American Electric Power has named Judith Talavera president and chief operating officer of AEP Texas. Talavera replaces Bruce Evans, who has been named to AEP’s newly created position of senior vice president and chief customer officer, effective June 1.
Talavera, 42, the company’s first female president, will report to Venita McCellon-Allen, president and CEO of AEP Southwestern. Talavera was previously director of regulatory services for AEP Texas and began her career with the company in 2000 as manager of governmental affairs.
In his new position, Evans will oversee customer services, marketing and distribution, as well as regulatory services, business development and infrastructure and business continuity.
More: Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Xcel Lays Out Options for Improving Reliability in ND
Xcel Energy officials last week outlined millions of dollars in options for improving electric service in North Dakota and told state regulators that its Fargo system is fundamentally sound despite a recent rash of power outages.
Company officials met with the state’s Public Service Commission May 18 for an informal hearing on reliability after Xcel experienced eight outages in Fargo between April 22 and May 13, affecting more than 24,000 customers.
Xcel officials laid out options that include accelerating its schedule to replace the unjacketed cable that faulted in Fargo at a cost of $4 million, retrofitting certain utility poles to make them less prone to fire and installing more switches that automatically reroute power from unaffected areas during outages. Commissioners said Xcel would likely have to front the costs and seek to recover them from customers later, as the company is barred from seeking a rate increase until 2018.
More: Forum News Service
Enel Begins Construction On 150-MW ND Wind Farm
Enel Green Power North America has begun building the 150-MW Lindahl wind project in North Dakota. The project is designed to generate about 625 GWh annually to meet the electricity needs of more than 50,000 households.
Enel will sell the project’s power and renewable energy credits to SPP member Basin Electric Power Cooperative under a bundled, long-term power purchase agreement. This is Enel’s fourth U.S. project this year, after beginning construction on wind farms in Kansas, Minnesota and Oklahoma.
More: Energy Business Review
RES Eying Upper Peninsula For 150-MW Wind Project
Renewable Energy Systems is considering a 121-turbine, 150-MW wind energy project on the Michigan Upper Peninsula that would be roughly five times larger than the only wind farm on the peninsula, according to documents obtained by Midwest Energy News using a Freedom of Information Act request.
The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing the plans because of the height of the proposed towers, and MISO confirmed that the project is in the system planning and analysis phase. RES wouldn’t confirm the project, saying only that it is “actively developing projects in Michigan and across the region.”
More: Midwest Energy News
Duke Plant Opponents Balk At $10 Million Appeal Bond
Opponents to a Duke Energy plan to build a $750 million natural gas-fired plant near Asheville are asking an appeals court to waive a requirement that they post a $10 million bond if they appeal regulators’ approval of the project.
Environmental groups NC WARN and The Climate Times said the North Carolina Utilities Commission based its bond requirement on unproven statements provided by Duke that an appeal would ultimately fail and the delay would cost the company millions of dollars.
Duke said the bond follows established law.
More: Charlotte Business Journal
DTE Opens Energy Center For Renewable Operations
DTE Energy has opened a facility in Bad Axe, Mich., that will serve as an operations center for its renewable energy operations.
The Huron Renewable Energy Center has offices, garages, a maintenance shop and warehouse, out of which about 25 employees will manage the company’s wind and solar projects in the region. It also has a 3,000-square-foot space available for community services that will be available in 2017.
DTE has four wind facilities and three solar arrays in Huron County, and two more wind facilities and 23 more solar arrays in other parts of the state.
More: The Associated Press
Archaeological Discovery Could Delay Pipeline
Energy Transfer Partners has started construction of the Dakota Access pipeline in three of the four states that the 1,150-mile pipeline will cross, but a discovery of a site in Iowa that may be culturally significant to Native Americans could delay approval there and force rerouting.
Work has started in North Dakota, South Dakota and Illinois. The company is awaiting action by Iowa regulators to allow construction to begin in that state. Last week, the state’s archaeologist said he was reviewing a potentially historically significant site near the pipeline’s route.
The project is also awaiting U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approval to cross the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
More: The Associated Press
Puget Sound Bond Buyback Deal Getting Investor Pushback
A plan by Puget Sound Energy to buy back bonds at a discounted rate isn’t going over well with some of the bond’s owners, who say they deserve better terms. Puget Sound wants to retire $250 million in 6.974% bonds that aren’t due until 2067 as a way to lighten its balance sheet.
But some of the bond owners don’t think the price offered by the company is fair. The company proposed to buy the bonds back at 85 cents on the dollar. But since the company announced the buyback plan, the price of the bonds jumped 6 cents to the 85 cents the company is offering.
The company said it is going to go forward with the buyback plan despite complaints from some bondholders. “We believe it’s a fair offer,” CFO Daniel Doyle said. “I respect the right of our bondholders to make a decision whether it makes sense for them or not. We will respect their decision and go forward.”
More: Bloomberg