Bloom Energy Surcharge Falls to $3.3M in January
A surcharge paid by Delmarva Power & Light customers to subsidize fuel-cell manufacturer Bloom Energy will come in at $3.3 million in January, down slightly from the previous month.
Under rules set by the Public Service Commission, a customer using 1,000 kWh will be assessed $4.52 for the Bloom Energy surcharge, down from $4.86 the previous month.
The PSC allowed Delmarva to collect the surcharge after declaring the natural gas used in fuel cells as renewable energy. The surcharge, which has generated nearly $63 million so far, was part of an economic incentive for Bloom to open a fuel cell manufacturing plant in Newark.
More: The News Journal
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Opposition to Exelon’s Pepco Bid Rising
Exelon’s $6.8 billion acquisition of Pepco Holdings Inc. picked up new opposition during the Public Service Commission’s first public hearing on the merger last week.
A coalition including the Sierra Club, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, D.C. Working Families and the D.C. Environmental Network introduced itself during the five-hour session. The group, which calls itself Power D.C., also set up a website that calls Exelon “a Chicago-based utility with a bad record,” whose acquisition of Pepco will not benefit ratepayers or businesses.
More: Washington Post
ILLINOIS
Supreme Court to Hear FutureGen Sourcing Case
The state Supreme Court will hear Commonwealth Edison’s appeal of a Commerce Commission order requiring it to enter into supply arrangements with the non-profit, clean-coal FutureGen 2.0 plant.
The ICC’s order forces ComEd to buy electricity from the plant as part of the state’s renewable energy mandates. The Illinois Power Agency Act requires that a quarter of the electricity consumed in the state by 2025 be generated by cost-effective clean-coal plants.
FutureGen 2.0, a project plagued by construction delays and cost overruns, is one of the only clean-coal power sources in the state. ComEd and other utilities have argued that the ICC’s mandate excludes other out-of-state clean-coal sources. The court is expected to make a decision before the end of 2015.
More: JDSupra
INDIANA
Consumer Advocate Says Duke Owes Customers $114.8M Refund
The Office of Utility Consumer Counselor is asking state regulators to force Duke Energy to reimburse customers $114.8 million in costs that it says were associated with the startup of the problem-plagued Edwardsport coal gasification power plant.
The Utility Regulatory Commission allowed Duke to collect up to $2.6 billion from customers to offset the plant’s construction costs, but it prohibited Duke from passing on any costs relating to testing and startup.
Duke said the plant was operational in June 2013. But the consumer counselor contends the plant didn’t officially go into commercial operation until March 2014 and that Duke improperly passed on startup costs between 2013 and 2014.
More: News and Tribune
KENTUCKY
PSC Eyeing Smart Grid Technology Soon
The Public Service Commission will hold two public hearings to investigate future investments in smart grid technology.
Advocates say smart grid technology, including smart meters, can allow utilities and customers to better gauge electricity consumption and to induce customers to conserve energy. None of the four investor-owned utilities in Kentucky – Louisville Gas & Electric, Kentucky Utilities, Duke Energy and Kentucky Power – have launched smart meter programs yet.
The PSC will record comments at the hearings and accept written comments until Feb. 27 before releasing recommendations sometime next year.
More: PennEnergy
MARYLAND
State Energy Official Named Next BOEM Director
Abigail Ross Hopper, director of the Maryland Energy Administration, has been named the next director of the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, whose duties include managing offshore wind development.
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced Hopper’s appointment last week. “Abigail Hopper’s knowledge of the energy sector, experience working with a wide variety of stakeholders and her legal expertise will be valuable assets to the bureau and the department as we continue to ensure the safe and responsible development of our domestic energy and mineral resources and [create] an offshore wind program,” Jewell said.
Hopper was an energy adviser to Gov. Martin O’Malley before she became head of the Energy Administration in 2012. She was involved in helping the state pass the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013.
More: MarineLink
MICHIGAN
DTE Asking PSC for 3.2% Rate Increase
DTE is seeking a 3.2% rate increase – about $9.75 for an average customer’s monthly bill – to pay for system upgrades and power purchases, the company said in a filing with the Public Service Commission. The request would increase revenue $370 million for the Detroit company.
DTE said the rate increase would apply only to residential customers because the commission has already approved rate decreases for businesses and industrials. DTE said that commercial customers have been subsidizing residential customer rates for years.
DTE, which has about 2.1 million customers, said it has made about $3.5 billion in system upgrades in the past three years. DTE’s last residential rate increase was in 2010, when it asked for $444 million, and the PSC allowed $188 million.
More: The Detroit News
NEW JERSEY
JCP&L Rate Case Drags on for 3 Years, Lawmakers Angry
Consumer advocates and lawmakers say it is time for the Board of Public Utilities to make a decision in a three-year-old case involving Jersey Central Power & Light, the state’s second largest utility.
The Division of Rate Counsel in 2011 asked the BPU to force JCP&L to file a rate case, arguing that the utility was charging at least $200 million too much. The utility, whose parent company is FirstEnergy, filed a request in 2012 seeking a $31 million rate increase. An administrative law court judge has granted several delays but is expected to announce a recommendation on Dec. 29.
“This is simply too much,’’ said Ev Liebman, associate director of AARP’s New Jersey chapter. “It is actually worse that the BPU has failed to act on the petition to establish provisional rates.’’
“JCP&L has been shamelessly collecting too much money (from customers) for too many years,’’ state Sen. Linda Greenstein said.
More: NJSpotlight
PENNSYLVANIA
PUC Considering Ban on Charging for Paper Bills
The Public Utility Commission is considering a ban on utilities assessing a charge on customers who want a paper bill, rather than an electronic accounting of their charges.
A four-year investigation into paperless billing found that paper billing invoice fees constitute “unreasonable and inadequate service.”
To date, no electric or gas utilities have separate charges for mailing a paper bill, a practice that has been limited to a few telecommunications companies. A rule prohibiting charging for a paper bill will be introduced next month.
More: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
VIRGINIA
SunCoke Cutting Coal Production by Half in ‘Challenging Environment’
SunCoke Energy, the largest independent producer of coke used in U.S. steelmaking, announced last week that it was cutting coal production by 50% and laying off 175 workers.
The company, based near Chicago, said it is cutting production from 1.1 million annual tons to about 500,000 annual tons and could be shutting some of its Appalachian coal mines completely.
“While we plan to continue pursuing opportunities to sell all or a portion of our coal mining business, the challenging coal price environment has led us to make these hard decisions,” Fritz Henderson, SunCoke chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
More: State Journal
WEST VIRGINIA
McKinney of PSC Stepping Down After Nine Years
Public Service Commission member Jon McKinney is stepping down at the end of the month, leaving only one member of the three-member commission available to hear any issues regarding the 2013 chemical spill that shut down part of the West Virginia American Water system.
First appointed in 2005, McKinney’s term officially ended in 2011, but a law allowed him to continue serving until officially replaced.
Until Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin appoints a replacement, McKinney’s departure will leave only Brooks McCabe, who joined the commission just last month, to decide on the ongoing American Water issues. PSC Chairman Michael Albert has recused himself from that case.
More: Charleston Gazette
XTO Energy to Pay $5M for Damaging Wetlands in Fracking Operations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice announced yesterday that XTO Energy will spend an estimated $3 million to restore eight sites damaged by unauthorized discharges of fill material into streams and wetlands during fracking operations in the state.
The company was also fined $2.3 million for violations of the Clean Water Act, which prohibits the filling or damming of wetlands and streams without permission of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Half of the penalty will go to the state Department of Environmental Protection, a co-plaintiff in the settlement.
Officials said that the company, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, dumped sand, dirt, rocks and other fill material into streams and wetlands to construct well pads, road crossings, freshwater pits and other facilities during fracking operations in Harrison, Marion and Upshur counties. More than 5,300 linear feet of stream and 3.38 acres of wetlands were affected. The EPA said it was alerted to some of the violations by the state and discovered others through routine joint inspections conducted with the Corps. The company also disclosed violations at five sites following an internal audit.
More: Environmental Protection Agency
WISCONSIN
PSC to Maintain Vote Timeline on Wisconsin Energy-Integrys Deal
The Public Service Commission rejected a request by consumer groups and businesses to delay a vote on Wisconsin Energy’s acquisition of Integrys Energy Group. The commission plans to vote on the deal on March 20.
Merger opponents had encouraged Wisconsin regulators to follow the lead of Michigan regulators, who postponed their vote on the $9.1 billion deal while it works with Wisconsin Energy’s utility, We Energies, to address energy supply concerns on the Upper Peninsula.
“We are not sticking our heads in the sand,” PSC Chairman Phil Montgomery said. “We are aware that the decisions in other jurisdictions may affect Wisconsin ratepayers.” Montgomery said the commission could attach conditions to the agreement later.
More: Journal Sentinel