ElectriCities of North Carolina CEO Highlights Supply Chain, Resource Mix Reliability Challenges
October 6, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 6, 2021
Roy Jones, CEO of ElectriCities of North Carolina, recently addressed reliability challenges facing the bulk electric system at a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) technical conference.
Jones focused on supply chain concerns, the industry’s evolving resource mix and its impact on resource adequacy, and the criticality of industry/government coordination with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC).
At the Sept. 30 FERC Commissioner-led reliability conference, Jones participated in a panel that focused on bulk power system reliability and security. He appeared at the conference on behalf of the American Public Power Association, the Large Public Power Council and the Transmission Access Policy Study Group.
With respect to the supply chain, Jones highlighted that FERC must assist industry in pressing for additional government assistance in influencing supplier cybersecurity practices. Specifically, FERC must push for the development of a third-party certification program — administered by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — to secure vendor-supplied high and medium impact bulk electric system cyber components. FERC and NERC can play a role in convening vendors to develop the program.
Jones said that vendors must take supply chain security on as a fundamental responsibility. If that is to happen, the electric industry, the Commission, and governmental partners at DOE and DHS “must bring the vendors to the table to discuss certification criteria and a consensus-based approach to participation,” said Jones in his statement for the conference.
With respect to the changing resource mix, Jones said that “We all acknowledge it. We know it’s coming. But we also need to acknowledge the critical role that natural gas and the existing nuclear fleet is going to play in this transformation.”
Jones also pointed out that the country’s rapidly evolving resource mix presents challenges to resource adequacy and grid reliability. The challenge is attributable to the rapid shift away from centralized generation to non-synchronous resources, including renewables, battery storage and other technologies. As this shift accelerates, industry and regulators must keep a close eye on resource adequacy and coordinate on flexible ramping and load-following resources, along with energy-assured generation.
Jones stressed that while public power utilities continue to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions FERC must work concurrently to monitor and maintain grid reliability.
In his statement, Jones said that “Keeping the lights on during a dramatic change in the nation’s resource mix may be the single most important challenge of the mid-21st century for utility managers and state and federal regulators,” he said.
Finally, Jones made the case for greater coordination between the E-ISAC and government partners in order to maximize the E-ISAC’s effectiveness and, as a result, the security of the bulk electric system.
Along with his role as CEO of ElectriCities of North Carolina, Jones also serves as Vice Chairman of the Member Representatives Committee of NERC.
ElectriCities is a not-for-profit membership organization of municipally-owned electric utilities that are spread across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
FERC Chairman Sees Two Main Threats To Grid Reliability
In his opening remarks at the conference, FERC Chairman Richard Glick said that there are two main threats to grid reliability.
The first is climate change and extreme weather, he said. “Extreme cold, extreme heat, wildfire seasons that start earlier and end later, massive droughts that are getting longer and having greater impact –obviously hurricanes that are much more ferocious. This is a serious issue. This is happening more and more and it’s having a big impact on the reliability of the electric grid.”
Glick said the second major threat to grid reliability comes from potential attacks — whether they be cyber or physical — against the grid.
Nation-states are growing ever more sophisticated “in their ability to attack our computer systems, whether it be in the electric industry, the natural gas industry or elsewhere and it’s something we need to pay attention to,” he said.
In addition, “cyber gangs are out there with ransomware. We saw that with the Colonial Pipeline incident and that’s certainly a threat to the electric grid as well.”
Other panels at the conference addressed extreme weather risks and challenges, managing cyber risks in the electric power sector, and maintaining electric reliability with a changing resource mix.
APPA Report Details How Public Power Utilities Are Well Positioned To Manage Grid Of Future
October 5, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 5, 2021
A new report from the American Public Power Association details the many ways in which public power utilities are especially well-positioned to manage the grid of the future.
“Having already established superior metrics with regards to price and reliability, public power utilities also can take advantage of their relative small size and connectedness to the local community, as well as their regulatory flexibility and community focus, to develop programs and implement technologies that meet the needs of their customers and address the challenges presented by climate change,” the report, “Moving Public Power Forward,” notes.
The paper builds upon a 2018 APPA report, “The Value of the Grid,” which explored emerging trends and technologies and the potential disruption of the traditional electric utility business model.
Specifically, the new report looks more closely at the role public power utilities have already played in leading this energy transition, and to outline pathways for continued change.
The report was prepared by Paul Zummo, Director of Policy Research and Analysis at APPA.
It begins by exploring the latest developments, including emerging trends in electric vehicle development and research into hydrogen, as well as further development in state renewable portfolio standard (RPS) programs.
In addition, the report provides a statistical overview of public power, including statistics on generation capacity of power purchase agreements, reliability metrics, and rates data.
It also discusses public power and clean energy and provides examples of the many ways public power utilities are incorporating clean energy into their portfolios.
The report also discusses electrification and smart cities and provides examples of public power programs meant to incent electrification.
In addition, it includes a section that focuses on rates and business models, including case studies of public power experiences with new rate designs, such as time-of-use rates. There is also a discussion of partnerships and collaboration that help public power utilities manage this transition to the future grid.
The case studies presented in the paper “merely scratch the surface of what public power utilities are doing to guide their customers into the future,” the report notes.
Public power utilities are working to create more sustainable power systems by integrating more clean energy into their portfolios, encouraging adoption of electrified end-uses, and adapting their financial and business models to accommodate these changes. “And true to the public power model, they are keeping their customers at the forefront when making these changes,” the paper said.
“These utilities are not doing it by themselves,” the report points out. “One common theme in nearly all the case studies provided here is collaboration. Public power utilities are collaborating with third party vendors, joint action agencies, and each other to study, develop, and bring online new technologies and programs.”
The regulatory regime under which public power utilities operate — governed by local boards and/or city councils rather than under the jurisdiction of state commissions — allows these utilities to make changes more quickly and more suitable for the needs and desires of their customers.
“Strikingly, these utilities are often making changes without being forced to do so by state mandates. Their customers – who, in effect, are their owners — are asking for these changes, and public power utilities are responding,” the report said.
“Public power utilities will travel different paths. Some may choose to outsource some key functions, while others will more actively engage in operation and control, including of DERs. Some may choose to serve as energy advisors to their customers, aiding them in their selection of resources appropriate to their needs. Whatever they choose, they will continue to demonstrate their value to the local community,” the paper said.
The report is available to download by clicking here.
DEED Scholars Contribute to Public Power’s Knowledge Base
October 5, 2021
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 5, 2021
Three engineering students have filed reports detailing the results of scholarships they were awarded through the American Public Power Association’s Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) program.
From Arizona, Colorado, and Michigan, these impressive women are a sampling of those being exposed to careers in public power and provided mentoring opportunities as a result of their DEED scholarships.
The reports expand the knowledge base available to public power utilities on subjects that range from the analysis of photovoltaic (PV) solar installation output models and modeling public power electricity rates to analyzing upcoming capacity markets and understanding public perceptions on solar water heaters.
Giuliana Seretti/Fort Collins Utilities
The DEED program funded a research project by Giuliana Seretti, an electrical engineering student at Colorado State University. Her research sponsor was John Phelan, energy services manager at Fort Collins Utilities.
Seretti’s research project, PV Solar Modeling and Analysis, compared the accuracy of three PV solar output models – the Sector model, a linear regression model, and a new machine learning model – by comparing them with PVSTEM model, developed by researchers at Colorado State University (CSU).
The results of the research were intended for utilities “to predict the amount of solar power that could be produced in the future (days to weeks). This helps with successfully managing the distributed energy resources. It also gives utilities a better understanding of when each model is best applicable,” said Seretti.
“The PVSTEM model was used as a baseline because testing had shown its results to be very close to actual measured solar production,” Seretti said in her paper.
The PVSTEM model was developed using weather data from CSU’s main campus, as well as specific orientation and configuration information about each individual solar array.
Seretti’s research showed that the Sector model has the closest accuracy to the PVSTEM model. In addition, it has a fast run time and can handle large datasets.
The PVSTEM model takes about 11 minutes to run 1,787 PV solar systems. The sector model takes about 2.8 seconds to run the same number of systems. The error accuracy of the Sector model compared with PVSTEM is around 1.3 percent.
Seretti found that the regression model’s accuracy compared with PVSTEM is about 4.95 percent because it is less accurate in the summer and winter because there is no temperature or wind speed adjustment. However, the regression model has a high accuracy in the fall and spring. The linear regression model can also handle any amount of data points without increasing the run time, the paper showed.
It takes about two-and-a-half minutes to train the machine learning model, and the model has a strong correlation between actual solar production and predicted production, Seretti’s research found.
In conclusion, there was not a best model, Seretti found. Each model had its own strengths and weaknesses, each also had specific applicability and were better suited for different situations.
With these various tools, energy utilities will be able to manage Distribution Energy Resources (DER) on a real time basis as well as modeling historical generation patterns,” Seretti said.
Seretti said, “The results of her research will help utilities select a model that best suits their needs. If utilities want to predict and plan for future solar production, the best model would be the machine learning, as it takes in multiple parameters in a data set and predicts the solar output.”
The PVSTEM model had the highest accuracy compared to the actual solar production, making it a good base for comparing the other models, according to the research paper. However, when given a large set of systems, the PVSTEM model had a significantly longer run time than the other models.
The Sector model can handle large data sets and produce the total solar production with a short run time, making it useful when more solar systems are installed and need to be added to overall solar production calculations in real time, the paper found.
The regression model shows the different relationships between each of the parameters used for calculating solar production, making it useful for showing the relationships between each of the parameters, according to Seretti.
Hanna Gehrke/ Michigan Public Power Agency
Hanna Gehrke, a mechanical engineering student at Michigan State University, won a DEED scholarship to be the energy market operations intern at the Michigan Public Power Agency (MPPA) under the sponsorship of MPPA’s Brent Taylor and the supervision of Taylor and Keith Parrott.
Under the internship, Gehrke had four main tasks: data verification, creation of reports within the agency’s business intelligence software, analyzing and illustrating energy rate differences between MPPA member rates and the rates of investor-owned utility Consumers Energy, and sorting and filtering data from the generation interconnection queue for the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and Michigan.
Among the benefits of working on several, well developed tasks were the ability “to learn and experiment with many different topics within the power industry,” Gehrke said in a report on the DEED scholarship.
Gehrke said working on established projects afforded her more opportunities to learn from colleagues and see how the utility’s processes were developed and gave her a clear foundation on which to build. “Sometimes having a good foundation to base knowledge off can be more beneficial than having to learn as you go,” Gehrke said.
On the data verification project, Gehrke checked if data from Open Access Technology International (OATI) was flowing into Microsoft SQL, a program for holding and managing data. She found discrepancies in some of the data fields and was able to search for the sources of the errors, enabling a supervisor to correct the errors.
In another project, Gehrke created 17 reports and standardized the format of most reports, shortening the time that viewers need to understand the material and enabling a non-subject matter expert to use the information to suit their needs.
In the third project, Gehrke used MPPA’s business model risk assessment software to create a model that allows MPPA member utilities to see Consumers Energy’s predicted rates and compare them with what they are currently paying for the different rate classes.
Feeding historical data into the model, Gehrke was able to project rate comparisons and display them in a “speedometer” graphic that gives MPPA member utilities “a visual representation of how much each rate class was saving in comparison to Consumers.”
“When members see they are getting lower rates than Consumers Energy, they will continue to secure power through MPPA,” Gehrke said via email. “This allows MPPA to grow and maintain relationships with its members.”
For her final project, Gehrke sorted and filtered data from Michigan and MISO’s generation interconnection queue and, using that data, determined how many projects were completed and how many were withdrawn from the queue per year.
The ability to see the success rate of projects can help a utility better forecast future capacity prices. “If it is forecasted that not enough generation will come online, then MPPA will be able to investigate purchasing more capacity or building it rather than buying from the market for elevated prices,” Gehrke said.
Other companies could also take inspiration from the analysis of the MISO generation interconnection queue, Gehrke said. “Having a rough estimate of expected new generation, the utility will be able to make better informed resource planning decisions,” she said.
Naushita Sharma/Salt River Project
Naushita Sharma was awarded a DEED student research grant in 2018 when she was a graduate research assistant at the School of Sustainable Engineering & the Built Environment at Arizona State University. Her report was recently published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 320, 20 October 2021. She is now working as a water and wastewater engineer at Jacobs Engineering Group. Sharma’s mentor and sponsor was Jerald “Chico” Hunter, manager of environmental policy and innovation at Salt River Project.
Sharma’s research focused on customer acceptance and installation of solar water heaters (SWH) and the need for public education.
While solar water heaters are a mature technology with high household adoption rates in countries such as China, Turkey and Israel, their deployment in the United States is limited, representing only 2 percent of global SWH installations, Sharma noted.
Nonetheless, the energy used to heat water represents a substantial portion of U.S. energy use by the residential sector. The paper, Public perceptions towards adoption of residential Solar Water Heaters in USA: A case study of Phoenicians in Arizona, noted that residential energy use accounts for about 22 percent of all the energy consumed in the U.S. with space and water heating accounting for 60 percent of that total. In all, residential water heating systems (WHS) account for roughly 19 percent of total residential energy consumption, and many of those systems are fueled by natural gas.
The goal of Sharma’s paper was to understand public perceptions towards solar water heaters in Phoenix, Ariz. Her analysis was based on a consumer survey of 315 households that explored the relation of demographics, group influence, and competing technologies on the public awareness and acceptance of solar water heaters.
The study found that 57 percent of respondents were willing to use solar water heaters while about 20 percent were hesitant or unwilling to use them. The remainder were unsure about their choices. Many of the respondents, 76 percent, favored the need for information on cost and energy requirements and about 61 percent wanted more information on how solar water heaters fared against conventional water heating technologies.
“The main conclusions of the paper were policy related,” Sharma said. Public perceptions on solar water heaters are favorable in Phoenix, particularly among households with higher income and education levels, according to the report. But it is also evident that penetration of rooftop PV assisted electricity generation has exceeded niche thermal solar water heaters.
In addition, Arizona has significant solar potential, but constant use of solar water heaters requires the right amount of solar irradiation and at a particular angle, which might not be accessible to all the households in Phoenix, thereby limiting their popularity, according to the report.
Therefore, Sharma recommended that Arizona and the rest of the U.S. should expand residential and utility-scale solar PV installations to decarbonize the residential sector and place less dependence on solar thermal technologies such as solar water heaters. She emphasized a wider approach that maximizes the use of PV solar technologies and incentives. “Solar water heating is only one application, while rooftop solar can be used for electricity, water or space heating,” Sharma said.
For additional information about DEED, click here.
NYPA Reaches Milestone In Modernization, Digitization Of Niagara Power Plant
October 5, 2021
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 5, 2021
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has completed a $460 million modernization and life extension project of its Lewiston Pump Generating Plant and the digitization of the first of 13 hydropower turbines at the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant.
The Lewiston and Robert Moses pump generating plants together comprise the 2,675-megatwatt (MW) Niagara Power Project, the largest generating station in New York State.
The digitization is the first major milestone of Next Generation Niagara, a $1.1 billion, 15-year program to extend the operating life of the Niagara Power Project.
The modernization and life extension of the Lewiston Pump Generating Plant began in 2012 and included the replacement of the facility’s 12 pump turbines and its generator step-up transformers, which date back to 1961 when the Niagara plant first entered service.
The work involved the replacement of one pump turbine every eight to nine months, ensuring that 11 of the 12 turbines were available for operation during the upgrade so that NYPA could meet commitments to its power customers.
The Lewiston pump provides energy when power demand peaks and supplements the output of the Robert Moses plant, which is the main generating facility at the Niagara Power Project.
The Next Generation Niagara program aims to extend the operating life of the Robert Moses plant. The recently completed installation of new digital controls on the first turbine generator unit included making corresponding digital connections to the facility’s control room as part of the plant’s overall control room upgrade and redesign, and to the plant’s switchyard where Niagara’s power is distributed across New York’s transmission system. In the switchyard, workers installed digital controls on the transformers and circuit breakers corresponding to the upgraded turbine.
In addition to digitizing the plant’s generating units and building a new back-up control room, the Next Generation Niagara initiative encompasses a comprehensive inspection of the Robert Moses plant’s penstocks, the 485-foot pipes that carry water from the forebay to the turbine generators; replacement of the 630-ton crane that enables mechanical work on the turbines; and the overhaul and/or replacement of mechanical components that have reached the end of their operating life.
A planned unit outage to digitize the next turbine generator unit is expected to begin in May 2022.
The digitization and modernization projects represent nearly $1.6 billion of clean energy infrastructure investments at the Niagara plant intended to advance New York State’s goal to transition to 100 percent carbon dioxide free electricity by 2040.
OPPD Partnership With Nebraska State Agency To Provide Peregrine Falcon Education Resources
October 5, 2021
by Vanessa Nikolic
APPA News
October 5, 2021
Nebraska’s Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) recently partnered to provide education resources to help educators across the state teach students about peregrine falcons, their role in the ecosystem, and how peregrines have adapted to survive in the wild.
The peregrine falcon was added to the endangered species list in the 1970s, but was able to survive due to extensive conservation efforts that helped advance its growth in numbers.
A family of peregrines currently live on OPPD’s North Omaha Station. The public power utility set up a live webcam with footage that can be viewed on Facebook, YouTube, and on OPPD’s website. The livestream has attracted thousands of viewers from across the country each year.
OPPD planned to develop a poster detailing the family tree of peregrines living on their north tower. OPPD staff reached out to NGPC to see if they would be interested in partnering on the project.
Staff members at OPPD provided creative services in designing the poster and gathering information for it. The poster was sent to NGPC experts for review before final printing.
While OPPD worked on finalizing the poster, NGPC worked to create several lesson plans focusing on grades 2-12.
The lesson plans for younger students are designed to teach them about peregrine falcons by using researching and writing skills. The middle school lesson plans teach students about wildlife adaptations and the adaptations that make peregrine falcons successful hunters and flyers. The lesson plan for older students aims to teach them about population dynamics and emphasizes the impact of pesticides on peregrine falcon populations through the last 100 years.
NGPC fish and wildlife education division administrator Lindsay Rogers said the peregrine falcons, like all wildlife species, are important to NGPC because of their unique role in the ecosystem. She said the ability for viewers to watch the peregrine nest in real time is a great way to highlight how people are connected through shared spaces with wildlife animals.
“Our goal with these resources is to provide teachers and students with background information and meaningful educational resources to engage students in learning about Nebraska’s wildlife species while also gaining an understanding of their role in conserving wildlife species and natural resources,” Rogers said.
OPPD wildlife and natural resources specialist Chris Vrtiska said OPPD’s involvement in the peregrine project aligns with the utility’s broader environmental efforts.
“Our mission is to provide affordable, reliable, environmentally sensitive energy services,” Vrtiska said. “This partnership with Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and our educational outreach, are excellent examples of OPPD’s efforts to be good stewards of and enhance the environment.”
All lesson plans are available for download at: http://outdoornebraska.gov/peregrinefalconlessonplans/
Nebraska teachers can request the poster on NGPC’s website as well.
In addition to OPPD’s peregrine collaboration with NGPC, the utility is currently partnering with the Nebraska state agency on an Osprey Nest Camera project at OPPD’s Fort Calhoun Station. OPPD built an artificial nest structure earlier this year to replace a structure that a pair of ospreys were using for nesting that was demolished as part of Fort Calhoun Station’s decommissioning.
CISA and NIST Take First Step in Implementing Presidential Memo on Cybersecurity
October 5, 2021
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 5, 2021
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have identified recommended cybersecurity practices intended to serve as the foundation for preliminary control system cybersecurity performance goals.
The recommendations were made to comply with a July 28 presidential memorandum on national security that established a voluntary initiative intended to foster collaboration between the federal government and the critical infrastructure community to improve cybersecurity of control systems.
The memorandum instructed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to lead the development of preliminary cross-sector control system cybersecurity performance goals as well as sector-specific performance goals within one year of the date of memorandum. The goals are intended to provide a common understanding of the baseline security practices that critical infrastructure owners and operators should follow to protect national and economic security, as well as public health and safety.
As an initial step in that process, CISA and NIST looked at available control system resources and recommended practices that have been generated by government and the private sector.
CISA and NIST identified nine categories of recommended cybersecurity practices to serve as the foundation for preliminary control system cybersecurity performance goals.
The nine categories are:
- risk management and cybersecurity governance,
- architecture and design,
- configuration and change management,
- physical security,
- system and data Integrity, availability, and confidentiality,
- continuous monitoring and vulnerability management,
- training and awareness,
- incident response and recovery, and
- supply chain risk management.
Each of the nine goals includes specific objectives that support the deployment and operation of secure control systems that are further organized into baseline and enhanced objectives.
All the outlined goals are foundational and represent high-level cybersecurity best practices and are not intended as an exhaustive guide to all facets of an effective cybersecurity program, CISA and NIST said. The enumerated goals are preliminary and were developed and refined with as much interagency and industry input as practical during the initial timeline of the overarching cybersecurity initiative.
The Department of Homeland Security said it expects to conduct much more extensive stakeholder engagement as the goals are finalized in the coming months.
NHA Report Identifies Challenges To Realizing Pumped Storage’s Potential
October 5, 2021
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 5, 2021
A new report from the National Hydropower Association (NHA) provides recommendations for policymakers and other stakeholders aimed at raising the profile of pumped storage hydropower (PSH) and making the technology better able to support the growing level of intermittent renewable resources coming on to the grid.
The 2021 Pumped Storage Report notes that pumped storage provides 94 percent of the bulk energy storage in the United States, but the last PSH project—a 40 megawatt (MW) plant in California – was commissioned in 2012.
“The acceleration of wind and solar deployments underscores the increasing need to integrate large amounts of variable resources,” Cameron Schilling, NHA’s vice president of market strategies and regulatory affairs, said in a statement. “This report shines a spotlight on the value of pumped storage, while providing a path forward for solving the market, policy and regulatory hurdles that hinders its growth. In addition to financing, for pumped storage to fully realize its growth potential, it requires market policies that appropriately value its grid services.”
A total of 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of PSH projects have received permitting authorizations, and over 50 GW of PSH have been issued preliminary permits or in the process of receiving permits, but no new projects have yet to begin construction.
The report also noted that pumped storage hydropower is nearly two to three times less expensive than lithium-ion batteries on a per kilowatt hour (kWh) basis and PSH’s annual operations and maintenance costs at $20 per kilowatt hour year are three times lower than batteries.
Nonetheless, NHA said the key takeaway from a 2020 survey of developers it conducted is that developing a PSH project is “a risk, and without some policy or market modifications there may not be adequate long-duration energy storage capacity to meet the demand from wind and solar resources.”
The NHA report recommends that
- Congress should create a stand-alone Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for all storage technologies, to ensure that PSH can compete with other storage resources on a level economic playing field.
- States need to send a market signal that long duration storage will be needed to meet aggressive climate goals, and state legislatures should adopt robust long duration storage targets with long lead times to ensure that the demand is met and that all technologies have a chance to compete.
- In regional markets, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) should ensure there are sufficient compensation mechanisms for frequency response, inertia, flexible ramping, condensing, voltage control and black start and other services provided by PSH. In addition, some renumeration should be provided to those technologies like PSH that can provide broader system benefits that are hard to quantify and measure.
- Utilities should work with the Department of Energy, PSH developers and the national laboratories to ensure that the full benefits of PSH, including the full range of services provided by advanced turbine technologies, are accurately modeled in integrated resource plans.
- FERC and other stakeholders should work to reform the licensing process, including allowing projects with minimal environmental impacts to be expedited.
“Current market and energy policies do not fully value the critical services that PSH can provide to the grid,” the NHA report said.
With the potential for 50 GW of pumped storage, “now is the time to develop new long-duration energy storage resources to enable a reliable, clean energy grid, the NHA report said.
APPA Outlines Support For Several Measures Included In Infrastructure Legislation
October 4, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 4, 2021
In a recent letter to Congressional leadership, Joy Ditto, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association (APPA), detailed APPA’s support for provisions in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684).
“We appreciate that H.R. 3684 includes significant investments in energy infrastructure, including investments in electric vehicle supply equipment, the transmission and distribution systems that make up our electric grids, cybersecurity, and federal research, development, and deployment of cutting-edge energy technology,” wrote Ditto in the Sept. 29 letter.
“Robust federal support remains critical as public power utilities continue to transition to cleaner energy resources, all while keeping their rates affordable and ensuring reliable service for their customers,” she said.
APPA is particularly supportive of section 11401, which would establish a Department of Transportation grant program for entities, which includes public power utilities, to deploy alternative fuel vehicle infrastructure, including for electric and hydrogen vehicles.
“This funding, as well as grants to states for electric vehicle charging equipment, will help public power utilities as they seek to support the specific transportation needs of their local communities,” Ditto noted in the letter.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would also fund programs to prevent outages and increase grid resiliency (section 40101), deploy innovative smart grid technology (section 40107), and increase appropriations for both the Weatherization Assistance Program and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) program to assist low-income families with their energy costs.
Cybersecurity is another key element of a reliable energy system, Ditto said.
“While the electric utility industry and its federal government partners have made great strides in addressing cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities in recent years, we must redouble our efforts to keep pace with the changing grid and security threat landscape. APPA strongly supports the bill’s increase in funding for various energy sector cybersecurity programs and efforts,” she wrote in the letter.
APPA supports section 40121, which would require the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program to promote and advance the physical and cybersecurity of electric utilities, with priority provided to utilities with fewer resources.
This provision will build on the existing successful public-private partnership between APPA and the Department of Energy to bring greater resources, training, and tools for cyber and physical security to small- and medium-sized electric utilities.
As public power utilities continue their efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change, “APPA appreciates that H.R. 3684 builds on the success of the Energy Act of 2020 to fund DOE research on a host of innovative technologies, including carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, energy storage, advanced nuclear, and solar power.”
Maintaining and enhancing hydropower as a generating resource “will also be critical to ensuring reliable power during this transition and APPA strongly supports the provisions of the bill that increase incentives for hydropower production and improvements,” Ditto said.
“APPA truly appreciates that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act recognizes the importance of energy infrastructure, which is the lifeblood of our nation’s economic and national security, as well as vital to the health and safety of all Americans. We thank you for your leadership and for the support as public power utilities work tirelessly to provide reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity to their customers and your constituents,” Ditto wrote.
H.R. 3684 passed the Senate on August 10 and is currently under consideration by the House of Representatives but the timing of a vote on the bill remains unclear as of Oct. 4.
Peninsula Clean Energy Enters First Solar-Plus-Storage Power Purchase Agreement
October 1, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 1, 2021
California community choice aggregator (CCA) Peninsula Clean Energy and Leeward Renewable Energy have entered into a 15-year solar-plus-storage power purchase agreement (PPA) tied to Leeward’s 102-megawatt (MW) Chaparral Solar Facility in Kern County, California.
As part of the agreement, Redwood, Calif.-based Peninsula Clean Energy will also purchase the energy and capacity from Chaparral’s 52 MW (208 megawatt-hour) battery storage system.
Peninsula Clean Energy’s board of directors on September 25 approved the PPA, which is the organization’s first to involve a solar-plus-storage project. The CCA said that the Chaparral project will allow Peninsula Clean Energy to take another step toward its goal of delivering 100 percent renewable energy generation to its customers across San Mateo County and the City of Los Banos, Calif.
Construction of the facility will begin in December 2021 and the project is expected to begin delivering energy to Peninsula Clean Energy by December 2023. Leeward will own and operate the facility.
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.
Peninsula Clean Energy is on track to deliver electricity that is 100 percent renewable by 2025 and 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.
Additional information about Leeward is available here.
TVA Plays Key Role In Drawing New Ford EV And Battery Manufacturing Plant To Tennessee
October 1, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 1, 2021
Ford Motor Company recently announced that it will be locating an electric vehicle (EV) and battery manufacturing plant in West Tennessee at a site certified through the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Haywood County, Tenn.
This is a $5.6 billion investment — the largest in the state’s history — and will create nearly 6,000 jobs in the area. “TVA is proud to partner with the state of Tennessee, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and others to bring these jobs to Tennessee,” TVA said.
“Reliable, low-cost, clean energy attracts world-class companies like Ford to the Tennessee Valley,” said TVA CEO Jeff Lyash in a statement. “Bringing jobs and capital investment to this region is what we do at TVA — it’s a fundamental part of our mission — and by helping to bring companies like Ford to this region, we are creating the jobs of the future.”
In an episode of the American Public Power Association’s Public Power Now podcast earlier this year, Lyash discussed TVA’s economic development activities.
TVA said that Ford set high standards in its search for a location for the new production facility and was looking for an energy provider committed to supplying low-cost, low-carbon energy from a reliable, resilient power system. “Tennessee checked those boxes because of TVA, which has one of the nation’s largest, most diverse, and cleanest generation portfolios,” TVA said.
TVA noted that it has been working with the state and others on this effort for more than year to ensure the site is suitable and to show that reliable, clean and low-cost TVA energy will support plant operations.
“TVA Economic Development works to attract new jobs and investment to the Valley, engages with existing industries, and serves with its partners to help foster economic growth,” said Ashton Davies, a spokesperson for TVA.
“To that end, the Economic Development team partners with state, regional and local economic development partners to facilitate site-selection services for companies looking to locate or expand in the seven-state Valley region,” she said.
TVA worked with Ford to provide solutions to meet the company’s sustainability and project needs, Davies said, adding that TVA’s carbon strategy goals align with Ford’s and in partnership with TVA’s local power companies, “we are able to deliver reliable low-cost, sustainable energy.”
TVA has already helped to attract more than $8.2 billion to the Tennessee Valley region for EV and battery manufacturing, which has helped create almost 4,600 EV-related jobs.
TVA is also partnering with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, local power companies and third parties to begin building a fast-charging network across Tennessee and it has partnered with other utilities to be a founding member of the National Electric Highway Coalition.
In August, TVA announced a plan to convert its entire fleet of passenger cars and at least half of its own pickup and light cargo trucks to EVs by 2030.