Little Rock Operations Center Opened to Serve MISO’s Southern Expansion
MISO has opened a $22 million regional operations center in Little Rock.
The 50,000-square-foot facility works in concert with MISO’s control facilities in Carmel, Ind., and Eagan, Minn.
The facility was needed after MISO expanded its territory into the Gulf Coast states following Entergy’s decision to join the RTO.
The facility initially will employ 42 people. “We hope to use our presence here not only as a resource to the greater Little Rock community but as a magnet for other energy-sector firms,” MISO President and CEO John Bear said.
Source: MISO
DELAWARE
Crowd Attends Hearing on Refinery’s Bid for Permit on Cooling Water
More than 500 people showed up for a hearing on Delaware City Refinery’s bid to renew permits governing its cooling water intake and discharge. The majority of the crowd was made up of refinery workers and supporters, although a vocal group of environmentalists — some in fish costumes — gathered outside the hearing room at Gunning Bedford Elementary School. They objected to the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s issuance of the permit, which granted refinery owner PBF an extension to assess options.
“DNREC has clearly compromised its ability to be an independent arbiter over this matter,” Delaware Riverkeeper Network Director Maya van Rossum said. “They need to step back and request that the Environmental Protection Agency take the lead in order to remove both the actual and appearance of bias. This sweetheart deal needs independent agency review.”
More: The News Journal
ILLINIOIS
Exelon-Backed Bill to Save Nukes, Impose Surcharge Advances in Senate
A state Senate committee has passed an Exelon-backed proposal designed to ensure continued operation of three nuclear generators the company says are unprofitable, in part by imposing a surcharge on Illinois electricity users. (See Exelon-Backed Bill Proposes Surcharge to Fund Illinois Nukes.)
The Energy and Public Utilities Committee on March 26 endorsed Senate Bill 1585, which would establish a “Low Carbon Portfolio Standard.”
Under the proposed legislation, beginning next year, 70% of the electricity delivered by Commonwealth Edison, which is owned by Exelon, and Ameren would have to be generated by “clean energy” sources: solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, tidal, wave and clean coal.
The fee to customers, which would average $2/month, would fund low-carbon energy credits to be auctioned by the Illinois Power Agency.
The legislation is one of three clean energy measures before the General Assembly. Environmental and consumer advocates are backing the Clean Energy Jobs Bill (SB1485, HB2607).
Meanwhile, ComEd has proposed legislation to foster growth in clean energy for households and microgrids (HB3328, SB1879).
More: BusinessWire
INDIANA
Regulators Again Probing IPL After Two More Downtown Blasts
The Utility Regulatory Commission has opened an investigation into Indianapolis Power and Light’s downtown underground network after blasts sent manhole covers flying downtown.
Two incidents that occurred in March were the latest in several well-publicized explosions dating back four years.
In 2011, the IURC commissioned a study by Atlanta-based O’Neill Management Consulting that found IPL can expect three to five such incidents per year if it didn’t improve maintenance procedures for its downtown electrical network.
Under the nervous gaze of civic leaders, IPL recently installed manhole cover restraining devices in high-traffic areas downtown in anticipation of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship in April.
The underground blasts come at a time when IPL is seeking a rate hike that would generate $68 million more in annual revenues. It’s IPL’s first base rate case since 1995.
In light of the recent incidents raising safety and reliability concerns, Citizens Action Coalition, a group representing IPL ratepayers, said it is “unconscionable” that regulators allowed IPL to operate for nearly 20 years without a base rate case.
A former IPL executive, Dwane Ingalls, has alleged that IPL skimped on network maintenance to maximize the dividend the utility sent to parent AES.
More: Indianapolis Star; Citizens Action Coalition; Indianapolis Business Journal
IOWA
House Bill Would Protect Property Owners from ‘Merchant’ Tx Lines
A House committee passed a bill that would protect property owners from losing their land to transmission line developers. The main targets of the bill, offered by House Government Oversight Committee Chairman Bobby Kaufmann, are transmission lines linking out-of-state utilities or companies. Clearly targeted is the Rock Island Clean Line, a proposed $2 billion line that would run from northwest Iowa to Illinois.
House Democrats opposed House Study Bill 222, saying it takes away power from the Utilities Board. “We have a process in place,” Rep. Phyllis Thede said. “We want to make sure people are safe with their land but we also want to make sure the process works.”
More: The Gazette
KANSAS
Westar Wants Small Generators to Pay Higher Fixed Rates
A case before the state Corporation Commission could mean higher fixed rates for those who produce their own power through solar or wind generation at their homes or businesses. Topeka-based Westar Energy is targeting those smaller generators for higher fixed rates, rather than raising such rates for all customers.
“We just want to make sure it’s fair to any customers, whether they decide to generate some of their own power or not,” said Jeff Martin, the company’s vice president for regulatory affairs.
But solar advocates see it as aimed at small-scale renewable energy. “This is another attempt by the utility to kill solar in Kansas,” said Aron Cromwell, who co-owns a solar installation company.
More: Midwest Energy News
MAINE
PUC Orders Refunds for People’s Power Customers
The Public Service Commission has ordered refunds to some former customers of People’s Power and Gas, a competitive supplier that operated in Emera Maine’s territory in 2013 and 2014. The commission found that People’s charged a $25 monthly “service fee” without notifying customers that it would do so. An investigation revealed that the company collected about $128,070 from about 2,800 customers.
The company filed for bankruptcy shortly after collecting the fees, so the PUC is using People’s security deposit to refund the money.
More: Maine PUC
MARYLAND
Another Chicken Poop-to-Power Plan for Maryland’s Eastern Shore
Poultry giant Perdue wants to team with a New Hampshire firm to build a $200 million plant that will be fueled by chicken manure, something that is abundant on the Eastern Shore, a major poultry producing region in the country.
AgEnergyUSA, a firm that is already building a similar plant in Colorado, said its plant would put the manure to good use and keep it out of the waste stream, where it has been identified as a polluter of the Chesapeake Bay. AgEnergyUSA is teaming up with Perdue and French power company EDF Renewable Energy. The plant would use “anaerobic digestion” to break down 200,000 tons of poultry “litter,” a combination of chicken manure and organic bedding, a year. Methane would be extracted, which could then be used for power generation and other industrial uses. The remaining waste would be mined for its nitrogen and then sold back to farmers as fertilizer.
More: The Baltimore Sun
MINNESOTA
Wind Energy Translates into 30 Billion Gallons of Water Saved Since 2004
Wind energy continues to grow not only as an important source of emission-free electricity, but as a means of saving water as well.
According to the state Department of Revenue and Department of Natural Resources, wind energy production in the state has saved 30 billion gallons of water since 2003. Studies from the departments say that energy production from fossil fuels needs 541 gallons of water for each megawatt of energy produced. Since 2004, wind facilities in the state have produced more than 56 million MW.
“Minnesota wind development is in many ways attractive, because it’s a form of industrial development where the primary alternatives are typically focused on agricultural processing, which is generally water intensive,” said Mark Lindquist, program manager for Energy and Biofuels with the state Department of Natural Resources. “So here’s a new industry that puts zero pressure.”
More: The Pilot-Independent
NORTH CAROLINA
Senate Approves Duke’s Purchase of NCEMPA Generating Assets
The state Senate last week approved Duke Energy’s bid to buy the generating assets of the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency in a deal valued at more than $1 billion. NCEMPA holds partial ownership in a number of Duke power plants in the state. The $1.2 billion deal includes plant shares, fuel and parts inventories at Brunswick Units 1 and 2, Mayo Plant, Roxboro Plant Unit 4 and the Harris Nuclear Plant. Combined, the ownership interests amount to about 700 MW. The deal received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in December. NCEMPA said the deal will mean lower electricity prices for its customers in 32 cities and towns in eastern North Carolina. The House is expected to vote on the measure soon.
More: Laurinburger Exchange
NORTH DAKOTA
State’s Rig Count Falls Below 100 for First Time in 5 Years
The slump in oil and gas prices is spurring exploration companies to shut down operating rigs, leading to a drop in the number of rigs operating in the state to fewer than 100 for the first time in five years. A recent count showed 98 rigs drilling in the state, 100 fewer than there were at the same point a year ago. The state is the No. 2 oil producer in the U.S., behind Texas.
More: Associated Press
SOUTH DAKOTA
Wind Farm Developers Have to Start Over After Applying for Wrong Permits
The developers of a wind farm in Lincoln County will have to start the permitting process over after the county commission ruled that they applied for the wrong permits for five test towers. Dakota Power Community Wind should have applied for a temporary-use permit for its five test towers, not conditional-use permits. The ruling gives opponents of the planned 500-MW wind farm another chance to convince the county commission to rule against the project.
More: Argus Leader
TENNESSEE
County Fights Plan to Switch Pipelines from Gas to ‘Gas Liquids’
The Greater Dickson County Gas Authority is teaming with other utility districts in the state and in Alabama to fight a plan by a pipeline company to switch its operations from carrying natural gas to “natural gas liquids.”
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, wants to abandon nearly 1,000 miles of natural gas pipeline and then sell them to Utica Marcellus Texas Pipeline, another Kinder Morgan affiliate. The new owners would use the pipelines to transport natural gas liquids, a different product. The switch to natural gas liquids will mean a need to upgrade compressors and other parts of the pipelines, and that would translate into higher costs for customers all along the route, according to the Greater Dickson filing.
More: The Tennessean
TEXAS
Georgetown Plans to Go All Renewable for Needs
The city of Georgetown’s municipal utility announced plans to cut the cord to all fossil-generated electricity and use wind and solar only to meet its energy needs. It will be the state’s first city-owned utility to do so.
The city announced a deal with SunEdison to provide 150 MW of solar starting next year. Last year, it signed a contract that runs through 2039 for 144 MW of wind energy. The city said it recognizes that the two agreements will mean fewer emissions for the region but that it was the numbers that made them appealing. “It was really primarily a price decision,” city spokesman Keith Hutchinson said.
Both the wind and solar agreements locked in cheaper prices than what it was paying to the Lower Colorado River Authority, Hutchinson said. He also said it provides a hedge against increases from fossil generation going forward. “We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future for regulations for fossil-based fuels,” Hutchinson said. “This really removes that element from our price costs going forward.”
More: Texas Tribune
WISCONSIN
PSC Approves Controversial 180-mile Tx Line After Xcel Joins
The Public Service Commission approved a 180-mile, $580 million transmission line that it previously blocked when it was proposed by non-utility company American Transmission Co. Xcel Energy’s Northern States Power Co. joined the 345-kV line project as partner after it was initially rejected, and MISO endorsed it and designated it a critical path for providing power and reliability to the state. Because of that designation, state residents will pay about 15% of the line’s cost. It is to run from Madison to LaCrosse and is crucial for moving wind power generated from Iowa and Minnesota.
“Construction of the line is critical for the development and delivery of several thousand megawatts of clean, low-cost wind power,” said Beth Soholt, who runs Wind on the Wires, a renewable energy advocacy organization representing clean energy groups and wind energy companies. “The new line will also reduce congestion in the MISO energy market and add to the reliability of the overall MISO grid.”
More: Journal Sentinel
Compiled by Ted Caddell