Five of Top 10 Efficient States in Northeast
Five of the top 10 energy efficient states are in the Northeast, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s 2015 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. Massachusetts holds the No. 1 rank for the fifth year in a row, having overtaken California in 2011.
The top 10 states for energy efficiency are Massachusetts, California, Vermont, Rhode Island, Oregon, Connecticut, Maryland, Washington and New York, with Minnesota and Illinois tied for 10th place. Massachusetts retains the top spot based on a strong commitment to energy efficiency under its Green Communities Act.
In California, requirements for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, major efforts to achieve energy efficiency in schools and implementation of a cap-and-trade program earned the state several more points this year, putting it only a half-point behind Massachusetts in the state rankings. North Dakota’s energy efficiencies were determined to be the least effective, just below Wyoming.
More: ACEEE
CONNECTICUT
Electricity Shoppers May Be Paying Extra
Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz is warning electric consumers who are supplied by third-party providers to review their bills. Katz said data provided to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority showed that more than three-quarters of customers of both Eversource Energy and The United Illuminating Co. paid more than the standard service rate in August if they used a third-party supplier.
Some customers paid prices that were as high as 23.7 cents/kWh, which is nearly three times Eversource’s standard service rate and more than two-and-half times that of UIL, Katz said. Between January and August of this year, customers of electric suppliers collectively paid about $23 million more for electricity than if they had been on standard service, she said.
“Customers should be aware that switching to a retail electric supplier can be a risky proposition,” said Katz, whose office represents the interests of consumers in utility rate cases. “Some suppliers are charging certain customers more than twice the standard service rate, even in the summer months. There is no ceiling on the rates that third-party suppliers can charge you.”
More: New Haven Register
DELAWARE
Delmarva Power Issues RFP for Wholesale Electricity
Delmarva Power and Light is requesting proposals to supply about 455 MW of wholesale electric power to meet its standard offer service obligation to customers.
Peak load contributions by customer class are 255 MW for residential, small commercial and industrial combined; 140 MW for medium general service-secondary; 20 MW for large general service-secondary; and 30 MW for general service-primary.
A pre-bid conference for prospective bidders will be held later this month.
More: Cape Gazette
ILLINOIS
Admin Law Judge Urges Grain Belt Express Approval
An administrative law judge recommended that the Commerce Commission approve the Grain Belt Express transmission line, concluding that the project would help produce a competitive energy market at a small cost to customers.
Judge Jan VonQualen said Clean Line Energy Partners’ plan to build the $2 billion line to transport wind energy from Kansas through the state to Indiana would be a good thing for electric customers.
Regulators in Indiana and Kansas have already approved plans for the 202-mile transmission line. Missouri’s regulators voted against it, but the Houston company says it will reapply for permission there.
More: State Journal-Register
IOWA
Solar Installer Fighting Alliant’s Tariff Feature
A solar installer is challenging a tariff feature that he says penalizes large Alliant Energy power customers by continuing to assess costly demand charges for a year after they switch to solar.
Barry Shear, who runs Eagle Point Solar, says the tariff approved earlier this year reduces the incentive for some large customers, such as manufacturers and wastewater treatment plants, to switch to solar. The old tariff reduced the demand charge a month after customers reduced their load. The new tariff keeps the demand charge in place for a year. Demand charges can account for up to half a customer’s monthly costs.
Alliant spokesman Justin Foss said the company changed the tariff in response to complaints from some large customers who experienced sudden “bill shock” when they were shifted between rate categories — one of which assessed the demand charge — because of short-term changes in their electricity consumption.
More: Midwest Energy News
KANSAS
Collective Extols Benefits of Pooling Resources, SPP Market
The City of Chanute joined with other nearby municipalities to form the Southwind Energy Group 18 months ago, and the combined purchasing power has allowed the city to shave $800,000 in annual energy costs for its customers.
The group, which Chanute heads, buys its power from Kansas City Power and Light. Costs for the program are passed on to utility customers in the “fuel adjustments” section on utility bills.
While the KCP&L contract has been shown to offer energy savings, there are actually even more savings by participating in SPP’s day-ahead energy market.
More: The Chanute Tribune
MARYLAND
Baltimore Mayor Mum on BGE Settlement Possibility
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake won’t say if the city is trying to reach a settlement with Baltimore Gas and Electric after the company sued the city over a recent increase in prices for using the city’s conduits for the utility’s cable.
In September, the city raised the fee it assesses to use the city’s underground conduits from 98 cents/foot a year to $3.33. The hike was estimated to increase BGE’s cable-use costs by nearly $30 million. Exelon-owned BGE sued, saying the fee violated state law prohibiting rate increases to fund other city services.
The city says it needed to triple the rate to maintain the aging infrastructure. Rawlings-Blake said the relationship between BGE and the city hasn’t suffered because of the suit.
More: Baltimore Business Journal
MICHIGAN
Utility Advocacy Groups Launches Coal Plant ‘Countdown’ Campaign
An advocacy group backed by the state’s two largest utilities has launched an ad campaign warning of a possible power shortage if the state’s coal-fired power plants are shut down. Opponents dismissed the campaign as “scare tactics.”
Citizens for Michigan’s Energy Future is running ads warning that the state’s nine coal-fired plants will go “cold and dark” by 2016, helping to create a 1.3-GW capacity shortfall. The assertion conflicts with statements from MISO and the Public Service Commission that there will be no shortfall.
The group is backed by Consumers Energy and DTE Energy. The campaign urges residents to write to their lawmakers to support proposed legislation that would eliminate net metering programs and restrict energy efficiency programs.
More: Midwest Energy News
MISSOURI
Court: Homeowner Associations can’t Force Solar Panel Removal
A state appellate court has ruled that homeowner associations cannot force the removal of solar panels unless deed restrictions specifically forbid them.
The case centers on a couple in a St. Louis subdivision that were told they would have to remove their roof-mounted solar panels. A lower court ruled last year that the solar panels could stay because the deed restrictions didn’t specifically mention them. The appellate court upheld that ruling.
More: Midwest Energy News
PSC Votes Against Extending Ameren’s Energy Efficiency Program
Concerned that Ameren might collect more than it needs to run a popular energy efficiency program, the Public Service Commission voted against extending the program for another three years.
Ameren’s program has earmarked $100 million for the program, which has saved, by some accounts, about 1 million MWh of electricity. The program provides rebates to customers who purchase energy-efficient appliances.
But the commission said it wants a more accurate way to measure energy savings to assess the program’s benefits. “Without that type of [measurement], I’m just uncomfortable approving that type of plan,” PSC Chairman Daniel Hall said. Without PSC approval, Ameren is not obligated to offer the program after the end of the year.
More: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
NEBRASKA
Landowners Appeal Keystone Route Approval Rules
Landowners who oppose the Keystone XL pipeline are appealing to overturn a state law that turned over some route-approval decisions to the governor that were previously made by the Public Service Commission.
Attorneys for developer TransCanada have moved to get the landowners’ suit dismissed. The company said it has already announced it isn’t pursuing its eminent domain claims against landowners and has reapplied to the PSC. It says the landowners’ suit is unnecessary.
“Our focus is entirely on moving forward with the [commission] process and building the Keystone XL route in Nebraska in the most timely way possible,” TransCanada spokesman Mark Cooper wrote after the hearing.
More: Associated Press
NEW JERSEY
Better Economy, Cold Winter Boost Carbon Emissions
The state’s carbon emissions increased 14% in 2014, with most of the pollution — 17 million metric tons — generated by the state’s 45 power plants. The spike reverses three previous years of declines.
The state’s carbon emissions totaled 27 million metric tons, compared with 23.75 million the previous year. Officials cited a rebounding economy, a cold winter and the retirements of plants in other states for the increase.
More: The Record
NEW MEXICO
PRC Rejects EPE’s Solar Customer Rate Class
El Paso Electric’s attempt to create a new rate class for customers with rooftop solar systems suffered a major setback recently when the Public Regulation Commission ruled such a change would violate a regulation that has been on the books for decades.
The commission rejected a hearing officer’s denial of a motion to dismiss the new rate class. Commissioner Sandy Jones said a PRC ruling in 1999 made it clear that residential customers can’t be split into two classes.
That doesn’t mean the effort to charge solar customers more is necessarily defeated, Jones said. The company could still seek an additional charge but would have to do so by applying for a rider, he said.
More: Las Cruces Sun-News
NEW YORK
LIPA Hike One Step Closer
A three-year, $325.4 million electric rate increase moved closer to implementation after the Long Island Power Authority board of trustees took no formal action despite objections by two board members.
Trustees would have had to pass a resolution finding that the 9% increase was “inconsistent” with three specific standards defined by the LIPA Reform Act in order to trigger public hearings on the proposal. While trustees Suzette Smookler and Matthew Cordaro raised objections to the increase, no board member offered a resolution to block it.
Several board appointees of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, whose administration wrote the reform act, challenged Cordaro to raise specific grounds for an inconsistency vote. Cordaro said his concern was that offering a resolution could result in a rate increase, the opposite of his intentions, and so he did not offer one. The rate hike will be built into the 2016 budget, which trustees are scheduled to consider in December.
More: Newsday
NORTH CAROLINA
Judges Rejects Duke’s Bid to Dismiss Coal Ash Suit
A federal judge rejected Duke Energy’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to pressure the state to step up enforcement of coal ash regulations. The judge said she doubted that the Department of Environmental Quality was tough enough on Duke in light of the utility’s record for contaminating a river with coal ash.
U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs ruled that the suit against Duke by the Riverkeepers group can go forward, largely because of what she saw as the state environmental agency’s lack of action. “The court notes that its determination of [DEQ’s] lack of diligence has been further confirmed in the year since the Riverkeepers filed suit. [DEQ] has now been litigating its enforcement action for over two years” and not “filed any motions requiring Duke Energy to clean up its sites.”
The state agency took issue with the judge’s characterization. “The claim that we have not been diligent is not only incorrect, it is an affront to the dedicated DEQ employees who are working to expedite the cleanup and closure of coal ash facilities,” Sam Hayes, the agency’s attorney, said in a statement.
More: Associated Press
NORTH DAKOTA
Wind Farm Delayed by Bald Eagle Impact Study
A proposed 100-MW wind farm is on hold until the Public Service Commission can determine if the 59-turbine project would harm bald eagles.
Rolette Power Development proposed the $175 million wind farm near Rolette. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service noted the existence of bald eagle nests nearby. But the developer’s consultant, KLJ, countered that the nests are not within the planned facility’s boundaries. “Since the eagle nests are located outside of the project area, Rolette Power has no plans to alter the project layout,” KLJ’s Grady Wolf wrote to the PSC.
The commission has ordered a Nov. 2 hearing to review the information before it will approve the project. Commissioner Brian Kalk said the PSC has no standard setback requirement between eagle nests and wind turbines, and the hearing will focus on what the appropriate distance should be.
More: Bismarck Tribune
OHIO
Watchdog Group Attorney Leaves to Join AES
An attorney who spent the past three years looking after the interests of consumers in utility cases has left a state watchdog group to join utility AES.
Michael Schuler is leaving the Consumers’ Counsel to be regulatory counsel for AES in Dayton. AES purchased Dayton Power & Light for $4.7 billion in 2011. Schuler was involved in about 40 cases currently before the Public Utilities Commission.
The OCC’s budget was cut in half between 2010 and 2012 by Gov. John Kasich.
More: Columbus Business First
PENNSYLVANIA
Environmental Justice Communities Eyed for Shale Gas Impacts
The state’s Office of Environmental Justice is being tasked with examining how shale gas facilities could impact the health and environment of those living in poor and minority communities.
In particular, the review will look at “environmental justice communities,” where at least 20% of residents live below the poverty line, or where 30% of the population is non-white. More than 850 such areas have been identified.
Nearly 500 wells already have been drilled in those communities. The study is part of a rejuvenation of the office, whose mission will be “rebuilt from the ground up,” according to John Quigley, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection.
More: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PUC Audit IDs Saving Opportunities for PGW
The Public Utility Commission released a management and operations audit of Philadelphia Gas Works containing 76 recommendations that it says could generate an estimated $8.3 million to $9.4 million in annual savings and a one-time savings of about $1.1 million.
Among the suggestions: Aggressively accelerate the replacement of high-risk mains, specifically cast iron ones; reduce the number of open leaks by outsourcing the excavation work and using PGW crews to make repairs; and place greater emphasis on decreasing the number of customer accounts delinquent by more than 90 days.
PGW accepted all of the recommendations but one related to reorganizing its governance structure, which includes overlapping roles of the Philadelphia Facilities Management and the Philadelphia Gas Commission. PGW said it was beyond the authority of management to address.
PGW, owned by the City of Philadelphia, is the largest municipally owned gas utility in the country.
More: PUC
VERMONT
State Gets $1.5 Million in Solar Grants
Twenty-two small rural businesses and farms have received a total of $1,555,448 for energy and efficiency upgrades, according to Rep. Peter Welch (D) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Projects receiving the grants include photoelectric arrays, energy-efficient reverse-osmosis maple-sap pumps and milk chillers; and a wood-fired furnace. Eight of the 10 largest grant recipients are developing grid-tied solar power arrays.
The largest of the projects, Barton Solar, is a 1.89-MW solar system, for which it received $500,000.
More: Burlington Free Press