Biden Plan Supports nationwide EV Charging, Creates New Joint DOE-DOT Office
December 17, 2021
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
December 17, 2021
President Joe Biden recently released a plan that lays out how his administration intends to support the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) under the recently passed $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Under the EV Charging Action plan, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) will establish a Joint Office of Energy and Transportation to support the deployment of $7.5 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to build out a national electric vehicle charging network. The new office will provide technical assistant to states and help in developing plans for charging station networks.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $5 billion in state funding, including a 10 percent annual set-aside to provide grants to states to help fill gaps in the charging network, and $2.5 billion for a competitive grant to help ensure that charger deployments meet administration priorities such as supporting rural charging, improving local air quality, and increasing electric vehicle charging access in disadvantaged communities.
In an August executive order, Biden set a target of having 50 percent of all new vehicles sold in 2030 be zero-emissions vehicles, which includes battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and fuel cell electric vehicles.
Biden’s EV Charging Action plan also calls for a series of initial stakeholder meetings on topics including partnerships with state and local government, domestic manufacturing, equity and environmental justice, and maximizing environmental benefits.
Earlier this month, the DOT’s Federal Highway Administration issued a request for information for two new programs aimed at supporting the spread of electric vehicles.
DOT and DOE will also launch a new Advisory Committee on Electric Vehicles and is targeting to appoint members to this committee by the end of the first quarter of 2022.
The American Public Power Association plans to respond to the RFI.
The Biden administration has also charged the DOT to publish, no later than Feb. 11, guidance for states and cities to strategically deploy electric vehicle charging stations to build out a national network along the nation’s highway system. And by May 13, the DOT is charged with publishing standards for electric vehicle chargers in the national network.
The administration’s plan also seeks to maximize the use of American manufacturing and jobs in the charging station build-out. In November, the DOT and DOE released a request for information from domestic manufacturers to identify EV chargers and other charging related components that meet Buy America requirements.
The DOT also announced an upcoming solicitation for the sixth round of Alternative Fuel Corridors designations.
EV Battery and Materials Funding
Another component of the administration’s EV Charging Action plan is to increase domestic manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries and components and advance environmentally responsible domestic sourcing and recycling of critical minerals.
In support of that effort, the Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries released the National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries that aims to develop a domestic lithium battery supply chain.
Also, the DOE’s Loan Programs Office published new guidance and a fact sheet for the approximately $17 billion in loan authority in the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM) to support the domestic battery supply chain.
And the DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program has launched an effort to support deployment of energy storage projects by federal agencies, including a federal government-wide energy storage review to evaluate the opportunities for deploying battery storage at federal sites and a call for projects from federal sites interested in deploying energy storage projects.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also includes more than $7 billion in funding to accelerate innovations and facilities across the battery supply chain from battery materials refining, processing and manufacturing to battery manufacturing.
Funding for those efforts includes $3 billion in competitive grants for battery minerals and refined materials and another $3 billion for competitive grants aimed at building, retooling, or expanding manufacturing of batteries and battery components, such as cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes, and to establish recycling facilities in the United States.
Funding also earmarks $60 million for research, development, and demonstration recycling projects, including $15 million for programs with retailers. Another $50 million is earmarked for state and local governments to increase the collection of spent batteries for reuse, recycling or proper disposal, and $200 million has been identified for electric vehicle battery recycling and second-life applications programs.
And an additional $750 million in funding is being put toward the Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program that aims to re-equip, expand or establish an industrial or manufacturing facility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of that facility substantially below current best practices.
OUC Board Of Commissioners Approves Retirement Of Coal-Fired Unit
December 17, 2021
by APPA News
December 17, 2021
The Board of Commissioners for Florida public power utility Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) on Dec. 14 formally approved the retirement of Stanton Energy Center’s (SEC) Unit 1 by no later than 2025 and the conversion of SEC’s Unit 2 to natural gas by no later than 2027.
Previously, Unit 1, OUC’s oldest coal-fired power plant, had been slated for conversion to natural gas.
The official adoption by the Board of Commissioners “is further proof of our commitment to meet our goal of Net Zero CO2 emissions by 2050 with interim targets of 50% by 2030 and 75% in 2040,” said Clint Bullock, OUC General Manager and CEO, in a statement. “The retirement of Unit 1 also is a significant milestone toward fully eliminating coal-fired generation no later than 2027. As we continue our transition to clean energy, operational flexibility is key to maintaining the reliability, resiliency and affordability our customers expect.”
The retirement of Unit 1 became possible with the recent purchase of the Osceola Generating Station, a 510-megawatt (MW) simple-cycle natural gas-fired power plant located in Harmony in Osceola County, Fla.
OUC said that as it aggressively increases its reliance on solar energy, OSG will be used to mitigate solar production fluctuations to maintain system-wide electric reliability. Currently, the facility is undergoing renovations and testing and will be fully operational by no later than 2025.
In December 2020, OUC leadership recommended significantly reducing the use of coal by no later than 2025 and eliminating it entirely by no later than 2027. The announcement was the result of the utility’s Electric Integrated Resource Plan.
OUC said that it is on its way to meeting its strategic objectives, which include continued investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency and driving the adoption of vehicle electrification and energy storage.
Lansing Board of Water & Light Restores Power After Train Incident, High Winds
December 17, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
December 17, 2021
Michigan public power utility Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) recently completed power restoration efforts after an incident with a train and high winds knocked out electric service to customers of BWL.
On the morning of Dec. 11, a train crossing a road near Michigan State University’s campus entangled with a wire, causing approximately 30 BWL power poles to break and causing more than 4,000 customers to lose power.
For a video that includes footage of the train incident, restoration efforts and additional details on BWL’s response, click here.
At the same time, BWL was responding to other outages in its service territory following high winds.
The utility called in mutual aid crews to help restore power to customers quickly. Crews from the following public power utilities and communities helped BWL:
- City of Sturgis, Mich.
- Board of Light and Power Grand Haven, Mich.
- City of Niles, Mich.
- Lowell Light and Power, Mich.
LBW also received assistance from Asplundh, a utility contractor.
Platte River Power Authority Seeks Solar Supply, Encourages Storage Proposals
December 16, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
December 16, 2021
Colorado-based Platte River Power Authority recently issued a request for proposals (RFP) for up to 250 megawatts (MW) of new photovoltaic solar generating capacity that could begin producing energy by 2025.
Platte River encourages any proposed project to include a battery energy storage component. The RFP also enables bidders to propose installations that could interconnect anywhere on Platte River’s transmission system, including the distribution systems in the owner communities of Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont and Loveland.
“As we continue to work toward achieving the resource diversification policy goal, our ongoing challenge will be to maintain Platte River’s core pillars to safely provide reliable, environmentally responsible and financially sustainable energy and services during a time of rapidly improving technology and resource costs,” said Jason Frisbie, general manager and CEO of Platte River.
The resource diversification policy was adopted by Platte River’s Board of Directors in 2018. The policy calls for leadership to pursue a 100% noncarbon energy mix by 2030, provided the organization’s core pillars are upheld.
In 2020, Platte River maintained 100% transmission system reliability and provided power to its owner communities at the lowest wholesale rates in Colorado.
With an additional 250 MW of solar generating capacity, Platte River estimates its overall annual energy production will be approximately 54% noncarbon.
Developers are encouraged to consider proposing projects that could interconnect with Platte River’s transmission system, including regions in northwest Colorado and the northern Front Range.
Particular consideration may also be granted to smaller projects (25 megawatts or less) that could connect to the distribution systems of one or all of Platte River’s owner communities.
Within each project proposed, developers are encouraged to include a battery energy storage component capable of providing 100% of the project’s nameplate capacity for at least four hours and be dispatchable by Platte River when needed.
Proposals are due Feb. 18, 2022, after which Platte River will develop a short list of potential projects that add up to approximately 250 megawatts and sign power purchase agreements later in the year.
The RFP is available here.
Santee Cooper Board Approves Hiring Of Jimmy Staton As Next President And CEO
December 16, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
December 16, 2021
Santee Cooper’s Board of Directors on Dec. 16 approved the hiring of Jimmy Staton, a utility executive with extensive experience in electric and natural gas operations in the Midwestern United States, to become Santee Cooper’s next president and CEO.
He will start in his new role on March 1.
Santee Cooper is the state-owned public power utility in South Carolina based in Moncks Corner.
The board also approved naming Deputy CEO Charlie Duckworth as Acting President and CEO beginning Jan. 10, 2022 through Feb. 28, 2022 and extending his current contract as Deputy CEO through July 9, 2022.
Current President and CEO Mark Bonsall will retire on Jan. 9, 2022 and remain available on a consulting basis through the initial transition, until early April.
Staton is currently president and CEO of Southern Star Corp., a transporter of natural gas in the Midwest.
He also served as executive vice president for NiSource, one of the largest fully regulated utility companies in the U.S. with approximately 3.5 million natural gas customers and 500,000 electric customers across seven states; as senior vice president for Dominion Resources Inc., and as president of asset operations for Consolidated Natural Gas (CNG) Corp. prior to its acquisition in 2000 by Dominion Resources.
Among his career accomplishments to date, Staton led each of NiSource’s 3 business units — a gas distribution network serving 2.7 million customers in 6 states, a combination electric and gas utility serving over 850,000 customers in Indiana and an interstate pipeline and storage company delivering natural gas to Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets, including building a gathering and processing business with over $1 billion in assets.
NiSource Inc. operates the Columbia Gas and NIPSCO brands.
He also led Dominion’s Electric Distribution operations, serving 2.2 million customers in Virginia and North Carolina, after its acquisition of CNG.
Over time, his responsibilities grew to include Dominion’s electric transmission system and gas distribution business, serving 2 million customers in the Midwest.
Ann Arbor, Mich., Commission Endorses Public Power Utility Study
December 16, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
December 16, 2021
The Ann Arbor, Mich., Energy Commission on Dec. 14 unanimously adopted a resolution recommending that the Ann Arbor City Council authorize a municipal electric utility feasibility study.
The vote culminates a nearly year-long community discussion about exploring the public power option as a way to power Ann Arbor’s local electric grid with 100 percent renewable energy, a core strategy of the city’s A2Zero climate action plan.
Ann Arbor for Public Power, a nonprofit grassroots organization, has been leading the effort. The group commissioned and released a study outlining a legal roadmap to municipalization, made multiple presentations to Energy Commission and to various community organizations, and collected over 1,200 signatures from Ann Arbor residents supporting a muni feasibility study.
There are currently 41 Michigan cities and towns served by public power utilities.
The resolution includes a recommendation that the city ensure a just transition for workers in its energy decisions.
The resolution also asks Council to move forward on a Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU). An SEU is a city-owned nonprofit that helps residents make homes more energy efficient, install solar panels, and convert from gas appliances to electric, by providing an alternative to investor-owned DTE Energy. It also seeks to convert buildings to self-powering microgrids.
Ann Arbor for Public Power said it looks forward to working with the City Council in January on its feasibility study resolution.
“We will continue promoting community discussion around municipalization in the coming year, as we work towards an eventual voter referendum to establish a city-owned electric utility to replace DTE Energy,” the group said.
For more information, go to annarborpublicpower.org.
For additional information about municipalization and related resources provided by the American Public Power Association, click here.
Public Power Utilities Make Progress In Power Restoration In Wake Of Tornadoes
December 15, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
December 15, 2021
Public power utilities this week made steady progress in restoring power to public power communities affected by tornadoes that recently swept through a number of states.
The tornadoes cut a destructive path through Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
Utilities in the regions affected by the destructive storms have sent utility crews to help restore power where electric infrastructure was damaged and are working with others in the electric sector to identify unmet needs.
“Although full restoration may take over a week, we do not anticipate it taking months. After power is restored, we will make more permanent fixes on the system,” Kentucky public power utility Bowling Green Municipal Utilities (BGMU) reported on Dec. 14.
On Dec. 13, BGMU noted that it started with about 24,000 customers out of power. “We are down to about these 4,000, and those will be the most difficult due to the destruction in the area,” it said.
A large number of crews from public power utilities in Georgia and Tennessee have been sent to help BGMU with its restoration efforts.
Another Kentucky public power utility, Princeton Electric Plant Board, on Dec. 11 reported that approximately 80 poles and several miles of conductor were damaged from a tornado necessitating complete replacement in order to restore power to all affected customers.
Crews from Kentucky public power utilities Paducah Power System, Frankfort Plant Board, Owensboro Municipal Utilities, and Groves Construction have deployed to assist Princeton with its restoration efforts.
“We believe that all individual customers who can be restored have been restored,” Princeton EPB reported on Dec. 15.
In Mayfield, Ky., public power utility Mayfield Electric & Water Systems (MEWS) reported that its electric substation took a direct hit.
On Dec. 14, the utility reported that after evaluating the substation, the damage is worse than initially expected and that energizing transmission lines may not occur for 7-10 days. MEWS engineers are working with West Kentucky Rural Electric on an alternate solution to tie in MEWS circuits to the Ed Walker Substation.
President Joseph Biden on Wednesday traveled to Kentucky where he surveyed storm damage in Mayfield.
“What I’ve seen so far is a group of incredible people pulling together, helping each other,” Biden said. “And they’re hopeful. And we’re going to stay until this gets finished and totally reconstructed.”
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and local power company personnel have restored power to more than 226,000 consumers since weekend storms caused outages across a wide area of northwest Tennessee and western Kentucky, TVA reported on Dec. 14.
On Tuesday, crews restored another customer connection point — the interface between TVA’s transmission system and local power company distribution system — serving Pennyrile Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, as well as a connection point for one of TVA’s direct-served industrial customers. Since Saturday, 18 of the 21 impacted connection points serving seven different local power companies have been restored.
TVA on Dec. 14 said its crews were focused on returning the final three connection points to service, which impact areas near Mayfield, Ky., and Lexington, Tenn. In both areas, storms damaged transmission towers that must be cleared and rebuilt before power lines can be safely re-energized. In addition, extensive damage to the MEWS’ own distribution network may slow restoration effort to residents in that area, TVA said.
TVA on Dec. 15 reported that more than 8,000 additional consumers impacted by weekend storms now had electric power restored to their homes and businesses over the past 24-hours through the combined efforts of TVA and local power company personnel working in northwest Tennessee and western Kentucky.
As of noon on Wednesday, about 19,000 remained without power in the region, down from more than 254,000 that lost service in the storms’ wake.
More than 160 TVA line workers, additional contractor crews and TVA Aviation Services helicopter crews remain in the field working to restore power. Hundreds of additional TVA employees are working across the region to support the field teams’ efforts.
The region’s public power system is a partnership between TVA and local power companies. TVA’s transmission system delivers power to connection points with local power companies, whose own distribution systems supply power directly to homes and businesses. Both systems must be operational to safely provide reliable electricity.
TVA has noted that the storms were the most destructive to impact the region since the April 2011 tornado outbreak.
Due to the extent of the damage in some areas, TVA is unable to provide any specific time for full restoration. The need to repair both TVA’s transmission system and local power company distribution systems may lead to longer restoration times.
Tennessee public power utility Nashville Electric Service (NES) on Dec. 15 noted that tornadoes and severe weather greatly impacted the service area of NES on Dec. 11, knocking out power to nearly 95,000 customers at its peak. Crews worked around the clock to restore power to those customers and to replace more than 130 broken power poles that were damaged as a result of storms.
Within five days, NES repaired all major infrastructure circuits and restored power to every customer. “NES was prepared to handle this storm given recent events that caused massive outages in the service area, like the 2020 Tornado, Derecho windstorm and downtown Christmas bombing,” the utility said.
California PUC Proposes Net Metering Reforms To Support Storage, Social Equity
December 15, 2021
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
December 15, 2021
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) this week issued a proposal that would reform the state’s net metering rules for investor-owned utilities and encourage their residential customers to combine energy storage with solar power systems.
The “Proposed Decision determines that NEM [Net Energy Metering] rules must be modernized to incentivize customers to install storage paired with rooftop solar to help California meet its net peak shortfall and ensure grid reliability,” the commission said in an announcement on the proposed decision.
The proposed decision also includes a grid participation charge and provisions aimed at making access to renewable energy more equitable.
While CPUC decisions apply only to investor owned electric and natural gas utilities and not public power utilities, the commission’s effort has a broad impact on the state’s electric grid.
According to the commission, its NEM policies have “enabled 1.3 million customers to install roughly 10,000 megawatts of customer-sited renewable generation, almost all of which is rooftop solar” and have resulted in a reduction of midday demand on the grid by as much as 25 percent. With a total of 25 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar power, needs have shifted. “It is now essential to address grid reliability shortfalls during ‘net peak’ hours,” the commission said.
With its high penetration of solar power, California typically has a surfeit of renewable energy in the middle of the day that falls off as the sun sets and peak demand rises in the evening, requiring sources such as gas-fired power plants to ramp up quickly to fill the peak demand shortfall.
The proposed decision would be the third reform of California’s net metering regime since it was mandated by a 2013 state law, Assembly Bill 327. The CPUC revised the original program in 2016, creating NEM 2.0.
The proposed decision would revise the CPUC’s current NEM rules and create a Net Billing Tariff that the commission says would provide more accurate price signals that would promote greater adoption of customer-sited storage with the aim of helping the state decrease its dependency on fossil fuels during the early evening hours.
Under the new system, a customer would be allowed to “oversize” their solar system to cover 150 percent of their historical load in order to enable future electrification.
Net billing customers would be required to sign up for electric rates with high differentials between peak and off-peak prices in order to incentivize energy conservation or the use of stored solar energy during the net peak window of 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The proposal would also move residential customers from annual billing to monthly billing in an effort to help them avoid unexpectedly large bills at the end of their 12-month billing period.
The proposed decision would also establish a Storage Evolution Fund to provide storage rebates to existing NEM 2.0 customers who transition to the Net Billing Tariff in the next four years.
And the proposal would transition residential NEM 1.0 and 2.0 customers, except for low-income customers, to the Net Billing Tariff after 15 years of being interconnected to the electric grid. The aim, the commission said, is to incentivize the adoption of energy storage and “reduce the costs paid by other ratepayers by billions of dollars.”
The proposed decision also includes a bill credit for net billing customers to ensure they can pay for a solar-plus-storage energy system in 10 years or less through electric bill savings. The monthly market transition credit would start at up to $5.25 per kilowatt (kW) for residential solar-plus-storage and solar-only systems and would step down by 25 percent a year for four years. Once locked in, the credit lasts for 10 years.
In its proposed decision, the CPUC also aims to address disparities that have come about because of earlier iterations of its NEM policies. The new net metering regime would adopt a monthly residential Grid Participation Charge of $8 per kW of installed solar in an effort to capture residential adopters’ fair share of costs to maintain the grid and fund public programs.
“An independent third-party evaluation of NEM 2.0 found that its costs substantially exceed its benefits as residential NEM 2.0 participants only pay 9 to 18 percent of what it costs their utilities to serve them, even considering the value of the energy produced by their NEM systems,” according to the CPUC. Meanwhile, ratepayers without net metered solar systems, many of whom are low income, pay “significantly higher electricity rates due to NEM.”
Households without NEM solar systems are estimated to pay $67 to $128 more per year due to the costs of the NEM programs and those costs are likely to increase without reforms, according to a report from the Public Advocates Office,
Under the new NEM regime, California’s investor-owned utilities could expect more revenue to cover grid access and maintenance costs. The commission estimates the grid participation charge less the market transition credit would net a monthly fixed charge in 2023 of $6.38 per kilowatt for customers of Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), $8/kW for San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) customers, and $4.41/kW for Southern California Edison (SCE) customers. For a 5kW solar system that would translate into fixed monthly charges of $31.90 for PG&E residential customers, $40 for SDG&E customers, and $22.05 for SCE customers.
In further support of social equity, the proposed decision creates an equity fund with up to $600 million to improve low-income customer access to distributed clean energy programs. A stakeholder process will determine the allocation of funds, which could go toward incentives for distributed storage, community solar in low-income and disadvantaged communities, or other low-income clean energy programs with strong consumer protections. Additional measures aim to provide incentives for distributed solar-plus-storage for low-income and tribal households, including an exemption from the Grid Participation Charge.
The proposed decision will be on the CPUC’s Jan. 27, 2022, voting meeting agenda.
Long Island Power Authority Unveils Roadmap For New Residential Time Of Day Rate
December 15, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
December 15, 2021
The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and the New York State Solar Energy Industries Association (NYSEIA) on Dec. 14 unveiled a roadmap to develop a modern standard residential rate for electric customers on Long Island and the Rockaways.
The new Time of Day (TOD) rate, which will be developed and adopted over the next three years with extensive stakeholder input, will allow customers to save money by using cheaper electricity during off-peak hours, LIPA said.
LIPA said it remains committed to leading deployment of solar in New York and achieving New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 10 gigawatt by 2030 target.
As part of this proposal, LIPA will phase in the Customer Benefit Contribution (CBC) for net-metered customers, which exists in every other part of the state and provides funding for environmental and low-income assistance programs, over three-years while the new TOD rate is developed.
LIPA will also fund an additional “declining block” of incentives for residential solar projects paired with an energy storage system that participate in LIPA’s Dynamic Load Management program.
“Time of Day rates are an innovative way to help customers save money and the environment. Customers will have more control of their electric bills, carbon emissions from the electric grid will decline, and those that adopt electric vehicles, efficient heating, or energy storage will save even more money.” said LIPA CEO Thomas Falcone. “The three-year phase-in of the Customer Benefit Contribution will provide new solar customers on Long Island with a generous amount of time to become part of an important environmental and low-income assistance program that is already in place in the rest of the state.”
LIPA pointed out that many utilities have introduced TOD rates, which better reflect the cost of providing electricity.
“Reducing electric use during a few peak hours in the summer reduces LIPA’s need to buy energy from sources that are less environmentally friendly and more expensive. The new Time of Day rate will provide lower rates when cleaner power is abundant and higher prices during the few peak hours when power is more carbon intensive,” LIPA said.
Developing and implementing new or enhanced electric rate designs is a key part of achieving New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goal of a carbon-free electric grid by 2040, it went on to say.
Time of Day rates will bring even greater savings for solar customers with residential energy storage, allowing batteries to power homes during summer peak hours and use grid-energy during cheaper off-peak hours. Time of Day pricing also reduces cost for customers with electric vehicles and heat pumps, allowing customers to use cheaper off-peak hours for extra savings.
TOD pricing will not be mandatory. Customers will still have the option of a fixed rate. LIPA said it will deploy programs, services, and tools to help customers minimize summer peak usage and bills.
According to LIPA, utilities that have deployed a standard TOD rate have seen peak usage decline 6-8% or more during the summer months, as customers shift more of their usage to off-peak times of day. The savings are passed along to customers through lower TOD rates.
LIPA said that the results on Long Island and the Rockaways will inform future statewide utility rate design, as the New York Public Service Commission takes into consideration differing levels of Advanced Metering Infrastructure deployment and other market characteristics in the rest of New York.
The CBC charge, which exists across New York State and will be phased in on Long Island and the Rockaways over three years, was developed through a public stakeholder process led by the New York Department of Public Service (DPS) and will ensure that all customers contribute proportionally to the cost of providing important customer benefit programs, such as energy efficiency, heat and transportation electrification, renewable energy, and low-income bill discount programs for all customers.
Under this new agreement, the full CBC charge for new net metered LIPA customers will phase in over three years, while a new standard TOD rate is developed.
LIPA and NYSEIA will also explore additional rate designs for the CBC that similarly fund customer benefit programs and are complimentary with the new TOD rate.
Among public power utilities that have implemented a TOD rate is California’s SMUD. Click here for additional information about SMUD’s TOD rate.
A TOD rate is also available to residential utility customers of the City of Fort Collins, Colo.
Meanwhile, Seattle City Light launched a residential TOD Rate Pilot Program that runs through December 2022 or when opt-in TOD rates are available to all customers.
Also in Washington State, Snohomish County PUD earlier this year launched its “FlexTime” pilot program.
FlexTime pilot participants earn incentives and save money by using energy when it’s less expensive, including a lower rate on nights, weekends and federal holidays. Participants operate under a new fixed-rate design year-round that rewards them to use energy at off-peak hours and avoid using energy at on-peak hours. During the winter (November–February), on-peak hours will be billed at a higher rate.
The peak rate will be applied when the PUD’s grid sees high demand during weekday winter mornings 7 to 10 a.m. and evenings 5 to 8 p.m., from November 1 through February 28. There are two winter seasons during the pilot. In all other months, there is a discount and standard (or mid-peak) rate, but no on-peak rate.
The FlexTime rate plan offers participants a tiered and seasonal rate plan with different rates for electricity based on the time of the day it is used.
Participants will receive a 20% discount during nights, weekends and federal holidays, while being charged a peak rate during three-hour periods in the morning (7 to 10 am) and evening (5 to 8 pm) on weekdays in the winter (November through February). Discount and peak hours are already defined, so it’s easier to make little tweaks that add up to big annual savings, the PUD noted.
After the 20% discount, the nights and weekend rate will be 7.99 cents/kWh and the peak rate will be 21.37 cents/kWh. All other hours will be billed at the PUD’s standard rate of 10.4 cents/kWh.
Easton Utilities President and CEO Hugh Grunden Recognized For Leadership
December 15, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
December 15, 2021
The Maryland Daily Record has selected Hugh Grunden, President and CEO of Maryland public power utility Easton Utilities, as an Icon Honors Award recipient.
Established in 2017, Icon Honors recognizes Maryland business leaders, over the age of 60, for their notable success and demonstration of strong leadership within and outside their fields.
The honorees have moved their businesses and the state of Maryland forward by growing jobs and making a difference in the community.
Under Grunden’s direction, Easton Utilities has become a competitive, multi-service provider committed to customer satisfaction, solving rural broadband issues in Talbot County, encouraging the use of renewable energy and resource conservation, and maintaining critical infrastructure for reliability.
Easton Utilities is a community-owned, not-for-profit utility and telecommunications company operating the Electric, Natural Gas, Water, Wastewater, Cable Television, and Internet services for the Town of Easton and portions of the surrounding area.
The Daily Record publishes a print and online edition five days a week.