New York Regulators Approve NYPA Transmission Line Project
August 13, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 13, 2022
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) and National Grid NY recently announced the approval of a transmission line build in the North Country, known as Smart Path Connect.
The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) approved the 100-mile transmission line project at its regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Aug. 11.
Smart Path Connect is a multi-faceted project that includes: completion of the second phase of NYPA’s Smart Path Moses-Adirondack rebuild; building approximately 45 miles of transmission eastward from Massena to the Town of Clinton, known as the Northern Alignment; and building approximately 55 miles of transmission southward from Croghan to Marcy, known as the Southern Alignment; and several substations along the impacted transmission corridor.
The work falls primarily within existing transmission rights-of-way in in Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence, Lewis and Oneida counties. The rebuilt lines will connect renewable energy into the statewide power system, including low-cost hydropower from NYPA’s St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project as well as power from newly constructed and proposed renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
The project, then known as the Northern New York Priority Transmission Project, was identified in 2020 as a priority transmission project that should move forward expeditiously under New York’s Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act.
The project was approved for acceleration in order to help the state meet its climate and clean energy goals set forth in the Climate Act, enacted in July 2019, which calls for a zero-emissions electricity sector by 2040, 70 percent renewable energy generation by 2030, and economy-wide carbon neutrality.
NYPA said the project will help unbottle existing renewable resources in the region, and also will yield significant production cost savings, emissions reductions, and decreases in transmission congestion. NYPA estimates the project will provide more than $447 million in annual congestion savings in northern New York.
In addition to Smart Path and Smart Path Connect, several other New York State transmission line rebuild projects, as well as new transmission projects, are on deck for construction and in various stages of the permitting process.
These include NYPA and LS Power New York’s Central East Energy Connect project which involves the rebuild and expansion of nearly 100 miles of historically heavily congested transmission lines in the Utica/Albany corridor; New York Transco’s New York Energy Solution which involves the rebuild of approximately 54 miles of transmission lines in the Hudson Valley and NextEra Energy Transmission New York’s recently completed and energized Empire State Line Project of approximately 20 miles of transmission in Western New York.
Construction on Smart Path Connect is expected to begin sometime this Fall.
Snohomish County PUD Cites Supply Chain, Manufacturing Issues In Advanced Meter Project Delay
August 13, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 13, 2022
Due to supply chain and manufacturing issues, Washington State’s Snohomish County PUD is delaying the deployment of its Connect Up program until mid-2023. The program is an infrastructure and technology improvement project that will install new electric and water advanced meters on all customers’ homes and businesses.
The PUD was originally scheduled to begin deployment of new meters at the start of 2023. Depending on when it receives meters from its meter provider, the PUD plans to delay deployment of residential meters until the summer of 2023 and commercial and industrial meters until later in the fall of 2023.
Installation of advanced meters on the homes of PUD water customers should still begin in early 2023.
The new meter upgrade is free of charge for customers, who will receive physical and digital communications from the PUD in the months and days leading up to installation, the PUD said.
Installation of the communication network that will support the new meters started earlier this year and is on schedule to be completed prior to meter deployment. The PUD has installed 43 of the 141 base stations and antennas that will eventually communicate with advanced meters on customers’ homes and businesses.
The PUD’s Board of Commissioners recently approved the Connect Up program’s opt-out policy. Customers who do not want a communicating meter will receive an advanced meter with the communication radio disabled.
PUD customers who live in multi-unit residences with more than four units, water customers and commercial and industrial customers are not eligible to opt out of the PUD’s Connect Up program.
Connect Up will deliver a variety of new benefits for PUD customers, including the ability to monitor energy usage in 15-minute increments, opportunities to take advantage of new rate designs and conservation programs, and more flexible billing options.
Missouri River Energy Services Unveils Program To Raise Awareness Of Public Power
August 13, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 13, 2022
Missouri River Energy Services (MRES) unveiled its new MRES Ambassador Program to members during its annual meeting. The program is intended to raise the awareness of public power and the value of membership in MRES through community and policymaker education in member communities.
Participating ambassadors will receive a quarterly package of information and talking points on a particular topic of interest. A short webinar on the topic will be held to discuss the topic further and answer any questions the ambassadors may have.
Armed with this information, the ambassadors will proactively advocate for public power and joint action in their communities with key influencers over coffee, lunch, or while attending civic clubs or community events, MRES noted in an Aug. 5 news release.
The MRES Ambassador Program is one of several efforts by MRES to help their members communicate the value and benefits of their local public power utility, as well as the benefits of belonging to the larger organization of 61 utilities working for the common good, it said.
It builds on the ongoing Value of Public Power communications campaign which has provided quarterly marketing materials and monthly social media posts for member use since 2018. In addition, the Municipal Power Advantage® program, which launched in 2013, provides members with a detailed analysis and report of the economic value of all the benefits the local electric utility provides to the community.
MRES is an organization of 61 member municipalities in the states of Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Each member owns and operates a municipal electric utility.
MRES, which provides its members with energy and a wide range of energy-related services, held its annual meeting this past spring.
EIA Forecasts Rising Electricity Demand This Year, Higher Retail Prices
August 12, 2022
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 12, 2022
Electricity consumption will increase this year by 2.4 percent over 2021 levels, before falling slightly, by an expected 0.3 percent, next year, according to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO).
The increase is being primarily driven by increased economic activity and hot summer weather throughout most of the country, the EIA said.
“This summer has been hotter in the United States than normal, even in the context of the pretty hot summers of the last few years,” Joe DeCarolis, EIA administrator, said in a statement. “High temperatures have contributed to more air conditioning load, which is a significant driver in our forecast for more electricity consumption this year compared to last year.”
Most of the increased electricity demand this year will be met with renewable energy, according to the August 2022 STEO. The EIA expects renewable sources to provide 22 percent of U.S. generation in 2022 and 24 percent in 2023, up from 20 percent in 2021.
The EIA also expects solar power capacity to continue to rise, increasing by 20 gigawatts (GW) in 2022 and 24 GW in 2023, representing an addition of 31 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electric power generation in 2022 and 41 billion kWh in 2023, the EIA said.
Meanwhile, the United States consumed more natural gas to meet electricity demand so far this summer than the previous five-year average, according to the STEO.
Natural gas consumption in the electric power sector continues to increase as a result of limited switching from natural gas-fired generators to coal-fired generators for power generation, despite elevated natural gas prices, the STEO said. And continued demand for natural gas to generate electricity has contributed to relatively high prices for natural gas, even as more natural gas enters the domestic market, because of the June shutdown of the Freeport liquefied natural gas terminal.
Rising supplies of natural gas have caused prices to fall over the past two months. The STEO forecasts the U.S. will produce 96.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of gas in 2022, which would be 3 percent more than in 2021, and expects dry natural gas production to average 100 Bcf/d in 2023.
Nonetheless, natural gas prices increased by almost 50 percent, from $5.73/ per million British thermal units (MMBtu), on July 1 to $8.37/MMBtu on July 29, because of continued high demand for natural gas from the electric power sector. “We expect the Henry Hub price to average $7.54/MMBtu in the second half of 2022 and then fall to an average of $5.10/MMBtu in 2023 amid rising natural gas production,” the EIA said.
Rising natural gas prices will drive up wholesale electric prices and, consequently, retail electricity prices, according to the STEO, which forecasts the price of residential electricity will average 14.6 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) in 2022, up 6.1 percent from 2021. Forecasts of annual average wholesale prices for 2022 range from an average of $62 per megawatt hour (MWh) in Florida to $95/MWh in the ISO New England and New York ISO markets, according to the STEO.
And, as coal plant shutdowns continue and natural gas prices fall, the EIA expects coal consumption to decline by 9 percent in 2023. The STEO, however, expects U.S. coal production to increase by 21 million short tons (MMst) to 599 MMst in 2022 and to 601 MMst in 2023 and coal exports to increase from 85 MMst in 2021 to 87 MMst in 2022 and to 98 MMst in 2023.
Senate Approves Bill That Makes Energy Tax Credits Available To Public Power
August 7, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 7, 2022
The U.S. Senate on Aug. 7 approved legislation that would extend and expand various energy tax credits, including by making them available for projects owned and operated by tax-exempt entities, including public power. The House is scheduled to take up the bill on Aug. 12.
The bill passed the Senate Sunday afternoon with a 50-50 party-line vote, with the tie broken by Vice President Kamala Harris. The vote on final passage came after the Senate worked overnight Saturday, voting on 36 amendments and procedural motions. All but two failed, and neither of the two would affect public power.The change related to energy tax credits is strongly supported by the American Public Power Association (APPA).
A last-minute change to the bill would protect these tax credit payments to public power utilities from the current 5.7 percent “Joint Select Committee” sequestration that is scheduled to remain in effect through 2031.
On Aug. 12, the House will vote on H.R. 5376, a bill which originally passed the House as the Build Back Better Act (BBBA), but which was renamed during Senate consideration as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
The bill also includes increased funding for energy-related programs and to speed up much-needed siting and permitting of energy infrastructure.
Study Examines Balancing New England Energy Supply Adequacy, Renewables
August 5, 2022
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 5, 2022
Maintaining energy adequacy will be a challenge as non-dispatchable, renewable resources proliferate, according to a new study by ISO New England.
The study, 2021 Economic Study: Future Grid Reliability Study Phase 1, requested by the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) stakeholders, evaluated how the region’s grid would perform under the double burden of increased levels of variable, i.e., renewable, generation sources and higher demand.
Five of the six New England states have committed to reducing their carbon dioxide emissions by at least 80 percent in the coming years and electrification of heating and transportation is rapidly accelerating, the report noted.
To ensure energy adequacy, the New England region would likely require significant dispatchable resources such as natural gas or stored fuels for periods when variable resources are unavailable, the report found. In addition, battery storage. which is often held up as a remedy for shortfalls in renewable generation, may have difficulty sufficiently charging under predicted system demand curves, the report’s authors said.
The authors also pointed out that the retirement of the region’s two remaining nuclear power plants, which has been assumed in some planning scenarios, would further challenge reliability and state decarbonization goals.
“The region may struggle to maintain necessary operating reserves in scenarios of high electrification and more aggressive retirements of existing resources,” the report’s authors said. “The reserve margin may need to increase by an order of magnitude by 2040.”
The authors also argued that higher levels of renewable resources that would be needed to decarbonize the region’s grid would increase the need for demand flexibility. That would translate into an increased need for regulation services as the flexibility of both generation and demand resources may be needed to maintain the balance of the region’s grid.
The report used several scenarios to study assumptions about the future of New England’s grid. The baseline, moderate and import-supported decarbonization scenarios all contained moderate amounts of renewables and met reliability criteria. The baseline and moderate scenarios, however, did not meet state electric sector environmental goals. The import-supported scenario met state electric sector environmental goals but did not include expected high levels electrification of heating and transportation.
The deep decarbonization scenario lowered production costs and met state electric sector environmental goals while supporting high electrification of heating and transportation, but did not meet required reliability criteria, the report found.
A modified version of the deep decarbonization scenario, resource-adequate deep decarbonization, was adapted to meet reliability criteria through a balanced mix of increased wind, solar, and storage – 89,000 megawatts (MW) versus the current roughly 5,600 MW – but would require such a large amount of wind and solar that it may present “significant challenges” to the region’s transmission system and require an “outsized amount of land or offshore areas to be sited and developed for the necessary wind and solar farms,” the report found. However, the substitution of 3,000 MW of dispatchable units would reduce the necessary new units of wind, solar, and storage by 19 percent, or 17,000 MW, illustrating “the importance of dispatchable resources to the future grid,” the authors said.
The Future Grid Reliability Study is “a turning point” for our region, the report’s authors said in conclusion. “Many existing long-term assumptions were called into question as part of this analysis, and results show that the methods by which the ISO and region at large evaluate future grids require an overhaul.”
The ISO said it would issue three technical appendices to the report covering production cost, ancillary services, and resource adequacy later this year. The ISO also said a second phase of the Future Grid Reliability Study would analyze how “future grid scenarios might operate under today’s wholesale electricity markets to ensure an economically sound future grid.”
Fayetteville Public Works Commission Lowers Customer Fees, Adopts Optional Electric Rates
August 5, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 5, 2022
North Carolina’s Fayetteville Public Works Commission (PWC) took action in late July that maintains PWC’s current base electric rates, reduces customer fees, introduces optional electric rates that will offer customers’ choice and continue to support PWC conservation efforts as well as support economic development.
PWC’s new optional whole home/business rate will provide additional incentive for off-peak energy use by introducing a new super-off-peak rate, that is 50% less that PWC’s current off-peak electric rate.
Available in February 2023, customers will have the option to sign up for the new rates, pay a slightly higher basic facility charge, but a pay a significantly lower rate for energy use weekdays from 9pm-5 am.
The rate supports PWC’s continuing efforts to reduce energy demand costs and provides options for electric vehicle owners to charge during low demand hours that lessen EV impacts on the electric system.
PWC introduced Time of Use electric rates in 2019 to help decrease energy demand costs and apply the same pricing structure to energy that PWC pays Duke Energy, its wholesale power-supplier. During ‘peak’ weekday usage on the electric system, power demand costs are significantly higher than other times of the day. Shifting energy use outside of the peak hours, helps PWC lower over-all power costs and maintain reasonable rates.
Also effective in February 2023, PWC will offer a new Renewable Energy Buy Back rider for customers who install rooftop solar. The rate will be available for residential and small power customers generating 10 kW or less of energy. The rate will accompany bi-directional metering and replace PWC’s current buy-all, sell-all rates for roof top solar.
PWC also adopted a new economic development rate for customers who bring 1,000 kW loads to the PWC system or 750-kW through expansion. The discounted rate, effective in September, includes employee and/or capital investments along with other requirements and adds another economic development tool for the community to attract new business or encourage expansion.
Also effective in September, PWC is changing its demand and energy rate for Medium Power Service customers to continue PWC efforts to manage high energy costs because of peak hour usage. The rate lowers the demand threshold from 200 to 150 kW and has a 15% lower kwh charge. Customers currently in the rate classification will have the option to enroll to the new rate in September. The new rate will be applied all Medium Power Service Customers in September 2023.
In other changes, PWC lowered fees for connection, reconnection, and meter testing, passing along savings achieved by new technology and operations.
California Regulators Vote To Allow Submetering Of Electric Vehicles
August 5, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 5, 2022
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Aug. 4 made California the first state in the nation to allow electric vehicle (EV) owners to measure an EV’s energy use independently from the owner’s main utility meter through submetering.
Separately metering EV charging independently from a customer’s main utility meter is crucial because special rate structures apply to EVs that allow customers to buy less costly power during off-peak times, the CPUC said.
Those rate structures are often inappropriate for the entire home or commercial facility where the EVs are located, it noted.
The decision applies to the following utilities: Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, Liberty Utilities, Bear Valley Electric Service Inc. and PacifiCorp.
“The inability to submeter has been a major barrier to the expansion of EVs because taking advantage of EV-specific rates significantly lowers the total cost of ownership of an EV but few customers are willing to invest in a separate utility-grade meter,” the CPUC said. Submetering will also allow EV charging to participate in demand response programs by decreasing the EV charging load or even feeding power back into the grid when it is needed most.
The decision also adopts communication protocols for EV chargers, which are often called EV Service Equipment (EVSE). The communication protocols are consistent with recent CPUC-approved utility EV programs, as well as with the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) recommendations for EVSE.
The CEC has deemed these standards as vitally important to ensure interoperability with publicly funded EV charging infrastructure and to ensure the state achieves convenient, grid integrated charging.
The CPUC said that both aspects of the decision are crucial to enable widespread Vehicle-Grid Integration (VGI) and to capture the resulting grid benefits.
VGI refers to a suite of actions that shape vehicle charging behavior — such as changing the time or level of charging, or how power is sent back to the electric grid from vehicles — in ways that maximize both consumer and grid benefits.
“As the number of EVs in the state grows rapidly to meet our state’s climate goals, VGI will ensure that the electric grid is not stressed by the new load and will also allow customers to buy electricity at the cheapest times,” the CPUC said.
The proposal voted on is available at: docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M496/K405/496405751.PDF.
Department of Housing and Urban Development Issues Community Solar Guidance
August 5, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 5, 2022
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently issued new guidance that for the first time will help enable families in HUD-assisted rental housing to subscribe to local community solar where available.
In some programs, such as the Washington, DC Solar for All program, savings to households from subscribing to local community solar can reach up to 50% per year, the White House noted in a fact sheet.
The national guidance builds on recent state-specific guidance that HUD has provided to Illinois, Washington, DC and New York, that determined community-net-metering credits would be excluded from household income and utility allowance calculations and therefore not increase housing costs for residents in properties participating in HUD Multifamily, Public Housing and Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance programs, the fact sheet said.
HUD also announced that HUD regional offices will convene stakeholders in their regions over the next 90 days to highlight federal funding sources — including funding streams from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and HUD programs such as the HOME Investment Partnerships program and the Community Development Block Grant — that can be used to support public facilities and increase affordable housing supply that improves energy efficiency.
Building on guidance from last year, HUD will also launch a new initiative to help small rural housing authorities make money-saving energy efficiency upgrades and retain the savings from those projects to reinvest in improvements to rural HUD supported rental housing.
Other Agencies Also Take Action Related To Solar Energy
In addition, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Washington, D.C. have signed up to pilot the Community Solar Subscription Platform which is designed to connect community solar electric bill savings projects to households participating in the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
DOE estimates that families in the pilot states and Washington, DC will see over $1 billion annually in combined electric bill savings.
DOE is announcing the Sunny Awards for Equitable Community Solar, a new awards program to recognize communities that are implementing best-in class community solar programs and projects that lower costs and increase access for families.
TVA Enters Agreement With GE Hitachi Related To Potential Deployment Of Small Modular Reactor
August 5, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 5, 2022
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has entered a two-party agreement with GE Hitachi to support TVA’s planning and preliminary licensing for a potential deployment of a BWRX-300 small modular reactor (SMR) at the Clinch River Nuclear site and provide additional information needed as TVA continues to analyze the viability of SMRs, subject to future TVA board approval.
This follows an April 2022 collaboration agreement with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to support the development of small modular reactors as an effective long-term source of 24/7 carbon-free energy in both Canada and the U.S.
Such collaborations could help reduce the financial risk that comes from development of innovative technology, as well as future deployment costs, TVA said on Aug. 2 as part of its release of third quarter Fiscal Year 2022 financial results.
The TVA-OPG agreement allows TVA and OPG to coordinate their explorations into the design, licensing, construction and operation of small modular reactors.
OPG is moving forward with plans to deploy an SMR at its Darlington nuclear facility in Clarington, Ontario. The Darlington site is the only location in Canada licensed for new nuclear with a completed and accepted Environmental Assessment.