CO2 Allowance Sale Raises $68.3 Million
The nine Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states that participated in the 32nd Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative auction of carbon dioxide allowances on Wednesday sold more than 15 million at a clearing price of $4.53.
Bids for an allowance, which allows for the emission of one ton of CO2, ranged from $2.10 to $12.65 each. It was the second of four quarterly auctions of 2016 and generated $68.3 million for energy efficiency, renewable energy and other programs in the member states.
Cumulative proceeds from all RGGI CO2 allowance auctions since 2008 exceed $2.5 billion.
More: Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
CALIFORNIA
Aliso Canyon Shutdown Prompts SCE Energy Storage Procurement
State regulators have ordered Southern California Edison to expedite procurement of large-scale energy storage to deal with possible service interruptions stemming from the closure of the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility.
The utility’s request for offers states that straight storage projects must be a minimum of 500 kW, and a separate “design, build and transfer” category seeks projects capable of delivering four hours of energy in increments of 5, 10, 15 and 20 MW.
Projects must be grid-connected, meaning behind-the-meter storage is excluded. SoCalEd is expected to select winners by mid-September, with Dec. 31 being the deadline for commencing operation. The Public Utility Commission acknowledges the timelines could be too aggressive.
More: Greentech Media
COLORADO
Boulder Intervenes in Xcel’s Plans for $1B Wind Farm
The City of Boulder and more than a dozen other agencies and government bodies have asked to intervene before the state Public Utilities Commission in Xcel Energy’s bid to build a $1 billion wind farm. The Rush Creek Wind Project would cover 90,000 acres in the state and would be among the state’s largest wind energy producers.
Boulder, which is engaged in an ongoing dispute with Xcel before the PUC over its municipalization efforts, said its primary contention is that Xcel filed the wind farm application more than two weeks before filing its electric resources plan (ERP), which sets what facilities it will need in order to serve its customers. “Our issue is that we think that this proposal should be evaluated in the context of the ERP,” said Boulder spokesperson Sarah Huntley.
The connection of the wind farm to Boulder’s efforts to take over Xcel’s assets is indirect, Huntley said. “The only linkage to municipalization we’re making is that the amount of energy they need to be able to provide could change if the city is no longer drawing our energy from them,” she said.
More: Daily Camera
CONNECTICUT
United Illuminating to Seek Rate Increase
United Illuminating will file for stepped-in annual increases of about $9/month for each of the next three years later this summer.
The company told the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on Wednesday that it needs $141 million in new revenue to pay for ongoing modernization of its distribution network, tree trimming and infrastructure improvements.
Regulators froze rates until 2017 as a condition of its approval of UI’s merger last year with Iberdrola USA to form Avangrid.
More: New Haven Register
IOWA
Dakota Access Gets Partial Approval from IUB
The Utilities Board allowed the Dakota Access Pipeline to proceed on parts of the route not covered by federal authority. It is the last state regulatory body to get aboard the $3.8 billion, 1,168-mile pipeline to deliver crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois.
Some obstacles remain for project developer Energy Transfer Partners. The state chapter of the Sierra Club filed a suit to block the pipeline, along with some local landowners and Native American tribes.
Energy Transfer Partners says it has received permission from 96% of the landowners along the route. It is awaiting approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to work on 2.5% of the route it controls.
More: Bismarck Tribune
MARYLAND
PSC Rejects Bulk of BGE’s Rate Increase Request
The Public Service Commission will allow Baltimore Gas and Electric to raise its rates for gas and electricity by $89.5 million, about 40% of the utility’s request of $224.5 million.
The new rates will increase monthly bills by $2.67 for electricity customers and $4.86 for gas customers. Had the PSC granted the full request, customers would have seen a bump of $7.05 for electricity and $8.01 for gas.
The commission denied BGE’s request for a bill surcharge to cover an increase of $30.7 million in conduit fees for the City of Baltimore.
More: Maryland Public Service Commission
MICHIGAN
Senate Fails to Vote on Energy Bill
The Senate adjourned last week without voting on a utility-supported package of bills to reform the state’s energy market.
Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof said most legislators were unfamiliar with the complicated legislation and it was too much for them to digest. “For folks that don’t serve on the committee and aren’t engaged in this every day, it’s a lot of stuff,” he said.
The bill aims to cut emissions 35% by 2025 through increased use of renewables, to give the Public Service Commission control in utilities’ rate changes and to place restrictions on alternative energy suppliers. Businesses, schools and government agencies say the legislation would remove the state’s retail choice, currently capped at 10%.
More: The Detroit News
Anti-fracking Petition Falls Short Before Deadline
The Committee to Ban Fracking collected about 82% of the 252,523 signatures it needed to get an anti-fracking measure on the ballot for November’s election before a deadline expired.
The group says it will sue to challenge the constitutionality of a 180-day limit for petition signature drives. It says it will continue to collect petitions in hopes of getting the measure on the 2018 ballot.
But under a bill recently passed by the House and Senate, the 207,000 signatures already gathered would be considered “stale” and the group would have to start over. Gov. Rick Snyder has yet to sign the bill, however.
More: MLive
MISSOURI
PSC Declines to Study Grid Modernization Bill
The Public Service Commission decided not to vote on opening a working case that would have studied the impacts of a bill that has stalled in the General Assembly.
The bill would dramatically change ratemaking for utility companies, with Chairman Daniel Hall calling it “a radical departure from 100 years of ratemaking.” But the legislation was filibustered in the Senate.
Another factor in the PSC’s decision to pull the vote from the agenda was Ameren Missouri, which said it would not participate in the working case for fear that it could be used against it in future rate cases.
More: The Missouri Times
NEBRASKA
Wind Project on Hold Over Local Opposition
A second wind farm in the state has been put on hold after it attracted public opposition. The Cherry County Planning Commission has delayed consideration of a 50-MW farm planned by Bluestem Sandhills, pending a review of public notice requirements.
The commission delayed a vote on a conditional use permit until it can decide whether the state Game and Parks Commission, which operates the nearby Cowboy Trail, should have been informed of the meeting. That legal review could take a few weeks, officials said.
Consideration of a 350-MW farm near Brunswick was also postponed to allow for more consideration of testimony about the project.
More: Omaha World-Herald
NEW JERSEY
PSE&G’s Solar Farm Plan Draws Mixed Reactions
Public Service Electric and Gas’ $275 million plan to add 100 MW of solar power through 10 new solar farms has drawn kudos from environmentalists, but others are concerned about the potential effect on solar credits.
Part of the company’s Solar 4 All program, the farms will be sited on old landfills and industrial brownfields.
PSE&G’s application includes a 10% guaranteed rate of return. “PSE&G is asking ratepayers to assume the risk for this solar generation,” said Stefanie Brand, director of the Division of Rate Counsel.
More: NorthJersey.com
NORTH DAKOTA
Ground Broken on State’s Largest Community Solar Farm
State officials broke ground last week on the state’s largest solar array, near Fargo. The 102-kW project has 324 panels, with room on the 350-by-150-foot lot to double in size if demand from Cass County Electric Cooperative increases.
The co-op received a $140,000 grant from the state Commerce Department, much of which came from the federal Department of Energy. That subsidy cut the project’s cost by 58%.
About 70 co-op members have purchased panels, and applications from 100 more members are in the works, said Paul Matthys, Cass County Electric’s vice president for member and energy services. The solar array will produce an estimated 142 MWh a year.
More: The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead
OHIO
Sierra Club Director Among 19 Applying for PUCO Seat
Daniel Sawmiller, senior representative with the Sierra Club’s Ohio Beyond Coal campaign, is one of 19 applicants for a vacancy on the five-member Public Utilities Commission. Others to apply included State Rep. Dave Hall and a Columbus utilities attorney, Howard Petricoff.
Sawmiller was a vocal opponent of both the FirstEnergy and AEP Ohio power purchase agreements and eventually joined in a settlement for the AEP plan after the company vowed to commit resources to renewable energy.
The 19 will be interviewed by the PUCO nominating council by June 16, and four finalists will be forwarded to Gov. John Kasich for consideration.
More: Columbus Business First
OKLAHOMA
Newspaper Questions OPPD Decision to Restart Nuke
Current and former Omaha Public Power District executives defended their decision to continue to invest in the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant, even as all market signals pointed to nuclear power being uncompetitive in the face of declining natural gas prices.
The Omaha World-Herald interviewed eight current and three former OPPD board members, questioning why the utility sunk $300 million in an effort to restart Fort Calhoun in December 2013 only to conclude last month that the plant “is not financially sustainable.” The board is expected June 16 to vote on a recommendation to close the plant by the end of the year. (See Omaha PPD Recommends Closing Fort Calhoun.)
More: Omaha World-Herald
PENNSYLVANIA
Judge: Drilling Critics’ Speech is Protected
A judge struck down a lawsuit by natural gas leaseholders who said anti-drilling activists had interfered with their rights by filing an unsuccessful legal challenge that they said had caused costly delays.
Judge Michael Yeager of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas ruled that the critics’ objections to a pro-drilling ordinance were protected by the right to free speech.
The decision does not affect the judge’s previous order in which he rejected the environmental group’s challenge and upheld the town’s zoning ordinance, which opened up nearly much of the township to potential shale gas drilling.
More: State Impact
PUC Takes Aim at Unlicensed Electricity Supplier
Public Utility Commission investigators have filed its first formal enforcement action against a power broker operating without a license.
Electricity supplier Fair View Energy, based near Erie, has signed up hundreds of commercial customers. Investigators say the supplier’s principals should have known they needed a license, as they’ve worked for other suppliers.
The commission’s enforcement arm is seeking $89,800 in civil penalties as well as refunds of fees paid by customers.
More: The Philadelphia Inquirer
VIRGINIA
Archeologists Uncover Artifacts In Path of Mountain Valley Pipeline
Archeologists surveying properties in the path of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline in Franklin County have found a trove of Native American artifacts, calling into question the job done by archeologists hired by the pipeline company.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a proposed $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline to transport natural gas from West Virginia through five Virginia counties to feed into a larger pipeline.
Pipeline opponents hope that the discovery of the artifacts may help them obtain historic designations for properties and impede the pipeline. The artifacts include arrowheads, tools and pottery shards.
More: The Roanoke Times
Dominion Virginia Power Advances Coal-Ash Storage Project
State regulators last week issued a draft of one of two permits Dominion Virginia Power needs to store more than a million tons of coal ash at the site of a defunct power plant in Chesapeake, the state’s third most populous city.
The draft of the other permit is expected to be issued this week.
Meanwhile, Chesapeake officials are fighting to have a say in how the site is regulated, and Dominion is battling a federal lawsuit by environmentalists who say the ash should be removed, not stored onsite.
More: The Virginian-Pilot
WASHINGTON
Seattle Passes Resolution Opposing Nuclear Power
The Seattle City Council has passed a resolution calling for its city-owned utility to seek power from non-nuclear sources and push provider Energy Northwest to investigate non-nuclear, carbon-neutral sources.
Energy Northwest operates the Columbia Generating Station, the region’s only nuclear station. Its power goes to the Bonneville Power Administration, which supplies about 4% of the Seattle City Light Department’s electricity.
The company says the council only heard one side of the story before its vote. “They just got a lot of really bad information that went unchallenged and, unfortunately, they acted on it,” a company spokesman said.
More: Tri-City Herald