Corporate procurement of renewable energy nearly doubled in 2015, Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported in its 2016 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook. Procurement totaled 3,000 MW last year, up from less than 500 MW in 2012 and more than 1,500 MW in 2014. Wind and solar dominated, with a small amount of biomass and waste.
Google has been the largest buyer, with 71 MW of solar and 1.2 GW of wind. Amazon is second, with 80 MW of solar and 458 MW of wind contracted in 2015.
The Factbook was commissioned by the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, which represents companies and trade associations in energy efficiency, natural gas and renewable energy.
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GridLiance Adds Industry Vets Boston, Morris to its Board
Competitive transmission company GridLiance named former PJM CEO Terry Boston and former American Electric Power CEO Michael Morris to its board of directors.
“Terry and Mike share our commitment to create a strong, proactive entity that will represent and serve public power’s needs in regional and national transmission planning and award processes,” GridLiance CEO Ed Rahill said.
The new appointments, effective March 31, expand the company’s board to six seats.
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Change in Leadership Coming at CMS
CMS Energy CEO John Russell is expected to leave his post on July 1, and Patricia Kessler Poppe, currently the company’s senior vice president of distribution operations, engineering and transmission, is set to replace him.
Poppe says she will dedicate her time to advancing subsidiary utility Consumers Energy’s renewable portfolio and meeting standards under the Clean Power Plan.
“We are committed to making sure that our customers have the kind of energy that they need when they need it and so we’re focused on a balanced portfolio,” Poppe said during a Michigan-based radio show.
More: MLive
Navy and Mississippi Power Team Up on Solar Project
The U.S. Navy Department and Mississippi Power said they are teaming up to construct a 4-MW solar plant on 23 acres of the Naval Battalion Center in Gulfport.
Instead of compensating the base monetarily for the land, Mississippi Power has committed to providing electrical infrastructure upgrades to the base. The electricity that the solar facility would provide will be routed to Mississippi Power’s electric grid. Hannah Solar, a Mississippi Power developer, will finance and build the project, which it aims to complete by the end of the year.
“This project, coupled with our existing energy programs, will increase the energy security of the installation, which will allow us to operate more effectively during times of crisis,” said Capt. Cheryl M. Hansen, the base’s commanding officer.
More: WLOX
Ameren Missouri May Lose Largest Customer
Ameren Missouri could stand to lose 10% of its business if Noranda Aluminum suspends operations at its New Madrid smelter as announced last week. The loss of the smelter’s business to Ameren, valued at about $160 million per year, has some speculating that the utility would look to ratepayers to make up the loss.
Noranda Aluminum, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, said work on its last remaining potline in southeast Missouri would be scaled back after March. (A potline is a collection of “pots,” or large electrolytic cells, in which aluminum is made.)
The Missouri Industrial Energy Consumers, a consumer advocate group, filed a request in early February, asking the Missouri Public Service Commission to grant the smelter a lower power rate. The group says if the smelter closes, Ameren would be forced to sell the excess power at a discount on the wholesale market, then recover costs from ratepayers.
More: KFVS
Westar Energy Gets Exemption from FAA for Drone Usage
Westar Energy is set to deploy drones to help it perform a variety of tasks, such as pinpointing storm damage and inspecting wind turbine blades.
The SPP member obtained a rule exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration in January to begin using two remote-controlled aerial drones.
The nation’s major electric utility associations have urged FAA to streamline the process for utilities to license drones.
More: The Wichita Eagle
Former FERC Chair Joins kWantera Board
Former FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff was named to the board of directors of kWantera Inc., a company that provides predictive analytics to identify wholesale electric prices around the world.
Wellinghoff said he believes kWantera, which is based in Pittsburgh, can help the U.S. develop a cleaner and more efficient power grid. “We can help translate, for instance, for the average wind farm developer who may not understand how to use the tools to help him maximize the profits from his assets,” he said.
It is the first board membership Wellinghoff has accepted since leaving FERC at the end of 2013 to become co-chair of the energy practice at the Stoel Rives law firm.
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Duke Energy to Sell International Business
Duke Energy said it is considering selling its international business unit that runs Central and South American power plants.
Duke Energy International, which is based in Houston, owns 4,400 MW of generation capacity in power plants in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Peru. Two-thirds of the power plant portfolio is hydropower and half of the plants are located in Brazil.
The company has released few details on the plan, but it did say it planned to retain its 25% stake in the National Methanol Co. in Saudi Arabia, a producer of methanol and methyl tertiary butyl ether, a gasoline additive.
More: FuelFix Blog
Exelon Has Spent $259M on Pepco Merger Effort
Exelon has spent about $259 million so far in its attempt to acquire D.C.-based Pepco Holdings Inc., according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The Chicago-based energy giant has spent $121 million on integration costs, and a further $138 million on financing, through the end of 2015.
The company is awaiting a final decision from the D.C. Public Service Commission, the last approval it needs. Exelon CEO Christopher Crane said that if the company doesn’t get the approval by March 4, it would pull out of the deal.
Exelon launched its bid nearly two years ago to acquire Pepco. The D.C. PSC first rejected the deal, in which Exelon offered $14 million in incentives to the district. The company later came back, promising $78 million in incentives and winning Mayor Muriel Bowser’s approval.
More: Washington Business Journal
Talen Energy Completes Sale of Ironwood Plant
Talen Energy this month closed the sale of its Ironwood combined cycle natural gas power plant in Pennsylvania to a subsidiary of TransCanada. The sale, part of FERC-ordered market mitigation efforts, was completed Feb. 1 for $657 million.
The 704-MW plant in Lebanon County was one of several Talen had to sell after it was formed last year from the spun-off competitive power generation business of PPL and generation assets owned by private equity firm Riverstone Holdings.
Several more mitigation-ordered sales are expected to be announced in the next few months, the company said.
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DONG Energy Targets Jersey Shore for Project
Danish wind farm developer DONG Energy has unveiled plans to build a project 10 miles offshore from Atlantic City.
The site covers about 160,000 acres and has an average water depth of 80 feet. “The site conditions are quite similar to those we currently work with in Northwestern Europe, which means that the project could be developed using well known technology,” DONG wind power executive Samuel Leupold said in a statement.
The New Jersey project would be DONG’s second wind farm in the U.S., following a project of a similar scale that would be built south of Martha’s Vineyard. For both projects, DONG acquired the development rights from another company, RES Americas Development, which won the rights in auctions held by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
More: The Boston Globe
Old Exelon Power Plant for Sale in Boston
Exelon has put the old Boston Edison power plant in South Boston up for sale, probably for redevelopment.
The 18-acre New Boston Generating Station has reportedly attracted interest from a half dozen developers. Reuse plans haven’t been made public, but experts say any winning bidder would likely turn the little-used power plant into a mix of housing and commercial space. An Exelon spokesman said the company hopes to close a deal this year.
The plant was built in 1892, first to burn coal, then oil, then natural gas. It was largely retired in 2007, though Exelon still turns on a small generator during periods of peak electricity demand.
More: The Boston Globe