ISO-NE said Chairman Philip Shapiro and board members Kathleen Abernathy and Roberta Brown have been re-elected, effective Oct. 1.
The RTO elects its board members through a nominating process that involves representatives from the current board, the New England Power Pool and the New England Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners.
Abernathy joined the board in 2012. Brown joined in 2007, while Shapiro joined in 2010 and was elected chairman in 2014.
More: ISO-NE
Plains & Eastern Clean Line Nears Key Project Milestones
Clean Line Energy’s Plains & Eastern Clean Line is nearing a milestone as it awaits a key environmental report and the federal government’s decision whether to participate in the project.
The Energy Department is expected to complete a final environmental impact statement by late October for the 720-mile transmission line, which would deliver electricity generated by planned wind farms in Oklahoma and Texas to utilities in Tennessee and the southeast. The department will then decide whether to participate in the $2 billion HVDC transmission line. Under Section 1222 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the federal government can be involved with transmission projects to relieve electrical grid congestion or to increase transmission capacity.
Federal participation could range from operation, construction, development or ownership of some transmission assets. It would be structured through the Southwestern Power Administration, a federal agency that markets and transmits electricity from hydroelectric dams built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to electric cooperatives, municipal electric authorities and other government users.
More: The Oklahoman
Invenergy 386-MW Gas Plant now Online in West Texas
Invenergy Clean Power earlier this month announced that its Ector County Energy Center, a 386-MW natural gas plant near Odessa, Texas, has begun operations.
The plant uses two GE 7FA simple-cycle combustion turbines fueled by Permian Basin natural gas. It is designed to provide peaking energy and respond quickly when ERCOT, the state’s grid operator, requests additional power supply.
More: Odessa American
NextEra Energy to Develop 300-MW Wind Farm in Texas
NextEra Energy has agreed to become the development partner of the Hale Community Wind Energy project in West Texas, according to project developer Tri Global Energy. The $7.3 million project encompasses more than 122,000 acres leased from about 350 landowners north of Lubbock.
Construction should begin in February or March, with the first turbines in operation by next summer. The project’s first phase is expected to be completed by Thanksgiving 2016.
No announcement has been made concerning power purchase agreements for the project’s expected 300 MW of generation. The energy production is expected to be used by municipalities, major corporations and electrical utilities. Hale Community Energy’s location enables it to supply energy to two major national power grids, ERCOT and SPP.
More: Plainview Daily Herald
PSO to Add Solar Capacity, Increase Use of Wind Power
Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) expects to add up to 200 MW of solar capacity and to bolster its wind offerings, according to a planning document outlined before regulators. The utility, which has 543,000 electricity customers in eastern and southwestern Oklahoma, presented its draft integrated resource plan at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.
The plan represents PSO’s “best guess” at what its capacity and generation mix will look like by 2024. The utility expects to boost natural gas generation, continue to add wind capacity and to make a foray into utility-scale solar. Those changes come along with expected reductions in demand from various energy efficiency and conservation programs.
PSO expects to finish installing smart meters throughout its system by the end of 2016. It also has a pending case before state regulators to get reimbursed for $172 million in system investments and environmental compliance projects to meet federal regional haze rules and mercury and air toxics standards. If approved, the plan would increase residential customer bills 15% in the next year.
More: The Oklahoman
Minnesota Power Announces First 2 Solar Gardens
Minnesota Power will build the Northland’s first community solar garden next year, allowing customers to support solar energy without erecting solar panels on their homes or businesses.
The utility recently announced it will build a 40-kW solar array in Duluth that will be completed in 2016. The Duluth-based utility also plans a large 1-MW community solar array to be built by a contractor. Its energy production would be purchased by Minnesota Power and by customers who buy subscriptions. The two solar gardens — about 100 solar panels at the smaller site and 4,000 panels at the larger site — will generate enough electricity to power nearly 200 homes.
Both projects were submitted Sept. 10 to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, with approval expected in early 2016. Minnesota Power is required to comply with a state mandate to procure 1.5% of its retail electricity from solar energy by 2020.
More: Duluth News Tribune
Equipment Problem Forces Entergy’s Palisades Plant to Shut down Early
Entergy’s Palisades Nuclear Power Plant shut down four days earlier than the planned date for a refueling outage because of an equipment problem.
The plant, near South Haven, Mich., automatically shut down Wednesday when instruments detected a problem with the turbine generator system, the company said.
The problem with the system will be fixed during the refueling outage, the company said. During the planned outage, about a third of the reactor’s 204 fuel assemblies will be replaced.
More: MLive
Duke’s Lynn Good Named to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women List
Duke Energy President Lynn Good was ranked No. 13 on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list this year. The magazine noted that the 56-year-old chief executive has spent a large part of her time dealing with a massive coal ash spill and other environmental issues.
The magazine’s online issue contained a video of a presentation she gave called, “How I dealt with an environmental disaster.”
More: Fortune
Dynegy Wins Slot in MISO Zone 4 Procurement, ICC Says
The Illinois Commerce Commission named Dynegy as one of the winning suppliers of the Illinois Power Agency’s MISO Zone 4 Capacity Procurement event. Dynegy’s share of the awarded capacity was not announced, and the clearing prices remain confidential. The auction sets capacity for the planning year 2016/2017.
“The results of this RFP further validates Dynegy’s MISO investment thesis that the value of MISO capacity is rising as reserve margins tighten,” CEO Robert C. Flexon said.
The weighted average price was $138.12/MW-day. Total capacity provided by suppliers was 1,033 MW.
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