Suzlon Could End Up With Big Sky Wind Farm
Wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon Group could wind up owning the 240 MW Big Sky wind farm if negotiations between Midwest Generation and NRG Energy do not resolve a debt issue concerning the facility. Bankrupt Midwest Gen is selling assets, including Big Sky, to NRG, but complex debt arrangements could result in Suzlon taking over the wind farm. A Midwest Gen official says the company would keep operating it.
More: Crain’s Chicago Business
Smart Meter Opt-Out Fee Lower Than Expected
Customers who refuse Commonwealth Edison smart meters will be charged $21.53 a month, less than the $25 in a proposal that the utility negotiated with consumer advocates. The Illinois Commerce Commission said customers ultimately will have to get the meters whether they want them or not.
More: Chicago Tribune
MARYLAND
Bat Protection Plan OK’d
Exelon’s Indiana-bat conservation plan for its 28-turbine, 70-MW Criterion project on Backbone Mountain won approval from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The plan, required to get an “incidental take” permit under the Endangered Species Act, involves slowing blade rotation to reduce bat collisions in peak bat migration season, particularly at night, when bats are most active.
More: CBS Baltimore
NEW JERSEY
BPU Urges Settlement In PSE&G Upgrade Case
Public Service Electric & Gas will attempt again next week to reach a settlement with groups that oppose its $2.9 billion, five-year plan to strengthen the grid to withstand storms better. The plan is part of the company’s 10-year, $3.9 billion “Energy Strong” proposal. Some consumer groups are adamantly opposed to a settlement, arguing that a full hearing at the Board of Public Utilities would be better, and PSE&G is preparing for both. One participant in the discussions says the gap between positions is as wide as the Grand Canyon, but BPU staff urged the parties to give settlement another try.
Meanwhile, the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee approved a bill that would require the BPU to demand even tougher reliability plans and faster service restoration from utilities. The measure would impose stiff penalties for failure — up to $25,000 a day per violation, with a $2 million cap.
More: NJSpotlight (2-6-14), NJSpotlight (2-7-14)
NORTH CAROLINA
Duke Moves to Buy Muni Plant Shares
Duke Energy is negotiating to buy some generation assets from North Carolina municipal utilities, which have been burdened with the high costs of the resources for years. North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency owned the assets with Progress Energy, which Duke bought in 2012. The muni group has a total of about 700 MW in several plants: the Shearon Harris and Brunswick nuclear plants and the Mayo and Roxboro coal plants. Negotiations and regulatory approvals could take up to two years.
Duke was unsuccessful in its bid to buy up to 10% of Santee Cooper’s stake in the Summer nuclear station in South Carolina. Santee Cooper ended up selling part of its stake to SCANA for about $500 million.
More: Charlotte Observer; The Wilson Times
Duke: “We apologize” For Ash Pond Spill
“We apologize. We are accountable,” Duke Energy tweeted Friday after up to 82,000 tons of ash spilled into the Dan River. The company, already the target of state and environmental group legal action over ash ponds, said it “pledges to take care of Dan River and the surrounding environment.”
A storm water pipe under the unlined ash pond, which contained about a million tons of ash from now-retired coal units at Duke’s Dan River plant, broke Feb. 2 and gushed ash and water into the river. Disputes persisted through the week about whether the water was safe for downstream communities to use, and environmental activists renewed public pressure on the company.
The spill came shortly after the federal Environmental Protection Agency and environmental groups announced an agreement to have EPA issue long-delayed coal ash handling regulations by the end of this year.
More: Charlotte Observer; Charlotte Business Journal
OHIO
AEP Energy Savers Program Attracts 2 Cities
Louisville became the second city, after Lima, to participate in AEP Ohio’s new pilot program called Community Energy Savers. If there are 300 participants in AEP’s efficiency education and incentives program by June 30, the utility will give the city an incentive award to complete lighting upgrades at the YMCA and the old Post Office.
More: AEP Ohio
PENNSYLVANIA
Gamesa Shutdown Spurs Political Finger Pointing
The decision by wind turbine maker Gamesa to close its factory in Cambria County March 31 is a talking point for two state-office hopefuls, Democrats Katie McGinty and Mark Critz. They are blaming the shutdown on Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, who they say advocated for increased taxes on the wind energy sector and opposed bipartisan efforts to expand the state’s market for renewable energy.
McGinty, who is running for governor, is a former federal environmental official and former head of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection while Critz is a candidate for lieutenant governor.
Corbett’s office rejected the blame, saying the governor has worked with the renewable energy industry and would continue to do so to “support and sustain their growth here in Pennsylvania.”
More: The Tribune-Democrat
Lawsuit over Hatfield’s Ferry
Neighbors of the now-shuttered Hatfield’s Ferry coal-fired plant in Greene County have filed suit against Allegheny Energy Supply for what they say is heavy-metal and other pollution from the facility. They seek class-action status for the suit. The group withdrew a suit last year for what its attorney said was an attempt at mediation, but now has refiled.
More: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
VIRGINIA
Dominion Not Giving Up On Wind Project
Although Dominion is blocked from building turbines on a ridge where it owns land intended for a wind farm, the company said it is not giving up on the project. Dominion owns 2,600 acres on East River Mountain, but has not been able to build on it since the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors enacted a ridgeline protection ordinance in 2010.
Dominion has yet to file an appeal with the appellate board established by the county to hear challenges to the ordinance.
