Agencies Suspend Work on State CPP Compliance
The Department of Environmental Quality and the Public Service Commission announced they are halting an effort to draft a compliance plan for EPA’s Clean Power Plan as a result of last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to stay its implementation.
The PSC’s executive director, John Bethel, said discussions surrounding the rule’s potential implementation should carry on, however. “The stakeholder process will continue to evaluate what steps will be necessary to comply with the plan should it be upheld. Those activities might proceed on a modified timeline once we understand more what that might be.”
The state agencies said they will “continue to follow modeling efforts by the private sector of potential future energy and environmental policy scenarios.” They plan to have a technical session on energy sector modeling later this year.
More: KUAR
ILLINOIS
It Isn’t Easy Being Green, Commission Says
The Commerce Commission has proposed tightening the rules for retail electric suppliers to market their power as “green.”
Unless a customer’s residence is directly connected to a wind farm or solar panels, the electricity flowing to it cannot be said to be generated by renewable resources, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who supports the changes, told the commission.
The claim of green energy generally comes from the purchase of renewable energy credits, as all the electricity on the grid is intermingled, regardless of its source, Madigan said.
More: Chicago Tribune
MICHIGAN
Legislators Begin Overhaul of Energy Law
Legislators are considering a number of bills to update the state’s 2008 energy law. Among the provisions under debate is expanding customer choice, which is currently capped at 10% of the market.
Meanwhile, the state has halted work on its plan to comply with EPA’s Clean Power Plan until its fate is resolved in court.
More: Crain’s Detroit Business
MONTANA
Judge Upholds PSC Decision Denying Renewables Request
A Judicial District Court judge has affirmed a 2015 Public Service Commission order denying NorthWestern Energy’s request to decrease the amount paid to small wind and solar projects for their electricity.
In a March 3 ruling, Judge Mike Menahan upheld the PSC’s decision to maintain existing “standard rates” for certain wind and solar projects no larger than 3 MW. The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act requires NorthWestern to purchase power from these qualifying facilities based on the utility’s avoided cost, PSC officials said.
More: Great Falls Tribune
NEBRASKA
Bill Removing Restriction on Wind Development Stalled
Legislation that would make it easier for wind developers to advance projects in the state appears to be stalled in committee, although an effort is underway to advance the bill to a floor debate through extraordinary measures.
LB824 would remove all restrictions on developing wind energy, according to state Sen. Dan Hughes, who worries that a proliferation of wind energy would ultimately increase power rates. The legislation received the Natural Resources Committee priority designation in February but is now stuck in committee on a 4-4 vote, according to Hughes.
Hughes said it was important to realize that utilities need to also provide backup power for when the wind isn’t blowing, adding to the projects’ cost. “If we currently have excess power generation, I see no reason to build,” he said.
More: McCook Gazette
NEW MEXICO
Environmental Group Asks Energy Contracts Be Kept Public
An environmental group is asking the Public Regulation Commission not to impose confidentiality rules that would restrict public access to a coal supply contract, financial information for an Arizona nuclear power plant and other documents that are part of Public Service Company of New Mexico’s request to raise electricity rates.
Western Resource Advocates says information that affects rates charged by the utility should be open to the public. PNM is asking the commission for approval to raise residential rates by 15.8%, increasing annual revenue by about $123.5 million.
The utility said disclosing pricing information would hurt its ability to negotiate the best prices for goods and services. PNM used the same argument last year to maintain confidentiality over a coal supply agreement for the San Juan Generating Station. The PRC accidentally broke the confidentiality agreement when it disclosed the coal supply agreement and other confidential documents in response to a newspaper’s public records request.
More: Santa Fe New Mexican
Farmington-Bloomfield Utility Case Dates Back to 1960s
Farmington and Bloomfield officials have until March 17 to decide how they will proceed with a legal dispute between them after a judge said a 1960s electric utility municipalization case could be reopened.
Bloomfield argues that under the 1960 agreement in which Farmington acquired its electric system from a private owner, Bloomfield also had the rights to municipalize the power system within its city limits. Farmington had argued that Bloomfield’s rights to infrastructure within its boundaries expired in 1974 under the statute of limitations.
More: Farmington Daily Times
NEW YORK
Direct Energy Solar Leaving Market
Residential installer Direct Energy Solar will close a Rochester-area location by the end of May, saying it is no longer profitable for it to operate in the state because of low electricity prices.
“Our offer has been challenged due to the low electricity cost,” said Monica Yadav, a manager of external relations for the company. “We are going to focus on other markets in the Northeast where we have a really strong offer and a strong presence.”
The company will lay off about 50 employees, according to a filing with the state Department of Labor.
More: Democrat and Chronicle
Indian Point Unit Begins Refueling
Entergy’s Indian Point nuclear power plant Unit 2 began a planned refueling outage on March 7. Unit 2 was online 99.6% of the time since returning to service from its prior refueling outage in March 2014, according to the company. It also set a record for continuous days of operation, at 626, and a record for the amount of electricity generated, at 17.8 million MWh.
Entergy is investing more than $60 million at Unit 2, in addition to the refueling costs, to complete its installation of post-Fukushima safety enhancements. Equipment additions include portable electrical generators, pumps, cables and other equipment.
More: Entergy
NORTH DAKOTA
Xcel Customers to Receive More Refunds
Xcel Energy ratepayers will receive a one-time credit — $3 for residential customers — in a $702,656 refund granted because of a settlement over the federal government’s failure to acquire a long-term storage site for spent nuclear fuel.
The Public Service Commission approved Xcel’s request last week to distribute the customer refunds on behalf of its Monticello and Prairie Island nuclear power plants. Commission Chair Julie Fedorchak said 30% of the electricity used by Xcel’s 90,000 customers in the state comes from nuclear sources.
Under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, utilities executed contracts with the U.S. Department of Energy for the storage of spent nuclear fuel, but the department never secured a site. Xcel and other utilities sued the department, and the parties settled in 2011.
More: The Bismarck Tribune
Proposed NextEra Wind Farm Hits Court Snag
NextEra Energy is facing challenges to get approval for its proposed 87-turbine wind farm in Stark County. A first proposal was rejected last year, while a new version of the project with adjusted siting is currently stalled in a court dispute.
An opposition group, Concerned Citizens of Stark County, claims in a lawsuit that the county zoning board and county commission circumvented proper public notice when it held meetings within a day of each other in December to approve the proposal. Because the suit is unresolved, the Public Service Commission announced that it would delay its public hearing until March 30, giving the citizens’ group more time to review submittals from NextEra.
Some residents are urging NextEra to construct the turbines 2,000 feet from property lines instead of the proposed 2,000 feet from residences.
More: The Bismarck Tribune
OHIO
Operators of New Gas Plant Against AEP, FirstEnergy PPAs
The operators of the newest power plant in the state have said they may take legal action if the Public Utilities Commission approves a guaranteed income plan for power producers FirstEnergy and AEP Ohio.
Oregon Clean Energy, which has nearly completed construction of an 860-MW natural gas plant in the town of Oregon, says the eight-year power purchase agreements proposed by FirstEnergy and AEP would give them an unfair advantage. FirstEnergy and AEP say they need the PPAs to keep their coal-fired and nuclear plants operating and to preserve system diversity and reliability.
Merchant power producers say they will continue to fight if PUCO rules against them. “We could very easily see a scenario where utilities go to the General Assembly to look for a solution,” said Dylan Borchers, an attorney for Oregon Clean Energy, which is owned by Ares Management LP and I Squared Capital.
More: Columbus Business First
OKLAHOMA
AEP Ready to Begin Building 60-mile, 345-kV Project
AEP Oklahoma Transmission said it will begin building a 60-mile, 345-kV transmission line later this year. The $120 million Western Oklahoma Transmission Reinforcement Project is expected to be complete by summer 2018.
The SPP-approved project was announced in 2014. Pre-construction activities are expected to begin in March with staking of the rights of way and clearing vegetation and other obstacles.
AEP’s announcement came two weeks after Oklahoma Gas & Electric announced plans to go ahead with its Windspeed II transmission line, a 126-mile line from Woodward to OG&E’s Cimarron substation northwest of Oklahoma City. The $190 million Windspeed II project is expected to be in service by mid-2018.
More: The Oklahoman
PENNSYLVANIA
PUC Explores Alternative Utility Ratemaking Methods
The Public Utility Commission is accepting public comment about alternative utility ratemaking methods through Wednesday.
The PUC on March 3 hosted a hearing to gather information from experts about how to maintain a reliable energy grid while at the same time encouraging energy efficiency and conservation programs.
Among other issues, the hearing considered whether revenue decoupling could encourage utilities to implement energy saving programs and whether such rate mechanisms would be in the public interest.
More: Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
TEXAS
PUCT Declines to Reconsider Hill Country Tx Case
The Public Utility Commission declined to reconsider its approval of a transmission line route across Hershey Ranch, a major piece of preserved land in the Texas Hill Country west of Austin.
The 13-mile line, proposed by the Lower Colorado River Authority, is part of a plan to bolster electrical infrastructure east of Fredericksburg. Such transmission lines, which involve support structures 10 stories tall or higher, are becoming more common in Central Texas as the population grows.
The PUCT’s decision can be appealed to district court.