Allen Harim Building 6-Acre Solar Installation
Chicken processor Allen Harim broke ground last week on a 1.57-MW solar installation. The 6-acre solar farm will supply about 11% of the energy used by its Harbeson processing facility.
The project, which will be connected with Delmarva Power & Light’s grid, will be owned and operated by Onyx Renewable Partners, which is owned by funds managed by Blackstone.
The installation is expected to produce 2.3 million kWh of power annually and reduce carbon emissions by 1,616 metric tons.
More: Sussex County Post
ILLINOIS
ICC Approves Grain Belt Express Transmission Line
The Commerce Commission last week, by a 3-2 vote, approved Clean Line Energy Partners’ proposed Grain Belt Express, an HVDC transmission line that would pass through four Midwestern states.
The ICC put several conditions on its approval, including a prohibition on expanding capacity without commission approval, completion of financing and a requirement to get commission approval if any of the estimated $2 billion cost is to be borne by ratepayers.
The 780-mile line is designed to deliver Kansas wind energy into PJM. It has also received the approvals of regulators in Indiana and Kansas. Missouri regulators rejected it, but the company has vowed to reapply there.
More: St. Louis Post Dispatch; State Journal-Register
MANITOBA
Manitoba Hydro Picks Shepherd as New CEO
Kevin Shepherd, a telecom industry veteran, has been named the new president and CEO of Manitoba Hydro. The Manitoba Hydro Electric Board recommended Shepherd for the position.
Shepherd rose through the ranks of MTS, the fourth-largest telecommunications company in Canada, and spent the last five years as president. He will assume the new position in December.
More: CBC News
MARYLAND
BGE Seeks Rate Hike to Cover Smart Meters
Baltimore Gas and Electric has applied for a rate hike for gas and electric customers to recover the cost of installing about 1.7 million smart meters. The Public Service Commission, which authorized the smart meter program in 2010, must approve the increase.
If approved, it would add about $15 per month to typical residential customers who receive both gas and electric service from the Exelon subsidiary.
“It is a very significant rate increase for our customers and our households that have combined gas and electric,” said Paula Carmody, head of the Office of the People’s Counsel. “They are asking for a profit level that’s much higher than we think is reasonable, that will likely be challenged.”
More: The Baltimore Sun
MASSACHUSETTS
DONG Offshore Wind Farm Nears Proposal
Denmark-based DONG Energy A/S is proposing a 1,000-MW offshore wind farm 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, outlining its plans less than a year after the proposed Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound suffered a stunning financial setback.
The Danish company said its Bay State Wind project would install up to 100 turbines off Cape Cod on a lease it recently acquired. DONG Energy has yet to file any applications for the projects with the federal or state government, and the transfer of the lease must be approved by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
DONG Energy faces lengthy state and federal permitting processes that include environmental reviews and approvals for where its power lines would come ashore. It would take about three years to build the wind farm, and the first phase could include 30 to 35 turbines and be in service by early next decade.
More: The Boston Globe
Proposed Kinder Morgan Pipeline Draws Opposition
Residents are opposing a bill that would allow Tennessee Gas Pipeline to extend a gas pipeline into protected conservation land in Sandisfield. Tennessee Gas, a Kinder Morgan subsidiary, seeks to add a 3.8-mile loop of 36-inch diameter pipe to one of Sandisfield’s existing gas pipelines as part of its Connecticut Expansion Project. (See FERC Finds ‘No Significant Impact’ from NE Pipeline Expansion.)
State Rep. Garrett Bradley of Hingham filed a bill, which would convey the necessary easements to Tennessee Gas. Sandisfield-area lawmakers refused to file the bill because it would require the removal of protected land from the shelter of Article 97 of the state constitution, the state’s primary conservation law.
State Sen. Benjamin Downing said that the community opposes it, and passage could set a “dangerous” precedent of taking Article 97 lands to build fossil fuel energy infrastructure. He said the bill “flies in the face of the commonwealth’s energy priorities.”
More: The Berkshire Eagle
MICHIGAN
Shuttering Coal Plant Endangers Harbor
Consumers Energy’s announcement that it will retire its coal-burning B.C. Cobb Plant in Muskegon brought cheers from environmentalists but could be trouble for the Port of Muskegon.
Coal deliveries accounted for about half of the tonnage coming into the port, and the volume of traffic is an important consideration if the port continues to be dredged. Without coal deliveries, the volume of cargo moved through the port will fall below the 1 million-ton annual threshold that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sets for “high-use” harbors, which are guaranteed to get dredged.
Muskegon city officials are setting up meetings with the corps to determine a way to keep the harbor’s dredging program active.
More: MLive.com
MISSISSIPPI
PSC Approves 3 Solar Plants
The Public Service Commission unanimously approved three solar projects on Nov. 10.
The plants, which will produce a combined 105 MW, will be located in Sumrall, Hattiesburg and Gulfport. They are projected to be in service for at least 25 years.
Hattiesburg Farm will cost $85 million and cover 450 acres; Mississippi Solar 2 will cost $102 million and require 4,085 acres in Sumrall; and CB Energy will spend $6.4 million on its farm at the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport.
More: The Clarion-Ledger
NEW JERSEY
Getting ‘Brownfield’ Solar Credits from an Apple Orchard? Nice Try
A state court upheld a decision by the Board of Public Utilities to deny brownfield development solar credits to a company that wanted to build on a former apple orchard.
Millenium Land Development said the orchard qualified as a brownfield because of past pesticide use. The BPU denied the request. The state Court of Appeals agreed, saying the land had been assessed as farmland, not a brownfield. The state’s Energy Master Plan discourages the use of open land and farms for solar development.
More: NJSpotlight
Two Firms Win Leases for Offshore Wind Farms
US Wind Inc. and RES America Developments were the high bidders to win lease rights to about 344,000 acres of ocean floor near Atlantic City to build wind farms.
US Wind bid a little more than $1 million for about 183,000 acres. RES offered $880,715 for 160,480 acres.
Together, the areas could support up to 3,400 MW of commercial wind generation, but it’s likely to take seven or eight years for operations to be developed.
More: The Record
NEW MEXICO
State Supreme Court Denies Petition Against 4 PRC Members
The state Supreme Court last week rejected an environmental nonprofit group’s attempt to disqualify four of the five Public Regulation Commission members from voting on a high-profile case about a coal-fired power plant.
The nonprofit group New Energy Economy alleged commissioners Pat Lyons, Sandy Jones, Karen Montoya and Lynda Lovejoy have shown bias and pre-judgment in their public statements about Public Service Company of New Mexico’s plan to shut down two generating units at the San Juan Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant that PNM co-owns and operates.
More: Albuquerque Journal
NEW YORK
State Dept. Refuses Certificate for Entergy’s Indian Point
The Department of State has refused to issue a certificate for the continued operation of Entergy’s Indian Point nuclear generating station, saying that the plant has been “damaging the coastal resources of the Hudson River” for decades by killing fish in its cooling system.
Secretary of State Cesar Perales rejected the coastal zone certificate for Indian Point, noting that the plant is close to two seismic faults and is too close to New York City. But Entergy said Perales’ rejection is moot, as it had withdrawn the application last year after a state appellate court ruled that it was not necessary. Entergy is seeking a 20-year license extension for the two reactors.
The secretary’s refusal is the latest blow against Indian Point. The state attorney general has been critical of the plant’s operation, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called for its closure.
More: The Journal News
Cuomo Nixes Port Ambrose LNG Terminal
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has killed a three-year-old proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal 19 miles off Jones Beach, citing concerns about the environment and terrorism.
The deep water Port Ambrose docking station was to supply the state with LNG from overseas. Cuomo, in formally announcing his veto, said al-Qaida has threatened to target such facilities and Superstorm Sandy was powerful enough to damage infrastructure built to survive 100-year storms. He also said the fuel port would harm commercial fishing and conflict with a major wind farm proposed for the same waters.
“When you put all of those things together, the reward was not worth the risk,” he said.
More: Newsday
RHODE ISLAND
Developer Says Burrillville Plant less Polluting
Invenergy’s proposed natural gas-fired power plant in Burrillville would lead to an even larger net decrease in regional emissions than initially forecast, the company said last week. The Chicago-based energy developer has argued that because its efficient combined-cycle plant would sell power at a lower price than competing generators, it would replace the output of older, less efficient facilities.
According to the company’s figures, the 900-MW Clear River Energy Center would reduce carbon dioxide emissions across New England 9% if it were to go online immediately. If the project starts generating power in 2019 as scheduled, the effect would be less dramatic because some of the biggest emitters, such as Somerset’s coal-fired Brayton Point Power Station, would already be closed, but the overall decrease would still be about 1%.
In a filing made with the Energy Facility Siting Board, Invenergy claims the decrease could actually be larger because of the recently announced closing of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts.
More: Providence Journal
SOUTH DAKOTA
PUC Approves 103-MW Willow Creek Wind Farm
The Public Utilities Commission has approved a 103-MW wind facility to be built near Newell. Developer Wind Quarry says the 45-turbine Willow Creek Wind Farm should be on line by December 2017.
The state ranks fourth in the nation in potential wind energy, and the Willow Creek facility would bring the state’s wind capacity to 987 MW. “Many people will be surprised to know that the addition of the Willow Creek project is likely to propel South Dakota to be the state with the greatest amount of wind as a percentage of the state’s total capacity, in the nation,” Commissioner Gary Hanson said.
More: South Dakota PUC
TEXAS
State’s Wind Generation Setting All-Time Highs
Wind generation from the plains hit several all-time highs this fall, according to ERCOT and the federal Energy Information Administration. An instantaneous peak of 11,467 MW was set Sept. 13, which was broken on Oct. 21 with a new record of 11,950 MW. That record was eclipsed on Oct. 22 at 12,238 MW.
ERCOT and EIA attributed the new records to increased capacity, strong winds and increased demand due to warm autumn weather. The records were set despite lower capacity factors, estimated at between 75% and 81% during the fall compared to 83% in February.
The government predicts that with new capacity coming online, the latest record is likely to fall soon.
The excess of wind generation in the state is prompting some utilities to offer plans that don’t charge for electricity during off-peak hours, if customers agree to pay a premium during higher demand times. The New York Times recently profiled several customers who are taking advantage of a TXU Energy program that offers free overnight electricity in exchange for higher peak pricing. It said about 50 retail electricity customers are offering similar plans in the state.
Some customers said they wait to run energy-intensive appliances until after 9 p.m., when the power supply is gratis. Most wind generators in the state produce more electricity during the nighttime, when the wind blows more strongly. Wind power now represents about 10% of the state’s overall generation.
“Any plan that creates an incentive for a customer to shift a load off peak [hours] is helpful to grid operations. It’s a better use of the system,” said Paul Wattles, ERCOT senior market design analyst, told the Midland Reporter-Telegram.
More: EIA; New York Times; Midland Reporter-Telegram
Houston Signs 20-Year, $80M Solar Deal with Hecate Energy
Houston will ramp up its use of green energy to keep the lights on and laptops humming at City Hall with the approval last week of a 20-year, $80 million deal to purchase solar power from Nashville-based Hecate Energy.
Hecate, which operates 20 plants around the world, will supply the city with up to 30 MW of solar-generated power annually, beginning in December 2016, from a plant it plans to build near Alpine. Hecate offered a two-decade fixed price of 4.8 cents/kWh, nearly 2 cents less than the city pays under its current contract.
The contract will provide about 7% of the city’s annual electricity needs and will replace electricity that now is purchased from coal-fired generators.
More: Houston Chronicle
Ector County 350-MW Gas Plant Begins Formal Operations
The Ector County Energy Center, a 350-MW natural gas plant, was formally opened earlier this month, heralded by local governmental officials as a boon to the local tax base.
The plant is designed to provide peaking energy and respond quickly when ERCOT requests additional power supply. It uses two GE 7FA simple-cycle combustion turbines fueled by Permian Basin natural gas.
Commercial operation began in September. Generation from the plant has already hit about 294 MW.
More: Odessa American
VIRGINIA
Dominion Applies to Build Above-Ground Tx Line
Dominion Virginia Power has requested permission to construct a 230-kV transmission line that would run above ground for 5 miles along Interstate 66 in Prince William County.
Some county officials and residents had pushed for at least part of the line to be buried.
The State Corporation Commission is expected to make a decision within 18 months.
More: The Washington Post
