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Michigan Public Power Utilities to Receive Energy from 200-MW Solar Energy Facility

August 3, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 3, 2023

A 200-megawatt solar energy facility that will supply energy to Michigan public power utilities recently started commercial operations. Located in Calhoun County, Michigan, the Calhoun Solar Energy Center was developed by Invenergy.

Invenergy has entered into three separate long-term power purchase agreements with Michigan-based energy providers for the output of the Calhoun Solar Energy Center.

Investor-owned Consumers Energy has agreed to purchase 140 megawatts, Michigan Public Power Agency is purchasing 50 megawatts, and Lansing Board of Water & Light, a Michigan public power utility, is purchasing 10 megawatts.

“The Calhoun Solar Energy Center is part of MPPA’s growing renewable energy portfolio that provides clean, affordable and Michigan based energy supply to the residents and businesses our members serve throughout Michigan. We are excited to bring to commercial operation our third utility scale solar energy project in the last 4 years,” said Patrick Bowland, chief executive officer of MPPA, in a statement.

“We’re thrilled to be part of this project, and continue expanding our renewable portfolio to serve our customers with clean, affordable energy,” said Lansing BWL General Manager Dick Peffley. “This addition of solar moves us closer to our clean energy goals and reinforces our commitment to a greener region.”

Invenergy and its affiliated companies have developed more than 30,000 megawatts of projects that are in operation, construction or contracted, including wind, solar, transmission infrastructure and natural gas power generation and advanced energy storage projects.

NREL and Partners Link Quantum Computing into Grid-Testing Platform

August 2, 2023

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 2, 2023

Quantum computing technology has, for the first time, been integrated into an electric grid research platform, according to researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Researchers have found that the electric power system is so complex that even supercomputers struggle to efficiently solve certain optimization problems.

“With the huge amount of ways energy can now be generated and supplied, it is very important to handle so many inputs and outputs, but classical computing-based optimizers are not designed to handle an exponential scale-up in input parameters that the industry is expected to witness in the next two decades,” Sayonsom Chanda, a power system engineer at NREL, said in a statement. “We’re talking millions of inputs and outputs; that’s when classical computers start showing their limits, and quantum computers their benefits.”

With funding from the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and in collaboration with RTDS Technologies and Atom Computing, NREL says it has debuted an open-source interface that it says allows researchers to perform “quantum-in-the-loop,” as opposed to hardware-in-the-loop, simulations that are used to help optimize the performance of the electric grid.

When modeling the grid, every electric vehicle, home appliance, or sensor is a potential variable because their data interact and coevolve in such convoluted ways that even a query into the grid’s available power becomes computationally difficult, NREL said.

The new interface simplifies the process of translating optimization problems into quantum variables and facilitates communication from quantum computers to power system simulations, the researchers said. As interest in quantum computing amplifies, the interface will help scientists classify the sorts of problems that can be solved by quantum computers and evaluate them in live experiments, NREL said.

In conjunction with its Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems tool, NREL said it can run quantum in-the-loop within highly realistic power systems. It could be “an important next step for using quantum computing to optimize electric grid operations with the interconnection of increasingly complex distributed energy resources,” NREL said.

“The first optimization problem that we want to tackle is how best to draw power from different sources,” Chanda said. “You have some resources more closely located to certain loads and others that make more economic sense to deploy. Perhaps quantum computing can determine how to quickly switch power sources for resilience and efficiency.”

Quantum computing is still very early-stage, and its value for power systems remains unproven, but that is precisely why this interface is so useful, NREL said. “It is critical for utilities to field test and adopt next generation technologies, and quantum computing is no exception,” Chanda said. “This interface is an enabler for future research into emerging grid problems.”

Argonne Study Identifies 1,800 Pumped Storage Hydro Sites in Alaska

August 2, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 2, 2023

There are about 1,800 sites in Alaska suitable for closed-loop pumped storage hydropower projects and many more suitable for open-loop pumped storage projects, according to Argonne National Laboratory.

“We are not assuming that projects will be developed on all 1,800 sites, but there are plenty of locations available for potential development,” Vladimir Koritarov, director of the Center for Energy, Environmental and Economic Systems Analysis in Argonne’s energy systems and infrastructure analysis division, said in a statement.

An open loop pumped hydro system uses a natural water source to create a lower reservoir.

Unlike other states, Alaska is not connected to an interstate electric grid, but consists of two transmission systems and more than 150 small, isolated systems serving remote communities. About 30 percent of the electricity generated in the state comes from renewable resources with the rest coming from fossil fuels.

Alaska also is warming faster than any other U.S. state, according to the Department of Agriculture, and suffering from coastal erosion, increased storm effects, sea ice retreat and permafrost melt.

To integrate more zero-carbon energy sources into Alaska’s energy systems, scientists are looking for cost effective ways to store energy to provide constant power when solar and wind are scarce.

For the report, The Prospects for Pumped Storage Hydropower in Alaska, Argonne scientists, in partnership with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, created detailed models using the lab’s Argonne Low-Carbon Electricity Analysis Framework to simulate power system operations and planning and analyze projected electricity demand growth over the next 25 years, as well as the expected retirement of existing generators as they reach the end of their economic life.

The project was funded by DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office.

“One of the key findings of the A-LEAF modeling is that the Railbelt system will need both short- and long-duration energy storage in the future,” Koritarov said. “That storage will balance the operational variability of wind and solar generation and provide reliability and backup capacity for longer periods.”

The Railbelt transmission system comprises five regulated public utilities extending from Fairbanks to Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula. About 80 percent of the Railbelt’s electricity comes from natural gas.

Pumped storage hydro candidate sites were part of the optimal capacity expansion solution in all scenarios analyzed for the Railbelt system, the study found, adding that, depending on the scenario, the new pumped storage hydro capacity that the model selected for the analysis period until 2046 ranged from 300 megawatts to 600 MW.

In addition, because of their small reservoir sizes and dam heights, many locations were identified as potentially suitable for small-scale pumped storage hydro systems. Nearly 50 percent of the identified potentially suitable small-scale pumped storage hydro sites are in Southeast Alaska, according to the report.

The model also selected lithium-ion batteries as a source of new generating capacity in all analyzed scenarios for the Railbelt system, indicating that the system will need a mix of short- and long-duration energy storage to support variable renewable energy sources, the study found.

As part of the study, NREL scientists evaluated Alaska’s remote areas that are powered by small isolated electrical grids using the Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables model.

The researchers analyzed the viability of small pumped storage projects in rural communities with at least 250 or more residents and identified 18 remote communities with potential for smaller pumped storage projects.

“For larger remote communities with higher diesel costs, results showed that pumped storage hydropower could be a cost-effective option depending on site-specific considerations such as renewable resources and constructability,” Rebecca Meadows, a NREL senior engineer, said in a statement.

In most cases, however, pumped storage hydropower may not be economically feasible for remote areas because of the high investment cost of small-size pumped storage projects, the researchers said, adding that lithium-ion battery storage may be more economically viable in rural areas seeking to lower electricity costs but would not provide longer duration storage economically.

BPA Holds Overall Average Power and Transmission Rates Flat

August 2, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 2, 2023

The Bonneville Power Administration on July 28 said that it will hold the average Tier 1 power rate and all transmission rates, including ancillary and control area service rates, flat for the next two-year period beginning Oct. 1, 2023.

This determination was part of the final record of decision for the BP-24 power and transmission rate case released July 28.

The rate case reflects a settlement developed between BPA staff and a majority of rate case parties.

“The great collaboration with our customers and other rate case parties helped us to offer rates that are stable, predictable and low while preserving BPA’s strong financial health,” said John Hairston, BPA Administrator and CEO. “BPA is well positioned to meet our customers’ needs across our service territory, including reinforcement of our existing grid and new infrastructure to meet anticipated load growth and the further proliferation of renewable resources coming into the region.”

The settlement includes an additional $258 million in planned net revenue for risks that helps hedge against recent increased market volatility and any other unexpected costs.

BPA sets its rates to ensure the probability of repaying its annual U.S. Treasury debt is at least 95-percent, which is the last payment it makes after all other obligations are paid.

BPA has made its Treasury payment on time and in full for the past 39 years. With the increased funds set aside for risk and its other sources of liquidity, the probability of making the Treasury payment over the BP-24 rate case period is more than 99-percent.

Under the Northwest Power Act, BPA is required to establish rates using sound business principles for the sale of power and transmission services that are designed to recover costs associated with the generation or conservation of electrical power as well as costs associated with the transmission of non-federal power across BPA’s bulk electric grid.

While the average Tier 1 effective power rate and all transmission and ancillary and control area service rates remain flat, the impact to individual utilities and customers of BPA are determined by the products and amounts they select for service. Utilities must set their own rates to cover their own costs and particular set of circumstances related to serving power to their own customers, BPA said.

The changes captured by the final record of decision for BP-24 will be effective Oct. 1 and remain in effect until Sept. 30, 2025.

Specific to rates, BPA will file the case with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, requesting interim approval for the rates while awaiting final FERC approval.

BPA initiated the BP-24 power and transmission rate case in November 2022. The final record of decision as well as information on meetings and publications are available on the BP-24 rate case website.

Moody’s Upgrades Investment Grade Credit Rating for Silicon Valley Clean Energy

August 2, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 2, 2023

Moody’s Investors Service in late July upgraded its investment grade credit rating to Baa1 for Silicon Valley Clean Energy, a California community choice aggregator.

Moody’s issuer rating is an independent assessment of SVCE’s financial strength over the long term and acknowledges the agency’s economic stability and diverse renewable energy portfolio, the CCA said.

“Receiving a higher credit rating from Moody’s is an additional sign that the Community Choice Energy model is strong and sound,” said George Tyson, SVCE Board Chair and Town of Los Altos Hills, Calif., Councilmember. “SVCE takes its financial responsibilities seriously so that we can reliably serve our customers and community with clean energy while maintaining stable rates and offering innovative services.”

The higher rating level is a result of SVCE having a positive financial outlook, including the agency’s strong liquidity, increased financial reserve targets, favorable rate forecasts, and its two clean energy project bonds, the CCA said.

Moody’s also acknowledged the effective management at SVCE to have withstood the challenges of a volatile power market and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also taken into consideration was the expansion of SVCE’s diverse renewable energy portfolio and taking on new load in the form of innovative agreements, such as the carbon-free energy service with Google.

The benefits of a Baa1 rating include improved access to capital for energy supply contracts and the potential to negotiate lower energy prices, SVCE said.

Moody’s previously issued a Baa2 rating to SVCE in July 2020.

In June 2023, S&P Global Ratings affirmed its ‘A’ issuer credit rating for SVCE.

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

White House Releases Proposed Rule Tied to Permitting Reforms

August 2, 2023

by APPA News
August 2, 2023

The White House Council on Environmental Quality on July 28 released a proposed rule that would fully implement and build upon new permitting efficiencies directed by Congress under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.

The proposed rule “would modernize and accelerate environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, encourage early community engagement, accelerate America’s clean energy future, strengthen energy security, and advance environmental justice.

The Inflation Reduction Act includes $1 billion to help expedite federal agency permitting and in May 2022 the White House released a Permitting Action Plan to strengthen and accelerate Federal permitting and environmental reviews.

The proposed rule would fully implement the statutory reforms to NEPA included in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, including clarifying the roles of lead and cooperating agencies, setting deadlines and page limits, and adding other requirements to ensure timely and unified environmental reviews.

Consistent with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the proposed rule also includes a process for a federal agency to use another agency’s categorical exclusion, unlocking faster reviews for projects that have few environmental effects, the White House said.

In addition to meeting the requirements of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the proposed rule improves efficiency and certainty for projects and stakeholders “by creating new tools to accelerate and improve environmental review, including encouraging agencies to consider a project’s mitigation measures to reduce the level of environmental review required, additional mechanisms for agencies to establish categorical exclusions, and enabling wider adoption of programmatic environmental reviews to expedite broad categories of projects.”

The proposed rule’s reforms will accelerate the deployment of clean energy, transmission, broadband, clean water, and other crucial infrastructure, the White House said.

In addition to coordinating environmental reviews and setting project schedules and milestones, the proposed rule clarifies that projects that only have significant, long-lasting positive impacts do not require environmental impact statements. 

It also encourages the use of programmatic environmental reviews that cover multiple projects or categories of projects, which can expedite deployment of clean energy, transmission, broadband, and other infrastructure.

The proposed rule ensures agencies “evaluate a range of reasonable alternatives and their reasonably foreseeable effects as well as identify the environmentally preferrable alternative earlier in the process, which helps drive better decisions including advancing projects with lower greenhouse gas emissions.”

The proposed rule also clarifies that agencies can establish joint categorical exclusions, and discourages duplication by allowing agencies to incorporate existing high-quality analysis into environmental reviews. Notably, the proposed rule would enable agencies to establish new categorical exclusions through a land use plan, decisions supported by a programmatic environmental review, or other equivalent programmatic and planning decisions.

This change allows agencies to more quickly and easily develop categorical exclusions for specific contexts, geographies, or project types, such as those that enable hazardous fuels reduction in an area with high wildfire risk or the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The proposed rule also clarifies that agencies should consider climate change effects in environmental reviews and encourages identification of reasonable alternatives that will mitigate climate impacts.

“It also restores and updates the long-standing approach to consider the context and intensity when determining the significance of effects to ensure agencies conduct the proper level of review, and that reviews focus on the issues and effects that are important to the decision,” the White House said.

“Agencies are encouraged to use high-quality information, such as the best available science and data, to describe reasonably foreseeable environmental trends including those due to climate change. The proposed rule requires environmental impact statements to include discussion of relevant risk reduction, resiliency, or adaptation measures, as well as the potential for disproportionate adverse effects on the environment and public health.”

The proposed rule also aims to advance environmental justice and promote meaningful public engagement. 

The proposed rule encourages early and meaningful engagement with communities, “fostering community buy-in, reducing conflict, and improving project design, which in turn may reduce litigation.”

Building on President Biden’s Executive Order 14096, the proposed rule will direct agencies to consider environmental justice in environmental reviews and — for the first time — encourage agencies to incorporate measures to avoid or reduce disproportionate effects on communities.

The proposed rule also requires agencies to consider the needs of affected communities when developing outreach and notification strategies and identify Chief Public Engagement Officers responsible for facilitating community engagement across the agency.

The proposed rule also reverses provisions of the 2020 NEPA rule that created litigation risks and jeopardized community input, the White House said.

The proposed rule removes certain changes instituted by the previous Administration, “including removing detailed and onerous requirements on what public comments must contain to be considered by agencies. “

The proposed rule also removes provisions that curtailed judicial review, including a provision that encouraged agencies to require litigants to post monetary bonds if they are seeking a preliminary injunction against a project and a provision that attempted to limit the ability of courts to provide injunctive relief when there are violations of NEPA — even if a proposed action could threaten public health or safety.

This is “Phase 2” of CEQ’s NEPA rulemaking. Last year, CEQ finalized a targeted regulation that restored three basic elements of its NEPA regulations, including a reaffirmation that federal agencies must evaluate all relevant environmental effects—including those associated with climate change—during environmental reviews.

The proposed rule will be open for public comment through Friday, September 29, 2023 via Regulations.gov.

CEQ will hold virtual public meetings on the proposal on Saturday, August 26; Wednesday, August 30; Monday, September 11; and Thursday, September 21.

Information about joining these public meetings will be available at www.nepa.gov.

DOE Offers $8.5 Billion to States, Territories for Home Energy Rebates

July 31, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Drector
July 31, 2023

The U.S. Department of Energy on July 27 announced that it is accepting applications for state and territory implementation of the two home energy rebate programs created by the Inflation Reduction Act.

These programs will provide $8.5 billion to states and territories to lower energy costs and increase efficiency in American homes “by making home energy upgrades more affordable, while ensuring all communities have access to affordable, reliable, clean electricity and helping deliver on the President’s ambitious clean energy and climate goals,” DOE said.

The published Administrative and Legal Requirements Document (ALRD) offers federal guidance and instructions for states and territories to apply for their allocation of the Home Energy Rebates programs.

Rebates will be available to consumers only after states and territories apply for and receive their funds from DOE and launch their state rebate program. 

The Home Efficiency Rebates Program will offer $4,300,000,000 in formula grants to state energy offices to reduce the upfront cost of whole-home energy efficiency upgrades in single-family and multi-family homes. The value of an eligible home’s rebate depends on the predicted energy savings attributable to the project. 

The Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates Program will offer $4,275,000,000 in formula grants to state energy offices to reduce the upfront cost of efficient electric technologies in single-family and multi-family homes. This program also provides $225,000,000 in grants to Indian tribes, however tribal guidance and application instructions are forthcoming through a separate, upcoming announcement. 

DOE has also asked states and territories to prioritize households that stand to benefit the most from these funds, including allocating at least half of the program funds to reach households with incomes at or below 80% of their area median income.

DOE is also asking states to prepare Community Benefits Plans for their home energy rebate programs “to assure funds are invested in good jobs and real economic opportunities.”

DOE will review submitted applications from states for the programs on a rolling basis.  

Once the application is approved, states may launch their program for consumers in eligible households to begin funding improvements.

In addition, many consumers can currently benefit from tax credits for clean energy and energy efficient home improvements also included in the Inflation Reduction Act. Information about consumer clean energy tax credit eligibility can be found here.  

Low-income households can also benefit from the DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program, which offers free home efficiency upgrades for eligible households, and LIHEAP, DOE noted.

The home energy rebates will offer support and incentives for consumers to retrofit and electrify their homes, without banning or restricting the use of other technologies.

While tribal guidance and funding is not yet available, DOE said it is working to ensure that tribal programs will have maximized benefits for tribal communities, including through the program’s Tribal Consultation.

DOE and the U.S. Department of Treasury have found that the Home Energy Rebate programs will be treated as a reduction in the purchase price or cost of property for eligible upgrades and projects, and consumers receiving an Inflation Reduction Act rebate will not be required to report the value of the rebate as income.

Once the Home Energy Rebates are available, eligible rebate recipients may also claim a 25C tax credit for eligible products as applicable to the cost to the consumer after the rebate has been applied, if they have sufficient tax liability.

More information about Energy Efficient Home Improvement Tax Credits is available here.  

In the coming weeks, DOE will provide an array of assistance to states and territories as they determine their next steps in developing rebate programs and submitting applications. 

DOE’s efforts to support states and territories will include: 

EPA’s EnergyStar Program will be supporting states and territories by: 

For more information, visit the Home Energy Rebate programs website.

FERC Final Rule Reforms Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements

July 30, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Drector
July 30, 2023

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 27 approved a final rule that reforms the Commission’s standard generator interconnection procedures and agreements.

The final rule adopts many of the reforms proposed in a June 2022 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with modifications based on the record.

The final rule also builds on Commission Order Nos. 2003 and 2006, in which FERC first required public utility transmission providers to adopt its standard procedures and agreements for interconnecting large and small generating facilities, and on Commission Order No. 845, in which the Commission added additional study mechanisms and types of interconnection service.

At the Commission’s monthly open meeting, FERC Chairman Willie Phillips said that he was “very excited” to announce that FERC would vote on the “much anticipated and historic” interconnection final rule, designated as Order No. 2023. “This rule will ensure that our country’s vast generation resources are able to interconnect to the transmission system in a reliable, efficient, transparent and timely manner,” he said. 

Phillips noted that “getting to this day required significant effort from all involved and was truly an unprecedented undertaking.” He pointed out that the record in this proceeding was “one of the largest in FERC history. There were over 4,500 pages of comments filed for the Commission to review and consider.”

As a result of the “lengthy record, this final rule is one of the longest in FERC’s history. It represents the largest and most significant set of interconnection reforms since the pro forma interconnection procedures were created two decades ago.”

Phillips noted that “this is FERC’s first major transmission reform in a generation. Our country has a severe interconnection backlog. Currently, there are 2,000 gigawatts of resources in interconnection queues – the largest backlog in history. We have wait times of over five years. The average project needed today won’t even begin construction until 2028. Interconnection reforms are desperately needed to speed up this process. Connecting new resources to the grid quicker and more efficiently will help provide more reliable, resilient and affordable electricity to everyone.”

Phillips also used his opening remarks to highlight some of the reforms that will be implemented with Order No. 2023.

For example, he noted that the final rule will implement a first ready, first served cluster study process, “which requires interconnection customers to have more skin in the game to ensure that projects being studied are more likely to be commercially ready.”

The final rule will also increase the speed of interconnection queue processing by imposing firm deadlines and penalties, he noted.

Commissioner Allison Clements in her opening remarks highlighted the “dizzying month of headlines about extreme weather around the world,” adding that “it is almost certain that this month that we are in is going to go down as the hottest month in recorded history.” At FERC, “we are grateful to the grid operators and the market participants who have so far managed this month’s heat challenges remarkably well and so I am pleased that it’s in this context that we are finalizing this rule.”  

Commissioner Mark Christie complimented Phillips on his leadership on Order No. 2023, saying the final rule “is a big step forward.” The final rule “focuses on what we set out to do last year when we adopted the NOPR [Notice of Proposed Rulemaking] and that was, in a nutshell, to move from a first come, first served system to a first ready, first served” approach. The final rule “is a lot better document than the NOPR, but that’s the way it ought to be.” 

After FERC staff provided a presentation related to the final rule, several Commissioners offered additional comments on, and asked questions related to, Order No. 2023.

Clements said that the rule “provides a strong baseline, based on best practices and lessons learned from around the country, to ensure all utilities are making strides towards breaking through their own interconnection log jams.”

She said that the final rule is fair because it “requires everyone to do their part” to address the causes of interconnection backlogs. Also, the final rule is “a great start for grid-enhancing technologies.”

Clements noted that “we’ve had really good engagement with stakeholders on this issue. There’s been a lot of back and forth – people proposing ideas.”

One set of stakeholders, she said, are regional transmission organizations, which have not been “sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting for FERC to come out with a rule, but they’ve been working on their own sets of reforms and trying to tackle their own backlogs.”

Clements asked FERC staff to address how the final rule will interact with those RTO efforts.

Jaime Knepper with FERC’s Office of General Counsel said that the final rule “recognizes that transmission providers have undertaken efforts to address interconnection queue management issues” and is not intended “to divert or slow the potential progress represented by those efforts.”

For his part, Christie noted that in his concurrence to the NOPR he said that “it’s very important for us not to get in the way of the transmission providers – in particular, the RTOs – who are already doing a lot of work” related to “trying to clear their queues” and so “we need to sort of fashion this in a way that moves the ball, but doesn’t get in the way of what they’re already doing.”

He added, “I know there’s been an effort to do that…I look forward to seeing if we really hit the right sweet spot on that.”  

Details on Final Rule

The final rule requires utilities to adopt revised pro forma generator interconnection procedures and agreements to ensure that interconnection customers can interconnect to the transmission system in a reliable, efficient, transparent, and timely manner, and to prevent undue discrimination. 

The final rule adopts reforms to:

Implement a first-ready, first-served cluster study process

Speed up interconnection queue processing

Incorporate technological advancements into the interconnection process

Effective Date and Transition Process

Compliance filings are due 90 days after publication of the final rule in the Federal Register.

To smooth the transition to the new rule, the Commission has adopted three options that can be exercised depending on the progress of the interconnection request.

Those interconnection customers that have been tendered facilities study agreements by the transmission provider may proceed to a transitional serial study (a facilities study) or may opt to move to the transitional cluster study.

Those interconnection customers in the interconnection queue that have not been tendered a facilities study agreement (have not completed the system impact study) will be eligible for the transitional cluster study.

All other interconnection customers will be subject to the new interconnection procedures.

Jeff Hall Elected to Serve as Chair of APPA’s Policy Makers Council

July 28, 2023

by APPA News
July 28, 2023

Jeff Hall, a commissioner with Washington State’s Benton PUD, was elected in July to chair the American Public Power Association’s Policy Makers Council.

“The activities of the PMC are crucial to the success of APPA’s ability to advocate for public power throughout the country,” Hall said. Elected officials “advocating their positions with other elected officials goes a long way toward credibility on all our most important issues. ” 

Members of the PMC meet twice a year in Washington, D.C., and at least once a month by Zoom.

The group advocates on issues such as addressing climate change through federal policies (including implementation of the elective pay tax credit created in the Inflation Reduction Act), energy infrastructure permitting reform, financing infrastructure investments, grid security, addressing the supply chain crisis, and local issues affecting public power communities.

Benton PUD is a public power utility and member of the APPA. The utility was formed in September 1946 and now serves over 55,000 customers in Kennewick, Finley, Benton City, Prosser, and outlying areas.

In addition to his other duties, Hall has served as a commissioner for Benton PUD since January 2002 and is the past president of the Washington PUD Association.

As chair, Hall also serves on the national APPA Board of Directors.

His chairmanship will last until July 2024.

Joint Venture of Automakers Aims to Deploy at Least 30,000 Chargers in North America

July 26, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 26, 2023

Seven major automakers on July 26 said that they are creating a joint venture that will pursue the development of a new charging network with at least 30,000 chargers in North America.

The automakers forming the joint venture are:  BMW Group, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz Group and Stellantis NV.

The joint venture is expected to be established this year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

“With the generational investments in public charging being implemented on the federal and state level, the joint venture will leverage public and private funds to accelerate the installation of high-powered charging for customers,” the automakers said.

The new charging stations will be accessible to all battery-powered electric vehicles from any automaker using Combined Charging System or North American Charging Standard and are expected to meet or exceed the spirit and requirements of the U.S. National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program.

The first stations are expected to open in the United States in the summer of 2024 and in Canada at a later stage. Each site will be equipped with multiple high-powered DC chargers.

Initial plans call for the deployment of charging stations in metropolitan areas and along major highways, including connecting corridors and vacation routes.