Delmarva Bills to Give Customers More Detail
More details will appear on Delmarva Power bills, after lawmaker complaints that there was too little information about state-mandated charges, including purchases of renewable power and the Bloom Energy surcharge.
In meetings at the Public Service Commission, a two-step process was agreed on: First, this summer, utility bills will add line items for the low-income fund charge, the Green Energy Fund charge and “renewable compliance charges,” which will be wind, solar and fuel cell charges lumped together. The next step comes in 2014, when wind, solar and fuel cell charges will be detailed. The PSC must approve the agreement.
The Bloom Energy charge is on bills because lawmakers allowed the natural gas-powered fuel cell energy to count for renewables requirements. A Bloom subsidiary put a project at two Delmarva substations, and customers are paying a surcharge each month for the energy.
More: The News Journal
Delmarva Power Gets $15.1 Million Rate Boost
The Public Service Commission approved a $15.1 million delivery rate increase for Delmarva Power, less than half the $38.9 million the company sought. It allowed a 9.7% return on equity instead of the 10.25% sought.
More: The News Journal
ILLINOIS
NRG’s Crane: Coal Plants ‘Essential’ for 3-10 Years
NRG Energy chief executive David Crane said that he has not developed a long-term plan for the Illinois coal plants the company just bought from Edison Mission Energy’s Midwest Generation. But he said they will be essential in the short term.
“The purpose of having old coal plants, to be frank, is keeping the lights on for the next three, five, 10 years,” he said. “All I can say is thank God” old coal plants were available in this winter’s frigid spells, he said, because “there just isn’t enough natural gas in the system.”
Asked about Exelon’s position opposing subsidies for wind and solar, NRG’s Crane called it “hypocritical,” when Exelon “purports to be this super-green company and also wants more subsidies for nuclear.”
More: The Chicago Tribune
ComEd, Nest Labs Partnering on Summer Rebate Plan
ComEd is partnering with Nest Labs to offer up to $140 in rebates for customers who buy a Nest Learning Thermostat and participate in the utility’s demand response program. ComEd’s AC Cycling pilot program, in effect from June through September, can use Nest’s Rush Hour Rewards service to help reduce demand on the hottest days, the utility said.
More: Commonwealth Edison
First IKEA US Wind Farm Is 98-MW Hoopeston Wind
Retailer IKEA US is buying a 98-MW wind farm in Hoopeston, Vermilion County, the company’s first wind farm investment in the U.S. and IKEA Group’s largest single renewable energy investment globally. Hoopeston Wind is being built by Apex Clean Energy and is expected to be online by the first half of 2015.
More: IKEA
EverPower Buys Big Sky Wind Farm from Suzlon
Big Sky Wind Farm west of Chicago now belongs to Pittsburgh-based EverPower Wind Holdings. Turbine-maker Suzlon Energy bought the 240-MW facility from Edison Mission Energy (EME) at the beginning of April and immediately sold it to EverPower, in a pair of transactions that resolved Suzlon’s long-running dispute with EME, which involved a $228 million loan Suzlon made to EME.
EME had withheld $208 million, charging that Suzlon supplied defective equipment. The sale price was not disclosed, but the deal provided cash-strapped Suzlon with liquidity, which is “very valuable” right now, Suzlon finance group head Kirti Vagadia said. He said in February that it expected to recover $90 million from the asset.
More: The Economic Times; Bloomberg
INDIANA
Commission to Eye Edwardsport Issues
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission will look further into the fuel costs that Duke Energy Indiana has reported for its long-troubled Edwardsport integrated gasification plant, whose output fell to under 1% of capacity in February. The 618-MW plant ran at 4% in January. The state Office of the Utility Consumer Counselor claims the $3.5 billion plant consumed more energy than it produced during some periods in September, October and November, and pressed the IURC for more time to scrutinize Duke’s request for fuel cost recovery. Duke argues the plant is within its 15-month startup plan, but the commission agreed to take a deeper look.
More: Indianapolis Business Journal
MARYLAND
PSC Approves ODEC’s 1,000-MW Wildcat Point
The Public Service Commission approved Old Dominion Electric Cooperative’s 1,000-MW, gas-fired Wildcat Point generating project. ODEC plans to build the combined-cycle project next to its existing Rock Springs gas facility in Cecil County and is targeting a June 2017 in-service date. Transcontinental Gas Pipeline is applying for approval to build a pipeline to serve the project.
More: Power Engineering
Customers Get More Flexibility, Bill Help
Retail customers will now be able to change energy suppliers more quickly, get budget billing plans as well as payment extensions and obtain other help with electricity bills – some things that Baltimore Gas and Electric has already been offering its customers since January’s price spikes. The Public Service Commission approved these provisions after hearing hundreds of complaints about prices, and about receiving misleading information from suppliers about their variable rates and how to cancel contracts.
People’s Counsel Paula Carmody said her office has been puzzled by variable rate contracts up to 48 cents/kWh, compared with BGE’s standard offer of 9.5 cents. Disclosure rules have to be changed, she said, and there should be consideration of capping variable-rate contracts.
More: The Baltimore Sun
Somerset Wind Farm Fate Awaits Governor Decision
The future of Pioneer Green’s wind project in Somerset County appears to be in the hands of Gov. Martin O’Malley, who will either sign or veto a lawmaker-approved bill to delay wind farm development within a 56-mile range of Naval Air Station Patuxent River while a study is done to see how turbines can operate without interfering with radar.
The bill targets Pioneer Green’s 25-turbine project, Great Bay Wind Energy Center. While the developer has an agreement with the military concerning operational measures to allay radar concerns, some interests are far from sanguine about it. O’Malley favors wind development and reportedly has been eager to move the Somerset project along.
But U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and others have called for a delay. The Patuxent air base is a major economic presence in Maryland.
More: WMDT; Baltimore Sun
State Seeks Takers for Small Wind Power Grants
The Maryland Energy Administration is soliciting applications until May 15 for $1.1 million in grants for community-scale wind power projects, from 100 kW to 1,000 kW. Projects for Community Windswept grants must provide a benefit such as community ownership or serving load at a local community, academic or municipal facility.
More: Md. Energy Administration
NEW JERSEY
Fishermen’s Appeals BPU Rejection of Wind Project
Fishermen’s Energy is appealing the Board of Public Utilities’ denial last month of its plan to build a 25-turbine wind farm offshore Atlantic City. The appeal is “to clarify a number of apparent misunderstandings and misinterpretations,” including a large overestimation of the price of the project’s power, the company said. According to Fishermen’s, the BPU reviewed a price of $263/MWh while the real price is $199.
More: Delawareonline
Report: Examine Range Of Solar-Reviving Options
The state should look at a range of options for reviving its leadership in deployment of solar energy, according to a draft report, from establishing a “green bank” to help finance new installations to promoting more competitive procurement of long-term contracts. The report was prepared for the Rutgers University Center for Energy, Economic and Environmental Policy, which is working with the Board of Public Utilities on solar development volatility. The state used to rank second in the number of installations but has slipped to fifth. Policymakers are concerned about the boom-and-bust cycle.
More: NJSpotlight
BPU to ‘Get in Your Face More’ on Tree Trimming
After devastating outages in the last few years, the Board of Public Utilities is toughening its requirements for utilities’ vegetation management practices. “We’re going to get in your face a little bit more than in the past,” the BPU’s Jerome May told utility executives. While the board conceded that utilities generally do a good job with trees, it said more needs to be done, especially in communicating with local officials about tree-trimming policies.
More: NJSpotlight
NORTH CAROLINA
Solar RFP Brings Duke 3 Times What It Sought
Duke Energy has received bids for almost three times the 300 MW of new solar capacity it sought in a February request for proposals. The 300 MW would almost double the utility’s solar capacity in the state. The RFP targeted facilities larger than 5 MW and was limited to projects already in Duke’s transmission and distribution queue that could be completed by the end of 2015. Duke said it would select projects by October.
More: Fierce Energy
Duke Busy With Ash Fights on Multiple Fronts
Communities along the Dan River on the North Carolina-Virginia border are pressing Duke Energy to use vacuum dredgers to clear the waterway of coal ash from a Feb. 2 spill. At least one county resolution also called on Duke to remove ash from all 13 ponds at several facilities in the river’s basin. According to the Roanoke River Basin Association, the pollution in the river from the Dan spill is hurting tourism in the economically depressed region.
In other action, a judge denied Duke’s motion to shield records related to ash-pond groundwater pollution while the separate federal criminal investigation is going on. The judge agreed with a Southern Environmental Law Center attorney to keep the documents public but said Duke could try later to seal some of the records as trade secrets if they could justify it.
More: News & Observer; Bloomberg; ABC News
Duke, Piedmont Seek 2nd Pipeline into State
Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas are asking for proposals to build and operate a second large natural gas interstate pipeline into North Carolina. Duke has opened five gas-fired plants in the state since 2011 and plans a continuing shift to gas. Piedmont’s customer growth last year was its highest since 2008 and continues to climb.
The state is now served by a Transco line that runs northeast diagonally through western North Carolina. Duke and Piedmont want the new pipe to take a different route. They are open to various kinds of ownership arrangements. The companies expect to select a proposal by the end of this year and to have the project completed by late 2018.
More: Charlotte Observer
Duke Suspends Use Of Tree-Stunting Product
Duke Energy said it temporarily stopped using a vegetation management product that has raised a storm of public concern about safety. The product, Cambistat, stunts tree growth and keeps limbs away from power lines. Duke crews have injected the chemical into the soil near hundreds of trees; it plans on using the product in Charlotte, Greensboro and Durham. The company and the product maker maintain Cambistat is safe and actually makes trees healthier. A Duke spokeswoman said the company failed to inform customers adequately.
More: The Charlotte Observer
OHIO
Columbus to Explore Electricity Aggregation
A new Columbus Energy Review Committee will explore whether the city should enter the energy aggregation market. The committee will meet with communities that already participate in aggregation to lower their costs. Most electricity aggregation occurs in northern Ohio. Mayor Michael Coleman and the City Council gave no specific motivation for investigating the option. Coleman spokesman Dan Williamson said only that “What the mayor and council president say is `it’s something worth studying.’”
More: Columbus Business First
AMP Members Study Next Step After Loss in Court
Members of American Municipal Power are to meet this week to discuss how to proceed – appeal, settlement attempt or other route – after a federal judge rejected their effort to force Bechtel to pay up to $97 million for costs of a Meigs-area coal plant that AMP canceled in 2009. The judge ruled that AMP did not show Bechtel acted recklessly and thus the municipal power supply organization could not seek more than the $500,000 damages specified in the contract. Among AMP members, Coldwater Board of Public Utilities, for example, owes just more than $3 million in stranded costs, and Hillsdale Board of Public Utilities owes just more than $1 million.
More: Hillsdale Daily News
FirstEnergy Gets Scrutiny For Cold-Spell Extra Fee
The Public Utilities Commission is investigating FirstEnergy Solutions for the one-time fee it is charging fixed-rate competitive-supply customers for its extra costs associated with the January cold spell. The company plans to attach a fee of $5 to $15 to residential bills and up to 3% to business bills. The commission is looking into how the contracts are marketed to customers.
FirstEnergy Solutions is taking heat in Pennsylvania, too, where Public Utility Commission Chairman Robert Powelson is one of its customers. Fixed rates are fixed rates, he said, and “I think there’s a stench” associated with the company’s fee.
The company’s extra costs came from the extraordinarily high wholesale prices in PJM when extreme cold struck the region, cutting some power supply.
More: WKSU; The Philadelphia Inquirer
Gas-Plant Cleanup Measure Pulled from House Agenda
Lawmakers stopped action on a measure that would have allowed utilities to charge customers for cleanup costs at 19th century manufactured-gas plants, where gas was made from coal and other fuels. The measure, part of a budget package, was pulled after it became more complicated with the addition of electric utilities to those that would be permitted to seek cost recovery for the cleanup work. Known costs so far are about $80 million for projects by natural gas utilities Duke Energy and Columbia Gas of Ohio. Electric companies American Electric Power and FirstEnergy each have 11 sites, for which cleanup costs are not yet estimated.
Opponents say customers should not have to pay, and they warn the proposal could signal a broad liability shift that could be extended to other arenas, like coal ash ponds and coal-fired plants. Doug Colafella of FirstEnergy called those predictions “just hyperbole.”
More: Energybiz.com; The Columbus Dispatch
AEP Bill Adders to Cover Derecho Repair Costs
American Electric Power Ohio customers will pay $2.34 extra per household bill and $9.67 per business bill to cover the utility’s $57 million repair costs after the 2012 derecho. The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel had opposed the payment agreement that the Public Utilities Commission approved. AEP spokesman Phil Moye said the company probably would file for a similar deal in West Virginia to recover the $71 million in derecho costs incurred there.
More: WSAZ
Bill to Freeze Green Levels Gets Big Pro, Con Lobbying
As the legislature contemplates a bill that would freeze the state’s renewable power and energy efficiency mandates at their current level, big business interests are pressing lawmakers both for and against it. FirstEnergy is a leader in support of the freeze, along with Marathon Petroleum and Timken Co. while opponents include Honda, Whirlpool and Owens Corning.
The measure, Senate Bill 310, would halt at 2014 levels the renewables and efficiency levels set in a 2008 law, which raised the requirements annually to 25% by 2025. Some large users say the utility-bill fee for the program is costing much more than the benefits.
More: The Columbus Dispatch
FE Making Changes to Help Prevent Lake County Outages
FirstEnergy will change insulators on power lines in Lake County, in The Illuminating Company territory, to cut the risk of another prolonged power outage after two outages in the first two weeks of March that left tens of thousands of customers without power. The work, which should be complete by the end of the year, will involve changing porcelain insulators to polymer insulators and adding switchers. Local officials told utility representatives that communication during the events was a problem. The representatives suggested conference calls and a special smartphone app to improve communications.
More: The News-Herald
Utilities Meet Reliability Standards in 2013: PUC
All of Ohio’s regulated utilities met Public Utilities Commission requirements for reliability last year, PUC documents show. American Electric Power had an average of 1.03 failures per customer with an average duration of 141 minutes — not counting major storms, which are excluded from the PUC standards. AEP had been aiming for less than 1.2 outages and 150 minutes in duration. Each company has its own requirements, set to take local conditions into account.
More: The Columbus Dispatch
Ex-PUC Chief Takes Law Firm Post
Former PUC Chairman Todd Snitchler has a new job in the Columbus office of McDonald Hopkins, a business advisory and advocacy law firm. He will provide expertise on energy policy and strategy, government affairs and regulatory matters. Snitchler cannot argue cases before the PUCO for two years, but will be able to practice before other state commissions.
In addition to its Columbus office, the firm has locations in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Miami, and West Palm Beach. Its Washington D.C.-based subsidiary, McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies LLC, is headed by former Ohio Congressman Steven LaTourette.
PENNSYLVANIA
PUC Mandates More Retailer Info, Shorter Switch Time
Public Utility Commission member Pam Witmer urged lawmakers to adopt a set of PUC regulations that would give electricity customers more information about their accounts and the ability to switch suppliers more quickly. Spurred by thousands of complaints of sky-high bills from retailers for the extraordinarily cold snaps this winter, the PUC instituted new rules to require clearer contract language and more disclosure about variable rates. The new rules also cut the time it takes to switch from an average of between 11 and 40 days to three days.
The Energy Association of Pennsylvania, representing utilities, said it would be challenging to adopt the faster switch period in the six months allowed, and said utilities lack the technology to close out bills fast enough to meet the new switching timeline. EAP CEO Terry Fitzpatrick also said accelerated switching would do customers little good in a price crisis, as it would be too late by the time they received their bills.
Meanwhile, the PUC released data that showed two competitive suppliers – IDT Energy and Pennsylvania Gas & Electric – accounted for more than half of the complaints the commission received. Ten suppliers accounted for 83% of the complaints. Chairman Robert Powelson said the commission could ultimately revoke the licenses of abusive suppliers.
More: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; The Philadelphia Inquirer
FirstEnergy Gets 14 Years To Close Little Blue Run
The Department of Environmental Protection gave FirstEnergy 14 years to close the large Little Blue Run coal ash impoundment, which is associated with the Bruce Mansfield plant in Shippingport. The 14 years is more time than environmentalists wanted but less than the company sought. In a closure permit, the DEP requires FirstEnergy to monitor groundwater and surface water from more than 300 locations instead of the 74 the company had proposed, and it requires the company to control noise, odors and particulate emissions, among other measures. FirstEnergy agreed to stop pumping coal-waste slurry into the 978-acre pond by the end of 2016.
The DEP said FirstEnergy has posted a financial assurance bond of more than $169 million, the largest ever required by the state for a waste management facility.
More: TribLIVE
Susquehanna Unit 2 May Get NRC Upgrade
PPL’s Susquehanna 1,300-MW nuclear Unit 2 can go back to normal Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversight if it clears one more hurdle: a thorough inspection to make sure root causes of its problems have been addressed. NRC representatives said at a public meeting near the plant that PPL is meeting the objectives set to fix troubles identified after four unplanned shutdowns in 2012 and 2013 that caused the agency to put the plant in special oversight status. Only five other U.S. reactors are in the “degraded cornerstone” status.
At the meeting, PPL detailed measures it has taken to improve operations and noted that it plans to spend more than $20 million in capital improvements and $40 million for maintenance at the plant.
More: The Citizens’ Voice
FirstEnergy Starts Rollout Of 2 Million Smart Meters
FirstEnergy is poised to roll out two million smart meters to customers in its four Pennsylvania-based utilities. The several-year deployment, managed by Accenture, will be one of the largest advanced-meter deployments on the continent.
More: Accenture
VIRGINIA
New Line to Help Co-op’s Reliability Problem
Southside Electric Cooperative has begun steps to replace a Dominion Power distribution line with a co-op-owned transmission line, in a plan for relieving an outage problem connected with the line. The current line, which serves the co-op’s substation in Dinwiddie, was ranked second-worst of 246 Old Dominion Electric Cooperative’s wholesale-power delivery points in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. Standards for a transmission line — wider rights of way, for example — will provide more reliability than the distribution line does, the co-op said, although some local concerns remain about impact on historical sites.
More: The Progress-Index
