Colin Hansen To Become CEO And General Manager Of Kansas Power Pool In 2022
October 20, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 20, 2021
Colin Hansen, who is currently Executive Director of Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU), will be joining Kansas Power Pool (KPP) effective Feb. 1, 2022 as KPP’s new CEO and General Manager.
Hansen will succeed current KPP CEO and General Manager Mark Chesney, who announced his retirement for the end of January 2022.
KPP was founded in 2004 to pool generation resources and services in order to maintain low-cost power supply to community-owned electric utilities.
Hansen will serve as KPP’s third general manager.
“The opportunity to have Colin Hansen assume KPP’s leadership reins, was too good to be true,” said Gus Collins, KPP’s Board Chairman. “Colin watched the formation of KPP and has supported the growth of the organization. His knowledge of the KPP membership and the utility space in Kansas and nationally is unmatched. We know good things are in store for the KPP membership with Colin Hansen’s leadership.”
At the same time, Collins noted that Chesney “has built upon the foundation laid by Colin Whitley and has grown KPP’s service offerings and financial capabilities tremendously. Under Mark’s leadership, KPP has embarked upon transformational projects with the addition of Dogwood, the Solomon Battery Storage Project, EV deployment and new transmission build and upgrades.”
“Colin’s dedication to public power at both the national level and in Kansas, along with his impressive record of accomplishments while serving as Executive Director of KMU, make him the perfect choice to serve as the next CEO and General Manager of KPP and to build upon Mark Chesney’s incredible work,” said Joy Ditto, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association (APPA).
“Having worked closely with Colin through his roles as a member of the APPA Advisory Committee, the APPA board and now as board chair, I have seen firsthand how deeply Colin cares about the public power community. I know that he will bring that same sense of mission to KPP and succeed as a leader, just as he has done at KMU for so many years,” Ditto said. “Since Colin has moved to another APPA member in good standing, he can also stay on as board chair in his new role at KPP. This is great news for all of us given his excellent leadership in that capacity.”
Hansen’s Legacy At KMU
Hansen has served in the role of KMU’s Executive Director for nearly 22 years.
Under Hansen’s leadership, KMU grew more than 10-fold in size and scale and built the KMU Training Center, a world-class utility training facility dedicated to workforce development for municipal utilities.
Hansen transitioned the association from being 90% dues-funded to diversify its income streams to allow for greater programmatic offerings to its member cities.
He oversaw the purposeful growth of the expanding technical and safety training opportunities for electric and natural gas utilities while dedicating new resources to enhance water and wastewater training and programming for member cities. During his tenure, Hansen coalesced the public power utility community to support more robust legislative and regulatory initiatives.
“Colin is going to be sorely missed at KMU,” said Barry Hodges, President, KMU Board of Directors. “Fortunately, he is not straying from Kansas and the municipal utility community. Under Colin’s leadership, KMU is well-positioned to continue providing top-shelf services to KMU member cities via a great staff. We thank Colin for everything he has done for the municipal utility community over the last two decades and wish him well in his new endeavor.”
“KMU has meant the world to me — the member cities and staff are family,” said Hansen. “The progress we have made together in support of community-owned utilities will be some of the proudest achievements of my career. The concept of a joint action agency, unique to municipal utilities, has always interested me and I look forward to serving the municipal utility community in this new endeavor in power supply and transmission,” he said.
He has many other notable achievements during his tenure at KMU including being appointed by a Kansas Governor to Chair the Kansas Energy Council and also serving as Chair for Public Power Inc., Midwest Municipal Utilities, and the APPA Legislative and Resolutions Committee.
He was appointed to committees and task forces on electric, natural gas, water and telecommunications issues by four separate Kansas governors.
During the search process for the new KMU Executive Director, the organization will continue to be spearheaded by the KMU Executive Committee and KMU’s senior staff including Brad Mears, Assistant Executive Director, Brian Meek, Director of Training and Safety, and Katie Miller, Director of Technical Services. Kimberly Gencur Svaty will continue legislative and regulatory work with the municipal utility community.
AMP Transmission Breaks Ground For Construction Of New Substation
October 20, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 20, 2021
AMP Transmission (AMPT) recently broke ground for the construction of its new Bellard Substation.
The 138/69 kilovolt (kV) substation will provide a fourth source for the City of Bowling Green, Ohio, an AMP member, and is AMPT’s first greenfield substation. Construction is scheduled for May 2022 completion.
AMPT was formed by the AMP Board in 2018 to provide cost-effective transmission, related services, and a competitive alternative for the benefit of AMP members to enhance reliability and ensure comparable service.
AMPT is a transmission owner in the PJM Interconnection and has a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-approved formula rate applicable to the entire PJM footprint. AMPT is currently active in the American Electric Power and American Transmission Systems Inc. transmission zones.
AMPT owns one 138 kV station, one 138/69 kV substation, six 69 kV stations, and 21.4 miles of 69 kV transmission line. AMPT has completed two relay upgrades and is in the process of acquiring right of way for 0.3 miles of 138-kV transmission line.
“Breaking ground at Bellard is a major milestone for AMPT,” said Pamala Sullivan, AMPT’s President. “This is our first new construction project, and will bring great benefits to AMP’s member, the City of Bowling Green.”
“It’s exciting to now be in the construction phase,” said Kim Magovac, Director of Transmission Project Management. “Watching a project come to fruition validates the hard work contributed by the entire team; a true testament to the collaborative process.”
NPPD’s Tom Kent, City of Marlow, Okla.’s Jason McPherson Elected To APPA Board
October 20, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 20, 2021
Tom Kent, President and CEO of Nebraska Public Power District, and Jason McPherson, City Administrator, City of Marlow, Okla., were recently elected to serve on the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Board of Directors.
Kent will fill the Region 3 Board seat, which covers the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, while McPherson will fill the Region 4 Board seat, which covers Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
“I am honored and humbled by this appointment and the opportunity to serve public power on the local, state and now national level,” McPherson said. “I look forward to this challenge and intend to work diligently to fulfill my role.”
Additional details on APPA board members are available here.
APPA Board of Directors Approves Business Plan
October 20, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 20, 2021
The American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Board of Directors last week approved a business plan for APPA.
The business plan is the result of a partnership between APPA and McKinley Advisors to create a comprehensive and forward-focused plan that aligns with and maximizes the association’s strategic and financial plans. The timeline for the plan is 2022 to 2026.
“This plan establishes a clear pathway driven by a set of guiding principles, specific priorities and a robust business framework that will take APPA from the successful association it is today toward the thriving association articulated in the organization’s vision statement: To shape the future of public power to drive a new era of community-owned electric service,” the plan’s executive summary notes.
McKinley Advisors worked with APPA staff and volunteer leaders throughout a nine-month process that included, among other things, creation of a business planning committee comprised of members that met several times and provided valuable feedback, qualitative interviews with additional members as well as APPA staff, Board of Directors working sessions, staff working sessions and analysis of recent membership surveys and third-party analyses of membership engagement performed previously.
The recommendations detailed in the plan reflect these various inputs as well as a broad understanding of past and emerging association best practices.
To inform the business planning project, McKinley engaged in a data-driven approach that included multiple research phases to inform the direction of the business plan.
The executive summary notes that APPA is operating from a position of strength with healthy reserves, strong member retention and a unique value proposition.
However, three primary drivers have accelerated the association’s need to establish sustainable revenue sources and reinforce the value of membership: the COVID-19 pandemic, aging and retiring membership and industry disruptors.
Recommendations
The business plan’s recommendations are categorized into three areas of focus designed to provide APPA a forward-focused road map to provide strong member and constituent value that aligns with the strategic plan and ensures a secure financial position for the organization.
In some cases, the recommendations are a continuation and expansion of existing work. In other cases, the recommendations move APPA in a new direction. All recommendations were based on data collected throughout the project and take into consideration association best practices.
Further details on the plan will be rolled out to members in the coming months and members can view the executive summary here.
Report Shows How Best To Use Solar, Batteries To Offset EV Impact On Transformers
October 19, 2021
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 19, 2021
A new study funded by a Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) scholarship from the American Public Power Association analyzes optimal strategies that can mitigate transformer loss of life resulting from a high penetration of electric vehicles (EVs).
The premise of the study, PV Generation, EV & Stationary Battery Optimal Control & Management in Distribution Grids, was that the accelerating adoption of electric vehicles could cause the overloading of some transformers, leading to premature ageing and potentially failure and added expense for utilities and their customers.
The study found the optimized use of a residential battery energy storage system (BESS) with or without photovoltaic (PV) solar panels in areas with a high penetration of electric vehicles can mitigate transformer loss of life. In the scenario that included PV solar, however, the high price of a solar installation made the economic impact of a solar installation uneconomic without subsidies.
The study was accepted for presentation at the 53rd North American Power Symposium next month.
The study, by Milad Soleimani, a research assistant and Ph.D. candidate with the department of electrical and computer engineering at Texas A&M University in College Station, looked at seven use-case scenarios.
To evaluate each scenario, a one-year study was conducted using the data available for 2018 in Bryan/College Station, Texas. Bryan Texas Utilities was the sponsor of the DEED grant.
The study looked at 12 electric vehicles and 10 charging slots. The nominal power of the transformer connected to the buildings was 63 kilovolts (kVA) and the total PV generation capacity of each building was 10 kilowatts (kW). The rated power of the BESS inverter was 5 kW. It was assumed that the electric vehicles charger was unidirectional, and the electric vehicle could only be charged. Nissan Leafs and Chevy Bolts were used in the study.
- The first scenario, a, was a base case in which there were no electric vehicles, no solar power and no BESS;
- The second case, b, had electric vehicles but no solar power and no BESS;
- The third case, c, had electric vehicles, solar PV, but no BESS;
- The fourth case, d, had electric vehicles, BESS but no solar power, and the batteries were charging schedule was optimized using only real time prices of wholesale power;
- The fifth case, e, had electric vehicles, no solar power and BESS whose charging schedule was optimized using both real time prices and calculations to account for stresses that can shorten a transformer’s life;
- The sixth case, f, had electric vehicles, solar power and BESS whose charging schedule was optimized using price only; and
- The seventh case, g, had electric vehicles, solar power and BESS whose charging schedule was optimized using price and transformer loss of life calculations.
In the analysis, the results show that the impact of PV solar installations on mitigating transformer loss of life are negligible (scenario three or c). The fourth and sixth (d and f) scenarios show that operating a BESS on price only not only does not mitigate transformer loss of life it can, in some cases, have a negative impact on transformer life.
The result showed, however, that the risk of transformer loss of life can be significantly reduced by using BESS optimized for price and transformer loss of life mitigation, as in scenarios five (e) and seven (g). The study noted, however, that because of the high cost of PV solar, combining solar power with BESS, even when optimized, may not be economic without subsidies.
In the cases where the technologies provide a good return, utilities benefit, therefore, utilities “should be investors,” Soleimani wrote. That can be done, he said, by “developing and providing rebates and other incentive programs to motivate consumers to deploy these resources.”
The study concludes that optimizing BESS for both price and transformer loss of life mitigation is “essential for making the investment in BESS profitable.”
Other key findings of the study were that the proper sizing of a BESS is essential to making the system more profitable and the impact of PV solar generation without BESS support is relatively low.
NPPD Time-Of-Use Program Is Now Available To Retail Customers
October 19, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 19, 2021
A time-of-use (TOU) program is now available to retail customers of the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD).
The TOU program, known as RateWise Time-Of-Use, offers another option for customers who consume most of their energy during NPPD’s off-peak and super off-peak periods or who have the flexibility to shift some of their energy usage to different time periods.
Depending on when a customer consumes energy, they can now choose from the following options:
- RateWise Time-Of-Use: NPPD’s newest rate offered to residential customers is based on not only customer energy usage, but also on when they use their energy. If customers currently consume most of their energy during off-peak or super off-peak periods or can shift some of their usage to these time periods, switching to this rate could provide them a savings on their monthly bill.
- RateWise Any Time: NPPD’s traditional rate which offers a summer rate for use from June 1 through Sept. 30, and a winter rate for use from Oct. 1 through May 31.
To help customers determine if the TOU program would work for them, NPPD has introduced a new cost comparison tool within its customer portal. This tool will allow customers to compare their current RateWise Anytime rate to the RateWise Time-of-Use rate and determine potential savings.
Customers can only access the tool by registering or signing into the customer portal on nppd.com or the NPPD On-The-Go! mobile app.
NPPD noted that making the capability of TOU pricing available was the completion of automated metering infrastructure installation in NPPD’s retail communities over the past three years.
Customers who choose this new rate have several options to realize potential savings such as installing a programmable thermostat and making sure the thermostat is programmed to use energy during off-peak periods versus peak periods, setting dishwashers, washers, and dryers to run during off-peak times, as well as programming lights and other appliances to shut down when not in use.
California’s Redwood Coast Energy Authority Enters Solar-Plus-Storage Deal
October 19, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 19, 2021
Swell Energy recently announced a contract with California community choice aggregator Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) to develop a program designed to provide additional capacity and resource adequacy to Humboldt County, Calif.
Swell Energy’s distributed power plant effort with RCEA will establish up to 45 megawatt hours of behind-the-meter solar-powered energy storage.
Swell Energy said that it is expanding its partnership with GRID Alternatives and leveraging all government, utility, and financial programs available to bring down customer costs and enroll both new and existing systems into the community grid program.
Residential, commercial, and industrial solar plus storage sites located at a customer’s site will be eligible to participate in RCEA’s community grid program.
Swell Energy said that its participation in California’s Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) allows it to offer additional monetary incentives to SGIP customers in the RCEA territory.
Since 2019, Swell Energy and GRID Alternatives have teamed up on residential and commercial energy storage projects throughout California.
RCEA is a local government joint powers agency whose members include the County of Humboldt, all local cities, and the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District.
The American Public Power Association has initiated a new category of membership for community choice aggregation programs.
Lincoln Electric System Issues Energy Storage Request For Proposals
October 19, 2021
by APPA News
October 19, 2021
Nebraska public power utility Lincoln Electric System (LES) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for an energy storage project to be located within the LES service territory.
The RFP seeks proposals for a 10-year power purchase agreement for both lithium-ion projects with a nominal rating up to three megawatts over four hours, and energy storage projects that utilize technologies other than lithium-ion batteries, with a preference for a nominal rating of at least 250 kilowatts and duration of two hours or more.
The energy storage project is expected to provide several benefits to LES and the surrounding system and will be dispatched accordingly.
The energy storage project is intended to help support:
- Local transmission and distribution system reliability during periods of peak demand;
- Load-related energy arbitrage in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) market;
- Regional SPP system reliability via load-related ancillary services;
- A LES-operated community microgrid that reinforces the resiliency of critical community infrastructure, and;
- Further development of energy storage knowledge and experience within LES.
“The energy storage system will only be required to operate in a grid-tied configuration; even during microgrid operations, an existing utility-scale generator will provide for system load balancing and voltage and frequency regulation,” the RFP noted.
LES’ preference is for proposals to have a commercial operation date of not later than December 31, 2022, although later dates may be considered.
Responses to the RFP are due by Nov. 2, 2021, and additional information is available here .
Fitch Affirms Grand River Dam Authority’s A+ Rating, Stable Outlook
October 19, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 19, 2021
Oklahoma-based Grand River Dam Authority’s (GRDA) continued strong financial performance and very low operating costs were among the key reasons that led Fitch Ratings to affirm GRDA’s A+ stable rating on Oct. 6.
Fitch noted that GRDA’s “very low rate anchors its competitive position and provides customers with an economic incentive to continue purchasing from the authority.”
Fitch also said that GRDA’s operating flexibility has benefited from a well-diversified resource mix. That mix includes GRDA’s gas, coal, water, and wind generation assets that combine to help keep operating costs low and reliability high.
Fitch assessed GRDA’s operating costs burden as “very low based on an operating cost that has remained consistently below 5 cents [per kilowatt-hour] during the past five years.”
GRDA noted that it currently maintains the highest credit ratings in its history from the three major credit rating agencies: Fitch, Moody’s Investor Service and Standard & Poor’s.
GRDA is a joint action agency that generates, transmits and sells electricity to Oklahoma municipalities, electric cooperatives and industrial customers, as well as off-system customers across a four-state region. At the same time, GRDA manages over 70,000 surface acres of lake waters in Oklahoma, as well as the waters of the scenic Illinois River.
Report Details Challenges, Recommendations As Renewables Proliferate
October 19, 2021
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 19, 2021
A white paper by the Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative (EIPC) calls for operators and planners to be more engaged in the discussions about how the electric grid will evolve to meet the challenges of rising levels of renewable energy penetration.
The paper, Planning the Grid for a Renewable Future, says to ensure continued delivery of reliable, efficient, and affordable electric power, policymakers should be aware of the opportunities and challenges of integrating greater amounts of renewables onto the grid.
The white paper draws on lessons learned through historical experience and on studies of future conditions as they relate to the planning and operations of systems with a high penetration of renewables.
EPIC is composed of 19 planning coordinators from the Eastern and Central United States, including the PJM Interconnection, the Midcontinent Independent System Operators, the New York Independent System Operator, ISO New England, Southern Company, Tennessee Valley Authority, and MEAG Power.
The white paper identified several key challenges presented to grid operators by rising renewables penetration. For instance, traditional transmission planning focuses on systems built to move power from central generating stations to distant load centers. That pattern is changing, the paper noted, as renewable resources are being sited to make the best use of wind or solar availability, but those resources are not necessarily near existing transmission lines.
In addition, studies have shown that the proliferation of intermittent resources has resulted in a decline in grid performance, EPIC said. Changes are also occurring in load composition as a result of the proliferation of home backup generators, home electric vehicle chargers, and the increased penetration of rooftop solar arrays, and whole-building battery backup systems.
Grid planners also face challenges as the number of potential renewable projects seeking to connect to the power system has increased exponentially over the last 10 years. “Currently, the lack of standardized performance requirements for renewable resources with inverter-based control systems has been the cause of significant delays in the interconnection study queues of system planners across the Eastern Interconnection due to the large variety and rapid change in designs,” the EPIC report noted.
Operating the power grid has also become more challenging, EPIC said, because of limited transmission availability, the need to maintain the proper mix of generation resources to accommodate intermittent renewable resources, and load and resource uncertainty because of varying weather conditions.
Monitoring and correcting grid stability in real time is becoming more complex and is going to require the development of market products, such as ancillary services for voltage support, reactive power, and frequency response, EPIC said.
The report also noted the personnel challenges grid operators face. Most transmission planners today are familiar with control systems based on legacy synchronous generation. Going forward, transmission planners will need to develop a better understand of the quickly evolving technology of inverter-based resources, and it will take time and resources to train workers who can adapt to and take over those control and planning functions, EPIC said.
In terms of recommendations, EPIC stressed the need for coordination as it has become more problematic for policies in one jurisdiction or region to be walled off from policies in another.
EPIC recommended the enhancement of policy coordination across the “three-legged stool” of planning, cost allocation and siting. One key area where coordination will be critical is in transmission where policymakers will have to deal with the challenges of who is going to pay for new transmission assets needed to accommodate higher levels of renewable resources and the issues of siting those new lines.
EPIC also said regulators, industry and stakeholders should develop the capability “to monitor and correct course in a timely fashion if a particular path is leading to unnecessarily higher costs, limited choice for customers or negative reliability impacts.” Regulators could consider a “Reliability Safety Valve” mechanism in any future legislation, EPIC said.
And, finally, “as the pace of change continues to accelerate, it is more important than ever to work more proactively together,” EPIC said, recommending that policymakers “considering renewable portfolio standards, carbon dioxide standards, or other similar energy-related goals take the affirmative step of inviting system planners and operators to provide input.”
The challenges facing the industry and the grid are not “insurmountable, nor do they argue against moving forward with policies supporting renewables,” however, “when policymakers craft timelines, goals and deadlines, it is essential for policymakers to consider and balance the need to ensure that the power grid can remain reliable,” EPIC said.