PSC Commissioner Nominated for Superior Court Judgeship
Jeffrey J. Clark, a Dover attorney and member of the Public Service Commission since 2005, has been nominated to fill a vacancy on the Superior Court, Delaware’s main civil and criminal trial court.
Gov. Jack Markell is expected to nominate a new commissioner for the five-member PSC if the Senate confirms Clark’s nomination. Clark, an Army veteran, received his bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and his law degree from Widener University School of Law.
More: Delaware State News
ILLINOIS
Cleanup Continues Following Fiery Oil Train Derailment
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is supervising an elaborate cleanup of wetlands after a BNSF freight train hauling 103 tanker cars carrying crude oil from North Dakota derailed March 5 near the riverfront town of Galena and burst into flames, prompting an evacuation.
Twenty-one tanker cars left the track, seven ruptured, and five caught fire. Firefighters were unable at first to put out the flames and concentrated on keeping the fire from spreading. No injuries were reported.
The site is near where the Galena River meets the Mississippi and the historic home of President Ulysses S. Grant.
The accident was the latest fiery derailment of a train hauling oil from mid-continental shale fields, which are underserved by pipelines.
More: EPA
INDIANA
IPL Seeking Charges Not Recoverable in Basic Rate Case, Customers Argue
The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor objects to an Indianapolis Power & Light proposal to add three rate adjustment mechanisms and new accounting treatment, which the consumer advocate says are outside the scope of a basic rate case IPL filed in December (44576).
IPL’s proposals include an “RTO adjustment.” IPL said it is being allocated $15.9 million in MISO-related MTEP 13 project costs through 2019. IPL also said in filings with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission that it expects to be allocated $91.7 million in Schedule 26A multi-value project costs in that time period. Among other mechanisms, IPL seeks to create a “major storm damage reserve” account.
But the OUCC, along with industrial and consumer ratepayer groups, told the Indiana commission that such mechanisms and accounting treatment are not changes to IPL’s “basic rates and charges” and should not be included in the rate case proceeding. IPL could be forgiven for perhaps being a little rusty — it hasn’t filed a basic rate case for 20 years, not since 1995. The utility seeks an annual increase in revenues of nearly $68 million, an overall jump of 5.6%.
IPL is in the midst of several major capital projects. It’s adding $511 million in new pollution controls at its coal-fired plants. It’s building a new, natural gas-fired generating station in Morgan County. IPL also is converting some of its coal-powered units at its Harding Street station, south of downtown Indianapolis, to natural gas.
More: IOUCC
LOUISIANA
Study Cheers Anti-Net Metering Crowd, Outrages Solar Industry Proponents
A draft economic study that questions the value of residential solar tax credits is eliciting howls of protest from the state’s solar supporters.
The report, prepared by David Dismukes, a Louisiana State University economist, concludes that the state’s 50% home-solar installation tax credit cost Louisiana $89 million more than the benefits it brought. Solar advocates say the study did not consider impacts on transmission and production costs and focused only on the tax credits.
The study was released in an email blast by a pro-utility member of the Public Service Commission, Eric Skrmetta, whose re-election was strongly opposed by solar advocates. “This study is a blatant attempt to undermine the rights of Louisiana residents and to prevent the growth of the solar industry,” said Barry Goldwater Jr., former congressman, son of the 1964 GOP presidential nominee and solar advocate.
More: WWL-TV
MARYLAND
House Panel Rejects Tree-Trimming Restrictions
A House committee defeated legislation Friday that would have prohibited electric utilities from removing trees on private property unless they were considered hazardous and the property owner had consented. The bill also would have required utilities to comply with the International Society of Arboriculture’s “Best Management Practices for Utility Pruning of Trees.”
After the House Economic Matters defeated the proposal, the sponsor of a similar Senate bill withdrew his version of the legislation.
The bills were filed after homeowners unsuccessfully sought an injunction last fall to bar Pepco Holdings Inc. from removing trees from their properties. Pepco has defended its tree-trimming practices as an effort to comply with the state’s 2011 electric reliability law.
More: Bethesda Magazine
MICHIGAN
Lansing Joining With Developer on 20-MW Solar Project
The Lansing Board of Water and Light quadrupled the size of a proposed solar project after reviewing proposals to build a photovoltaic system on the grounds of a former GM plant.
The utility chose Vermont-based groSolar to construct the 20-MW solar farm, which initially was envisioned as a 5-MW project. “We got a whole lot of bids, there was a lot of interest,” said George Stojic, the utility’s director. “It just made sense to scale this thing up.”
The project would be built on the former Verlinden plant in Lansing.
“We are a summer-peaking utility,” Stojic said. Solar fits into that very well for two reasons, he said: “It’s there in the summertime if we need it, and it helps offset transmission costs.”
Michigan currently has 23 MW of solar generation online, none larger than 1.5 MW.
More: Midwest Energy News
MINNESOTA
Supreme Court Rules CapX2020 Tx Builders Must Buy Whole Farm
The builders of the CapX2020 transmission line – which would run from South Dakota to Minnesota – must buy an entire farm owned by recalcitrant landowners rather than simply acquiring an easement, according to the state Supreme Court.
The court ruled that a 1977 “Buy the Farm” law that requires utilities to offer to purchase entire farms when traversing properties for power lines applied to the Great River Energy project.
Landowners Dale and Janet Tauer balked at granting permission to build the transmission line through their property and argued that Great River should be forced to buy the entire farm.
More: Minnesota Public Radio
MISSISSIPPI
Former Gov. Barbour Backs Troubled Kemper Plant
Former Gov. Haley Barbour, now working for an economic development firm, said Mississippi Power’s costly Kemper gasification and carbon capture plant eventually will be a valuable asset to the region.
Barbour compared the project, already years behind schedule and nearly $4 billion over budget, to the Grand Gulf nuclear generating station, which he said was delivered late and over budget but has become an economic source of base load generation. “There has been a couple of billion dollars in cost overruns,” Barbour said, “but the stockholders of the Southern Co. paid every dime of that.”
The State Supreme Court recently ordered Mississippi Power, a Southern Company subsidiary, to refund more than $200 million of a rate increase related to the Kemper project because it was improperly approved by the state Public Service Commission.
More: Mississippi Business Journal
MONTANA
Senator Writing Bill to Save Colstrip Plants from Closing
A state senator is preparing a bill that would exact a penalty from power plants near the Colstrip coal mines if they shut down, a response to legislative efforts in neighboring states to curtail the consumption of fossil fuels.
Sen. Duane Ankney, whose district borders four power plants fueled by Colstrip coal, is crafting a bill mandating the owners of a power plant that closes prematurely to pay “impact fees” for up to 20 years. “If they want to close Colstrip, then they’re going to pay,” he said. “Pay to play.”
Ankney’s proposal is a response to legislation pending in Washington state aimed at replacing fossil-fueled plants with renewable energy. Many of the Colstrip power plants are owned by utilities in the Pacific Northwest. Puget Sound Energy in Washington state denied that it planned to retire its Colstrip plant. The other owners of Colstrip plants include PPL Montana, NorthWestern Energy, Portland General Electric, Avista and PacifiCorp.
More: Missoulian
NEW YORK
Wind Power Sets New Record at 1,524 MW, 7% of NYISO Load
Wind generators in the state set a record on March 2 when they churned out 1,524 MW, about 7% of NYISO’s 20,894-MW load. The previous record was 1,513 MW on Nov. 18, 2014.
“Wind power continues to grow as a power resource, and the NYISO continues to optimize our electric system’s use of renewable power,” said NYISO President and CEO Stephen G. Whitely.
NYISO enhances its wind management system by letting wind generators submit offer prices, the first RTO in the nation to use a competitive bid process in this way. There currently is 1,744 MW of wind generation in New York, up from 48 MW in 2005. Another 2,000 MW in proposed projects is under review.
More: NYISO
NORTH CAROLINA
Duke Wants to Pay Solar Producers 15% Less on Projects 5 MW or Smaller
Duke Energy is asking the Utilities Commission to allow it to pay 15% less for the electricity it buys back from solar producers. The commission sets the price for solar every two years.
The Duke request, filed with the commission last week, is the utility’s latest effort to curb the amounts it pays solar producers. Duke pressured the commission to reduce the size of eligible projects from 5 MW to 100 kW, a proposal the commission rejected in January.
More: Charlotte Observer
Duke Fined Another $25 Million for Power Plant Ash Contamination
The state environmental agency assessed a record $25 million fine against Duke Energy for allowing coal ash ponds and dumps to contaminate groundwater for years.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources sued Duke in 2013, a year before the company’s massive coal ash spill into the Dan River. That suit alleged that Duke allowed coal ash at its power plants to contaminate groundwater and waterways. Those suits remain undecided.
But the company acknowledged in late 2013 that it allowed coal ash from its Sutton plant to contaminate wells in the area, and agreed to pay up to $1.8 million for a water line to a nearby low-income community.
The water line and the fine, however, do little to ease the minds of others who may be in the path of the spreading plume of contaminated groundwater. “Until the state actually forces Duke to clean up the mess that people are sitting in right next to that plant, $25 million doesn’t mean anything to them,” said Kemp Burdette of the environmental group Cape Fear Riverkeeper.
More: Charlotte Observer
NORTH DAKOTA
Massive Wastewater Spill Spurs Move Toward Regulating ‘Gathering’ Pipelines
Legislators have introduced two bills to regulate “gathering lines” that collect oil, gas and wastewater from well sites after a ruptured pipe discharged 2.2 million gallons of salty wastewater into a creek for 12 days.
The bills call for future gathering lines to be installed with leak monitoring systems and to be secured by bonds. Gathering lines are not regulated by any state agency, nor the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
The leak of the Meadowlark Midstream pipeline near Williston contaminated a creek and two rivers before it was stopped Jan. 6. Officials say the spill doesn’t pose a health threat, and no water wells were impacted. The North Dakota Department of Health estimates it will take at least five years to clean up. The state Department of Mineral Resources is investigating why the company wasn’t using an automated leak detection system.
More: Inside Climate News; Jamestown Sun
OHIO
PUCO Approves Two 138-kV Lines for AEP Improvement Plan
The Power Siting Board of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved two 138-kV transmission lines as part of a reliability improvement plan proposed by American Electric Power.
A 17.3-mile line in Ross County will connect to a new substation at Biers Run. The second project, a 19-mile line, will connect the Biers Run sub to an existing substation in Circleville. The projects are designed to improve reliability in the Chillicothe and Circleville areas.
More: Chillicothe Gazette
PENNSYLVANIA
Sunoco Withdraws Petition to Have Pipeline Declared Public Utility
Sunoco Logistics Partners LP has withdrawn the last of its petitions before the Public Utilities Commission seeking exemption from local zoning ordinances for its 300-mile Mariner East pipeline, which will carry natural gas liquids from the Marcellus Shale region.
Sunoco had sought to use its public utility status to bypass local zoning laws to build structures around 31 pump stations and valve stations on the pipeline route, which prompted a backlash from some municipalities and anti-fossil fuel activists. Now, Sunoco says it has negotiated zoning approvals or is modifying its plans to comply with local zoning regulations and no longer needs the exemptions.
Some opponents said the news represents a victory. Sunoco began pumping propane through the pipeline in December and says it is on schedule to install the pumping capacity to deliver 70,000 barrels of ethane, propane and butane later this year.
More: The Patriot-News
PUC Approves PPL’s Spinoff of Generating Units to Form Talen
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approved the spinoff of PPL Corp.’s generation and pipeline assets.
The greenlight resolves one regulatory impediment to the move, which involves the combination of PPL’s assets with those of Riverstone Holdings LLC into a new publicly traded entity, Talen Energy Corp. PPL shareholders will own 65 percent of Talen.
PPL Electric Utilities, which provides electric distribution service to approximately 1.4 million customers in Pennsylvania, is not affected by the transaction.
More: PPL; The Morning Call
VIRGINIA
Dominion Slammed for Trying to Shield Information from Audits
State officials turned down a request from Dominion Virginia Power to keep some financial information secret during an upcoming public review.
Dominion made the request just weeks after the General Assembly took away the State Corporation Commission’s authority to order customer rate cuts or refunds through 2022. Opponents said that Dominion’s request reinforced their fears that that the utility would use the legislation to hide certain financial information, despite a vow from the company that its filings would be transparent.
The SCC ruled against Dominion’s request and ordered the company to submit a complete financial filing in time for its 2015 review. Dominion said it would comply.
More: Washington Post
WEST VIRGINIA
Gov. Signs Bill Giving Legislature Final Say in Clean Power Plan
West Virginia is coming up with its own plan to meet emissions reductions proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. But the state Legislature, not state environmental regulators, will have the final say.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin last week signed H.B. 2004, taking away the rule-making role from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The move was lauded by the coal industry. “This law will ensure West Virginia’s elected officials have a say in the regulations that ultimately impact their state’s families and businesses,” said Mike Duncan, president and CEO of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. “Legislation like H.B. 2004, as well as similar actions by other state Legislatures, underscores broad opposition across the country to EPA’s overzealous and illegal proposal.”
More: State Journal
Compiled by Ted Caddell