Companies Propose Multi-state Projects in New England
Hydropower and wind power developers have submitted two proposals to supply electricity to three New England states to meet renewable energy goals. Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts jointly solicited projects for more than 5,000 GWh of clean energy.
Anbaric Transmission and National Grid proposed building the 60-mile Vermont Green Line transmission system to deliver 400 MW of hydropower from Canada and electricity from a proposed wind project in Beekmantown, N.Y. The line would be buried along public roadways and underneath Lake Champlain to connect with the ISO-NE grid.
Central Maine Power and Emera Maine proposed building about 150 miles of new transmission lines and substations to deliver up to 1,200 MW of electricity from wind projects in the northern part of the state that are planned or under development. The Maine Renewable Energy Interconnect project would largely follow existing rights of way.
More: National Grid; Portland Press Herald
Mo. Lawmakers to Wash. State: More Time on Colstrip Plant
A delegation of Montana lawmakers recently made a pitch to their counterparts in Washington state to save the coal-fired Colstrip power plant — or at least give them time to plan for a partial shutdown.
A bill before the Washington State Legislature would authorize Colstrip’s largest owner, Puget Sound Energy, to file a plan to decommission Colstrip’s two oldest units and to allow the utility to buy additional ownership in one of the two newer units.
Four Montana lawmakers told a Washington State Senate committee on Jan. 20 even a partial shutdown would have dire economic consequences on the southeastern Montana community of Colstrip and on industrial users across the state that depend on cheap power from Colstrip Units 1 and 2.
More: Billings Gazette
AWEA Says Iowa Edges out California as No. 2 Producer
Iowa now is the second-largest wind-production state in the nation, edging past California in the annual rankings compiled by the American Wind Energy Association. Iowa now has about 6,000 MW of installed capacity, with the addition of about 300 MW in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Texas remains No. 1 with nearly 18,000 MW of installed capacity.
AWEA Manager of Data and Analysis John Hensley said about 5,000 MW of wind came online in the final quarter of 2015, the highest quarterly improvement since the fourth quarter of 2012. In both years, federal tax credits supporting wind production were set to expire, triggering a surge in construction.
More: Radio Iowa
INDIANA
Groups Challenge NIPSCO Fixed Rate Hike
The Citizens Action Coalition and the Environmental Law and Policy Center are challenging Northern Indiana Public Service Co.’s proposed 82% increase in the monthly fixed charge for residential customers, saying the boost from $11 to $20 would inordinately affect low-income, minority and elderly customers.
The consumer organization and the environmental group told the Utility Regulatory Commission that the proposed fixed-rate increase would also undermine the viability of energy efficiency programs. The groups urged NIPSCO to improve assistance to low-income customers.
NIPSCO says the rate increase is necessary to defray costs such as $95 million spent on distribution improvements and $90 million spent on meter replacements. The utility says that most of a customer’s bill would still be associated with the volume of electricity consumed, retaining an incentive for customers to conserve.
More: The Times of Northwest Indiana
KANSAS
State Delays Controversial Plant After Lawmakers Raise Concerns
Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration is suspending plans to build a new power plant in Topeka after lawmakers raised concerns about the project’s cost.
The Department of Administration, which oversees the state’s facilities, struck a $19.9 million deal with Bank of America in December to finance construction of a new energy center, which would provide heating and cooling for the capitol and four other state office buildings. Lawmakers of both parties raised concerns that the tax-exempt municipal lease with Bank of America was made without legislative approval.
“[Lawmakers] asked for some more time,” said Brownback. “We followed the proper process, but if they think there’s ways that we can save money, I’m willing to let people take more looks at those items.”
More: The Wichita Eagle
MICHIGAN
DEQ Wants Better Records of Underground Natural Gas Storage
The Department of Environmental Quality wants energy companies to keep better records of underground natural gas storage infrastructure in light of a continuing Southern California methane gas leak involving a failed 61-year-old pipe.
Some of the state’s aging natural gas storage facilities have been in place since 1941, and the DEQ is worried that utilities like DTE Energy and Consumers Energy aren’t reporting enough on the condition of their storage infrastructure. In 2013, the state had more natural gas stored underground in depleted gas formations than any other state: 58 storage fields containing 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
“If a piece of steel has been in the ground for 60 to 70 years, it could be corroded,” William Harrison, a geosciences professor at Western Michigan University, told MLive. “That’s why they monitor and test these wells on a regular basis.”
More: MLive
MISSISSIPPI
PSC Says Net Metering Rule Stands for now
The Public Service Commission declined to reconsider its new net-metering rules for solar customers, which have attracted criticism from solar advocates as well as trade associations representing electric cooperatives.
The new rules, approved in December after a five-year drafting process, provide for net-metering customers to receive credit for 7 cents to 7.5 cents/kWh of power distributed on the grid. Solar advocates had proposed the customers receive the going retail rate, which is about 10 cents/kWh for customers of Entergy, one of the state’s two investor-owned utilities. The utilities had sought a lower rate.
The Electric Power Associations of Mississippi, which represents distribution cooperatives, and the South Mississippi Power Association, a transmission and generation cooperative, asked the PSC to reconsider the rules, saying they were an illegal intrusion into retail rate-setting. Entergy said it was satisfied with the rules as passed and is “moving forward with net-metering implementation.”
More: Mississippi Business Journal
MONTANA
PSC: NorthWestern Must Explain Tax Burden Portion of Bills
The Public Service Commission last week voted 4-1 to require NorthWestern Energy to spell out how much of customers’ bills goes toward paying company taxes. The regulators criticized a state law that permits NorthWestern to pass its tax burden along to ratepayers directly with little control from the PSC.
“Year after year, the Department of Revenue uses an extremely subjective method to calculate NorthWestern’s property taxes. State law then sticks ratepayers with the bill,” PSC Chairman Brad Johnson stated in a press release. Legislation to end the pass-through failed to gain traction in 2015 in spite of the commission’s unanimous approval.
“The automatic pass-through of taxes to NorthWestern’s customers is nothing more than a hidden sales tax on energy,” said PSC Vice Chairman Travis Kavulla. “Consumers deserve to know what they are really paying for.”
More: Missoulian
CPP Requirements Could Cost Some Montanans $178 Annually
Montana-Dakota Utilities customers could end up paying an extra $178/year if the utility has to upgrade its coal-fired plants to meet new federal environmental standards.
The Public Service Commission is meeting Feb. 9 to determine whether to sign off on MDU’s 21% rate increase request, some of which would go toward upgrading its coal-fired plants.
MDU’s plan to upgrade its plants may not be sufficient to meet the new Clean Power Plan standards, and some question whether the utility might be making a bad investment. “You shouldn’t want to make large capital investments in power plants that are then subject to other regulations that could shut them down,” said PSC Vice Chairman Travis Kavulla.
More: Billings Gazette
NEBRASKA
Compromise Reached with NPPD on Proposed Wind Energy Bill
Nebraska Public Power District has lined up behind proposed wind energy legislation that would spur projects by removing some barriers for wind projects while meeting the requirements of the transmission authority.
“We were initially opposed, but we found common ground,” NPPD Vice President Tom Kent said. Sen. John McCollister of Omaha helped reach the compromise, which he called “a big boost to rural communities” by providing property tax relief and economic incentives for wind development.
Critics said the bill would essentially deregulate wind development. Developers will no longer need a power purchase agreement as a requirement for gaining project approval.
More: Lincoln Journal Star
NEW JERSEY
BPU Approves 28-Mile, $130M Nat Gas Pipeline
By a vote of 5-0, the Board of Public Utilities last week approved construction of a 28-mile natural gas pipeline, but the $130 million project still needs state and local approvals. The Southern Reliability Link, proposed by New Jersey Natural Gas, would run from Chesterfield, through military-held Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst before terminating at NJNG’s system in Manchester.
Company officials and BPU President Richard Mroz have said the pipeline is necessary to provide supply reliability and to meet future demand.
The project continues to be hotly contested, however.
Jeff Tittel of the New Jersey Sierra Club had strong words against the decision. “This pipeline is not for resiliency; it is for growth and development along the coast,” he said. “The BPU does not listen to the people, they just do what the utility companies want,” he said. “Putting in this pipeline will be like putting a blowtorch in people’s backyards.”
More: NJ.com
NEW MEXICO
Environmental Groups Plan Opposition to Four Corners Plant
A coalition of environmental groups has given legal notice that it plans to oppose the federal approval of operations at the Four Corners Power Plant and Navajo Mine.
The groups on Dec. 21 filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the U.S. Office of Surface Mining, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal agencies for approving the Four Corners Power Plant and Navajo Mine Energy Project last summer. The approvals gave the coal-fired plant the ability to operate until 2041.
The environmentalists contend that the U.S. government’s impact study on the plant and the mine that supplies it was flawed. The groups claim the study failed to look at enough viable clean energy alternatives for power generation at the plant and failed to consider the impacts from carbon pollution.
More: The Albuquerque Journal
Solar Tax Credit Bill’s Fate Uncertain in Legislature
Legislators have proposed extending a solar tax credit that is set to expire at the end of the year. A similar extension was approved with bipartisan support in both houses of the Legislature last year but was vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez.
House Bill 26 would allocate $5 million annually for residents who install solar thermal or photovoltaic systems at their homes or businesses. They would receive a tax rebate of 10% of the cost of installation — up to $9,000 — until 2019. The proposed rebate will then decrease each year until 2024.
The current tax credit has been in effect since 2006, and over the last five years an average of $38 million has been spent installing solar panels. In 2014, 1,600 people were employed in solar jobs, according to the Legislative Finance Committee, and solar installations have grown an average of 81% between 2010 and 2013.
More: The Santa Fe New Mexican
NEW YORK
Cuomo: ReCharge NY Programs Support Jobs Growth
Gov. Andrew Cuomo claims in a new report that the ReCharge NY program, an economic development plan that provides discounted power from the New York Power Authority, has supported 400,000 jobs since its inception five years ago.
ReCharge NY provides power that costs 5 to 25% less than electricity generally available through the local utility. The report says that 741 customers, including 71 non-profits, are beneficiaries.
“Through ReCharge NY, we’re making it cheaper for businesses to compete, grow and ultimately thrive in New York state,” Cuomo said. “Electricity can be a major expense for any company, but by providing low-cost power to employers we’re making local communities more affordable, helping create jobs and ultimately strengthening the economy.”
More: Gov. Andrew Cuomo
NORTH DAKOTA
Mine Shutting down, Laying off 95 Employees
Dakota Westmoreland’s Beulah coal mine will lay off 95 employees in March and April as it winds down coal deliveries to the nearby Coyote Station power plant, which is switching suppliers.
The Coyote Station will start receiving coal in May from a new North American Coal operation called the Coyote Creek Mining Co., now poised to dig just to the southwest of Dakota Westmoreland. Dakota Westmoreland will retain 40 employees to produce the half-million tons it is scheduled to deliver annually through 2021 to another power plant.
Coyote Station is operated by Otter Tail Power, one of four owners, along with Montana-Dakota Utilities. Owners said they switched coal suppliers because North American offered a better price. Dakota Westmoreland, whose 9,000-acre Beulah surface mine complex produced 2.9 million tons of lignite annually, is owned by Westmoreland Coal.
More: The Bismarck Tribune
OHIO
Power Plant Emissions to Worsen Lake Erie Algal Blooms
Researchers say pollution from fossil fuel plants will contribute to severe algal blooms in Lake Erie, which are expected to double over the next 100 years.
Researchers Noel Aloysius, of Ohio State University, and Hans Paerl, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that along with fertilizer use, additional rainfall and runoff caused by the changing climate contributed to 2015’s unprecedented algal bloom in Lake Erie. The two said toxic algal blooms are putting Lake Erie’s commercial fishing industry at risk.
The researchers contend the emission of nitrogen oxides from fossil fuel plants, which run into the water, also exacerbated blooms.
More: Midwest Energy News
OKLAHOMA
State Paying Millions More in Wind Incentives than Planned
A controversial tax incentive designed to lure wind developers to the state has drained nearly $45 million from state coffers in two years, beyond what officials had expected.
The state tax commission paid wind companies $27.3 million in cash incentives for 2013, the most recent tax year for which data is available, up nearly 50% from $18.2 million claimed the year before. Lawmakers had anticipated claims would tally $19 million in 2018. Lawmakers approved the credit in 2001 in a line tacked onto a bill releasing money for boating safety.
Supporters and critics of the state’s zero-emissions tax credit agree that its impact will continue to grow as developers build wind farms to meet increasing demand for renewable energy.
More: The Norman Transcript
PENNSYLVANIA
PUC Moves to Expedite PGW Pipeline Replacement
The Public Utility Commission last week took several actions regarding cost recovery that will enable Philadelphia Gas Works to more rapidly replace its aging pipelines. They include raising the cap for the Distribution System Improvement Charge from 5% to 7.5% of billed revenue to help pay for infrastructure replacement.
However, Vice Chairman Andrew Place urged the utility to look for additional, internally generated funds to ease the burden on ratepayers.
PGW has the highest percentage of at-risk cast iron and bare steel pipe of any regulated gas company in the state, according to the PUC.
More: Pennsylvania PUC
WISCONSIN
Dairyland Power to Own 9% of Cardinal-Hickory Creek Line
Dairyland Power Cooperative will own a 9% share of the 125-mile Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line.
American Transmission Co. and ITC Midwest own the remaining shares of the proposed project. The 345-kV line, set to be built in 2019 and in use by 2020, would extend from near Madison to a planned substation in eastern Iowa. The sponsors say it will improve reliability, relieve congestion and connect to wind energy sources.
Seven possible routes are under consideration, said ITC spokesperson Tom Petersen.
More: TH Online