House Subcommittee Approves Bill That Includes Funding Increase For LIHEAP
July 8, 2020
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted July 8, 2020
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on July 7 approved its fiscal year 2021 bill, which includes a $25 million funding increase for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). In total, the bill would provide $3.765 billion for LIHEAP.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies approved its FY 2021 bill by a vote of 9 to 6. For FY 2021, the draft bill includes $196.5 billion in overall funding, an increase of $2.4 billion above the FY 2020 enacted level and $20.8 billion above the President’s 2021 budget request after accounting for offsets and adjustments.
APPA, other groups argued for fully funding LIHEAP at $5.1 billion
Prior to the vote, the American Public Power Association and several other trade groups on July 6 urged key lawmakers to fully fund LIHEAP at $5.1 billion in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies FY21 appropriations bill.
“Now more than ever, it is critical to provide a safety net for our most vulnerable American families,” APPA and the other groups said in their letter to Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Ranking Member Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies,
Along with APPA, other groups signing on to the letter were the American Gas Association, American Public Gas Association, American Public Power Association, Edison Electric Institute, National Energy & Fuels Institute, National Propane Gas Association and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 47 million Americans have filed for unemployment,” the letter noted. “Sensing the growing need for home energy assistance, this past spring in the CARES Act, Congress wisely appropriated an additional $900 million above the FY20 funding level of $3.74 billion to address the crisis.”
However, “for many, economic circumstances continue to deteriorate, and now it is clear that this additional funding will only scratch the surface of what families will need to stay afloat. LIHEAP eligible households have climbed from 35.2 million to 43.8 million in just a matter of weeks,” APPA and the other groups said.
House subcommittee clears FY 2021 energy appropriations bill
Meanwhile, the House Appropriation Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies on July 7 approved by voice vote a $93 billion appropriations bill for fiscal year 2021.
Of that, $50 billion is from regular appropriations and another $43 billion is part of an “emergency” infrastructure package.
The bill includes $7.8 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy, $3.4 billion for electricity-related grants and projects, and funds for construction of the “Grid Storage Launchpad.”
In addition, the bill includes $1.3 billion for nuclear energy ($700,000,000/Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program; $192,300,000/Advanced Small Modular Reactor program).
The measure now heads to the full House Appropriations Committee for consideration.
A summary of the bill is available here.
Residential Power Sales Soared, While Commercial Sales Slumped In April: EIA
July 7, 2020
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted July 7, 2020
April residential electricity sales in the United States increased 8% compared with April 2019, while the commercial and industrial sectors saw decreases of 11% and 9%, respectively, the Energy Information Administration reported on June 30.
U.S. residential electricity sales have never been this high in April. Commercial electricity sales in April were the lowest April value since April 2003, and industrial sales were the lowest since April 1987.
Across all sectors, April U.S. electricity sales declined 4% compared with last April, largely as a result of measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, EIA said in its Today in Energy report.
Starting with California on March 19, states began to issue stay-at-home orders in response to the pandemic. By mid-April, most states were under stay-at-home orders. As the orders took effect, businesses, schools, and industrial facilities closed, and office workers transitioned to working from home, EIA noted.
Electricity use in the U.S. is typically lowest in the spring and fall months, when demand for air conditioning and heating are often at their lowest levels, EIA said. “In each of the past 10 years, either April or October was the month with the lowest electricity demand, which reflects both sales from the grid and the electricity produced by net-metered systems, such as rooftop solar panels. Electricity demand generally rises as temperatures either become much colder or much warmer than about 55 degrees to 65 degrees Fahrenheit.”
The residential sector is relatively sensitive to temperature changes, EIA noted. Based on the previous five Aprils, EIA estimates that the U.S. residential sector would have used about 3.1 million megawatt-hours (MWh) per day in April 2020. Actual residential electricity demand in April 2020 was 3.3 million MWh/day, or about 6% higher than the typical April value.
The U.S. commercial and industrial sectors are relatively less temperature sensitive, but they still tend to use more electricity in the summer and less in the spring and fall.
Based on the average of the previous five Aprils, daily commercial sector electricity demand is usually about 3.4 million MWh/day in April, and industrial electricity demand is about 2.6 million MWh/day.
In April 2020, commercial electricity demand was about 10% lower than the typical April value, and industrial electricity demand was 9% lower, EIA reported.
APPA Report Compiles Safety Data Submitted By Public Power Utilities
July 7, 2020
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted July 7, 2020
The American Public Power Association recently released a report that compiles safety data that was submitted by utilities for APPA’s annual “Safety Awards of Excellence” contest.
The report, “Evaluation of Data Submitted to American Public Power Association’s 2019 Safety Awards of Excellence,” provides both tabular and graphical evaluations of the data submitted to APPA’s annual Safety Awards of Excellence for 2019.
The purpose of compiling this data is to offer a benchmark for individual municipal utilities. The intent of the report is to help safety professionals analyze their utility’s yearly performance in relation to others in the public power community. Through the data presented in the report, APPA aspires to help safety professionals create a context for review of safety program efficacy at their individual utilities.
Each year, the safety awards are open to any APPA member utility, joint action agency, federal agency, and state association/agency that wishes to participate.
Since participation is voluntary, the rules are set up to encourage consistent involvement. Thus, to be eligible to win an award, participants must submit data for three consecutive years. In the third year, the participant will be considered eligible for an award. Consistent submission helps to minimize selection bias and skewing of yearly data, APPA noted.
Entries are sorted into groups according to the total number of hours worked by all electric utility employees at a particular utility in the designated year. The group categories are the same from year to year. A group-specific analysis is included in the report.
Along with group-by-group and regional analyses of data, the report shows data averaged for all groups combined over the history of the awards.
APPA provides the data presented in the report for use by its members in aggregate form only. The individual names of the utilities that have entered the awards are confidential. Each year, The Association releases only the names of those utilities that have received awards recognition, in addition to their calculated incidence rate and worker hours for the given year.
Since greater numbers of entrants enhance the value of the safety awards for all utilities involved, APPA encourages all members to continue submitting data on a yearly basis, regardless of the number of accidents/injuries that have occurred over the calendar year.
One hundred twenty-five utilities earned APPA’s Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices in 2019, APPA reported in April. More than 335 utilities entered the annual safety awards, which was the highest number of entrants in the history of the program.
The report is available here.
EPA To End COVID-19 Temporary Enforcement Policy on August 31
July 7, 2020
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted July 7, 2020
The Environmental Protection Agency will end a COVID-19 temporary enforcement policy on August 31, 2020.
EPA selected the termination date for the “temporary policy because it reflects the appropriate balancing of the relevant factors; it recognizes that the circumstances surrounding the temporary policy are changing, but also ensures that there is adequate time to adjust to the changing circumstances,” a June 29, 2020 memo from Susan Bodine, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance at EPA, said.
The memo also states EPA may terminate the policy earlier than August 31, 2020, taking into consideration changing state or regional conditions, the status of federal and/or state COVID19 public health emergency guidelines, and/or other relevant factors or considerations. If the agency terminates the policy earlier, at least seven days’ notice would be provided.
EPA still maintains its enforcement discretion on a case-by-case basis regarding any noncompliance, including noncompliance caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency, before or after the temporary policy is terminated.
The EPA issued the temporary policy on March 26, 2020, in response to potential worker shortages and travel restrictions that may prevent routine compliance monitoring and reporting requirements and other obligations.
The policy was retroactive beginning on March 13, 2020.
For more information, visit EPA’s updated frequently asked questions about the temporary enforcement policy.
TVA Launches Virtual Home Energy Audits For Customers
July 6, 2020
By Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted July 6, 2020
The Tennessee Valley Authority on July 1 said it has launched virtual home energy evaluations, enabling residents across its seven-state region to benefit from money-saving energy advice, even during pandemic conditions.
“Innovation is in TVA‘s DNA, and we’re using new technology to provide consumers expert energy advice, while maintaining CDC social distancing guidelines,” said Frank Rapley, senior manager, TVA EnergyRight.
TVA said that it is the first utility in the southeast U.S. to launch virtual home energy evaluations.
Normally a technician would visit a customer’s home to complete the evaluation, TVA noted. Now, customers can use their smart device to interact with an energy professional through an app and augmented reality technology.
“It was really easy,” said Bri Moran, Nashville, Tennessee. “We looked at my appliances, thermostat and heat and air unit, and checked the weather stripping on my doors and windows. He made it simple to find everything, because I wasn’t sure where everything was.”
Rapley noted that energy evaluations help customers save money by identifying areas where energy loss may occur. The new technology makes the evaluation possible while maintaining safe social distancing and including the homeowner in the experience, TVA said.
“While in-person inspections are done while homeowners wait in their living rooms, virtual inspections take them along the journey. We get them excited about saving energy in their home, and we can see they’re really interested in learning,” Rapley said.
TVA partnered with CLEAResult, which designs and maintains energy optimization services for utility companies, to bring this product to customers.
TVA virtual home energy evaluations are open to all residential customers – homeowners, landlords, and tenants – of qualifying single-family residences within TVA’s service area.
Additional information about TVA’s virtual home energy evaluation program is available here.
Energy New England offering a remote home energy assessment option
Energy New England on April 9 said it is offering a remote home energy assessment option to customers of participating Municipal Light Plants.
The effort started on March 13 after a stay at home advisory was issued in Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, municipal light departments participating in the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company residential energy efficiency program will begin offering virtual energy efficiency audits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new service, which will include virtual energy efficiency audits as well as virtual verification for energy efficiency rebates, is being offered through MMWEC’s Home Energy Loss Prevention Services (HELPS) program. Nineteen consumer-owned municipal utilities participate in HELPS.
APPA, Other Groups Urge Power Workers To Stay Vigilant In Guarding Against COVID-19
July 6, 2020
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted July 6, 2020
A group of power industry trade and union leaders including Joy Ditto, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association, on July 2 urged power industry workers to remain vigilant in guarding against COVID-19 exposure and following the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on personal hygiene, social distancing, and the use of masks or face coverings.
“As we head into this holiday weekend, we are writing to thank you for all you do each day to power our nation and to keep the lights on for the customers and the communities you serve,” Ditto and the others wrote. “We applaud you for your unwavering dedication and your commitment to safety, particularly as we navigate through these challenging and unprecedented times.
Other signatories to the letter were Tom Kuhn, President of Edison Electric Institute, Jim Matheson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Lonnie Stephenson, International President, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and James Slevin, National President, Utility Workers Union of America.
“Today, we all are seeing concerning trends in the spread of the coronavirus around the country, and it is more important than ever that we do not let our guards down, either as individuals or as a critical infrastructure industry,” the power group and union leaders wrote.
“We know that electricity and the energy grid are indispensable, and our nation is relying on your essential work during this pandemic. That is why we are joining together — as labor and electric power industry leaders — to encourage you to stay vigilant and to continue to follow the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on personal hygiene, social distancing, and, most important, the use of masks or face coverings.”
They went on to say that as “we learn more about this virus, the guidance from the CDC and our nation’s health care experts continues to evolve; we now know that staying at least 6 feet apart and, when unable to do so, wearing a mask saves lives. We also know that we cannot fully restart our economy or return to any type of normalcy until we are able to control the spread of this virus.”
Ditto and the others noted that safety is, “and has always been, our industry’s number one priority. We have a tremendous opportunity now to lead by example and to serve as role models for our fellow citizens by expanding the safety culture that we practice in our workplaces to our communities.”
It Is Vital That Member Utilities Press Lawmakers On Direct Aid, APPA Says
July 2, 2020
By Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted July 2, 2020
The American Public Power Association is urging its member utilities to reach out to their congressional delegation in support of legislation that would provide direct COVID-19 pandemic-related aid for public power utilities.
APPA is encouraging its member utilities to take steps to educate lawmakers on the issue and to ask the lawmakers to join in signing a letter in support of public power being circulated by House Energy and Commerce Committee member Doris Matsui, D-Calif.
The due date for signing onto the letter has been extended to Friday, July 10. A copy of the letter is available here. (The original deadline was June 26).
In her letter, Matsui noted that in previous coronavirus relief bills, the public power sector “has been uniquely left out of certain programs that could provide financial assistance during this hardship, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the employer payroll tax credit for qualified family leave wages.”
As an essential service, public power utilities “continue to provide electricity to customers’ homes, enabling many of us to continue working from home or enabling children to proceed with at-home learning opportunities,” Matsui said in the letter. “Moreover, most public power utilities instituted voluntary moratoriums on shutoffs for nonpayment soon after the pandemic struck, recognizing that no one should be without power during this period of unique hardship.”
Past legislation has provided aid that will help public power at the margins, such as Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding increases to help customers pay their bills, Coronavirus Relief Funds to state and local governments, and assistance in paying unemployment benefits for laid off workers.
But APPA now estimates that public power utilities will lose up to $5 billion in revenue due to pandemic-related declines in load and customer arrearages.
House Passes Infrastructure Bill That Includes Several Items Of Importance To Public Power
July 2, 2020
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted July 2, 2020
The House on July 1 passed H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, by a vote of 233 to 188. The $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill includes a number of key priorities for public power.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, on Jun 18 announced additional details on the Moving America Forward Act.
The American Public Power Association on June 29 said it strongly supports the smart infrastructure investment provisions that are in H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act.
“While the nation continues to respond to the unprecedented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must begin to look to the future with comprehensive legislation to refine, restore, and expand American infrastructure, including our electric infrastructure. These are the investments that make commerce possible — leading to strong communities,” APPA said.
APPA said it strongly supports provisions in H.R. 2 that will make it easier and less costly to finance these critical investments.
These include reinstating the ability for state and local governments, including public power utilities, to issue tax-exempt advance refunding bonds and increasing the small issuer exception from $10 million to $30 million.
APPA also supports the decision to allow the issuance of taxable direct payment bonds and believes that protecting payments to issuers of such bonds from budget sequestration is the correct approach that would only be improved by extending that protection to existing direct payment bonds. Since 2013, budget sequestration has cut payments to direct payment bond issuers by more than $2 billion.
APPA also backs the decision to include in H.R. 2 provisions of the Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now (GREEN) Act for ensuring that all utilities can benefit from incentives intended to encourage critical energy investments. Current tax-based incentives exclude the nearly 90 million Americans served by tax-exempt electric utilities, including public power utilities, the public power group pointed out.
Amendments
Amendments for the legislation were debated and voted upon “en bloc.”
The first set of en bloc amendments offered by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., passed 229 to 189. DeFazio is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
One amendment from Representatives Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., Doris Matsui, D-Calif., Jim Costa, D-Calif., and Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., would add charging speeds and reduction of future upgrade expenses as considerations for Section 1303 electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure grants. A second amendment from Representatives Andy Levin, D-Mich., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. would increase the role of environmental justice stakeholders in the program.
Another set of en bloc amendments offered by Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., included:
* An amendment from Representative Bill Foster, D-Ill., to require the Department of Energy to provide goals, objectives, and cost targets for the energy storage demonstration program;
* An amendment from Representative Doris Matsui, D-Calif., to raise the EV supply equipment rebate program cap from $75,000 to $100,000, and;
* An amendment from Representative Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., to create a federal accelerator program to deploy emissions reducing technologies.
Pallone’s en bloc amendment passed 234 to 178.
The House also passed an en bloc amendment also offered by DeFazio that included an amendment by Representatives David McKinley, R-W.Va., Marc Veasey, D-Texas, Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas, Terri Sewell, D-Ala., David Schweikert, R-Ariz., Scott Peters, D-Calif., Jim Costa, D-Calif., Carol Miller, R-W.Va., Gilbert Ray Cisneros, D-Calif., and Kendra Horn, D-Okla., that would authorize and provide funding for a Department of Energy carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology commercialization program and direct air capture technology prize program.
The White House has already threatened a veto of the bill and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said there is no chance the Senate will take up the House-passed bill this year.
The legislation is more of a marker of what Democrats will seek to enact in the 117th Congress 2021 if they win take back the Senate and White House and maintain the majority in the House of Representatives.
APPA’s Ditto, Patterson, EPB President and CEO David Wade Named To DOE Advisory Committee
July 2, 2020
Joy Ditto, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association, Delia Patterson, Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Communications and General Counsel at APPA, and David Wade, President and CEO of the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, have been appointed to serve as members of the Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC).
Ditto, Patterson and Wade were three of 35 members of the EAC announced by the DOE on July 1. Twenty-two of the 35 appointed members of the EAC are returning members.
Each member of the EAC was appointed by U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette for a two-year term.
The group reports to the DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Electricity and meets three times a year to advise DOE on a variety of electricity issues. The members of the EAC are from state governments, regional planning entities, utility companies, cyber security and national security firms, the natural gas sector, equipment manufacturers, construction and architectural companies, non-governmental organizations, and other electricity-related organizations.
During their two-year term, the EAC members will advise DOE on current and future electric grid reliability, resilience, security, sector interdependence, and policy issues. They will periodically review and make recommendations on DOE electric grid-related programs and initiatives, including electricity-related R&D programs and modeling efforts.
Members will also identify emerging issues related to electricity production and delivery and advise on federal coordination with utility industry authorities in the event of supply disruptions and other emergencies.
The thirty-five appointed members of the EAC began their term on July 1, 2020 and are listed alphabetically here.
Coal, CO2 Emission Declines Caused By Pandemic Could Persist: Moody’s
July 2, 2020
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
Posted July 2, 2020
The slowdown in economic output and industrial activity as a result of efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 is expected to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels and accelerate the decline of coal fired generation, according to a report from Moody’s Investors Service.
And, even as states begin to slowly reopen, the impact of the pandemic on power demand and carbon emissions will continue through the remainder of the year and likely into 2021, the report, “Coronavirus-related power demand reductions drive lower carbon emissions,” said.
Moody’s expects CO2 emissions to drop by 175 million metric tons compared with 2019 levels, to end the year at 320 million metric tons. In its base case scenario, Moody’s estimates US CO2 emissions will be 11% below 2019 levels by 2022, following a year-over-year decline of 14% in 2020. The base case scenario includes a 6% average generation decline across all customer classes in 2020, followed by two years of moderate recovery with 3% increases in generation in both 2021 and 2022. In that scenario, generation would fully recover to pre-pandemic levels by 2022.
In a milder scenario, Moody’s estimates CO2 emission in 2022 will be 5% lower than in 2019, with a year-over-year decline in 2020 of 10%.
In a more extreme scenario, in which average generation declines by 8% in 2020, with most of the reductions absorbed by coal-fired generation, Moody’s estimates CO2 emissions could drop by 19% in 2020 and remain at those levels going forward.
Moody’s shares the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) expectation that most of the CO2 reductions will be driven by generation declines from CO2 emitting resources, primarily coal-fired plants, however, the ratings agency does not share the EIA’s forecast of a significant rebound in US coal consumption in 2021.
In 2019, output from the US coal plants fell to its lowest point since 1976 and the power sector has cut coal consumption by more than half since the late 2000s, Moody’s noted.
And while Moody’s base case scenario sees coal-fired generation remaining flat next year, “it is possible that it will continue to decline” under pressure from sustained low natural gas prices, the report said.
In March 2020, Moody’s reduced its medium-term price band for North American natural gas at the Henry Hub to $2.00-$3.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) from $2.25- $3.25 per MMBtu. Moody’s projects Henry Hub prices to be at the lower end of that range through 2021.
Low natural gas prices challenge the fundamental economics of coal-fired generation, especially for coal plants in regions near shale plays where natural gas prices are below the Henry Hub price, which could accelerate retirements of out-of-the-money coal-fired power plants, Moody’s noted.
And while all regions to see declines in coal and gas-fired generation, Moody’s expects those declines will vary by region. Fossil-fired generation will likely increase in the New York Independent System Operator region, for instance, because of higher natural gas generation in 2020 and lower year-over-year nuclear generation because of the retirement of the Indian Point nuclear plant.
The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and the Pacific Northwest, on the other hand, could see large declines in coal-fired generation.
Regions such as Florida, SPP, Pacific Northwest, Southwest and Texas will likely see larger declines in CO2 emissions because declining coal generation is not replaced by natural gas, either because of an uptick in renewable generation or because coal generation declines are absorbing the reduced electric loads, so more natural gas generation is not needed, Moody’s argued.
Moody’s also included a caveat that “unanticipated weather conditions, summer residential load spikes and the length and speed of the economic recovery will all affect the magnitude of the coronavirus outbreak’s effect on US power sector carbon emissions.”