Partnership Adds 11 EV-charging Stations
Eleven new electric vehicle charging stations have been added at five locations under a program called “Charging Up Delaware,” a partnership between the University of Delaware and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. It brings the number of charging stations in the state to 21.
“It’s 96 miles from the northern tip of New Castle County to the southern end of Sussex County,” said Mohsen Badiey, acting dean of UD’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment. “Completing the Delaware network for electric vehicles traveling in or through the First State complements regional electric chargers clustered in metropolitan areas of the Mid-Atlantic region like Philadelphia and Baltimore.”
For a map of EV stations, visit Plugshare.com.
More: UDaily
ILLINOIS
ICC Grants Approval to Ameren’s $150M Tx Line
The Commerce Commission has granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity to the $150 million Spoon River Transmission Project. The 345-kV transmission line is being built by Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois (ATXI), a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Ameren.
The line, which will be built using single-shaft steel poles, will span 46 miles in the state between Galesburg and Peoria. Construction is expected to start in late 2016 and scheduled to be completed in 2018. The project is estimated to support about 100 construction jobs.
MISO previously approved the line in 2011.
More: Ameren; St. Louis Post-Dispatch
INDIANA
Duke, Consumer Groups Reach $85 Million Settlement on Edwardsport Costs
Duke Energy Indiana, in a settlement with several consumer groups, agreed not to pass on to consumers $85 million in operating costs from its 618-MW Edwardsport coal gasification power plant in Knox County. The consumer groups had charged that the utility had rushed the plant into service early in 2013 in order to count some construction costs as operating expenses.
The settlement, announced Friday, still needs the approval of the Utility Regulatory Commission. The company has agreed to commission hearings on the matter, and Duke said it expects a final decision next year. The $3.5 billion plant is the first coal-fired generation to be built in the state in two decades. It is designed to gasify coal, remove the pollutants and use the cleaner gas to generate electricity.
An earlier commission settlement capped construction costs that could be passed through to consumers at $2.595 billion. At the time, the company agreed to shoulder $900 million in construction costs.
More: Indianapolis Star
IOWA
Thrice Rejected Wind Farm Plan Shows up Again
Optimum Renewables really, really wants to build a wind farm in the state.
The Des Moines-based company’s plan for a small, three-turbine wind facility has been turned down by three counties so far — Fayette, Buchanan and most recently Black Hawk. The company is once again asking Black Hawk for permission to construct the facility on a farm near the Black Hawk-Buchanan county line.
A hearing on the proposal is scheduled for Oct. 20.
More: KCCI News
MAINE
PUC Shoots Down Emera’s Bid for $15.4 Million Tx Line
Emera Maine wanted to build a $15.4 million transmission line from Monticello to New Brunswick, but the Public Utilities Commission unanimously ruled against it.
The three-member commission estimated that it would cost the average ratepayer about $34.07/year and argued that there were cheaper alternatives. The commission suggested that Emera work with Algonquin Power to upgrade a transformer on its system in Canada, which would cost customers only $1.94/year, according to commission estimates.
More: Bangor Daily News
MARYLAND
SMECO Requests Rate Increase
Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative is asking for a 4.45% increase to its distribution service rates, the first rate request in more than five years.
The additional revenue would help strengthen the grid and improve service reliability, SMECO said. If approved, the rates would take effect in March.
More: SMECO
MICHIGAN
Saginaw Approves $1.8 Million Plan to Replace Streetlights with LEDs
The Saginaw City Council approved a plan to spend $1.2 million on LED streetlights and another $600,000 to hire a company to install them. The city said it will save about $440,000 a year on street-lighting costs after the switch.
The council said it plans to use the savings to pay down debt on the $5 million bond it is using to finance several projects. The city anticipates having $140,000 in total annual savings after the payments.
The project is scheduled to start in November and be completed next spring.
More: MLive
MINNESOTA
State Appeals Court Sends Sandpiper Pipeline Back for Environmental Review
The state Court of Appeals ruled that the proposed Enbridge Sandpiper oil pipeline must go back to the Public Utilities Commission for a full environmental review, after the PUC already approved the project. The ruling strips a certificate of need for the proposed $2.6 billion, 610-mile pipeline that would run from North Dakota to Wisconsin.
The court ruled that giving approval to the project constitutes a “major governmental action” and must therefore undergo a full environmental impact study before getting PUC approval, something that wasn’t done previously. Enbridge had hoped to start construction on the pipeline next year.
Enbridge has not yet indicated whether it will appeal.
More: Star Tribune
MONTANA
Regulators May Change Rules to Help Boost Wind Development
The Public Service Commission is considering a change in regulations that could make it easier for smaller wind energy projects to get started. The change was requested by Greycliff Wind Prime, which wants to build a 25-MW project near Big Timber but has had trouble securing a contract with NorthWestern Energy, the state’s largest utility.
Greycliff said a Public Utilities Commission rule that requires a competitive bidding process for any renewable project larger than 3 MW is making it harder for smaller projects to get a contract, because NorthWestern has few bidding events. FERC ruled last year that that particular requirement poses an “unreasonable obligation obstacle.”
The PSC voted 3-2 to review the rule and possibly change it. “I’m committed to solving the problem in some way, shape or form,” Commissioner Travis Kavulla said.
More: MTN News
NEW JERSEY
Salem’s Cooling Water Intake Criticized
Opposition is heating up against renewing a permit allowing PSEG’s Salem nuclear plant to continue to draw 3 billion gallons per day from the Delaware River to meet its cooling-water demands.
Delaware Riverkeeper, an environmental advocacy group, submitted a detailed critique of the practice to the Department of Environmental Protection on the final day of the public response period. “Salem is surpassed in its impingement and entrainment impacts on fish by only one other facility in the nation,” a power plant in Florida, said Maya van Rossum, the Riverkeeper’s director.
Salem’s permit expired in 2006, but the plant has been allowed to operate pending a decision on the “best available technology” to mitigate its environmental impact.
More: The News Journal
NEW MEXICO
Gov. Martinez Unveils Broad Energy Policy
Gov. Susana Martinez unveiled a broad “all-of-the-above” plan Sept. 14 to develop the state’s energy resources, the first such comprehensive policy outline for the state in 25 years.
The governor recommended a broad array of strategies and policies that include traditional fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal; renewables like wind and solar; and new technologies, such as “small modular reactors” to harness nuclear energy.
Responses to the plan are likely to be varied, given the broad range of policies it promotes. Environmental organizations could take issue with some fossil fuel development strategies, such as a recommendation to export coal from mines to sustain that industry as coal consumption by local utilities declines. Potential future deployment of small modular reactors, an emerging technology that must still be approved by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, also could prove controversial.
More: Albuquerque Journal
NEW YORK
Brattle Group says Nuclear Power Brings $2.47 Billion to State
A recent report by the nuclear industry-sponsored Brattle Group says that the state’s six nuclear generating reactors bring $2.47 billion to its gross domestic product. A report released by the group in July tagged the national contribution at $60 billion.
The Brattle Group said the six reactors — Entergy’s FitzPatrick and Indian Point 2 and 3, and Exelon’s R.E. Ginna and Nine Mile Point 1 and 2 — provide 5,000 MW of generation and nearly 42 million MWh of annual generation. It said the industry supports 18,000 jobs in the state, contributing $113 million in state tax revenue a year.
More: Nuclear Street
NORTH CAROLINA
Regulators to Consider Approving Turkey Poop-to-Energy Project
Prestage AgEnergy is preparing a proposed project to turn turkey droppings into a combustible fuel for a 1.6-MW plant.
The plant, if approved by the Utilities Commission, would be the first to convert poultry manure to a gas, rather than burning the droppings and litter. If approved, it would help the state reach its renewable energy mandate, a goal set in 2007.
Prestage proposes to gasify turkey waste from more than 50 farms in eastern North Carolina. It has yet to reach an agreement with Duke Energy Progress to purchase the plant’s energy.
More: News & Observer
OHIO
PUCO Staff Opposes FirstEnergy Guaranteed Income Plan
The Public Utilities Commission staff said Friday that FirstEnergy’s request to shift the risk of some of their costly power plants to ratepayers is not in the public’s best interest. FirstEnergy wants a 15-year contract to buy the output of a coal and nuclear plant from FirstEnergy Solutions, its unregulated subsidiary.
A PUC staffer submitted testimony Friday that said the proposal isn’t acceptable in its present form. The recommendation has implications for a similar request by American Electric Power, which wants an income guarantee for some coal plants. AEP case’s hearing is set to begin on Sept. 28.
Hearings in the FE case started in late August. The five-member commission is not bound by the staff ruling, but it must take it into consideration.
More: Columbus Business First; Columbus Dispatch
Siting Board Authorizes 800-MW Combined-Cycle Plant in Lordstown
The Power Siting Board approved Clean Energy Future’s plan to build an 800-MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle plant in the Lordstown Industrial Park, northwest of Youngstown. Clean Energy Future said the plant will connect to the American Transmission Systems grid.
Construction is set to begin this year, and the $850 million plant is scheduled to be operational by May 2018. The Public Utilities Commission has already approved the plant.
More: Youngstown Vindicator
PENNSYLVANIA
Sessions Let Public Weigh in on Clean Power Plan
The state held its first “listening session” last week about implementation of the Clean Power Plan. The three-hour meeting was the first of 14 scheduled throughout the state, where interest groups and private citizens will get a chance to have the ear of the Department of Environmental Protection.
DEP is seeking input on such issues as how to measure compliance, whether the state should join an emissions-trading program and how it can best use energy efficiency and renewables in meeting the goals of the carbon-cutting plan.
DEP is accepting public comments, including written submissions to its website, until Nov. 12.
More: StateImpact
VIRGINIA
Appalachian Power Seeks Approval for $50 Million Transmission Line
Appalachian Power says it will ask the State Corporation Commission for permission to upgrade and expand a $50 million transmission line near Abingdon. The project would upgrade six substations, as well as add 11 miles of new transmission line.
The company said the upgrades are needed to meet growing power demand in the region. “The electric needs of the town of Abingdon and Washington County are growing,” said Mary Begley, Appalachian Power external affairs manager. “Work that Appalachian is planning will address those needs and provide a transmission grid capable of handling future growth. This investment in our system provides Abingdon and Washington County with a network that can help attract new businesses to the area while allowing existing companies to compete and expand.”
More: SWVAToday