Lucerne Valley Residents Oppose SoCalEd Renewable Energy Project
Southern California Edison is attempting to sooth the concerns of Lucerne Valley residents who are seeing red over a project to move renewable energy generated from northern states to the Western region, which requires construction of new capacitors near their homes and a proposed scenic highway.
The Eldorado-Lugo-Mohave Upgrade Project, which will increase power flow through existing transmission lines, includes installation of 250 miles of optical ground wire, resulting in the need to raise lines by 5 to 15 feet in 13 locations and to install several capacitors.
Construction is expected to begin in late 2017, with the project expected to be operational and in service by 2020.
More: The Leader
LA Supervisors: SoCalGas Should not Resume Aliso Canyon Operations
Los Angeles County supervisors voted unanimously to press state regulators to deny Southern California Gas’ request to resume injecting natural gas into wells at the Aliso Canyon storage facility, arguing that regulators cannot presently “in good faith” determine whether the facility is safe.
Aliso Canyon was the site of a four-month leak that emitted 109,000 metric tons of methane and displaced thousands of residents.
The utility has since reconstructed the wells to be used for injection or withdrawal with new tubing and steel pipe and added upgrades including around-the-clock pressure monitoring of all wells and an infrared fence-line methane detection system.
More: Los Angeles Daily News
Community Choice Energy Expected in Berkeley
The Berkeley city council is expected this week to approve the city’s participation in a community choice energy program anticipated for Alameda County cities in fall 2017.
East Bay Community Energy will allow member cities to pool resources to purchase cleaner energy at lower prices. Delivery would continue through the Pacific Gas and Electric system, and PG&E would maintain infrastructure and handle billing and customer service.
Neighboring Albany’s council passed a similar ordinance last week.
More: East Bay Times
MAINE
Portland Requires Large Businesses, Buildings to Report Energy Use
Roughly 225 commercial buildings, 40 municipal buildings and 19 apartment complexes must report their energy usage to Portland officials under a utility benchmarking program passed by the City Council.
The program, the first of its kind in the state, seeks to collect baseline data to gauge trends in energy use and to measure the effectiveness of efficiency upgrades.
Affected property owners will have at least two and a half years before having to comply under an amendment offered by City Councilor Jon Hinck, who chairs the Energy and Sustainability Committee.
More: Portland Press Herald
MICHIGAN
BWL Paid $25K Ransom To End Cyberattack
In a move its general manager called “distasteful and disgusting, but sadly necessary,” the Lansing Board of Water & Light paid a $25,000 ransom last spring to end a cyberattack on its internal communications systems.
The April 25 attack shut down BWL’s accounting and email systems and forced the utility to shut down phone lines, including a customer service line. Electric and water distribution were not affected.
The cost of responding to the breach, including the ransom and technology upgrades, was $2.4 million, BWL General Manager Dick Peffley said. All but $500,000 of the costs are covered by insurance, he said.
More: Lansing State Journal
NORTH CAROLINA
Duke Energy Seeks to Cap Coal Ash at 6 Plants
Duke Energy filed plans last week with state regulators to leave two-thirds of its coal ash in basins drained of water and covered with protective caps, instead of excavating it at six plants.
The plants where Duke plans to cap ash in place are the Allen plant on Lake Wylie, Marshall on Lake Norman, Belews Creek in Stokes County, Mayo and Roxboro in Person County, and Rogers in Rutherford County.
Duke previously was ordered or agreed to excavate ash at seven of its power plants in the state. In October, it reached a court settlement to do so at an eighth plant.
More: The Charlotte Observer
OHIO
NOPEC Reaches Electricity Deal After FirstEnergy Ends Contract
The Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council has reached a three-year deal for a new electricity provider after FirstEnergy Solutions abruptly canceled its deal serving 500,000 customers three years before it was supposed to expire.
Effective in January, NextEra Energy Services — which provided electricity to NOPEC before the FirstEnergy deal — will be NOPEC’s new supplier.
Under the new agreement, customers will receive initial pricing from January through the summer high-demand period, followed by options for a variable rate. Customers automatically will be included under the new contract unless they opt out.
More: The Akron Beacon Journal
Youngstown Voters Reject Fracking Ban for 6th Time
Youngstown voters rejected for the sixth time a Community Bill of Rights that would ban fracking in the city.
The measure was defeated 55% to 45%. Last year’s rejection of the proposal was the closest yet, by 2.5 percentage points.
Jackie Stewart, Energy in Depth’s Ohio state director, called the vote “a huge blow to activist groups.”
More: The Vindicator
Regulators Approve Switching AEP Plant from Coal to Natural Gas
State regulators approved a plan for American Electric Power to transition its Cardinal Plant in Brilliant from coal to natural gas by 2030.
AEP officials said they don’t know what the plan’s impact will be on customer rates. However, regulators said that for the first two years, bills should not increase by more than 5%.
Under the agreement, AEP also will develop over the next four years at least 900 MW of wind and solar energy projects in the state.
More: The Intelligencer
OKLAHOMA
Regulators Shutting Down Disposable Oil Wells Following Earthquake
State regulators are shutting down more disposable oil wells and restricting the volume of others in response to the magnitude 5.0 earthquake that struck last week.
The Corporation Commission’s Oil and Gas Division ordered seven wells within 6 miles of the epicenter to be shut down by Monday.
By Nov. 21, 16 wells within 10 miles of the epicenter must reduce volume by 25% of their last 30-day average, and 31 wells within 15 miles will be limited in volume to their last 30-day average.
More: The Associated Press
PENNSYLVANIA
PECO Withdraws Plans for $35M Microgrid Project
PECO Energy withdrew plans to build a $35 million self-sustaining microgrid in Delaware County after drawing strong opposition from customer advocates.
The proposed microgrid included 10.5 MW of natural gas and solar-power generators and 200 kW of battery storage. During a widespread outage, it could operate independently of the regional power grid.
Customer advocates questioned whether it was proper for the utility to re-enter the power-generation business it had been forced to spin off under the 1996 Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act. They also questioned whether all PECO customers would benefit from the project as the utility proposed rate surcharges to all customers to cover its cost.
More: The Philadelphia Inquirer
SOUTH DAKOTA
Green Energy Candidate Loses PUC Election
Oglala Sioux green energy entrepreneur Henry Red Cloud, a Democrat, was defeated by Republican incumbent Chris Nelson for a seat on the state’s Public Utilities Commission.
Nelson said he would try to keep utility rates as low as possible. Red Cloud, a first-time candidate, ran on a green energy platform.
More: The Associated Press
WISCONSIN
Regulators Reduce Return On Equity for MG&E
State utility regulators voted last week to reduce the return on equity that Madison Gas and Electric can earn from its present 10.2% to 9.8% in 2017.
The new profit level is the lowest since the 1970s, according to Public Service Commission data, and could signal that rates of return for other utilities may be scrutinized to drop again.
The reduction is the result of persistently low interest rates and declining return rates for utilities around the country, PSC Chairwoman Ellen Nowak said during the commission’s meeting.