Del Mar Releases Climate Action Plan
Del Mar became the second city in San Diego County — after San Diego — to announce an objective of moving to 100% renewable energy by 2035. That goal is part of a larger climate action plan to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The oceanfront city hopes to encourage regional utility San Diego Gas and Electric to fully switch to renewable energy by that year, but it is also considering working with neighboring towns to create a community choice aggregator that would serve residents who opt to switch electricity providers.
More: The San Diego Union-Tribune
Gas Plant Owners Seek State Support for Contracts
Owners of gas-fired power plants are warning that they will be forced to shut down their units if the state doesn’t support their need for long-term contracts to maintain operations.
The plant owners argue their units are needed to ensure reliability on a grid that is increasingly subject to intermittent output from cheaper renewables.
A glut of natural gas and a boom in solar has driven wholesale power prices to unexpectedly low levels, threatening the viability of relatively modern gas-fired facilities.
More: Reuters
COLORADO
Boulder, Xcel Enter Into Settlement Talks
In the latest chapter in their ongoing dispute, the City of Boulder and Xcel Energy are discussing a possible settlement that would end the city’s push to form a municipal electric utility.
The city’s bid to municipalize has not ended just yet, however. Boulder will continue to work on its application to the state Public Utilities Commission to acquire certain Xcel facilities and create its own utility, while also engaging in settlement talks with Xcel. A proposed settlement could come before the City Council this summer, and a new franchise agreement requiring voter approval could be placed on the November ballot.
To date, the city has spent more than $10.4 million on its municipalization bid, about $8 million of which came from the Utility Occupation Tax approved by voters in 2011, which generates about $1.9 million in revenue a year.
More: Daily Camera
ILLINOIS
ICC Approves Southern, AGL Resources Merger
The $12 billion merger between Southern Co. and AGL Resources, which would create the second largest utility in the U.S. by customer count, has cleared another hurdle, receiving approval from the Commerce Commission
AGL is the parent company of Nicor Gas, which has 2.2 million customers in the state. The companies expect to complete the merger by the end of the year.
More: Southern Co. and AGL; Sonoran Weekly Review
IOWA
Company Challenges Archeologist over Burial Ground
Energy Transfer Partners says State Archeologist John Doershuk overstepped his bounds by recommending the company reroute its Dakota Access Pipeline to avoid land that Native Americans say is a sacred burial ground.
ETP said that a 2004 survey of the same land by the same archeologist “cleared the property we are crossing of any historic archeological sites.” It said Doershuk’s jurisdiction is over human remains only if they are 150 years old or older, and even then, he can only oversee their relocation and handling.
The Utilities Board granted permission for construction to start where the company already has landowners’ permission, but the state Department of Natural Resources issued a stop-work order based on Doershuk’s findings.
More: The Gazette
MAINE
Businesses Lobby PUC Over Net Metering Changes
A coalition of business owners and nonprofit groups are urging the Public Utilities Commission to take a slower approach to major changes in net metering compensation to solar power owners.
In April, the Legislature narrowly defeated a bill that would have changed how behind-the-meter solar is credited, which put the issue in front of regulators.
More than two dozen businesses and environmental groups sent a petition Thursday requesting that the PUC give lawmakers and stakeholders more time to continue working on the issue in order to make sure that changes do not affect existing net metering customers and destabilize the rooftop solar industry.
More: Portland Press Herald
MARYLAND
PSC Staff Says No to BGE’s Microgrid Plan
The staff of the Public Service Commission is advising against a microgrid pilot plan by Baltimore Gas and Electric.
BGE has applied to build two public-purpose microgrids, each with a capacity of 2 to 3 MW. It would recover the $16.2 million cost through a customer charge.
The PSC staff questioned the legality of utility-owned microgrids and is asking the commission to take a larger look at the state’s microgrid policies.
More: Microgrid Knowledge
MASSACHUSETTS
House Passes Bill to Boost Renewable Imports
The House of Representatives approved legislation that would require utilities to solicit long-term contracts for 1.2 GW each of Canadian hydroelectricity and offshore wind.
Supporters say the measure is a critical step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and replacing energy that has left or will be leaving the New England energy grid in the coming years, including the scheduled 2019 shutdown of the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth.
Some environmental activists say the House bill doesn’t go far enough in promoting renewable energy, while power generators say it interferes with the development of energy markets. (See Massachusetts Clean Power Bill Hit from All Sides.)
More: WBUR
MICHIGAN
Suspect in Attempted Substation Bombing Arrested
Battle Creek police arrested Joshua Buchanan on Thursday in connection to a firebomb found by workers at a Consumers Energy substation the day before.
Police did not provide any other information about Buchanan or the arrest. The Battle Creek Bomb Squad spent several hours at the substation removing a “crude incendiary device” and two gasoline cans. Sgt. Troy Gilleylen said the potential explosive device was not very sophisticated. The FBI is assisting in the investigation, and Buchanan could face terrorism charges.
“If this was put together properly it could have caused a lot of issues,” Gilleylen said. “These items were found inside a fenced area and under some heavy electrical equipment that routes power through Battle Creek.”
More: Battle Creek Enquirer; WZZM
Consumers Fined $516K For Estimating Bills
The Public Service Commission has fined Consumers Energy $515,800 over failing to provide thousands of its ratepayers with accurate meter readings.
Regulators announced the fine after an investigation into the company’s practice revealed the utility was violating rules for estimated billing. The PSC said Consumers lacked efficient monitoring, controls and customer communications.
The PSC said Consumers Energy improperly relied on usage estimates for more than a year for 12,671 customers. The fine represents about $200 for each customer whose usage was estimated in the past 16 months.
More: WOOD
MISSOURI
PSC Wants in on Great Plains-Westar Deal
Public Service Commission staff have asked the commission to intervene in Great Plains Energy’s acquisition of Westar Energy, citing a 15-year old agreement in which Great Plains agreed to get PSC approval if it wanted to acquire a public utility.
The agreement stems from Great Plains’ purchase of Aquila in 2001. Great Plains countered that the agreement only applies to the purchase of utilities in the state. Westar is based in Kansas.
More: The Kansas City Star
PSC Seeks Compromise Over its Authority
After utilities made an unsuccessful push to dramatically overhaul the state’s regulatory framework last legislative session, the Public Service Commission is moving to explore a “middle ground” on the way it oversees them.
The commission voted to open a case to bring together utilities, consumer groups and other parties in the hopes of brokering a conversation outside of the legislature. The move comes after the utilities’ failed effort to reduce the PSC’s discretion over setting rates and approving utility expenses.
Electric utilities said they need faster reimbursement to incentivize investment in aging infrastructure, but consumer groups countered the changes are unnecessary.
More: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
MONTANA
State’s Coal Production Down by 4M Tons in 2016
Coal production in the state declined by nearly a third during the first four months of 2016, with coal companies producing 4 million fewer tons so far this year.
The decline in demand was caused by the mild winter weather and utilities switching fuel sources, said Bud Clinch of the Montana Coal Council. Lower sales volume and lower coal prices may reduce tax revenues by as much as $25 million, he said.
More: Montana Public Radio
NEBRASKA
Aksamit Sues for Muni Generating Cost Data
A Nebraska wind-energy producer has asked state courts to force three public power entities to disclose their generation costs.
Aksamit Resource Management filed the action in three counties where it is building wind projects. Ratepayers “should know the costs and revenues associated with their publicly owned and operated public power districts,” CEO Gary Aksamit said. “When we get this information, we plan to share it with all Nebraskans so they can better understand why their electric rates have increased so much in recent years.”
The Nebraska Public Power District and the Omaha Public Power District say the information amounts to trade secrets and may be kept confidential, while the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska says it has provided sufficient information already.
More: Omaha World-Herald
County Supervisors OK 160-Turbine Wind Farm
The Antelope County Board of Supervisors approved a plan by Invenergy to erect 160 wind turbines. The supervisors imposed several conditions on the project, such as increased setback distances and completion of a noise analysis within 24 months after the structures are erected.
Eight turbines in the original proposal were dropped because of potential conflict with flight space around the Neligh airport.
More: Associated Press
NEW JERSEY
Group Re-forms to Fight JCP&L Tx Line
A local protest group has re-formed to oppose Jersey Central Power & Light’s proposal to build a $75 million transmission line between Aberdeen and Red Bank. The same group successfully fought the same transmission line project in the 1990s.
Residents Against Giant Electric said it is concerned about the proposal’s effect on property values, health risks and aesthetics.
JCP&L’s Monmouth County Reliability Project consists of a 230-kV line that would run 10 miles along a commuter railroad.
More: Asbury Park Press
NORTH CAROLINA
Court Orders NCUC to Reconsider Gas Plant Bond
The state Court of Appeals has ordered the Utilities Commission to revisit its decision to require environmental activists to pay a multimillion-dollar bond in order to appeal the commission’s approval of a Duke Energy power plant near Asheville.
The commission will hold a hearing on June 17 to reconsider its decision to require activist groups NC WARN and The Climate Times to put up a $10 million bond to pay for the cost of potential delays to the $1.1 billion project should their appeal be unsuccessful. Duke had asked for the bond amount to be set at $50 million.
The activists argued that requiring such a high bond was, in effect, blocking them from access to the appeal process.
More: WFAE
NORTH DAKOTA
PSC Conducts Hearing on Brady Wind II
The Public Service Commission spent 10 hours last week listening to testimony and comments regarding NextEra Energy’s proposed 72-turbine, 150-MW Brady Wind Energy Center II.
If approved, the $250 million project in Hettinger County will adjoin the proposed 87-turbine Brady Wind I wind farm in neighboring Stark County to the north. Brady Wind I and Brady Wind II could be online as soon as December, NextEra said.
If construction is not finished by December and the turbines aren’t operational, NextEra will be fined by Basin Electric Power Cooperative for not fulfilling its end of a power purchase agreement.
More: The Dickinson Press
OHIO
9 Selected for PUCO Seat Consideration
The nominating council for the Public Utilities Commission has selected nine candidates from the 19 who applied for the vacancy left by outgoing Chairman Andre Porter.
The council selected Edward Hess, Dave Hall, M. Howard Petricoff, Sam Gerhardstein, Lawrence Friedman, James Teitt, Andrew Thomas, Mark Ward and Gregory Williams for consideration. The council will interview the candidates on June 16.
The names of four finalists will then be forwarded to Gov. John Kasich for the final decision. Sierra Club activist Daniel Sawmiller, who led the opposition against FirstEnergy’s proposed power purchase agreements, did not make the cut.
More: Columbus Business First
OREGON
Pot Growers Urged to Save Energy, Water
A state task force is likely to recommend ways that legalized indoor marijuana growers can economize on their intensive use of energy and water rather than impose any limits on the booming horticultural business.
The panel is set to report to the legislature later this summer, likely proposing a new certification process that would encourage growers to conserve resources and suggest ways the state can provide education on the subject. Energy experts are concerned the growing demand from pot growers will require adjustments in the power grid.
The new industry, which became legal in October, is interested in energy efficiency but says best practices have not been established and information is not widely available.
More: The Oregonian
PENNSYLVANIA
PUC Appoints Mumford as Market Oversight Director
Daniel J. Mumford, who spent 26 years with the Public Utility Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Services, has been appointed director of the Office of Competitive Market Oversight. Mumford most recently helped direct the commission’s investigations into the state’s retail electric and natural gas markets and formulate changes in the wake of the polar vortex of 2014.
“Those regulatory changes served consumers well by enhancing supplier disclosure requirements, strengthening consumer protections and reducing the time needed to switch suppliers,” PUC Chair Gladys M. Brown said. “As Pennsylvania’s markets continue to evolve, we are pleased to have Dan at the helm leading OCMO.”
Megan G. Good, an analyst with the PUC’s Bureau of Technical Utility Services, will become the OCMO deputy director.
More: Pennsylvania PUC
RHODE ISLAND
Bill to Hinder Power Plant Sails Through House
The House of Representatives voted 64-7 to approve a bill intended to block a $700 million natural gas-fired power plant proposed in Burrillville.
The bill would require any tax agreement that the Burrillville Town Council reaches with developer Invenergy to be voted on in a town-wide referendum. Invenergy and its supporters, which include construction unions and business groups, say the legislation could lead to similar efforts to block infrastructure projects in other communities.
About half of the plant’s 900-MW capacity was successfully bid into the ISO-NE’s Forward Capacity Auction for delivery year 2019/20.
More: Providence Journal
TEXAS
Prices in Deregulated Markets Still Higher than Regulated
Consumers shopping for electricity in the state’s deregulated market in 2014 paid more on average than those without choices, though the price disadvantage was smaller than in years past, according to a new study.
Residential power prices in deregulated markets, which cover about 85% of Texas, averaged 15.5% higher than those in regulated areas, where consumers cannot choose their providers. But the difference between the two markets has been shrinking in recent years. Statewide, power prices are below the national average.
The study was conducted by the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power, which advocates for cities and other local governments and negotiates their power contracts. It analyzed federal data on residential prices stretching back to 2002, the first year most of the state was deregulated.
More: The Texas Tribune
State Expecting ‘Bumper Crop’ of Solar Farms this Summer
At least 20 “community solar” farms are scheduled to either be built or come online this summer in the state, according to industry insiders at last week’s Solar Power Southwest Conference.
The state is expected to have 14 GW of solar projects on the grid, but most of the focus has been on utility-scale and rooftop projects. Under community solar programs, homeowners in single-family dwellings can purchase individual solar panels on a farm and receive credits on their monthly light bills based on production.
Advocates say that community solar fills in the gaps by allowing renters and those homeowners restricted by covenants or with large shade trees on their property to purchase panels at these off-site, third-party solar farms to take advantage of those credits.
More: Houston Business Journal
FAA Signs off on 86-Turbine Wind Farm in Chapman Ranch
The Federal Aviation Administration ruled that 86 wind turbines planned for Chapman Ranch, near Corpus Christi, won’t be hazardous for air navigation, clearing a significant hurdle for the proposed wind farm’s developer, Apex Clean Energy.
The agency conducted separate studies for each individual wind turbine that evaluated the structure and its impact on air traffic. Analysts concluded that each would present no hazard to air navigation, provided that the wind turbines have markings and lighting as stipulated.
The Corpus Christi City Council adopted a resolution in 2014 opposing the proposed wind farm. That position hasn’t changed, said Tom Tagliabue, the city’s director of intergovernmental relations. The council voted later that year to annex 16 square miles of Chapman Ranch in hopes that it would halt the project, but Apex said the turbines are not planned for construction in the city-annexed land.
More: Corpus Christi Caller-Times
VERMONT
Gov. Vetoes Renewable Energy Siting Bill
Gov. Peter Shumlin vetoed a bill giving communities more say in the siting of wind and solar power projects.
Shumlin said he supported the parts of the bill giving towns and regional planning commissions more input in the siting of energy projects, but he objected to the tighter standards for noise from wind turbines. The standards effectively would “make Vermont the first state in the country to declare a public health emergency around wind energy, without peer-reviewed science backing that assertion up,” the governor said in his veto message.
The governor’s other objections included language on solar energy that he said could create a problem with deeds when properties are sold, and a lack of funding for regional planning commissions to do new energy planning work.
More: Burlington Free Press
VIRGINIA
DEQ Issues Permits for Dominion’s Ash Pond Draining
The Department of Environmental Quality issued a draft of a permit that would allow Dominion Virginia Power to drain up to 5 million gallons of coal ash pond water a day into the James River. The permit is one of four the company will need to begin draining the impoundment at Chesterfield Power Station.
The company is under federal mandate to drain the ash ponds at Chesterfield and Bremo Bluff Power station. Environmental groups won a legal challenge to the company’s first efforts at Bremo, and they vow to study the permit to make sure it meets the necessary standards.
The state will accept written comments about the permit through July 21.
More: Richmond Times-Dispatch
Pipeline Foes Plant Corn In Symbolic Barricade
Foes of the proposed Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines, assisted by veterans from the anti-Keystone XL Pipeline effort, planted corn in the paths of the two projects in Franklin. They hope the “Seeds of Protest” will grow into a symbolic barricade of the shale-gas pipelines.
“I have children and grandchildren and I want them to grow up in a world with clean water, clean air and healthy food to eat,” said Mekasi Horinek Camp, a member of the Ponca Tribe, who joined in the protest. “Anything that threatens Mother Earth threatens my children and grandchildren.”
More: The Roanoke Times; The Daily Progress
WISCONSIN
Madison Council Approves Ambitious Energy Plan
The Madison City Council adopted a measure last week to cut the city’s emissions 80% by 2050.
The plan creates an inventory of city-owned property that could house rooftop solar and establishes the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program to assist property owners in financing energy upgrades. The city has also committed to creating permanent energy staff positions and reviewing its climate change plan.
The plan also recommends the city obtain a quarter of its electricity from clean sources by 2025 and half by 2030.
More: Midwest Energy News
WYOMING
Solar Supporters Boost Net Metering Expansion
Solar advocates have asked legislators to back a proposal lifting the 25-kW cap on solar installations eligible to sell surplus power back into the grid, expanding the practice of net metering to larger projects. Supporters hope the measure will boost commercial solar installations and create jobs as the state confronts the declining fortunes of its oil, gas and coal industries.
The measure is expected to meet opposition from utilities, including PacifiCorp, which last month told state lawmakers the practice amounted to paying subsidies to homes and businesses with solar panels.
More: Casper Star-Tribune