White House Makes Funds Available to Repair, Replace Existing EV Charging Infrastructure
September 13, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 13, 2023
The Biden-Harris Administration has opened applications for the Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator, which will provide up to $100 million in federal funding to repair and replace existing but non-operational, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, the Department of Transportation said on Sept. 13.
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, a $5 billion program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and administered by the Federal Highway Administration to help states build out EV charging sites, stipulates a 10% set-aside for grants to states and localities that require additional assistance to strategically deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The first round of funding will focus on improving the reliability of the current network by repairing or replacing existing EV charging infrastructure.
Based on initial estimates of non-operational chargers, the Federal Highway Administration anticipates that the available $100 million in funding will likely cover the repair or replacement costs of all eligible projects, which will be awarded through a streamlined application process.
This includes both publicly and privately owned chargers — so long as they are available to the public without restriction.
The program is informed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) Station Locator, which identifies offline stations as temporarily unavailable. A charger can be identified as temporarily unavailable for several reasons, ranging from routine maintenance to power issues.
On September 11, 2023, the AFDC indicated that out of 151,506 public charging ports, 6,261 (4.1%) were temporarily unavailable.
Eligible applicants and projects for the EV Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator are outlined in a Notice of Funding Opportunity published Sept. 13.
Applications are due by November 13, 2023.
APPA Voices Support for Bill That Calls for Delaying DOE Plan Tied to Transformers
September 13, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 13, 2023
The American Public Power Association on Sept. 13 voiced support for a bill introduced by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) that would prohibit the Department of Energy from increasing distribution transformer conservation standards for five years.
“A delay is urgently needed to give manufacturers the certainty to increase production to meet demand,” wrote Desmarie Waterhouse, Senior Vice President, Advocacy and Communications & General Counsel at APPA, in a Statement for the Record.
The Statement for the Record was submitted in connection with a Sept. 13 hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security titled, “Keeping the Light On: Enhancing Reliability and Efficiency to Power American Homes.”
The hearing’s focus is on three bills: Hudson’s H.R. 4167, the Protecting America’s Distribution Transformer Supply Chain Act; the DOE Appliance and Equipment Standards Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Guaranteeing Reliable Infrastructure Deployment (GRID) Act.
In December 2022, APPA and other impacted organizations were dismayed when DOE announced a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking to amend conservation standards for distribution transformers, Waterhouse noted.
The NOPR would require a stricter standard that changes the material used in distribution transformers from grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) to amorphous steel.
Amorphous steel is currently used in less than five percent of distribution transformers. “Requiring the expansion of amorphous steel in distribution transformers would halt current investment in production and materials, resulting in a complete retooling of manufacturing production lines, thereby exacerbating the severe shortage,” Waterhouse said.
DOE claims it was required to issue the NOPR due to court decisions resulting from energy efficiency interest groups’ legal challenges under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
“APPA does not believe that the proposed efficiency standards and the analyses cited to support them meet EPCA’s requirement that efficiency upgrades be technologically feasible or economically justified,” Waterhouse wrote. “More importantly, the proposed efficiency standards would worsen already critical distribution transformer supply shortages.”
In commenting on the NOPR, APPA urged DOE to reconsider the NOPR or delay the implementation until the transformer supply base is strengthened enough to increase supply, reduce costs, and increase the number of component suppliers.
Over the last two years, the electric sector has been calling attention to a growing supply chain crisis that has hampered its ability to meet the demand for maintenance and growth of the electrical grid.
Through its participation in the Electric Sector Coordinating Council, APPA interacted with DOE to identify several underlying causes of why production levels of distribution transformers were not meeting demand. Those causes include the lack of an available or adequately trained labor force and adequate materials necessary to immediately increase production.
APPA surveys show that 80 percent of public power utilities have lower inventories of distribution transformers now than they did in 2018 and 30 percent reported a high risk they could run out of stock in a month.
Average lead times to purchase new distribution transformers have grown 429 percent, from three months in 2018 to an excess of 12 months or more today. Manufacturers have stated that a lack of skilled labor and materials are the cause of supply shortages.
Shortages of distribution transformers have caused public power utilities to defer or cancel one in five infrastructure projects that would require more resources than available.
“Additional electric capacity is needed to power new residential and commercial developments, new manufacturing facilities, and support a rapidly expanding electric vehicle fleet,” wrote Waterhouse.
Company, Wolverine Power Cooperative Reach Deal to Restart Mich. 800-MW Nuclear Power Plant
September 12, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 12, 2023
Holtec International and Michigan’s Wolverine Power Cooperative on Sept. 12 announced that they have entered into a long-term agreement that will pave the way for the restart of the 800-megawatt Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township, Michigan.
The foundation of this partnership is a long-term power purchase agreement, with Wolverine committing to purchase up to two-thirds of the power generated by the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant for its Michigan-based member rural electric cooperatives.
Wolverine’s non-profit rural electric cooperative project partner, Hoosier Energy, will purchase the balance. Wolverine is owned by seven member cooperatives.
Following Holtec’s acquisition of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in June 2022, after the May 2022 shutdown, “the plant is now on track to become the first successfully restarted nuclear power plant in the United States, thanks to the strong support it has received from its community, state, and federal partners,” Wolverine Power Cooperative said.
In early 2023, Holtec submitted an application with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office for federal loan funding to repower Palisades. The company is working cooperatively with DOE to move the loan application process forward.
Holtec has also participated in several public meetings with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff to discuss the proposed regulatory path to reauthorize operations at Palisades within the agency’s existing regulatory framework.
Ohio’s Bryan Municipal Utilities to Store Natural Gas for Emergency Generation, Peak Shaving
September 12, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 12, 2023
Ohio public power utility Bryan Municipal Utilities has entered into an agreement to store natural gas for emergency generation and peak shaving purposes.
The agreement is with The Ohio Gas Company, “our local but privately owned gas utility company,” noted Derek Schultz, Director of Utilities for Bryan Municipal Utilities.
The agreement calls for purchasing the commodity this month and having it placed in storage for the months of December 2023 through February 2024 when the demand for natural gas is at its peak. It also allows any unused gas to be rolled over to the summer peaking season, Schultz said.
“Because of Winter Storm Elliott and the effects that has had on the ability to secure and purchase natural gas this agreement ensures that capacity is available for the City of Bryan’s emergency generation and peak shaving needs,” he said in an email.
“Protecting annual transmission and capacity savings from the City’s behind the meter generation was the driving factor in our decision,” he said.
When asked how long Bryan Municipal Utilities has been thinking about the move to store natural gas, Schultz said it started to think about the move recently, “as we learned about capacity being purchased much earlier than previous years.”
Company Completes Commissioning of Energy Storage Systems Delivered to SMUD
September 12, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 12, 2023
ESS Tech Inc. has completed the commissioning of six energy storage systems delivered to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, a California public power utility.
The six Energy Warehouse systems represent the first delivery under a framework agreement first announced in September 2022.
Under that agreement, ESS will deliver up to 200 megawatts/2 gigawatt-hours of iron flow long duration energy storage systems to SMUD.
Once fully operational and paired with renewable energy, 2 GWh of iron flow battery systems are expected to enable the elimination of approximately 284,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year from SMUD’s system, ESS said.
With the arrival of the units, SMUD prepares for the next phases of integrating the system into its clean power portfolio. Once operational, SMUD will also train staff on utility-scale applications and clean energy dispatch of long-duration battery systems.
ESS technology directly supports the utility’s 2030 Clean Energy Vision “by enabling increased utilization of renewable energy, providing neighborhood resiliency, and promoting social justice and equity with safe and sustainable energy storage infrastructure and reduced emissions,” ESS said.
In addition to deploying critical energy storage technology, ESS and SMUD plan to establish a Center of Excellence for energy storage manufacturing in Sacramento.
The COE will be established in partnership with local educational institutions and will provide workforce training and support economic development in the greater Sacramento region.
New Report Examines Benefits of Utility High Brand Approval
September 12, 2023
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 12, 2023
Utilities with the most favorable brand perceptions enjoy “significantly higher levels of overall customer satisfaction” that can help smooth the path to improved customer support for initiatives and special offerings and programs, according to a report from J.D. Power.
J.D. Power’s inaugural Utility Brand Appeal Index Study analyzes how well utilities relate to customers, evaluating the specific actions that influence overall brand experience, including scores for company reputation, marketing execution and customer trust among 149 electric utilities and 85 gas utilities.
The study captured the responses of nearly 80,000 utility customers and was fielded from September 2022 through May 2023.
The index applies to all electric and natural gas utilities in the United States profiled in the J.D. Power Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study and the Gas Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study.
“Brand appeal is the ability to engage customers to use and promote a utility company, its service quality, initiatives and offerings,” Chris Oberle, managing director of utilities intelligence at J.D. Power, said in a statement. “For utilities, that’s much more than just reliable gas or electric delivery—it’s the whole experience from service interactions to engagement with the community and enhanced programs.”
“When utilities get their brand formulas right, everything else falls into place,” Oberle said. “They face less resistance to rate increases; customers are more aware and willing to participate in special programs; and their community initiatives are infused with a sense of goodwill and trust.”
The report found that utilities with the highest brand appeal scores on average had overall satisfaction scores that are more than 300 points – on a 1,000-point scale – higher than those with weak brand appeal scores, and utilities with the strongest scores rank in the top quartile in customer satisfaction and enjoy greater loyalty and advocacy.
In addition, the report’s authors said that for electric and gas utilities with strong brand appeal scores, community outreach and communications programs are more effective, and customers are more likely to adopt their products, options and services.
The report also found that gas utilities have stronger brands than electric utilities with gas utilities on average scoring 712 on overall brand appeal, which is 15 points higher than 697 scored by electric utilities. In addition, 51 percent of gas utility customers have a fuel preference for natural gas in their homes, with 78 percent relying on natural gas for heat and 58 percent using it to cook.
Former Coal Plant in West Virginia Being Converted to Burn Hydrogen
September 11, 2023
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 11, 2023
A California company plans to convert a dormant West Virginia coal plant into a hydrogen burning power station and graphite production plant.
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice recently announced that Omnis Fuel Technologies plans to invest $800 million in the 1,200-megawatt coal-fired Pleasants power plant that was slated to retire in June.
The California company plans to build a facility to produce graphite, which is used in electric vehicle batteries, from coal and to capture the hydrogen produced in the process to fuel a newly configured power plant at the site.
In July, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the sale of the Pleasants power station in Willow Island, West Virginia, from an affiliate of Houston-based Energy Transition and Environmental Management to an affiliate of Omnis Fuel Technologies LLC, based in Santa Barbara, California, which renamed the plant Quantum Pleasants.
Prior to Omnis Fuel taking control of the plant, Energy Transition and Environmental Management had been leasing the plant from Energy Harbor until a new owner could be found for the mothballed plant.
FirstEnergy Solutions took ownership of the Pleasants plant from FirstEnergy’s Allegheny Energy Solutions subsidiary in 2020 as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. FirstEnergy Solutions emerged from bankruptcy as Energy Harbor in February 2020.
In 2017, FirstEnergy subsidiaries Mon Power and Potomac Edison filed plans to acquire the Pleasants power station. FERC subsequently rejected those plans.
Omnis Fuel Technologies said it plans to return the Pleasants plant to normal operations in the next few weeks and aims to convert the plant to burning hydrogen over the next 12 to 24 months.
Omnis will use coal to produce hydrogen, graphite, and water vapor and, in the process, more than double the amount of coal the plant consumes, Justice said. When the project is complete, the plant that currently employs about 160 workers will need upwards of 600 employees, Justice added.
Omnis Fuel said its aim is to use existing power plant infrastructure to make clean hydrogen and high-grade graphite from plentiful, low-cost hydrocarbons using its patented Ultra-High Temperature Omnis Quantum Pyrolysis technology.
NERC Emphasizes Need to Address Faults in Inverter-Based Resources
September 11, 2023
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 11, 2023
The North American Electric Reliability Corp. is reiterating the need for owners and manufacturers to address latent solar power system faults in the wake of a widespread loss of solar generation in southwestern Utah this spring.
During the morning of April 10, 2023, nine solar photovoltaic facilities failed to ride through a normally cleared fault on a 345-kilovolt transmission circuit, resulting in an unexpected loss of 921 megawatts of generation, which is categorized as a Category 1 event in the NERC Event Analysis Process.
The event was “the first major widespread solar loss to occur in the Western Interconnection outside of California,” NERC said in its 2023 Southwest Utah Disturbance report.
While no generation tripped because of the transmission outage, supervisory control and data acquisition data shows that aggregate solar photovoltaic output in the PacfiCorp-East region in southwestern Utah dropped “significantly,” according to the NERC report.
The abnormal response from multiple solar photovoltaic facilities was caused by the protection and controls within each facility responding to the bulk power system fault in an unreliable manner.
The disturbance occurred at 08:51 a.m. Pacific time, right about the time when aggregate solar photovoltaic output reached its peak for the day. Synchronous generation, wind, and solar photovoltaic resources comprised 42 percent, 31 percent, and 26 percent of total generation prior to the disturbance, respectively, NERC said.
No notable changes in net load quantities attributable to distributed energy resource tripping were observed nor were there any abnormal performance issues identified with the wind and synchronous generation fleet in the PacifiCorp-East area, NERC said.
Nonetheless, the magnitude of the solar reduction, greater than 900 MW, was “significant” as a large percentage of aggregate generation, over 57 percent of the PacifiCorp-East solar photovoltaic fleet output, was unexpectedly lost, NERC said, adding that is “the most concerning attribute of this event, particularly with growing levels of solar PV in the PACE footprint and neighboring areas.”
NERC noted that PacifiCorp-East has received about 45 gigawatts of interconnection requests for its 2022 cluster studies and is planning to connect an additional 3.8 GW of generation, including 1.6 GW of solar, in the next three years. Peak load in the PacifiCorp-East region is about 13 GW.
In the report, NERC reiterated “the strong need for inverter-based resource performance issues to be addressed by Generator Owners (GOs) in a timely manner.”
“GOs are often not addressing performance issues that latently exist within the existing fleet,” the report said. “All of the causes of abnormal performance in this event have been previously documented by NERC in past reports; however, actions were not taken either by the GOs or by the inverter original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to mitigate these known risks.”
NERC said its Project 2023-026 is addressing the reliability risk by “requiring analysis and mitigation of unexpected or unwarranted protection and control operations from inverter-based resources following the identification of such a performance issue.”
The NERC report also reiterated the need for “a comprehensive ride-through standard in lieu of NERC PRC- 024-3,” adding that “Project 2020-027 is currently addressing this risk issue by replacing PRC-024-3 with a performance-based ride-through standard that ensures generators remain connected to the [bulk power system] during system disturbances.”
NERC said the project “remains a top priority” to address “persistent inverter-based resource performance issues and the elevated risk” to the bulk power system reliability posed with “the rapidly changing resource mix.”
Legislation to Accelerate Transmission Projects Advances in California
September 11, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 11, 2023
Legislation to accelerate California’s efforts to approve energy transmission projects, Senate Bill 619, passed the California Assembly Floor on Sept. 7.
The bill is sponsored by California State Sen. Steve Padilla.
Current transmission projects are delayed by almost five years, Padilla’s office said.
SB 619 would expand upon last year’s AB 205 authorizing the California Energy Commission to certify transmission projects in California.
SB 619 advanced from the Assembly Floor by a vote of 57 to 0. The bill now heads to the Senate for a final concurrence vote.
DOE Seeks Participation in Cloud Services Cybersecurity Working Group
September 11, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 11, 2023
The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response is seeking participation in a Cloud Services Cybersecurity working group to provide cloud cybersecurity guidance for the energy sector.
CESER is hoping this will be a collaborative process between energy sector asset owners and representatives from the major cloud service providers to identify cybersecurity needs and requirements for a cloud environment in the energy sector.
CESER is seeking participation from energy companies that:
- Have energy systems that are transitioning to or considering cloud-based environments;
- Have distributed or cloud-based security solutions and managed security services that may depend on the cloud; or
- Would find value in learning from others and sharing the industry-level insights that can help both utilities and cloud service providers make better cloud services agreements.
CESER expects this to be an approximately nine-month effort that will officially begin in late September.
Interested APPA members are encouraged to reach out to Adrian McNamara (amcnamara@publicpower.org) by September 18.