Beacon Falls Project Siting Draft Released
The Siting Council last week issued a 16-page draft fact-finding report on the 63.3-MW fuel cell power plant Beacon Falls Energy Park. The council is expected to rule early next year on whether the plant can be built on a former sand and gravel pit.
If approved, construction of the plant would start next May, said William Corvo, president of CT Energy & Technology, a Middletown company that will own the facility once it is completed. The first phase could be done by July 2017, with completion by the end of 2019.
The plant will use 11.1 million cubic feet of natural gas a day for fuel and 300,000 gallons of water per day for fuel processing, according to the report. Fuel Cell Energy, of Danbury, will manufacture the 21 fuel cells in the project, making it the world’s largest fuel cell plant.
More: New Haven Register
DELAWARE
Bloom Energy Subsidy to be Carved out on Delmarva Bills
Delmarva Power and Light customers will begin seeing how much of their monthly bill goes to subsidize Bloom Energy under an order approved this month by the Public Service Commission.
In 2011, Delaware enlisted the California fuel cell manufacturer to build a factory in Newark by offering it $16.5 million in state funds and a 21-year subsidy from Delmarva, which buys energy from the fuel cells to meet its renewable power goals.
Bloom promised to hire 900 workers by 2017. By Sept. 30, it had employed 224. Bloom might have to return some of the $12 million it has received from the state for job creation if it doesn’t meet its workforce goal.
More: The News Journal
ILLINOIS
Commission Halts Peoples Gas Pipeline Replacement Program
The Commerce Commission has suspended an $800 million plan to replace 250 miles of Peoples Gas mains over the next three years.
WEC Energy Group purchased the parent of Peoples Gas in June, promising to spend $250 million annually on the pipeline replacement program. Attorney General Lisa Madigan, among others, has expressed fears about how the infrastructure program will impact rates of Chicago customers.
A new pipeline replacement plan is expected to be approved by the ICC by the end of 2016. In the meantime, the company will decide how much gas main work it will perform.
More: Crain’s Chicago Business
INDIANA
Residents Criticize NIPSCO Rate Increase
Residents turned up last week to protest NIPSCO’s proposed electric rate increase at a Utility Regulatory Commission regional hearing.
Hearing attendees said the utility’s proposed increase in its flat monthly customer charge from $11 to $20 would punish low- and fixed-income ratepayers. Laura Arnold, president of the Indiana Distributed Energy Alliance, said it is unclear how the utility justified the $9 increase in the fixed monthly charge.
The rate increase would generate $126.6 million in added revenue for the utility. NIPSCO’s last rate increase was in 2011. Public hearings will continue into February, when the IURC will hold an evidentiary session.
More: Post-Tribune (registration required)
KANSAS
Commission Takes Steps to Clean Power Plan Compliance
The Corporation Commission has taken a first step toward figuring out how the state will comply with EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which forces states to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions.
The state has joined several dozen others in a suit to block the regulations, but it also has taken steps toward complying with it. The legislature passed a law last session requiring the KCC to provide information about each utility’s options to comply with the rules, the cost of those options and how they would affect reliability. The three KCC commissioners approved opening a general investigation docket on Dec. 3 and instructed staff to contract with a consultant to examine the options.
The process will involve a public educational session on Jan. 12 with staff from the commission, the Department of Health and Environment and the Attorney General’s office. The commission also plans other hearings and a public comment period.
More: The Topeka Capital-Journal
Buckeye Wind Energy Center Comes Online
Gov. Sam Brownback and other state and county leaders recently inaugurated the Buckeye Wind Energy Center, a 200-MW project northwest of Hays. The 25,000-acre wind farm, owned and operated by Invenergy, includes 112 GE 1.7X100 turbines.
During the next 20 years, Invenergy expects to pay out $30 million to the landowners for leases and $17 million to Ellis County in lieu of taxes, said Kelly Meyer, Invenergy vice president of development.
More: The Hays Daily News
KENTUCKY
Lawmaker Wants Tax Imposed on Electric Cars
A state senator wants to impose an annual $100 tax on owners of electric cars to substitute for fuel taxes to fund road maintenance and repairs.
“If you’re using our highways, if you’re using our roads out there, you ought to help pay for them,” Sen. Joe Bowen, a Republican, said during a December committee hearing.
The Transportation Cabinet expects fuel tax collections to decline $100.4 million next year as conventional vehicles become more efficient and more electric vehicles take to the road. The National Conference of State Legislatures says that 10 states currently assess a special fee on electric car owners.
Stuart Ungar, president of EVolve KY, a group of electric car enthusiasts, said the tax would discourage electric car ownership.
More: WKMS
MAINE
South Portland Officials Reject Solar Proposals
South Portland officials have rejected two proposals from developers seeking to build solar power farms on city properties, including a former landfill.
One of the proposals came from Ameresco, and the other came from ReVision Energy and Energy Systems Group. City officials said neither bid offered an appealing power purchase agreement nor addressed the city’s desire to install solar arrays on nine municipal buildings.
More: Portland Press Herald
MICHIGAN
DTE Gets Rate Hike Approval from Regulators
The Public Service Commission granted a $238 million rate increase to DTE Energy that would raise the average monthly residential bill by $8.22.
The increase will help the utility finance the purchase of two natural gas-fired electric plants to replace two coal-fired plants DTE plans to close in 2016. The total rate increase for residential customers is 5.3%, while commercial customers will pay 3.4% more. Industrial customers will receive a 2.4% decrease.
PSC Chairman John Quackenbush said customers will benefit from a more reliable system and a cleaner environment.
More: The Detroit News
MISSOURI
Farmers Still Blocking Clean Line Power Project
The state’s farming community is still blocking Clean Line Energy’s $2.2 billion Grain Belt Express transmission line, which has been approved in three other states.
In July, the Public Service Commission said the project wasn’t necessary and denied Clean Line Energy’s application. The commission reportedly took into account the farmers’ concerns about crops and pastures and difficulties steering farming equipment around towers. The 780-mile HVDC line has won approval from Kansas, Indiana and Illinois, although opponents in Illinois are planning to appeal the approval process.
Clean Line says the transmission line would deliver renewable, low-cost energy to 200,000 homes in Missouri alone and help the state comply with the federal Clean Power Plan.
More: Associated Press
Independence Ponders Community Solar Farm
MC Power Companies has proposed building a 3.3-MW community solar farm in the city of Independence, which would be the largest in the Kansas City area.
Independence Power & Light would buy the energy from MC Power at a fixed price for 25 years. IPL would have the option to buy the farm after seven years. MC Power has a long-term lease for the land, said Loren Williamson, the company’s senior vice president of project development.
The City Council heard details about the proposed project Dec. 14. The ordinance for the power purchase agreement is scheduled for a vote Monday. It would bring IPL’s renewable energy production to about 13.5%, a step closer to the council’s goal of 15% by 2021.
More: The Examiner
MONTANA
Talen’s Share of Power Plant Drops 87% in Market Value
The market value of Talen Energy’s stake in a coal plant has declined 87% over the past two years, according to figures provided to the Great Falls Tribune by state revenue officials.
The Colstrip Steam Electric Station, partially owned by Talen Energy, has fared poorly as a merchant generator competing with cheap natural gas, according to officials. “The prospects for coal versus natural gas have deteriorated,” said Julien Dumoulin-Smith, a power sector analyst from UBS Securities.
In 2013, Talen’s stake in the Colstrip station was valued at $400 million. Today, that share is valued at $45.5 million. About three-quarters of residents in Rosebud County, where Colstrip is located, get their electricity from the plant. Diminishing revenue from the plant has prompted the county to raise taxes.
More: Great Falls Tribune
NEW JERSEY
BPU Approves Gas Line Through Pine Barrens
The Board of Public Utilities last week approved plans by South Jersey Gas to build a 22-mile natural gas line through the Pine Barrens without any further review. The decision came after the staff of the Pinelands Commission approved the project without putting it to the commission’s board.
The BPU’s decision raised howls of protests from environmental groups. The Pinelands Preservation Alliance called the decision “deplorable” and said it was a case of “politics and money triumphing over pinelands preservation and the public interest.” New Jersey Sierra Club Executive Director Jeff Tittel vowed his organization would appeal.
One BPU member recused himself and another was not present for the 3-0 vote. The pipeline is designed to deliver natural gas to the B.L. England generating station in Cape May County. The plant currently burns coal and fuel oil, but would be converted to gas if the pipeline is completed.
More: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Lawmakers Deliver Votes to Cut Emissions, Rejoin RGGI
The state legislature voted on two measures to cut carbon emissions in the state, handing Gov. Chris Christie an unmistakable message that it doesn’t agree with his stance on global warming.
The Senate cleared a bill that calls for more renewable energy generation, while the General Assembly passed a resolution that calls for the state to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Both votes were largely along party lines, with all Republicans in the Assembly voting against them.
Christie said RGGI was ineffective and represented a tax on utility customers.
More: NJ Spotlight
Assembly to BPU: Rethink Fishermen’s Energy Project
The state legislature continued its renewable push by passing a bill that requires the Board of Public Utilities to reconsider the Fishermen’s Energy offshore wind project, regardless of its cost.
The bill would require the board to exempt the three-turbine project from a cost-benefit analysis. The vote is seen as another swipe at Gov. Chris Christie’s administration, which supported an offshore wind energy development act five years ago but whose support for renewable energy has waned since.
“The failure of the Christie administration to adopt rules for offshore wind or hold up projects like Fishermen’s Energy has cost New Jersey jobs and economic investments,” said New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel.
More: reNEWS
NEW MEXICO
Legislators Reintroduce Bipartisan Solar Tax Credit Bill
Two state legislators — a Senate Democrat and a House Republican — are teaming up again to push a solar energy bill that last year passed the Legislature with strong bipartisan support, only to be pocket vetoed by Gov. Susana Martinez.
Sen. Mimi Stewart and Rep. Sarah Maestas Barnes have pre-filed bills that would extend the current state solar tax credits. The 10% credit for a solar installation is set to expire at the end of 2016. These bills would extend the credit through 2024.
Although the legislation passed last year, Stewart said in an interview that she is afraid the bill could have a harder time getting out of the Senate Finance Committee. That is because falling oil prices mean less tax revenue for the state.
More: The Santa Fe New Mexican
Commission OKs Partial Shutdown of San Juan Plant
The Public Regulation Commission last week adopted a plan to shutter part of the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station, bringing to a close years of wrangling over the best way to curb pollution while limiting the effects on utility bills and the region’s economy.
The 4-1 vote came as environmentalists, consumer advocates, state lawmakers and lawyers for the utility that runs the San Juan plant packed a PRC hearing in Santa Fe.
Under the plan, Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) will be allowed to absorb excess capacity from the utilities that are divesting ownership shares in the plant. Most environmentalists and clean energy advocates had previously opposed that, but PNM agreed to a new review by regulators in 2018 to determine whether more or all of the plant should be shut down after 2022.
More: Albuquerque Journal
NEW YORK
Commercial Sites to Expand Long Island Solar
The solar industry on Long Island is turning its attention from residential installations to commercial systems. One of the island’s largest commercial rooftop installations was unveiled at the Clare Rose beverage distribution facility in Yaphank, a $3.5 million project that will supply more than 90% of the company’s electricity and pay for itself in less than five years. The federal tax credit for that project will exceed $1 million.
“There’s a flurry of activity right now” in the commercial sector, said David Schieren, chief executive of EmPower Solar in Island Park, one of Long Island’s largest installers. EmPower expects to see a 10% shift toward the commercial sector next year, to 40% of its overall business.
In recent years, fewer commercial customers have installed solar. The number of rebated commercial systems is down for the past three years, to just 59 as of the end of November, compared to a high of 235 in 2011. The total number of megawatts on the commercial side is increasing, however, from 4.1 MW in 2013 to 6.1 MW thus far in 2015, according to PSEG Long Island, the local utility.
More: Newsday
Manufacturing Plant Given Cheapest Rate
The New York Power Authority has approved a deal to give cheap electricity to an aluminum smelter that had announced a plant closure. The deal will allow the Alcoa plant in Massena to stay open and save 600 jobs.
The price of power for the plant will be cut and future changes will be tied to the price of aluminum. Authority CFO Robert Laurie said the rate cut, which runs through March 2019, would cost the authority about $12 million annually in lost revenue. Laurie said the authority would likely not find another customer for as much power as the Alcoa plant consumes, which would have to be dumped onto the wholesale power market with “uncertain effects” if the plant closed.
Laurie said Alcoa will pay $12.25/MWh, the lowest electricity price of any NYPA commercial customer, and warned that other customers may approach the authority “to request similar treatment.”
More: Times Union
OHIO
University Completes Switch to Natural Gas
Ohio University’s on-campus power plant burned its last ton of coal on Thanksgiving Day and is now heating its buildings with natural gas, a switch that was completed six weeks ahead of schedule. The university had set Dec. 31 as the deadline to switching fuels, but work on the changeover was completed early.
The university will be installing two permanent natural gas-fired boilers, a project due to be completed by September 2017. The plant’s two coal-fired boilers and the obsolete smokestack will be removed.
The university is now getting about 20% of its overall power from the temporary gas boilers, and is purchasing another 50% on the open market from renewable sources.
More: Athens Messenger
PENNSYLVANIA
PUC Names Place to Replace Vice Chairman Brown
The Public Utility Commission named Commissioner Andrew G. Place as vice chairman, replacing John F. Coleman Jr., who will remain on the commission until his term expires in 2017. Place was nominated to the commission by Gov. Tom Wolf earlier this year, and confirmed by the Senate in September.
He came to the commission after serving as director for energy and environmental policy at EQT Corp. Place worked to form the Center for Sustainable Shale Development and held several positions at the state Department of Environmental Protection.
More: Pennsylvania PUC
TEXAS
Regional Haze Rule Could Cost Coleto Creek $100M
A newly announced EPA haze rule could cost the Coleto Creek coal-fired power plant near Victoria more than $100 million.
The federal agency announced Dec. 9 its haze regulations for the state, which require it to reduce pollutants that impair visibility in national parks and wilderness areas. Coleto Creek and six other coal-fired power plants in the state will need to make expensive upgrades or retrofits under the new rule to cut sulfur dioxide emissions.
Coleto Creek, which is owned by GDF Suez Energy Resources North America, has five years to comply with the new rule.
More: Victoria Advocate
El Paso Wants 67% Cut in EPE Rate Proposal
El Paso Electric’s proposed rate increase should be reduced almost $48 million, or 67% less than the utility has sought, the City of El Paso said in documents filed with the Public Utility Commission.
The city is asking the PUC to reduce the utility’s rate request from $71.5 million to $23.5 million, which would result in an overall rate increase of 5.5%, compared to the utility’s proposed 16.6% increase.
The city also is asking the PUC to reject the utility’s proposal to establish a special rate class for residential customers with rooftop solar systems, which would increase those customers’ rates more than regular residential customers.
More: El Paso Times
Carbon Capture Project Gets Important Land Agreement
Odessa Development Corp. voted to extend the land agreement with Summit Power Group, allowing the company to build a $2.5 billion power plant that captures and stores carbon on a 600-acre site.
Summit officials signed contracts Dec. 7 with the primary companies that will construct the Texas Clean Energy Project, which will sell power, CO2, urea and sulfuric acid. Summit still must raise funding to build the plant, and it is targeting financial closing in spring 2016.
Before the extension becomes final, Summit must also gain the approval of Grow Odessa, the non-profit organization that initially acquired the proposed Summit site. The Odessa City Council has already approved the extension.
More: Odessa American
VERMONT
St. Albans Cow Manure Digester to Produce Power
Green Mountain Power says it will build a manure digester in St. Albans that will turn cow dung from three farms into electricity and reduce phosphorous pollution into Lake Champlain.
The $8 million project, which will generate enough electricity from methane gas to power about 700 homes, will help meet about one-third of EPA’s target for reducing farm phosphorous runoff into St. Albans Bay.
EPA this summer set new pollution reduction goals for the state’s side of the lake. The digester process will remove much of the phosphorous from the manure. The fibrous byproduct from the process will be turned into animal bedding.
More: Burlington Free Press
WISCONSIN
Legislation Proposed to End State Nuclear Ban
A bill that would authorize new construction of nuclear reactors in the state was introduced Dec. 14 in both houses of the Legislature. Supporters say zero-emissions nuclear energy sources are needed under the Clean Power Plan, while critics of the legislation say building nuclear plants is an expensive way to comply with the federal carbon-reduction mandate.
WEC Energy Group said new sources of power wouldn’t be needed for at least 10 years, given the company’s recent completion of new plants. Republican State Rep. Kevin Peterson said during a legislative hearing that his bill “simply reopens the door to technology that has advanced well beyond what it was when our state closed that door 30-plus years ago.”
During Gov. Scott Walker’s 2010 campaign, he promised to end the state’s more than 30-year moratorium on erecting nuclear plants. Currently, 13% of the state’s electricity supply comes from nuclear sources.