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Fitch Affirms Grand River Dam Authority’s A+ Rating, Stable Outlook

October 19, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 19, 2021

Oklahoma-based Grand River Dam Authority’s (GRDA) continued strong financial performance and very low operating costs were among the key reasons that led Fitch Ratings to affirm GRDA’s A+ stable rating on Oct. 6.

Fitch noted that GRDA’s “very low rate anchors its competitive position and provides customers with an economic incentive to continue purchasing from the authority.”

Fitch also said that GRDA’s operating flexibility has benefited from a well-diversified resource mix. That mix includes GRDA’s gas, coal, water, and wind generation assets that combine to help keep operating costs low and reliability high.

Fitch assessed GRDA’s operating costs burden as “very low based on an operating cost that has remained consistently below 5 cents [per kilowatt-hour] during the past five years.”

GRDA noted that it currently maintains the highest credit ratings in its history from the three major credit rating agencies: Fitch, Moody’s Investor Service and Standard & Poor’s.

GRDA is a joint action agency that generates, transmits and sells electricity to Oklahoma municipalities, electric cooperatives and industrial customers, as well as off-system customers across a four-state region. At the same time, GRDA manages over 70,000 surface acres of lake waters in Oklahoma, as well as the waters of the scenic Illinois River.

Report Details Challenges, Recommendations As Renewables Proliferate

October 19, 2021

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 19, 2021

A white paper by the Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative (EIPC) calls for operators and planners to be more engaged in the discussions about how the electric grid will evolve to meet the challenges of rising levels of renewable energy penetration.

The paper, Planning the Grid for a Renewable Future, says to ensure continued delivery of reliable, efficient, and affordable electric power, policymakers should be aware of the opportunities and challenges of integrating greater amounts of renewables onto the grid.

The white paper draws on lessons learned through historical experience and on studies of future conditions as they relate to the planning and operations of systems with a high penetration of renewables.

EPIC is composed of 19 planning coordinators from the Eastern and Central United States, including the PJM Interconnection, the Midcontinent Independent System Operators, the New York Independent System Operator, ISO New England, Southern Company, Tennessee Valley Authority, and MEAG Power.

The white paper identified several key challenges presented to grid operators by rising renewables penetration. For instance, traditional transmission planning focuses on systems built to move power from central generating stations to distant load centers. That pattern is changing, the paper noted, as renewable resources are being sited to make the best use of wind or solar availability, but those resources are not necessarily near existing transmission lines.

In addition, studies have shown that the proliferation of intermittent resources has resulted in a decline in grid performance, EPIC said. Changes are also occurring in load composition as a result of the proliferation of home backup generators, home electric vehicle chargers, and the increased penetration of rooftop solar arrays, and whole-building battery backup systems.

Grid planners also face challenges as the number of potential renewable projects seeking to connect to the power system has increased exponentially over the last 10 years. “Currently, the lack of standardized performance requirements for renewable resources with inverter-based control systems has been the cause of significant delays in the interconnection study queues of system planners across the Eastern Interconnection due to the large variety and rapid change in designs,” the EPIC report noted.

Operating the power grid has also become more challenging, EPIC said, because of limited transmission availability, the need to maintain the proper mix of generation resources to accommodate intermittent renewable resources, and load and resource uncertainty because of varying weather conditions.

Monitoring and correcting grid stability in real time is becoming more complex and is going to require the development of market products, such as ancillary services for voltage support, reactive power, and frequency response, EPIC said.

The report also noted the personnel challenges grid operators face. Most transmission planners today are familiar with control systems based on legacy synchronous generation. Going forward, transmission planners will need to develop a better understand of the quickly evolving technology of inverter-based resources, and it will take time and resources to train workers who can adapt to and take over those control and planning functions, EPIC said.

In terms of recommendations, EPIC stressed the need for coordination as it has become more problematic for policies in one jurisdiction or region to be walled off from policies in another.

EPIC recommended the enhancement of policy coordination across the “three-legged stool” of planning, cost allocation and siting. One key area where coordination will be critical is in transmission where policymakers will have to deal with the challenges of who is going to pay for new transmission assets needed to accommodate higher levels of renewable resources and the issues of siting those new lines.

EPIC also said regulators, industry and stakeholders should develop the capability “to monitor and correct course in a timely fashion if a particular path is leading to unnecessarily higher costs, limited choice for customers or negative reliability impacts.” Regulators could consider a “Reliability Safety Valve” mechanism in any future legislation, EPIC said.

And, finally, “as the pace of change continues to accelerate, it is more important than ever to work more proactively together,” EPIC said, recommending that policymakers “considering renewable portfolio standards, carbon dioxide standards, or other similar energy-related goals take the affirmative step of inviting system planners and operators to provide input.”

The challenges facing the industry and the grid are not “insurmountable, nor do they argue against moving forward with policies supporting renewables,” however, “when policymakers craft timelines, goals and deadlines, it is essential for policymakers to consider and balance the need to ensure that the power grid can remain reliable,” EPIC said.

New England Offshore Wind Project Would Supply Energy to Mass. Public Power Utilities

October 19, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 19, 2021

Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, on Oct. 13 announced that Vineyard Wind’s recent Commonwealth Wind proposal includes a first of its kind partnership with Energy New England (ENE) that will allow municipal light plants (MLPs) in Massachusetts to purchase offshore wind power.

Under the agreement, MLPs would be able to purchase up to 146,000 megawatt hours per year in addition to renewable energy credits (RECs), reducing carbon pollution by 300,000-400,000 tons over the lifetime of the contract, ENE said.

Commonwealth Wind will be able to deliver up to 1,200 megawatts of energy to Massachusetts.

The agreement will enable the MLPs, which currently provide 15% of the state’s energy baseload, to make meaningful progress toward meeting renewable energy targets, as required under Massachusetts’ new climate law, ENE noted.

The 20 Massachusetts MLPs able to participate in the Commonwealth Wind project, if successful, include:

“As public power utilities continue to add non-emitting resources to their portfolios, it’s critical that they are able to join in on joint ventures such as the Vineyard Wind project,” said American Public Power Association President and CEO Joy Ditto. “This innovative partnership will enable the region’s not-for-profit, community-owned public power utilities to achieve local climate change goals as well as more diverse power generation portfolios.”

“This is a significant partnership between Vineyard Wind and ENE with its MLP clients, one that signifies the commitment that all the relevant parties have to the Commonwealth’s clean energy goals,” said John Tzimorangas, President and CEO of Energy New England, in a statement.

“The willingness of the MLPs to participate in this proposal and to continue their commitment to reducing emissions, as they have been doing, adds to their non-emitting portfolios. Working with the Vineyard Wind team, we’ve created a proposal that truly benefits the entire Commonwealth, bringing together private and public entities in an effort to provide the best proposal to Massachusetts in their latest solicitation for off-shore wind power,” he said.

Implementation of the plan is contingent on Commonwealth Wind being selected by the state in the most recent round of solicitation for offshore wind energy. 

Commonwealth Wind is a newly proposed offshore wind project submitted to Massachusetts’ third competitive offshore wind solicitation. 

If awarded, Commonwealth Wind will be developed in an area 22 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard that was designated by the federal government in 2015 following a multi-year stakeholder process.

ENE is a wholesale risk management and energy trading organization that serves the needs of public power utilities in the Northeast.

DOE Targets Five Million Households Powered by Community Solar By 2025

October 18, 2021

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 18, 2021

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently set a new target for its National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP) program.

The program’s new goal is to have community solar systems that can power the equivalent of five million households by 2025 and create $1 billion in energy bill savings on the way to reaching the White House’s goals of achieving 100 percent clean electricity by 2035 and ensuring that all Americans can benefit from renewable energy.

The new target represents more than a 700 percent increase in community solar installations, DOE said.

Achieving the $1 billion cost savings target would mean that, on average, community solar projects would provide a 20 percent savings on electric bills.

The DOE noted that the Sharing the Sun report, released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in collaboration with NCSP, showed that community solar can lead to savings of electric bills ranging from 5 percent to 25 percent.

Even though there are enough solar panels installed to power 19 million households, the DOE noted that many Americans still lack access to affordable solar electricity, including renters, homeowners who lack affordable financing options, and those without suitable roof conditions.

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, nearly 50 percent of households and businesses are not able to host rooftop solar systems.

Community solar projects are supported by membership subscriptions. Subscribers receive a portion of the revenue from the energy produced, typically as savings on their monthly electric bill.

The NCSP program is led by the DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office in collaboration with the NREL and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The partnership includes a coalition of community solar stakeholders, such as state, local and tribal governments, solar developers, and community-based organizations. As of September 2021, NCSP had over 650 members from over 440 partner organizations.

When the American Public Power Association joined the National Community Solar Partnership last fall, the program’s goal was to expand access to affordable community solar to every American household by 2025.

To achieve its new targets, the DOE is offering free, on-demand technical assistance to NCSP partnership members. NCSP has distributed $1 million for technical assistance and said it aims to provide $2 million in the next year.

NYPA, New York Transco Submit Transmission Proposals For Delivery Of Renewable Energy

October 18, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 18, 2021

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) and New York Transco recently submitted proposals for new transmission solutions to the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) that will inject renewable energy into the statewide energy grid.

The Propel NY Energy proposals for new transmission solutions were submitted in response to the NYISO’s Long Island Offshore Wind Export Public Policy Transmission Need Project Solicitation.

Propel NY Energy includes proposed transmission infrastructure upgrades to accommodate anticipated additional offshore wind generation as well as bulk transmission connections.

Propel NY Energy represents the first collaborative transmission solution proposals between (NYPA) and New York Transco. New York Transco is a New York-based owner, operator and developer of bulk electric transmission facilities and it is owned by subsidiaries of Con Edison, National Grid, Avangrid, and CH Energy Group.

Issued on August 12, 2021, the NYISO’s solicitation called for transmission proposals that will upgrade existing transmission facilities on Long Island and accommodate 3,000 megawatts of anticipated offshore wind while also installing at least one new connection between Long Island and the remainder of New York State.

NYISO issued the solicitation in response to a New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) order issued on March 19, 2021.

The order recognized the need for transmission solutions to help deliver generation from offshore wind to Long Island, New York City, and Westchester County to help meet the clean energy goals outlined in New York State’s Climate Act, including a call for the state’s energy supply to be 70% carbon-free by 2030.

APPA’s Delia Patterson, ElectriCities of North Carolina’s Jay Morrison Return As members Of DOE Panel

October 18, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 18, 2021

Delia Patterson, Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Communications and General Counsel at the American Public Power Association, and Jay Morrison, Chief Legal Officer at ElectriCities of North Carolina, are returning as members of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC).

Each member of the EAC is appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Energy for a two-year term. The group works with 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 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.

A complete list of new and returning EAC members is available here.

Public Power Advocate William Gallagher Passes Away

October 18, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 18, 2021

William Gallagher, a longtime public power advocate, passed away on Oct. 15, 2021, at the age of 81.

“Bill was a tireless advocate for public power,” said Joy Ditto, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association (APPA). “There are so many things that Bill did during his decades in public power, including chairing the APPA Board of Directors, chairing the CEO Climate Change and Generation Policy Task Force for many years, and receiving the APPA Statesmanship Award,” she said.

Gallagher also served as General Manager of the Vermont Public Power Authority and as a consultant for the Transmission Access Policy Study Group.

“Bill brought the directness and forcefulness of a New Englander coupled with the warmth and collegiality of someone who understood and was imbued with the mission of public power,” Ditto went on to say.

Bill Gallagher
William Gallagher

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St Jude’s Hospital, the dearest to him of many children’s charities Bill gave to generously for decades.

A visitation will be held Saturday, October 23, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Serenity Funeral Home, 13401 Indian Rocks Road, Largo, FL 33774, followed by a memorial service beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.serenityfuneralhomelargo.com for the Gallagher family.

Public Power Entities Encouraged To Participate In APPA Energy Transition Group

October 15, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 15, 2021

The American Public Power Association (APPA) is encouraging public power entities to participate in the Energy Transition Community (ETC), a working group that is addressing grid operations, reliability, resiliency and recovery in a future low emission electricity delivery system, including advising APPA’s work on its Department of Energy (DOE) cooperative agreements.

The ETC will include representatives from public power utilities, joint action agencies, and state/regional associations who inform program activities to provide technical understanding of how individual public power utilities can achieve low emission goals and continue to deliver safe, reliable, and cost-effective electricity to their communities.

“We want to hear from leading public power utilities on their achievements, strategies for success, and the challenges they have faced and overcome on their journey,” said Nathan Mitchell, Senior Director for Operations Programs at APPA. “At the same time, a key goal of the ETC is to hear from those who have not started on the journey to understand the barriers and possible knowledge gaps or challenges on integrating low emission resources,” he said.

DOE funds will help APPA enhance certain existing programs such as APPA’s Moving Public Power Forward strategic initiative.

The ETC is expected to enhance APPA’s Smart Energy Provider (SEP) program by identifying leading practices in a wide range of areas including community solar, storage, distributed energy resources, demand response and electric vehicles. Findings of initial research will be utilized to identify gaps for further research.

The SEP designation program has identified those with leading practices in these areas.

The SEP applicants “will give us a forum of nearly 100 industry leaders who are on the leading edge with successful programs,” Mitchell said.

The SEP program is a best practices designation for utilities that show commitment to and proficiency in energy efficiency, distributed generation, renewable energy, and environmental initiatives. Additional information about the SEP program is available here.

Under a recently unveiled cooperative agreement with DOE, APPA will bring together public power utilities to facilitate discussion, evaluate opportunities, and define barriers to integrating energy storage technologies with power plants. APPA will also work with DOE and other stakeholders to mitigate these barriers. DOE will provide $100,000 per year for five years, while APPA will provide $25,000 of in-kind cost share per year for five years, for a total value of $625,000.

APPA is actively looking for members to join the ETC. Specifically, APPA is looking for subject matter experts from public power who work on low emission resource integration, resilience and customer side supply.

In terms of time commitment, full participants will be expected to devote approximately four to six hours per month for meeting and guidance review. Observers will be expected to commit to approximately two hours per month for awareness and some meetings.

To volunteer to participate in the ETC, send an email to: EnergyTransition@publicpower.org.

Gil Quiniones Resigns As President And CEO Of NYPA To Take Role As CEO Of Illinois Utility

October 15, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 15, 2021

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) announced on Oct. 14 that President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gil Quiniones has resigned after 10 years in the role to accept a position as CEO at Illinois-based Commonwealth Edison Company, a subsidiary of investor-owned Exelon Corp.

Justin Driscoll, NYPA executive vice president and general counsel, will become the interim president and CEO. Quiniones will remain at NYPA until Nov. 5 and will work closely with Driscoll to support the transition, NYPA said.

Quiniones’ 10-year tenure makes him the longest-serving president and CEO in the history of NYPA. Overall, he has been at NYPA for 14 years, serving previously as executive vice president, energy marketing and corporate affairs and as chief operating officer.

Gil
Gil Quiniones 

Under Quiniones’ leadership, NYPA has carried out or planned a number of major initiatives to upgrade and modernize its power generation and transmission assets and has played a central role in New York State’s efforts to fight climate change, NYPA noted.

The largest of those undertakings are Next Generation Niagara, a 15-year, $1.1 billion modernization of NYPA’s Niagara hydroelectric project that is well underway, and the $11 billion Clean Path NY, a transmission and generation project that was recently selected by New York State in a request for proposals to deliver clean energy from upstate to New York City.  

Quiniones prioritized operational and financial excellence, innovation, resilience, strategic vision and social and environmental justice. Most recently, Quiniones ushered in NYPA’s 10-year strategic plan, Vision2030.

During his tenure, NYPA has aggressively promoted the growth of renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency and electric transportation, and efforts to become one of the nation’s first “end-to-end” digital utilities.

In 2017, he led NYPA in integrating the New York State Canal Corporation into its operations and has launched the Reimagine the Canals program, an effort focused on realizing the canals’ potential for tourism, recreation, and environmental protection.

Commonwealth Edison provides electric service to more than ​​​four million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s population.

Ditto Details Utility Sector’s Proactive Approach to Guard Against Cyberattacks

October 13, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 13, 2021

Among the many steps that the electricity sector takes to proactively guard against cyberattacks are tabletop exercises under which utility operators respond to a scenario and work through responses, said Joy Ditto, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association (APPA), on Oct. 6.

If such a scenario becomes a reality, “they have those lessons learned to apply,” Ditto said during a cyber summit held by the Aspen Institute.

Collaboration among the electric sector, government agencies and other industries plays a key role in the success of these exercises, Ditto pointed out.

“There’s a lot we do to try to prepare,” she said. “We’re looking at prevention, but we’re also looking at if something happens and if we have to stand ourselves back up, how do we do that?”

There are various scenarios that are examined over time “because we don’t want to have the hubris that this is not going to ever have an operational consequence.”

One example of how the energy sector regularly drills for potential cyber and physical attacks is the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s GridEx.

The GridEx exercise, which began in 2011, allows utilities, government partners and other critical infrastructure participants to engage with local and regional first responders, exercise cross-sector impacts, improve unity of messages and communication, identify lessons learned and engage senior leadership. Public power participation increased 47%, from GridEx IV in 2017 to GridEx V. The next GridEx takes place Nov. 16-17, 2021.

Meanwhile, Ditto noted that digital components began to be installed onto the power grid in the 1980s to create efficiency, foster situational awareness and boost reliability.

When this technology was first developed there was not a full appreciation for cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

“When we started to realize that there was a cybersecurity issue, we started to bake in cybersecurity but we had to go back and reconfigure some of those legacy systems and that’s been part of the challenge to us,” Ditto said.

Noting the wide range of sizes among public power utilities, Ditto said that about half of APPA’s member utilities have no digital components on their distribution grids.

“But they will be looking to do so in the future, and I think one advantage they may have there is they can really bake that cybersecurity in on the front end when they’re developing those digital systems” to do things like integrating distributed energy resources, responding to customer needs or thinking about greenhouse gas emissions reductions “more fully on their distribution grids.”

For those public power utilities that already have digital components on their grids, “as we create more digital components to address” evolving customer needs and climate change, “we do now have an opportunity to really think much more strategically and fully about cybersecurity and I know our vendor community is working with us very heavily to do that.”

In July 2021, the Biden Administration released a national security memorandum on cybersecurity for industrial control systems. The memorandum outlined how critical industry sectors including energy should protecting themselves from cyberattacks.

Ditto noted that in the memo and in some actions subsequently taken to flesh out that memo, there are performance goals that will apply across critical infrastructure sectors. “They are voluntary. We agree with the voluntary goals. Where we sometimes get a little bit concerned is” when there are mandates in this space. “Because it is ever evolving it might make us a little bit more about compliance rather than addressing things in a timely manner and in a flexible manner.”

She pointed out that “we’re the only critical infrastructure sector” of the 16 critical infrastructure sectors “that have mandatory and enforceable reliability standards on our bulk power system that include cybersecurity standards.”