More: The Vindicator
PENNSYLVANIA
FirstEnergy Replacing Beaver Valley Transformer
FirstEnergy is replacing a transformer at its Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station after the plant shut down January 6. It was not clear whether the severe cold weather played a role in the sudden shutdown. The company did not say how long the transformer replacement would take.
More: WKSU
Cold Snap Raises Concerns
Two members of the state legislature expressed concern about PJM’s generation adequacy in the wake of the severe cold snap that tested the grid’s strength. In letters to the Public Utility Commission and PJM, Sen. Tim Solobay and Rep. Pam Snyder said the RTO’s difficulty during the polar vortex raised questions about the closure of the Hatfield’s Ferry and Mitchell plants, which PJM has said would not affect reliability.
More: Northcentralpa.com
Wind Turbine Topples
A NextEra Energy Resources wind turbine on a ridge in Springfield Township apparently fell over and crumpled. The company said it was investigating the cause. A nearby resident said the night was still, although the area has had high winds this season. According to a NextEra official, the turbines are on private property away from buildings, and “The risk to the public (from a collapse) is zero.”
More: Daily Courier
VIRGINIA
Bill Protects Birds, Bats
A bill to protect birds and bats from wind turbines passed the state Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources 9-5, advancing to the full Senate for consideration. The bill would require the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to consult with the Department of Environmental Quality when it writes regulations for wind and other renewable energy projects.
Sponsor Sen. Tom Garrett (R) rejected allegations by some wind power advocates who criticized the measure as anti-wind. “We will, I hope, generate a greater and greater percentage of our power in the coming years via renewable energy resources… That doesn’t mean we should do so irresponsibly.”
More: The News & Advance
