Boulder Continues to Consider Municipalization
Xcel Energy is expected to present new data to the city of Boulder this week to try and persuade the City Council to nix plans to acquire the utility’s assets and operate as a municipal entity.
City Attorney Tom Carr told the council that if the city is unable to come up with a plan that maintains service reliability and competitive customer rates, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the pace mandated by the city charter, he would recommend abandoning municipalization plans.
The state’s Public Utilities Commission ruled in November that Boulder cannot acquire Xcel facilities that exclusively serve customers outside city limits. The commission declined to force Xcel to share its facilities with the city.
More: Daily Camera
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
OPC: Don’t Spend Merger Money Just Yet
The Public Service Commission should not spend $21.55 million from the merger agreement between Exelon and Pepco Holdings Inc. in case the decision is returned to the courts, the Office of the People’s Counsel said in a filing last week.
The public advocate, along with district government and several clean energy groups, is asking the PSC to reconsider its decision allowing the $6.8 million deal.
The $21.55 million that Exelon provided the district is part of a $78 million public investment fund. (See Exelon Closes Pepco Merger Following OK from DC PSC.)
More: Washington Business Journal
ILLINOIS
Peoples Gas to Pay $18.5M Over Misleading Costs
Peoples Gas and parent company Integrys Energy Group will pay customers $18.5 million for allegedly withholding information about its $8 billion program that replaces 2,000 miles of old iron gas mains beneath Chicago streets.
The settlement reached last week ends investigations by Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Commerce Commission into allegations that project leaders failed to disclose $3.5 billion in cost overruns to regulators until Wisconsin Energy acquired Integrys last June. Peoples Gas maintains it did nothing wrong.
The settlement involves a combination of bill credits, legal reimbursements and grants to provide relief to low-income households for heating expenses.
More: Chicago Tribune
KANSAS
State Suspends Clean Power Plan Compliance Work
The state will officially suspend its work devising a plan to comply with the federal Clean Power Plan on May 19. It is at least the third state to take such a step after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in February staying the rules until legal challenges are resolved.
Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signed the measure into law last week after the GOP-dominated Legislature approved it by wide margins late last month. The law prohibits state agencies from conducting studies or doing other work toward drafting a compliance plan until the U.S. Supreme Court’s stay is lifted.
Kansas was among 27 states challenging the rules, finalized by President Obama’s administration last year.
More: The Associated Press
MARYLAND
Morris Schreim to Take Walter Hall’s Place at PSC
The Public Service Commission has appointed Chief Engineer Morris Schreim to senior commission adviser. He takes the place of Walter Hall.
Schreim, who has been with the commission since 2013, will advise it on matters related to PJM and FERC.
Andrew Dodge will assume the position of chief engineer and director of emergency management. Dodge retired in December as vice president of technical services at Baltimore Gas and Electric.
More: Maryland PSC
MONTANA
Colstrip Owners Discuss Future with Governor
The CEOs of three of the Colstrip plant’s owners sat down with Gov. Steve Bullock last week to discuss what will happen to the aging coal-fired complex as out-of-state political forces push toward the eventual closure of its two older units.
Kimberly Harris of Puget Sound Energy, Paul Farr of Talen Energy and Bob Rowe of NorthWestern Energy represented half the plant’s ownership. Talen owns 50% of Units 1 and 2 and a 30% share of Unit 3. It also operates the entire four-unit Colstrip complex.
Farr made it clear that Talen wants to sell its stake in the plant. He suggested that industrial customers sign a power purchase agreement with the plant to keep it operational.
More: Billings Gazette
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Eversource Predicts Increase In Service Charge in July
Eversource Energy is predicting an increase in its energy service charge starting in July at the same time that three other state utilities, which purchase power from regional markets, are expecting lower prices.
The company filed a price forecast with regulators but is not formally requesting the rate change. It is predicting that it will request a rate of 10.94 cents/kWh, a 9.5% increase from the current 9.99 cents/kWh. Utilities in the state adjust their rates every six months to reflect shifting generation prices.
Eversource, which produces its own power, is allowed to pass through the cost of operating coal-fired power plants that it owns into its rate. Three other utilities buy power on the wholesale market, and their rates have dropped because of historically low natural gas prices.
More: New Hampshire Union Leader
NEW MEXICO
State Passes 1,000-MW Wind Capacity Mark
The state surpassed 1,000 MW of installed wind capacity last year, and analysts say the state is well positioned to expand its renewable power output.
Industry experts say the state has excellent wind resources, and investors already have put almost $2 billion into developing turbines in the state. Wind power accounted for 6.3% of all power generated in the state, according to John Hensley, manager of industry data and analysis for the American Wind Energy Association. An additional 300 MW of capacity is expected to come online this year.
The state currently has 14 wind projects that support more than 1,000 jobs and generate enough power for 189,000 homes.
More: Public News Service
Judge Allows Lawsuit Over City Munies to Proceed
A state judge last week denied the city of Farmington’s motion to dismiss the city of Bloomfield’s breach of contract lawsuit, filed in August as part of its attempt to purchase an electric utility from Farmington.
“A municipality must be able to control the utilities within its jurisdictional boundaries and acquire the necessary property and equipment to do so,” Judge Bradford Dalley said. “It cannot be said that the passage of time extinguishes that role, especially when the right has been recognized in an agreement preserved in a court order.”
The city of Bloomfield alleges that a 1960 court case and the subsequent judgment and decree served as a contract between the two cities that recognized Bloomfield’s right to purchase the utility from Farmington at any time. Farmington argues that the 1960 decree, known as the Culpepper Decree, was not a contract and was subject to the statute of limitations.
More: Farmington Daily Times
NEW YORK
SolarCity Subpoenaed In Lobbying Probe
SolarCity acknowledged it has been subpoenaed in a federal probe of improper lobbying and undisclosed conflicts in state contracts.
The company is developing a state-funded “gigafactory,” the centerpiece of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “Buffalo Billion” initiative. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is investigating how certain vendors were selected to construct the projects, including SolarCity’s. A company spokeswoman said it is complying with the investigation and that the company had no say in the selection process.
The governor’s office, the state economic development agency, the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, the Public Service Commission’s Department of Public Service and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority also have been subpoenaed.
More: Newsday
RHODE ISLAND
$700 Million Gas-Fired Power Plant Opposed
At a packed public hearing, the state Energy Facility Siting Board heard opposition to a new $700 million natural gas-fired power plant that would be built in the western part of Burrillville.
Residents told the board that Invenergy’s proposed facility does not belong in an area surrounded by woodlands, including protected lands in the Buck Hill and George Washington management areas.
About one-half of the plant’s 1,000-MW capacity was successfully bid into the ISO-NE Forward Capacity Auction for the 2019/20 commitment period. A decision from the siting board is expected early next year.
More: Providence Journal
SOUTH DAKOTA
City Oks State’s Largest Solar Project
The Pierre City Commission last week approved leasing 5 acres at the Pierre Regional Airport to Geronimo Energy in what is expected to be the state’s largest solar energy project.
Minnesota-based Geronimo will install the 1-MW facility this summer. The power will be distributed into Pierre’s municipal electrical system.
It also will be first solar project for Missouri River Energy Services, which provides 43% of the city’s electrical power. The city gets the remaining 57% of its electricity from the Western Area Power Administration, which is not part of the project.
More: Capital Journal
WISCONSIN
Watchdog Calls out $138M School Energy Overruns
A little-known exemption has allowed 147 school districts to exceed state-imposed revenue limits by spending a combined $138 million on energy efficiency measures.
The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance says that a 2009 law allowed state school districts to exempt energy efficiency expenditures from state rules that require voter approval if revenue limits are exceeded. The Wisconsin Association of School Boards said the exemption encourages school districts to make investments in energy efficiency to achieve long-term operating savings.
A bill to end the exemption, sponsored by two Republican legislators, was stalled in the Legislature last session.
More: Wisconsin Watchdog