Pepco Gets About Half Of Requested Rate Increase
The Public Service Commission approved a $23.4 million distribution rate increase for Pepco, about half of the $44.8 million the utility had requested. The PSC also approved an overall 7.65% rate of return, which includes a 9.4% return on common equity, less than the 10.25% ROE Pepco sought.
The decision means most residential customer rates will rise about $3.75 per month. The commission said that for most residential customers, who buy their supply through Pepco’s standard offer service, the increase would be offset by a lower Standard Offer Service that will effectively lower monthly bills by around $6.
More: DC Public Service Commission
ILLINOIS
ComEd 2013 Reliability Highest in Utility’s History
Commonwealth Edison said its system reliability in 2013 was the best in company history, with 300,000 fewer customer interruptions than previously. The utility credits the performance to the $2.6 billion of investments it is making over 10 years by authority of the state’s Energy Infrastructure and Modernization Act. The investments include smart grid technology and infrastructure upgrades. ComEd said its reliability and Illinois’ competitive power supply market are key reasons that businesses like Airgas and others have committed to building new facilities in the utility’s territory.
More: Commonwealth Edison
FirstEnergy to Impose Polar Vortex Surcharge
FirstEnergy will impose a one-time charge of between $5 and $15 on customer bills in June to cover unexpected costs incurred during January’s polar vortex.
A company spokeswoman said the surcharge will affect 220,000 of its 670,000 Illinois customers living in Rockford and 97 other municipalities in northern Illinois.
Constellation, owned by Exelon, and Integrys Energy Services, which supplies the city of Chicago, said they don’t intend to impose a similar charge on customers.
More: Crain’s Chicago Business
INDIANA
Efficiency Program Killed; Pence Orders a Redesign
Gov. Mike Pence signed legislation killing the state’s two-year-old energy efficiency program, Energizing Indiana, but ordered the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to give him plans for a redesigned program that he could introduce next year.
The bill started as a measure to let large industrial users opt out of the program — which is paid for by a fee on utility bills — but quickly became a complete de-funding of the program. Pence said he supported energy-efficiency efforts and was unhappy that lawmakers had not worked out a compromise to let it continue with changes.
More: Indianapolis Star
MARYLAND
Bill to Let Green Energy On Farmland Advances
The state Senate approved a bill allowing some green-energy equipment on land set aside in Maryland’s agricultural land preservation program. Farmers could contract with wind, solar or other companies for revenue in addition to their payments for keeping the land in the preservation program.
The House has passed a similar bill. Both versions prohibit placement of wind turbines where lawmakers fear they would interfere with radar at Patuxent Naval Air Station.
More: The Baltimore Sun
NEW JERSEY
Lawmakers Try for RGGI Again After Court Decision
Lawmakers have renewed efforts to force the state to rejoin a multistate greenhouse gas reduction pact just two days after an appellate court found that Gov. Chris Christie’s administration was not allowed to scrap related cap-and-trade regulations without proper rulemaking.
The Senate Environment and Energy Committee voted 3-1 to send a bill that would require the state’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to the full Senate for consideration.
Christie, who announced in May 2011 that the state would back out of RGGI, has shot down previous legislative attempts to reverse that decision.
More: NJSpotlight
NORTH CAROLINA
Investor Funds Pressure Duke; Ash Woes Continue
Large institutional investors demanded that Duke Energy’s board of directors launch independent investigations of the Feb. 2 coal ash spill at Duke’s Dan River plant and the questions that have arisen since about other ash facilities.
“These events, and Duke’s response to them, have shaken investors’ confidence in Duke and its board,” the investors, which include public funds in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Oregon and Pennsylvania, said in a letter to the board.
Duke CEO Lynn Good said an internal task force and outside experts are reviewing all sites and are scheduled to report by the end of May. She said Duke would move ash from three plants and speed up closure of another basin.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued a citation to Duke for a crack in an earthen ash pond dam at the Cape Fear River, where the company was cited March 20 for illegal dumping of ash.
More: ABC News; Triad Business Journal; Reuters; Los Angeles Times
Appeals Court Rejects Duke Merger Challenges
The North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld the Utilities Commission approval of Duke Energy’s 2012 acquisition of Progress Energy. Rejecting challenges from activist group NC WARN and the city of Orangeburg, S.C., the court said it was not its “role to second-guess the determination of the commission” where its decision was supported by evidence.
NC WARN had argued that the merger would not be good for residents, particularly the poor, and that the companies did not address the merger’s risks. The group said it would appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
More: News & Observer
OHIO
Cracks in Davis-Besse Getting NRC Scrutiny
Engineers are examining concrete samples from the Davis-Besse nuclear plant’s shield building to see if it is still strong enough to protect the reactor. Some tiny cracks in the building have been found since the first “laminar” cracks were found in 2011. Owner FirstEnergy will report on the matter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by late spring or early summer. The matter was discussed at NRC public hearings last week to talk about potential environmental impacts from a 20-year operating license extension.
More: The Blade
AEP Goes to High Court To Keep Fuel Overcharges
Recovery of overpayments, or retroactive ratemaking? That’s the question before the state Supreme Court in American Electric Power-Ohio’s challenge to an order to credit customers for $35 million in excess coal costs. The company was able to impose charges under a fuel adjustment clause before the Public Utilities Commission conducted a review of the charges’ reasonableness and prudence. The PUC ultimately determined that the utility had charged too much and ordered it to credit the overpayments against current fuel charges.
AEP’s arguments, together with a state Supreme Court decision in February that allowed the company to keep $368 million in past overcharges, show that “regulation is out of balance in the utilities’ favor and to the customers’ disfavor,” the Ohio Consumers Counsel office said.
FirstEnergy is mounting a similar challenge over a 2013 PUC ruling that FirstEnergy companies overcharged $43 million for renewable energy credits.
More: Midwest Energy News
Efficiency Debate Begins; FirstEnergy Urges Changes
As Republicans plan a bid to freeze state mandates for renewable energy and energy efficiency, FirstEnergy is urging customers to lobby lawmakers to amend the efficiency rules.
Proponents of energy efficiency, however, have been circulating American Electric Power’s case studies showing how its 2013 voluntary program has saved Ohio industrial customers millions of dollars.
The dueling scenarios argue either that the mandated efficiency programs over the coming decade will save billions of dollars or that they will increase electric rates by billions of dollars.
Republicans were poised to propose a bill that would freeze for up to three years a 2008 bill in support of energy efficiency and against new coal production while the law’s merits are studied. Opponents argue the freeze would ultimately become permanent.
More: The Plain Dealer
Car Dealers Say Tesla May Have Three Direct Outlets
Tesla Motors has made a deal with the Ohio Automobile Dealers Association to keep the electric car company’s two existing direct-sales locations open, as well as to open one more. Assuming the legislature approves the agreement, Tesla will have won a significant victory in Ohio over an argument it is having in other states. Under the agreement, however, no other carmaker could avoid going through auto dealerships.
The company is barred from direct sales in New Jersey, Texas and Arizona, and is fighting dealer-protective legislation in New York.
More: The Wall Street Journal
PUC Maintains Status Quo On Regulated Pricing
State regulators concluded their investigation into Ohio’s electricity market without recommending major changes to the system. The Public Utilities Commission looked at a number of issues in the 15-month probe, including whether to eliminate regulated pricing.
Alternative suppliers, including IGS Energy and Direct Energy, had argued that regulated pricing is an impediment to a competitive market and customers should be nudged to engage with the market. If there was no standard price, customers would need to shop for a plan or be automatically assigned to one.
Consumer advocates urged the PUCO to retain the current pricing system, which they said is an essential protection for customers.
The most visible change for consumers is that the logo of alternative suppliers will soon appear on the electricity bill.
The opinion may be Todd Snitchler’s last act as chairman. He chose not to seek reappointment after three years on the job; his term ends April 10.
More: The Columbus Dispatch
VIRGINIA
State Awards Aim to Help Offshore Wind Progress
Four businesses in the state have been selected for awards totaling $860,000 for research aimed at accelerating development of offshore wind power and associated industries. Dominion Virginia Power, which offered $2 million in cost-share contribution, is to receive a $310,000 award to advance geotechnical studies, including deep borings. Alstom Power offered $10,000 in cost-share and is to get $40,000 to develop advanced controls that adjust ocean wind turbines to ocean conditions. Other awards are going to CoastalObsTechServices and Timmons Group.
More: Virginia.gov
— Compiled by Kathy Larsen and David Jwanier