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Reading Municipal Light Department Gets Green Light To Participate In Offshore Wind Bid

November 19, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 19, 2021

Reading Municipal Light Department’s (RMLD) Citizens’ Advisory Board (CAB) and Board of Commissioners approved RMLD’s participation in the Commonwealth Wind bid proposal for offshore wind that is under consideration by Massachusetts, RMLD reported on Nov. 19.

Announced in October, Commonwealth Wind is a first of its kind partnership between Vineyard Wind and Energy New England (ENE), which is representing 20 participating Massachusetts Municipal Light Plants (MLPs), including RMLD. It is the first time MLPs were allowed to bid for Massachusetts offshore wind power.

If awarded, the Commonwealth Wind portion will be a part of the larger Vineyard Wind project proposed in an area 22 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard that was designated by the federal government in 2015 following a multi-year stakeholder process.

The Commonwealth Wind bid proposal is for 25 megawatts — or 146,000 megawatt hours per year (the maximum available to the MLPs) — plus the associated non-carbon certificates.

If the Commonwealth Wind bid is selected, RMLD’s share will represent less than 1% of its total annual power supply needs.

Massachusetts is managing the bid process and plans to announce bid winners by December 17.

“The RMLD envisions this first potential foot in the door as an opportunity for MLPs to gain more opportunities for future wind proposals to help meet decarbonization goals in the Climate Bill,” said Coleen O’Brien, RMLD General Manager.

RMLD is a municipal electric utility serving more than 70,000 residents in the towns of Reading, North Reading, Wilmington, and Lynnfield Center in Massachusetts. RMLD has over 30,000-meter connections within its service territory.

Understanding and Accessing Federal Funds Available to Public Power Utilities

November 18, 2021

by Guest Contributor for APPA
Mike Julian
Chief Revenue Officer, Tantalus
November 18, 2021

Public power utilities face pressures that require wholesale transformation. Extreme weather events occur with increasing frequency, stressing grids and causing destructive power outages. Consumers are transitioning to low-carbon, disruptive technologies such as renewables and electric vehicles. New regulatory requirements are charging utilities with reducing their environmental footprints, forcing the transition to smart grid solutions and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) communications programs.

It’s an expansive—and expensive—transformation. But budgets are tight throughout the U.S. – where will the money for these long-term investments come from?

Federal Programs – New and Old

The recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is top of mind for many people in the utility industry, and it will invest billions in the sector. But even in a typical year, 1,000 federal grant programs, working through 26 federal agencies, provide a total of more than $400 billion to public agencies for investment in a wide variety of initiatives. Much of this annual funding can support smart grid solution projects, through programs such as:

Learn more about these programs

And in the past 18 months alone, three major pieces of legislation passed, providing $4.8 trillion in extraordinary funding for COVID response and economic stimulus, including:

To give you a sense of scale, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was a $787 billion package that provided $7 billion for broadband deployment and $4.5 billion in smart grid investments. This new legislation surpasses the 2009 Act by an exponential factor.

How the Funds Are Distributed

For those utilities that want to access the federal resources available to them, it’s important to understand how these funds flow.

Many of these programs address a broad scope of grid infrastructure projects, but there are some that focus on increasing the availability of broadband services. Many utilities are developing broadband fiber networks to offer internet, phone and video directly to homes and businesses. They can then also leverage the network to improve their grid operations. These efforts often qualify for federal funding—utilities just need to know how to access it!

In order to access federal funding for a project, a utility must apply through the proper channels for the respective fund. Although the process for each available fund and their managing departments can be different, successful applicants for federal funding have some common characteristics:

An understanding of the steps and requirements needed to secure funds is critical to a successful application.

The Bottom Line

There are federal funds available for many of the projects and investments that utilities are evaluating today. Many of these funds have deadlines for applications—now is the time to begin the process!

There are several organizations to help you identify and access federal funds:

We encourage everyone in the public power and electric cooperative utility space to explore the many ways federal funding can enable a transition towards a smarter, more resilient energy sector.

APPA Applauds FERC, NERC Efforts To Analyze Winter Cold Weather Event

November 17, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 17, 2021

The American Public Power Association (APPA) recently applauded the joint efforts of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), and NERC’s Regional Entities to analyze the February 2021 cold weather event in Texas and the South-Central U.S. 

“The event put grid reliability for millions of Americans at risk and left many utilities and their customers facing billions of dollars of additional costs they will be repaying for years to come,” wrote Joy Ditto, President and CEO of APPA, in a letter to FERC Chairman Richard Glick and NERC President and CEO James Robb.

The detailed analysis by FERC and NERC staff in their final report issued on Nov. 16 “provides invaluable information about what went wrong — and what went right — as electric utilities in the affected regions worked to keep the lights on in face of significant challenges during the event,” she said in the letter.

“We have been working with our members to prevent a recurrence of the circumstances that arose during the event, including through legislative and regulatory approaches. One key to responding, however, has been a definitive investigation of the core causes of the event. The report will be a critical resource in this effort.”

Ditto said that APPA looks forward to working with FERC, NERC, and other energy stakeholders to use the report “and our own findings to ensure that similar events never recur.”

In September 2021, staff from FERC and NERC provided a report that included preliminary findings and recommendations related to the February 2021 cold weather event that impacted the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Southwest Power Pool (SPP), Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), and other regions.

Senate Confirms Nomination Of FERC Nominee

November 17, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 17, 2021

The Senate on Nov. 16 confirmed the nomination of Willie Phillips, Jr. to be a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a term expiring June 30, 2026.

Phillips, a Democrat, is currently Chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC) of the District of Columbia.

Once he is sworn in, Phillips will return FERC to its full complement of five commissioners after the departure of Commissioner Neil Chatterjee on August 30, 2021. 

He would also give Democrats a 3-2 majority on the Commission.

Developers Challenge Maine Ballot Initiative Result Blocking Transmission Project

November 17, 2021

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
November 17, 2021

Investors and stakeholders are challenging the results of a ballot initiative that could block a transmission project that would run through Maine to bring hydropower from Canada to New England.

NECEC Transmission and Avangrid Networks on Nov. 3 filed a lawsuit in Maine Superior Court challenging Question 1, which appeared on Maine ballots on election day, Nov. 2. Voters approved the initiative, the Legislative Approval of Certain Electric Transmission Lines, which calls for a prohibition on “the construction of electric transmission lines defined as high-impact in the Upper Kennebec Region, including the NECEC,” and requires “a two-thirds vote of each state legislative chamber to approve high-impact electric transmission line projects.”

New England Clean Energy Connect is a $950 million, 145-mile transmission project designed to bring 1,200 megawatts (MW) of hydropower from Quebec, Canada, into Maine and connect to the New England grid at Lewiston, Maine, and sell electricity to distribution companies in Massachusetts.

The project has secured permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Maine Public Utilities Commission, the Maine Land Use Planning Commission, and the Maine Environmental Protection Department.

In 2018, several Massachusetts utilities signed contracts to purchase 9.45 million megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity per year from Hydro-Quebec per through the NECEC transmission project.

At the time, Massachusetts’ Department of Energy Resources said the contract would result in 47 percent of the electricity consumed by Massachusetts being generated from clean energy and would “significantly contribute” to meeting the state’s emission reduction goals under the Global Warming Solutions Act.

The ballot initiative, which was approved by roughly 60 percent of voters, calls for a change in Maine law that would block the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) project, NECEC and Avangrid said in a statement. The initiative is unconstitutional and violates both state and federal law, the plaintiffs said.

In their filing, Avangrid and NECEC argue that the ballot initiative violates the vested rights of the property owner, namely, the project company NECEC. The plaintiffs also argue that the initiative violates the separation of power clause of Maine’s Constitution by attempting to reverse executive and judicial branch decisions with legislative action.

And the plaintiffs argue that the initiative violates the contracts clause of both the Maine and United States constitutions by attempting to cancel a 25-year lease between NECEC and the State of Maine.

NECEC seeks a declaratory judgment from the Superior Court that the ballot initiative is unlawful and cannot be enforced. NECEC is also asking the court for an immediate injunction preventing retroactive enforcement of the initiative against the project, so that construction is not disrupted while this lawsuit proceeds.

Maine’s Supreme Court last year threw out a proposed ballot initiative that would have required the Maine Public Utilities Commission to reverse its May 2019 decision approving the NECEC project.

“Maine residents have voted decisively to terminate the CMP [Central Maine Power] corridor, which means the time has come for CMP to respect the will of Maine people by stopping this project immediately,” Pete Didisheim, advocacy director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said in a statement. “If CMP fails to halt construction activities right away, then the Department of Environmental Protection should move quickly to suspend the permit and require that CMP begin restoring areas of Western Maine that already have been damaged.”

Didisheim also called on Massachusetts to honor the electoral outcome “by selecting an alternative option for meeting its climate goals without imposing significant environmental harm on another New England state.”

“I think the decision in Maine speaks to a much larger issue, the work that is being done and needs to be done to electrify those portions of our economy that are currently driven by fossil fuels and that is transmission capacity and the strength and power of the transmission grid,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said during a press conference. “Whether you are talking about wind or you’re talking about hydro or you’re talking about basically any other form of renewable energy, transmission has to be a big part of the discussion because we are talking about literally in some cases, a doubling or tripling of the amount of energy, electricity that is going to be available to do it.”

“We are obviously looking at the results [of the ballot initiative] and talking to Avangrid, and they and we will figure out what the next move is,” Baker said, adding in response to a reporter’s question about the status of the project, “No. I don’t see it as dead.”

Peninsula Clean Energy Enters Second Solar Plus Storage Agreement

November 17, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 17, 2021

California community choice aggregator (CCA) Peninsula Clean Energy has entered into its second 15-year agreement to procure solar and battery storage from a single project.

Peninsula Clean Energy reached a power purchase agreement with Arica Solar LLC, that includes 100 megawatts (MW) of solar and 50 MW (200 megawatt hours) of four-hour lithium-ion battery storage.

The project, which will be developed and owned by Clearway Energy Group, is expected to be operational on or around April 1, 2024.

It is the second solar-plus-storage power purchase agreement Peninsula Clean Energy has reached, following a 15-year deal signed in September with Leeward Renewable Energy involving 102 MW of solar and 52 MW of battery storage from the Chaparral Solar Facility in Kern County.

The location of the Arica Solar project in Riverside County, Calif., was chosen in consultation with environmental activists to avoid harm to area species and habitat.

Peninsula Clean Energy is the official electricity provider for San Mateo County and, beginning in 2022, for the City of Los Banos.

Founded in 2016, the agency serves 295,000 customers by providing more than 3,500 gigawatt hours annually of electricity.

Peninsula Clean Energy is on track to deliver electricity that is 100 percent renewable by 2025. The agency has earned investment grade credit ratings from Moody’s and Fitch.

The American Public Power Association has initiated a new category of membership for community choice aggregation programs.

Ditto Calls For House To Keep Direct Pay Energy Tax Credits In Build Back Better Act

November 16, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 16, 2021

The House of Representatives should keep the provisions of the Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now Act in H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better Act, Joy Ditto, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association (APPA), said in a Nov. 15 letter to Rep. Michael Thompson, D-Calif., Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures.

“The act as drafted will ensure that all utilities and their customers benefit from incentives encouraging investments to transition to cleaner energy technologies: investments needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” wrote Ditto. “Enactment would mean that all utilities, not just for-profit utilities, can directly benefit from energy tax incentives. This will make these incentives fairer and more effective,” she said.

In the letter, Ditto also notes that federal tax expenditures are the primary tool Congress uses to incentivize energy-related investments. However, tax-exempt entities — including public power utilities, rural electric cooperatives, and other not-for-profit entities — cannot directly claim such incentives.

“In effect, utilities serving nearly 30 percent of utility customers in the U.S. are effectively locked out of owning such facilities. This explains why 80 percent of the nation’s (non-hydropower) renewable energy generating capacity is owned by merchant generators,” wrote Ditto.

The Build Back Better Act “addresses this inequity by allowing the direct payment of energy tax credits — including production, investment, and carbon capture tax credits — to any entity that owns the project. This would remove the financial disincentive for public power utilities to own such facilities, which are needed to transition to cleaner energy technologies needed to address climate change.”

It would also allow the full value of these credits to pay for additional clean energy investments that will benefit the more than 90 million Americans nationwide served by tax-exempt, not-for-profit electric utilities, she said in the letter.

“We strongly encourage Congress to take the steps needed to make these tax credits both more effective and more equitable for public power utilities and the communities they serve,” Ditto said.

The House could vote as early as Saturday, Nov. 20, on the Build Back Better Act. The vote hinges on formal estimates of the legislation’s costs by the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation, which could be available as early as Nov. 19.

If approved by the House, the Build Back Better Act would next head to the Senate for consideration, possibly during the second or third week of December.

EPB, National Laboratories Earn Award For Cyberattack Protection Technology

November 16, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 16, 2021

Chattanooga, Tenn.-based public power utility EPB and the Oak Ridge and Los Alamos National Laboratories have received an award for a joint project that is developing technology to protect America’s electric grid from cyberattacks. 

Specifically, the public power utility and the national laboratories received an R&D 100 Award. Established in 1963, the R&D 100 Awards annually recognize 100 accomplishments in research leading to new commercial products, technologies and materials from around the world notable for their technological significance. 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Los Alamos and EPB have worked together for several years on the “QED: Quantum Ensured Defense of the Smart Electric Grid” project. 

QED uses quantum communications in an effort to protect power grid control signals from third-party infiltration. EPB is the only utility in the U.S. that is field testing this quantum technology.

The technology harnesses single particles of light, or photons, to distribute cryptographic keys that can be used to lock control signals into secret codes to protect the electric grid. This novel method brings the security assurances of quantum communication systems to long-haul distances of electric grid systems.

The team has demonstrated the operational use of QED on part of a 21-kilometer field test bed on EPB’s smart grid and 100% fiber optic network in Chattanooga, Tenn. Together the scientists are seeking ways to escape the ongoing attack-defend cycle of cybersecurity breeches by developing this new method of protecting information.

This project is part of a larger collaboration including industry partner Qubitekk, based in San Diego, California.

Funding for this project was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response.

EPB serves the greater Chattanooga area and delivers electricity to more than 170,000 homes and businesses across our 600 square mile service area which includes most of Hamilton County as well as parts of surrounding counties in both Tennessee and Georgia.

In 2010, EPB Fiber Optics, which offers internet, TV, and telephone services, became the first provider in the United States to deliver up to 1 Gig internet speeds utilizing a community-wide fiber optic network which is accessible to every home and business in its service area.

In 2015, EPB became the first, and to date, only American internet service provider to make up to 10 Gig (10,000 Mbps) internet speeds accessible to all its residential and commercial customers as a standard offer.

EPB has also utilized its community-wide fiber optic network to deploy the most advanced and highly automated smart grid power management system in the nation.

Massachusetts Town Seeks Investigation of Power Line Management By National Grid

November 16, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 16, 2021

The Town of Hull, Mass., recently filed a petition with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) asking the DPU to open an investigation into the manner in which National Grid has managed the two electric lines that provide electricity to Hull.

The filing asks the DPU initiate a full investigation regarding National Grid’s failure to follow good utility standards in maintaining the two lines.

The petition also asks the DPU to order National Grid to upgrade the lines and associated facilities at National Grid’s expense. 

In addition, the petition requests that National Grid be ordered to reimburse Hull Light $3.1 million Hull Light has expended to protect residents and businesses from National Grid’s failure to exercise proper care for the lines. 

Expense reimbursement includes the cost Hull Light has made and continues to make to have generators during winter months because of what the utility says is the precarious nature of National Grid’s electric supply lines to Hull. 

The petition is available here.

 

WPPI Energy Member Utilities Partner With Local Theatre To Help Educate Students on Energy Efficiency, Electricity

November 16, 2021

by Vanessa Nikolic
APPA News
November 16, 2021

Wisconsin-based joint action agency WPPI Energy and its member utilities recently partnered with The National Theatre for Children (NTC) to work on educating students and families on energy efficiency and electricity. 

Founded in 1978, NTC is a Minnesota based theatre company that holds free programs at schools across the country to educate and inspire future generations on a variety of topics from financial literacy to energy conservation. Over the years, NTC has expanded its offerings to include virtual events as well. 

Member utilities of WPPI Energy and NTC developed “The Energized Guyz,” a new program that will be livestreamed this fall and delivered virtually. This virtual offering aims to accommodate students whether they are learning in the classroom or remotely from home. 

The program brings information on energy efficiency and electricity to more than 80 schools in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Iowa. The presentations focus on what energy is, the uses of energy, how energy is wasted, and how to conserve energy. 

The livestream features a host who introduces the program, sets up a series of comedic videos, and leads a Q&A session in which students and teachers can ask questions for the host to answer during the presentation. The educational videos tell a superhero-themed story about science, energy efficiency, and electricity. 

Stacie Running, energy services manager at WPPI Energy said the program provides a unique learning opportunity for students. 

“We are excited to partner with NTC and the local schools to provide this opportunity for students,” Running said. “The performances provide a fun and entertaining platform that encourages students to learn more about energy.” 

Livestream events accompany a digital curriculum including games, e-books, interactive lessons, and assessments for educators. The utilities sponsor every aspect of the program, providing free supplemental materials for teachers looking to enhance their educational resources this school year. 

For more information about “The Energized Guyz” livestream, visit nationaltheatre.com. 

WPPI Energy is a member-owned, not-for-profit organization that serves 51 locally owned electric utilities in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Upper Michigan.