These Power Bill Savings Aren’t Chicken Scratch
The Delmarva Poultry Industry predicts that its new energy-buying group will save chicken producers more than $1 million over the next three years.
Poultry producers began seeing those savings in December’s electric bills. The group said more than 200 members will pay 7.78 cents/kWh under a fixed-price electric supply contract with WGL Energy.
More: Associated Press
ILLINOIS
Commission Blocks Landowners’ Appeal of Grain Belt Express
The Commerce Commission has declined to reconsider its approval of the Grain Belt Express, a $2 billion HVDC transmission line that would move power from Kansas wind farms to Indiana.
The commission, which approved the project in a 3-2 vote in November, rejected appeals from landowners who argued that project developer Clean Line Energy Partners of Houston failed to meet expedited approval standards. Opponents of the project include the Pike and Scott County Farm Bureaus, which are considering a court appeal of the ICC’s approval.
Regulators in Kansas and Indiana have also approved the 780-mile overhead transmission line, while the Missouri Public Service Commission has balked.
More: The State Journal–Register
INDIANA
NIPSCO’s Planned Tx Lines Find Little Opposition
Northern Indiana Public Service Co. is backing construction of two transmission lines in the state to deliver power from Midwestern wind farms to markets on the East Coast.
NIPSCO will build a 100-mile line from Reynolds to Topeka in early spring that will cost from $250 million to $300 million. The company also formed a 50-50 partnership with Pioneer Transmission to build a 70-mile line from Greentown to Reynolds that is set to break ground early this year. That line will cost up to $400 million.
Unlike other transmission projects, the two proposed lines have attracted little opposition. NIPSCO spokesman Nick Meyer credited the company’s success with local landowners to the long timelines set by the utility for public meetings. He said that as generation switches from coal to wind and other sources, more transmission projects will need to be built.
More: The Times of Northwest Indiana
MISSOURI
Empire District’s Sale Rumors Leave City of Monett in Lurch
Leaders of the Monett municipal utility say they are taking a wait-and-see approach to news that Empire District Electric, the city’s power supplier, plans to explore strategic alternatives.
Monett is three years into a 10-year contract with Empire, an investor-owned utility. “Empire is really a small fish compared to other power companies,” Monett Utilities Superintendent Skip Schaller said. “They may think they’d be better off being bigger. We could even see lower rates.”
The dynamics of the electricity business for the area changed when Empire joined SPP in March, and the region became integrated into the RTO’s markets.
More: The Monett Times
NEW MEXICO
Commission Grants Rehearing on Renewable Charge
Large-scale electric customers have won a new chance to convince state regulators to let them keep fuel savings they currently receive as a result of Public Service Company of New Mexico’s investments in renewable energy.
The Public Regulation Commission voted 5-0 on Dec. 23 to vacate an earlier decision that would have forced industrial and governmental energy users to repay those savings to PNM. The issue will be reheard on Jan. 13 by the full commission, which could still decide to uphold its original order from November.
Industrial consumers and the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority filed motions opposing the PRC’s November decision, which ordered about two dozen industrial users, including the water authority and the University of New Mexico, to pay a combined total of about $2 million in annual fuel savings back to PNM.
More: Albuquerque Journal
Navajo Energy Pursuing Ownership in Four Corners Power Plant
The Navajo Transitional Energy Co. has received the green light from its board of directors to pursue acquiring an ownership interest in the Four Corners Power Plant.
NTEC officials said they are reviewing the possibility of obtaining the 7% interest held by El Paso Electric in Units 4 and 5. NTEC notified Arizona Public Service, the power plant’s majority owner, about plans to exercise the option to purchase that interest.
APS owns 63% of the generation from Units 4 and 5, followed by the Public Service Company of New Mexico with 13%, the Salt River Project with 10% and Tucson Electric Power and EPE with 7% each. EPE entered into an asset purchase agreement in February to sell its entire interest to APS.
More: Farmington Daily Times
Town Agrees to Solar Agreement with Florida Firm
Construction on a $2 million solar farm will start in January after the Aztec City Commission approved agreements with a Florida developer.
The commissioners approved the deal to enter into a wholesale power agreement and build a solar energy facility on city property with Guzman Energy of Coral Gables, Fla.. The 1-MW facility will be located south of the city.
More: Farmington Daily Times
NEW YORK
Power Marketer Agrees to Refunds
An independent supplier of electricity and gas for residential customers has agreed to refund nearly $1 million to resolve complaints about its billing practices. Ambit Energy issued $950,700 in refunds to 1,566 customers following an investigation by the state’s Department of Public Service’s consumer advocate.
The state investigation was launched following complaints about Ambit’s customer disclosure statements and renewal notices, particularly for customers who were moved from a guaranteed-savings plan into a variable rate plan charging significantly more.
More: Syracuse.com
State Reallocates $6 Million of Solar Fund
The state has reallocated $6 million in its solar incentive program, which will be available to new applicants.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $1 billion NY Sun program includes block grants in each region of the state that run out after a certain amount of money is spent. The reallocation comes after the cancellation of some projects.
More: Times Union
NORTH DAKOTA
SPP Membership Sets Up Company to Become Major Energy Player
A 25-year-old electric cooperative has joined SPP, allowing it to make a bigger mark on the region’s energy map.
Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative said that joining the RTO will give it access to export power to other regions, something it has been unable to do before. SPP will also help Mountrail-Williams optimize its transmission system.
Dale Haugen, manager of Mountrail-Williams, said that SPP membership “will position us in the future for wind generation and even natural gas generation and everything else. It puts us into the marketplace.”
More: Williston Herald
Transmission Authority Faces Challenge in Solutions to CPP
The Transmission Authority, which plans and oversees transmission buildout in the coal-dependent state, is facing new challenges to comply with the federal Clean Power Plan.
Authority Director Tyler Hamman said “no one really knows what to do” about the CPP yet. Any solutions that involve constructing more wind power will also require additional transmission infrastructure.
More: The Bismarck Tribune
County Approves Wind Farm, Despite Opposition
The Stark County Commission and its Planning and Zoning Board approved a conditional-use permit for a controversial wind farm to be erected by NextEra Energy Resources.
The public bodies were divided on the issue, reflecting a split in the community over the $250 million, 87-turbine project.
More: The Dickinson Press
OHIO
Dominion East Customers Get a Break on Natural Gas
Dominion East Ohio customers can expect to pay lower natural gas bills this winter, as abundant supply has driven down the price of the fuel and forecasters predict a milder winter compared with the past two years that will reduce demand, the company said.
Under the current rate, the average residential customer will receive a December bill of about $66.12, nearly 40% less than in the same period a year ago.
“One of the major drivers of our supply security is increasing natural gas production right here in Ohio,” said Jeff Murphy, vice president and general manager.
More: Dominion East Ohio
TEXAS
PUC Recommends Reducing EPE Rate Request
El Paso Electric’s proposed rate increase for customers should be reduced by about $17 million, or 24% less than the utility requested, the Public Utility Commission staff recommended.
The state regulatory agency staff recommended EPE’s rate-increase request be decreased from $71.5 million to $54.3 million, according to documents filed Dec. 18 with the PUCT as part of the review process. The City of El Paso thinks the utility should receive only a $23.5 million increase.
The PUC staff recommended approving the utility’s request to create a new rate class for residential customers with rooftop solar systems, which would increase those customers’ electric rates more than regular residential customers. That proposal is being fought by solar installers, homeowners with rooftop solar and others.
More: El Paso Times
VIRGINIA
Governor Pledges to Increase Solar Power
The state government will work toward deriving at least 8% of its electricity from solar power over the next three years, Gov. Terry McAuliffe has pledged.
That’s about 110 MW, about seven times more solar power than is installed across the state.
The initiative grew out of a study by McAuliffe’s Climate Change and Resiliency Commission.
More: Richmond Times-Dispatch
WEST VIRGINIA
FirstEnergy Cos. Win Rate Increases
The Public Service Commission has approved rate increases for two FirstEnergy subsidiaries, allowing them to recover $96.9 million, including expenses for beefed-up tree trimming programs and higher fuel and purchased power costs.
Typical residential customers of Mon Power and Potomac Edison can expect to see a monthly increase of about $9 in their January bills.
Since the PSC approved the companies’ vegetation management program in April 2014, tree trimming has taken place along 7,000 miles of transmission lines.
More: Associated Press
WISCONSIN
Republicans Trying Again to Lift State Nuclear Ban
GOP leaders in the state are pushing ahead with two bills that would lift the state’s 32-year-old ban on new nuclear generation.
Three previous legislative efforts in the last decade failed to lift the ban, but last month the State Assembly’s Committee on Energy and Utilities voted 13-0 in favor of reopening debate on ending the moratorium. The Assembly will vote on its bill in January, while the Senate’s bill hasn’t been scheduled for a hearing date yet.
Michael Corradini, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of engineering physics, said even though nuclear plants are being retired today for economic reasons, plans for smaller, more inexpensive nuclear plants are being developed and could be put in service within the decade.
More: The Chippewa Herald