Judge: Bloom Competitor May Fight Surcharge Rule
A judge allowed a competitor of a Delaware fuel cell company to challenge a state-sanctioned surcharge added on the bills of Delmarva Power customers last Thursday. U.S. District Court Magistrate Christopher Burke decided that FuelCell Energy, of Connecticut, can go forward with its suit against Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and the state Public Service Commission, saying it violated the Constitutional prohibition against state interference with interstate commerce.
The subsidy was created and approved by the commission in 2011 in a successful attempt to get Bloom Energy to move its fuel cell operation from California’s Silicon Valley to Delaware. The subsidy is funded by a surcharge on Delmarva’s residential customers averaging $4 to $6 a month. Burke wrote in his ruling that the tariffs help Bloom, but not FuelCell, and put FuelCell at a competitive disadvantage. There was no public solicitation for bids from out-of-state fuel cell companies.
More: News Journal
ILLINOIS
ComEd Asking For Rate Hike; Says Improvements Paying Off
Commonwealth Edison Co. is asking for a rate hike, marking the fourth time since 2011 that the company has gone to regulators for permission to boost rates for modernization programs. The company said this increase request would add about $3 to the average electric bill. ComEd says improvements already undertaken have prevented 500,000 power outages, saving consumers about $82 million.
“These improvements, if done right, should pay for themselves in the long run, but the key moving forward is to hold ComEd accountable,” said Jim Chilsen, a spokesman for consumer advocacy group Citizens Utility Board in Chicago.
More: Chicago Tribune
South Side Petcoke Storage Spurs Residents’ Outrage
Southeast Chicago residents vowed to take their fight to the streets over the increasing piles of petroleum coke being stored in their neighborhood. Saying they’ve been let down by elected officials who last year promised to crack down on companies storing the fuel, residents are planning an April 26 march and a boycott of BP, the source of the “petcoke” being stored along the Calumet River.
An expected City Council vote on an ordinance that would have limited petcoke storage morphed into a tamer proposed ordinance that allows more petcoke storage. Opponents are concerned the new ordinance would be the first step in the eventual approval of a contentious proposal for a synthetic gas plant in the area.
The gas plant plan was tabled last year after Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed legislation that would have committed Chicagoans to pay a fixed rate for synthetic gas from the plant for 30 years, even if market natural gas prices were much lower.
More: Midwest Energy News
Ameren Brags on Upgrades; Critics Remain Unconvinced
Ameren Illinois’ pride in its transmission and distribution upgrades and resultant reliability improvements are being met with a jaded eye by some customers. The company said the $625 million spent on upgrades have shown a 20% improvement in reliability and savings worth $57 million a year since 2012 for residential and small business owners. Ameren Illinois was forced to make the investments, which included smart meter installations and energy-efficiency programs, under the Illinois Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2011.
“This is a long-term process, but we have been able to deliver results to customers while keeping their rates reasonable,” said Ron Pate, senior vice president of operations for the utility.
Critics hope Ameren’s calculations are right but think the company may be jumping the gun. “We haven’t seen the evidence yet, and we think it’s too early to tell,” said David Kolata, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board public watchdog group. “It’s really going to be in the next six months that we’ll really start to get a read on it.”
More: Herald-Review
KENTUCKY
East Kentucky Power Co-op Deactivating Dale Plant
East Kentucky Power Cooperative plans to shut down all four units at the 196-MW William C. Dale coal-fired power plant in Clark County over the next year, but the company said the two largest units will be held ready for restart if needed. East Kentucky decided that retrofitting the units so they meet 2015 pollution limits would be too expensive. The company said it has often been cheaper to operate other plants or purchase power from the market, particularly since East Kentucky’s 2013 integration into PJM.
“Dale Station was East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s first power plant,” Tony Campbell, the co-op’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “This plant has been a reliable workhorse, generating the electricity that powered many thousands of Kentucky homes and businesses over the past 60 years.”
East Kentucky also owns and operates the 341-MW Cooper baseload coal plant in Pulaski County and the 1,279-MW Spurlock baseload coal plant in Mason County. The co-op has installed pollution controls on both plants and intends to continue operating them.
More: East Kentucky Power Cooperative
MARYLAND
Maryland Gives Customers Break on Utility Cutoffs
The Public Service Commission is giving utility customers a gift after a brutal winter: a two-month extension to the period when certain utility companies can cut off service to non-paying customers. The new deadline is May 31, instead of March 31, and applies to Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., Potomac Electric Power Co. and Delmarva Power Co.
The utilities themselves had proposed the extension during a meeting with the commission. The commission is calling for all Maryland utilities to adopt the extension and wants utilities to move faster in switching customers with smart meters to competing retail suppliers when asked.
More: The Washington Post
SMECO Signs PPA With Proposed 10-MW Solar Farm
Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative signed a 20-year power purchase agreement last week with the developers of a proposed 10-MW solar facility in Charles County. Under the PPA with Juwi Solar Inc., SMECO will purchase all energy, capacity and renewable energy credits from the Rockfish Solar farm. If approved by the Public Service Commission, the $40 million project is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
SMECO has a 5.5-MW solar farm in Hughesville and purchases energy from two wind projects in Pennsylvania.
More: Southern Maryland News
NORTH CAROLINA
AG Cooper Appeals Duke Rate Increase – Again
Attorney General Roy Cooper is returning to the state Supreme Court to try to block Duke Energy’s recent rate increase. Cooper argues that the state Utilities Commission failed to weigh the rate hike’s economic impact on Duke’s electricity customers.
The Utilities Commission originally approved Duke’s 7.2% rate increase in 2012 and upheld its decision in 2013. The state Supreme Court agreed with Cooper the first time around, setting up the current challenge. Now Cooper says the Supreme Court needs to send a clearer message to get the point across.
“The commission’s position is deeply unfair to consumers,” according to the attorney general’s legal challenge, which was filed Thursday.
Duke said the commission did everything correctly. “We believe the commission’s order satisfies all of the requirements set out by the N.C. Supreme Court and that the commission properly weighed the evidence,” the company said in a statement.
More: News & Observer
OHIO
Thomas Johnson Sworn In As New PUCO Chairman
Thomas W. Johnson was sworn in last week as the new chair of the Public Utilities Commission, bringing with him experience in finance and budget issues from 22 years in the Ohio House. Johnson takes the helm of the 330-person agency for a five-year term.
Gov. John R. Kasich swore in Johnson Wednesday, after expressing misgivings over the state’s move to retail choice.
“The ideological effort to deregulate, I’m not so sure it’s the smartest thing we’ve done in the state of Ohio,” Kasich said, speaking to the audience in the PUCO chamber before the swearing-in. “But we are where we are, and we can’t go backwards now. So it’s onward in a deregulated environment, and we’ve got to figure it out.”
More: The Columbus Dispatch
Poll Shows Ohio Voters Back Renewables, Efficiency
Ohio residents overwhelmingly favor using renewable power to replace coal-fired generators and want utilities to help customers increase energy efficiency, according to a poll commissioned by a green energy advocacy group. The telephone survey of Ohio voters found that 72% favor renewable energy over traditional power plants and 86% favor mandated utility energy efficiency programs. Two-thirds of those polled said they would back legislative candidates who promote renewable power over those who continue to support coal and nuclear power plants.
The poll was commissioned by Ohio Advanced Energy Economy, which opposes a Republican-backed bill that would freeze energy-efficiency efforts at the current level pending a study.
More: The Plain Dealer
AEP Consolidating TX Ops To New Building in New Albany
American Electric Power plans to build offices in New Albany for its division that manages the interstate flow of electricity, bringing together about 500 workers who are now based at several central Ohio locations.
AEP Transmission Executive Vice President Lisa Barton said the company expects “significant cultural, operational and efficiency benefits” from having all transmission operations employees in one spot. The new headquarters will be completed in about two years.
More: Columbus CEO
PENNSYLVANIA
PPL Requests Change For Default Customers
PPL Electric Utilities wants to update its price to compare for default electricity customers twice a year, rather than quarterly, according to a proposal filed with the Public Utility Commission. PPL said twice-yearly prices “will provide customers more certainty around shopping and provide retail suppliers with more time and flexibility in creating pricing programs to encourage customers to shop.”
The price to compare is the price customers pay for generation and transmission if they don’t choose a competitive electricity supplier. PPL’s plan would cover the period from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2017. The PUC is expected to rule on the request in early 2015.
More: The Morning Call
VIRGINIA
Appalachian Power Seeking Near 100% Rate Increase
Appalachian Power will ask the State Corporation Commission to let it increase the monthly residential customer charge from $8.35 to $16, but offset that by decreasing the base rate for each kilowatt-hour used. The SCC has set a Sept. 16 hearing date in Richmond to review the electric provider’s rates.
The SCC will review Appalachian Power’s generation, transmission and distribution rates, with any changes approved to take effect early next year. Appalachian Power also is seeking to establish two residential energy-efficiency programs. Appalachian Power serves about 500,000 customers in Virginia.
More: Times-Dispatch