SunEdison has sold Dominion Resources a 50% interest in its 420-MW Four Brothers solar project in Utah.
Under the terms of the joint venture, Dominion will invest about $500 million to get 50% of the project equity and 99% of the federal and state tax benefits. SunEdison has secured necessary funding to complete the rest of the estimated $650 million facility. It is scheduled to be operating by mid-2016.
The project’s output is under contract with a 20-year power purchase agreement with Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s subsidiary PacifiCorp.
More: SunEdison; SeeNews Renewables
Overbuilt, We Energies Seeks to Sell Excess Capacity Elsewhere in Wisconsin
We Energies wants Wisconsin regulators to force two other utilities in the state to buy its excess power rather than building new gas-fired generating plants for $1.2 billion.
One of the utilities in need of new generation, Alliant Energy’s Wisconsin Power & Light, has applied for state approval to build a $750 million natural gas-fired plant in Beloit. Alliant said We Energies and its parent, WEC Energy Group, should have submitted its plan earlier and WEC now seeks to force a process in which it would be sole bidder to supply Alliant. The other utility seeking to build new generation is Wisconsin Public Service, which is owned by WEC.
We Energies said selling power to Alliant and WPS would allow the neighboring utilities to avoid the cost of construction and could provide We Energies customers some rate relief by selling excess power. The state Citizens Utility Board and the Wisconsin Industrial Energy Group issued a joint statement saying the proposal was worth considering.
More: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Ameren Withdraws Application for 2nd Callaway Nuclear Reactor
Ameren has withdrawn its application from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a second reactor at its Callaway Energy Center plant in Callaway County, Mo., after years of delay.
Ameren said its decision to abandon the project was based on its assessment of long-term capacity needs, declining costs of alternative generating technologies and the regulatory framework in Missouri. CEO Warner Baxter told analysts during the company’s second-quarter earnings call that it continues “to believe nuclear power must be an important clean energy source for our company and country.” Callaway was recently granted a 20-year license extension.
Ameren first filed its application for a second unit in 2008. The company teamed with Westinghouse in 2012 for a small modular nuclear reactor that would be about a fourth of the size of a conventional plant. After being passed over twice for federal grants, Ameren said it was “stepping back” from the project at the end of 2013.
More: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Minnesota Co-ops Combine to Acquire Alliant Territory
Nobles Cooperative Electric, Federated Rural Electric and 10 other electric distribution cooperatives completed their acquisition of Alliant Energy’s electric service territory in southern Minnesota.
The acquisition transfers about 43,000 Minnesota Alliant Energy accounts to local electric cooperatives. According to Rick Burud, general manager of both Nobles Cooperative and Federated Rural, the transfer is a first of its kind. “It is a very unique situation for electric cooperatives to have the opportunity to purchase service territory from investor-owned utilities,” he said.
In 2013, the 12 cooperatives formed Southern Minnesota Energy Cooperative as the single point of contact for the purchase of electric service territory from Alliant. The acquisition process was approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Iowa Utilities Board and FERC.
More: Daily Globe
ERCOT Names Bill Magness as Next President, CEO
ERCOT’s Board of Directors selected general counsel Bill Magness to become the RTO’s next president and CEO. Magness, who is also currently senior vice president for governance, risk and compliance, will succeed Trip Doggett, who announced in June he plans to retire next year as president and chief executive. Doggett has been CEO since 2010.
“Bill’s leadership skills, as well as his significant executive experience at ERCOT, have positioned him to successfully lead ERCOT through an era of evolving changes in the energy industry,” ERCOT Board Chair Craven Crowell said. “He also understands the importance of — and is committed to — strong working relationships with stakeholders, the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature.”
More: Houston Chronicle
World-Renowned Auction Expert Joins ERCOT’s Board of Directors
ERCOT approved Peter Cramton as the new independent member of its Board of Directors. An economics professor at the University of Maryland at College Park and a widely recognized expert in energy auctions, Cramton succeeds Michehl Gent, whose third and final term concluded in May.
The ISO said Cramton has played a lead role in the design and implementation of electricity and gas auctions in North America, South America and Europe since 2001. Cramton also chairs Market Design Inc., an economics consultancy that focuses on the design of auction and matching markets. “Peter is a pioneer in his field, and we are delighted to welcome him to ERCOT’s Board of Directors,” ERCOT Board Chair Craven Crowell said in a press release.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas, which oversees ERCOT, approved Cramton’s appointment to the board. State law mandates the board include five unaffiliated members, from which the chair and vice-chair are chosen.
More: ERCOT
Four Corners Resumes Operation Following Bomb Scare
Operations returned to normal at New Mexico’s Four Corners Power Plant last week following the discovery of three suspicious devices in one of the plant’s three active units.
An FBI spokesman said the three devices, each a steel pipe with its ends capped, were hollow and did not contain explosive material. The devices’ discovery Aug. 3 led to an evacuation of all plant personnel. Operations did not resume until the following day.
The FBI said there was no indication the devices were related to explosions at two Las Cruces churches Aug. 2.
More: The Daily Times
Tres Amigas Posts $8.2M for PNM Tx Upgrades
The Tres Amigas Superstation, which would connect the Eastern, Western and Texas Interconnections through HVDC lines, says that some activity is picking up on the western side even while SPP has terminated an interconnection on the eastern side of the project. (See Tres Amigas: Cancelled SPP Agreement ‘Not Significant’.)
CFO Russ Stidolph told Curry County, N.M., commissioners Aug. 4 that Tres Amigas has posted $8.2 million in collateral to begin making necessary upgrades for the Public Service Company of New Mexico grid.
Stidolph said Tres Amigas is working with land owners to acquire rights of way. He said he expects “significant progress” to be made with land owners in the next months.
More: Clovis News Journal
Arkansas Co-op Subsidiary to Add Solar
Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. announced Aug. 12 that its Today’s Power subsidiary has reached an agreement to provide a 1-MW solar array for Tri-County Electric Cooperative of Hooker, Okla. The facility is projected to generate more than 50 million kWh over its 25-year useful life.
AECI, a utility service cooperative owned by 17 Arkansas electric cooperatives, launched Today’s Power in February to provide renewable energy solutions, energy efficiency programs and emergency backup generators for large commercial, industrial or utility customers. Today’s Power has an exclusive distribution agreement to promote and sell tenKsolar products in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Missouri.
More: Arkansas Business
Construction Begins on 300-MW SunEdison Texas Wind Farm
SunEdison announced Aug. 5 it has closed financing and begun construction on the 300-MW South Plains II wind farm in west Texas. The project is expected to be completed in 2016, when TerraForm Power will acquire it. (See SunEdison Making $2B Bet on Wind in Midwest, Canada.)
South Plains II is expected to generate 1,200 GWh of energy each year, enough to power more than 90,000 homes and avoid the emission of 2 billion pounds of carbon dioxide. Hewlett-Packard plans to purchase 112 MW of the project’s capacity to power its Texas-based data centers. The remaining 188 MW of capacity will be sold to an affiliate of Citigroup, which is financing the project.
More: SunEdison
Hunt Family Buys EFH’s Oncor for $19 Billion
Hunt Consolidated Energy agreed to pay $19 billion for the transmission business Oncor, the jewel of Energy Future Holdings. Energy Future is selling Oncor as part of its bankruptcy proceeding.
Energy Future, formerly TXU, selected Hunt Consolidated among many other offers. Hunt Consolidated has been in the energy business in Texas for more than 80 years.
As part of the bankruptcy restructuring, Energy Future will spin out its competitive businesses — TXU Energy and Luminant — and turn over Oncor to Hunt Consolidated, which will manage the company out of the current Dallas headquarters. The deal still needs several legal and regulatory approvals. Oncor has more than 3 million customers in North and West Texas.
More: Texas Lawyer; Dallas Business Journal
FirstEnergy Announces Corporate Promotions
FirstEnergy has expanded the roles of several corporate executives in an effort to “support the company’s focus on customer service and cost management.”
Among those promoted are James Lash, president of FirstEnergy Generation, who will also serve as executive vice president of FirstEnergy. CFO James F. Pearson will see a bump up from senior vice president to executive vice president. Charles Lasky, vice president of fossil fleet operations, will shift to the human resources department as a senior vice president.
FirstEnergy also filled several vacant positions. Trent Smith, vice president of sales and marketing for FirstEnergy Solutions, will serve as supply chain vice president for the parent company, filling a void left by Gary Benz, who was named senior vice president of strategy in June. Gary Grant will take over as vice president of customer service at FirstEnergy Utilities, replacing Ronald Green, who is retiring after 38 years with the company.
More: FirstEnergy
Talen to Spend $100M to Add Gas to Brunner Island
The coal-fired Brunner Island power plant in York County, Pa., will soon be burning natural gas to help power its three generators.
New owner Talen Energy says it will spend $100 million to convert the plant to dual fuel, which includes building a 3-mile pipeline to tap into an interstate line. A Talen spokesman said the plant would still burn coal, but he could not say how much power would be generated by either fuel.
While Brunner Island is often listed among the dirtiest plants in the U.S., Talen said the plan isn’t being driven by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan or any other environmental regulations. “The real driver behind this project is the long-term sustainability of that plant and 200 jobs,” spokesman Todd Martin said. The project is expected to be completed by spring 2017.
More: LancasterOnline
Bechtel Breaks Ground on Natural Gas Plant in Virginia
Construction company Bechtel is building a natural gas-fired plant in Leesburg, Va., which will generate enough power for 800,000 homes in Virginia and D.C.
The Stonewall Energy Center is expected to cost about $800 million and be completed by mid-2017. Bechtel has sold its interest in the project to Panda Power Funds, now the plant’s sole owner. A Panda Power spokesman said no new pipelines or transmission lines will be needed and that the plant will use the latest emissions-controlling technology.
More: The Washington Post
AEP Promotes Haynes to SVP of Strategic Initiatives
American Electric Power has promoted Stephan Haynes, vice president of strategic initiatives, to senior vice president of strategic initiatives. Haynes will continue his role as chief risk officer.
“Steve and his team have done an incredible job identifying, analyzing and developing mitigation strategies for risk events that could impact AEP,” CFO Brian Tierney said “He also has helped the company evaluate strategic opportunities to grow our business and to move our transmission joint ventures forward.”
Haynes has a bachelor’s in business systems analysis from Harding University and an MBA from Ohio State.
More: AEP
Dispute’s Resolution Sets Up Closure of New Mexico Plant’s Units
Public Service Company of New Mexico and four other parties signed an agreement to end their dispute over the future of the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station in northwestern New Mexico. The settlement potentially paves the way for the state Public Regulation Commission to approve PNM’s plan to shut down two of the power plant’s four generating units to meet federal haze regulations.
Environmental, clean energy and consumer organizations had opposed PNM’s proposals for San Juan, largely because the utility and its parent firm, PNM Resources, wanted to acquire 197 MW of excess coal generation that will be left behind in one of the two remaining generators. The new accord ends that opposition, allowing PNM to take ownership of the additional 197 MW to keep San Juan’s two remaining units fully operational.
The agreement must still be reviewed in a public hearing, now scheduled for Sept. 30, before the PRC makes a final decision.
More: The Albuquerque Journal
El Paso Electric Seeks Rate Hikes in Texas, NM
El Paso Electric has filed a rate increase request with the Public Utility Commission of Texas on Aug. 10 that would add $8.41 to an average residential customer’s monthly bill. The new rates would go into effect Sept. 14, although EPE said a months-long rate case might delay imposition of the increase until the second quarter of 2016.
EPE filed a separate rate case with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission in May, asking for about $8.6 million that would result in a 9% increase to the average monthly residential bill for its customers in that state. Any approved increase in New Mexico would go into effect in 2016, officials said.
Utility officials said they are seeking to recover some of their infrastructure costs for the El Paso Montana Power Station and its transmission lines and a new operations center. The first two generating units at the Montana station cost about $206 million, with another $20 million for the transmission lines and $40 million for the operations center.
More: El Paso Times