OPPD Uses DEED Funds To Expand Low-Income Energy Efficiency Program
July 27, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 27, 2022
The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) in Nebraska, with financial support from American Public Power Association’s Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) program, has completed a pilot project aimed at enhancing the utility’s ability to provide lower income customers with energy savings.
The goal of the DEED project was to help OPPD expand or modify a future program for an income-qualified energy efficiency program by making customers aware of how energy efficiency measures can reduce their energy burden and cut their costs.
The DEED pilot program is a redesign of OPPD’s Smart Steps Low-Income Energy Efficiency Program.
The redesign included a more efficient, less duplicative application process under which eligibility is determined by partner agencies, not by OPPD. The redesign also expanded the definition of low-income by opening the pilot program to households with income of up to double the federal poverty level, an increase from previous 150 percent threshold.
OPPD said a major challenge for its low-income energy-efficiency program had been reaching the different segments within the low-income population such as people living in rural areas.
By partnering with Program Partner Agencies, OPPD intends to reach segments of the low-income population, particularly rural areas, that have not been reached before.
For the pilot project, OPPD established partnerships with non-profit agencies in its service territory, which covers 13 urban and rural counties, mainly in eastern Nebraska.
The partners included Habitat for Humanity Omaha, Douglas County Housing Authority, Family Housing Advisory Services, Christian Outreach Partnership of Elkhorn, Project Houseworks, Credit Advisors Foundation, Southeast Nebraska Community Action Partnership, Northeast Nebraska Community Action Partnership, and Community Action Partnership of Lancaster and Saunders County.
Habitat for Humanity Omaha and Southeast Nebraska Community Action Partnership were selected as the contractors to perform the energy efficiency measures. Both are weatherization agencies in Nebraska leveraging Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Department of Energy funds.
The DEED project began in January 2020 but was paused in March by measures taken to slow the advance of the COVID-19 pandemic and then resumed in June 2020.
OPPD was granted an extension to July 15, 2022 to complete work on the DEED project because of limited resources as a result of several natural disasters that occurred during the project period, including a Polar Vortex that resulted in rolling blackouts for the first time in OPPD’s history and a windstorm that caused over 50 percent of the utility’s customers to lose power.
The DEED pilot project enabled OPPD will provide eligible customers with an energy efficiency kit, a home energy audit and, depending on the audit results, up to $2,000 for energy efficiency upgrades, $1,000 from OPPD and $1,000 from DEED funding.
In its final DEED report, OPPD found the average energy savings prior to the APPA investment was $102.68. With the APPA grant funds, OPPD said it was able to double the investment, with $2,000 towards energy efficiency improvements, and the average energy savings rose to $219.71. A total of 134 households were served by the pilot program.
“The compelling data proved the benefits of investing in an in-home energy assessment along with energy efficiency upgrades for income-qualified customers,” OPPD said in its final DEED report.
As a result of the pilot project OPPD also revamped and rebranded its Smart Steps to Saving Energy program, creating the Energy Efficiency Assistance Program (EEAP).
Heartland Consumers Power District Changes Name To Heartland Energy
July 26, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 26, 2022
Heartland Consumers Power District unveiled a new company name and logo at its annual summer conference on July 26. It will now be known as Heartland Energy.
The change came as Heartland Energy looked to update their branding, which led to a desire to simplify its name.
“While we remain a consumers power district in function, the name itself doesn’t resonate with people,” said Heartland Energy CEO Russell Olson in a statement. “Energy is an all-encompassing term that better reflects who we are as a company.”
Heartland Energy engaged the services of Lawrence & Schiller (L&S) to assist with the re-branding process. L&S conducted focus groups with employees, board members and customers to collect input on the new name and brand identity. Varying name options were presented to the groups with consensus that Heartland Energy was the most forward looking and focused option.
A common theme, particularly from customers, during the focus groups, was that Heartland Energy was more than a power provider. It serves as a partner to customers to help communities grow and thrive. They go above and beyond to provide the best service possible.
“Providing reliable, affordable electricity is at the core of our operations, but we’re doing that with a greater purpose in mind,” said Heartland Energy Chief Communications Officer Ann Hyland.
The tagline Power with Purpose encompasses all the extra things Heartland Energy does for their communities, it noted.
“Re-branding was a necessary step to show as a company we are moving forward,” added Hyland. “The electric utility industry is constantly changing, and we are staying on top of those changes.”
Special guest speakers at this year’s conference included Joy Ditto, President and CEO of American Public Power Association. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem also spoke at the conference, touting Heartland Energy’s partnership with the state of South Dakota to promote development.
With the change, the company’s new website can now be found at www.heartlandenergy.com. Company email addresses will also change to a similar format.
Heartland Energy provides wholesale power to public power communities across South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska.
Based in Madison, SD, Heartland Energy also provides a suite of customer service programs including economic development, energy efficiency, cybersecurity and more.
Jim Brooks Elected To Serve As Chair Of APPA’s Policy Makers Council
July 25, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 25, 2022
Jim Brooks, chair of the Evansville, Wis., Municipal Services Committee and president of the City Council, was elected this month to chair the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Policy Makers Council (PMC).
“The PMC brings together about 40 elected officials from across the country whose main task is to call on Congress and policy writers in Washington to present the concerns of public power communities with a single voice,” Brooks said in a Q&A with Public Power Current published earlier this year.
Members of the PMC meet twice a year in Washington, D.C., and at least once a month by Zoom. The group advocates on issues such as climate policy, grid security, energy infrastructure investments, and preserving local control for public power communities.
Evansville Water & Light is a public power utility and member of the APPA. The utility is also a member-owner of WPPI Energy, a not-for-profit, wholesale power supplier located in Sun Prairie, Wis.
In addition to his other duties, Brooks serves as the chair of WPPI Energy’s Policy & Communications Leadership Council, the committee responsible for counseling staff and the organization’s executive committee on the best means of increasing policy-making influence and strengthening grassroots capacity for legislative, regulatory and policy initiatives.
Brooks is the second public power leader associated with WPPI Energy to serve as chair of the APPA’s Policy Makers Council. Paul Fisk, previously the mayor of Lodi, Wis., was also active with the joint action agency and was elected to chair the Policy Makers Council in 2016.
As chair, Brooks also serves on the national APPA Board of Directors.
His chairmanship will last until July 2023.
DOE To Provide Funds To States, Local Governments For Building Energy Code Modernization
July 25, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 25, 2022
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on July 21 announced a Notice of Intent (NOI) to provide $225 million for states and local governments to expand the implementation of the latest building energy codes and support the development of buildings that use less energy.
Funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Building Energy Codes: Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation Program will help to expand building energy codes through state and local implementation and lower electricity costs for families and businesses by as much as $138 billion over the next 30 years, according to DOE.
The announcement supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Initiative to Advance Building Codes, launched in June 2022 by the National Climate Task Force to accelerate adoption of modern building codes.
Modern building energy codes “are critical for states and local governments because they allow for significant improvements in building energy performance and set the criteria for buildings and homes to become more durable, resilient, and better protected against extreme weather events. Building energy codes work in concert with other code provisions, such as fire, mechanical, and plumbing, and establish minimum acceptable energy efficiency for residential and commercial buildings,” DOE said.
The Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation Program will provide competitive grants to applicants who demonstrate through partnerships innovative approaches that allow states and local governments to further their broader energy, climate and resilience goals, expand opportunities for workforce development, ensure implementation and compliance, and advance equity, energy and environmental justice.
To prepare for the release of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), prospective applicants are encouraged to read the full Notice of Intent on EERE Exchange, which describes the intended FOA more fully, including more details about its motivation, how to prepare for its release, eligible entities and activities, and award instruments. DOE expects to issue the FOA in Fall 2022.
Lawmakers From Alabama Raise Utility Supply Chain Concerns With FEMA
July 25, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 25, 2022
A group of House Representatives from Alabama recently sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in which they voiced concerns over “the dangerous supply chain shortages affecting Alabama’ s electricity sector.”
In a news release, U.S. Representative Jerry Carl (R-AL) noted that the letter was sent to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell regarding supply chain shortages affecting Alabama’s electric cooperatives and public power utilities.
Labor shortages and competition from other industries for steel have made equipment procurement difficult, and as a result, critical electric grid equipment delivery times have increased 20-fold in the past two years, the July 14 letter said.
The lawmakers noted that in 2018, transformers took only three months to be delivered. But delivery delays for transformers are now averaging 18 to 25 months in Alabama, and some manufacturers are not even taking orders, the letter noted.
This is troubling because this year’s Atlantic hurricane season is forecasted to produce hurricanes and tropical storms of above-average strength, and several communities along the Alabama coast have not recovered from Hurricane Sally, the lawmakers told FEMA.
As the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season gets underway, “we urge FEMA to mitigate this issue before a severe hurricane, tropical storm, or other natural disaster impacts communities in Alabama,” the lawmakers said.
The House members said that FEMA must employ mitigation efforts with the local Alabama electric community to ensure critical electric equipment such as transformers, bare wire, meters, and other electric grid equipment will be available “ahead of the first disaster.”
The letter was cosigned by all seven members of Alabama’s House delegation.
A group of federal lawmakers from Florida sent a similar letter to FEMA in June.
APPA Moves To Address Supply Chain Challenges
The American Public Power Association (APPA) is taking a number of actions to address ongoing supply chain challenges.
APPA recently rolled out an additional feature to its eReliability Tracker that is available to all public power utilities and allows for voluntary equipment sharing by matching systems with the same distribution voltages.
In a speech in June at APPA’s National Conference in Nashville, Tenn., Ditto urged member utilities to share their supply chain challenges with APPA so that the trade group can relay details on these challenges to federal partners and discuss how critical burdens on the sector can be alleviated.
In May, APPA convened a supply chain summit that included participation from public power utility officials who discussed their supply chain challenges and mitigation strategies.
APPA also recently finalized a new supply chain issue brief. APPA members can download the issue brief here.
FEMA Announces $2.3 Billion In Funding For Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program
July 25, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 25, 2022
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently announced $2.3 billion in funding for its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program for Fiscal Year 2022 as part of a series of new executive actions unveiled by President Biden on July 20.
This funding will help communities increase resilience to heat waves, drought, wildfires, flood, hurricanes, and other hazards by preparing before disaster strikes, a White House fact sheet on the executive actions said.
In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services on July 20 issued guidance that for the first time expands how the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) can promote the delivery of efficient air conditioning equipment, community cooling centers, and more.
In April, the White House released $385 million through LIHEAP to help families with their household energy costs, including summer cooling—part of a record $8 billion that the Administration has provided, boosted by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The White House also announced that the Department of the Interior proposed the first Wind Energy Areas in the Gulf of Mexico.
Biden previously directed the Secretary of the Interior to advance wind energy development in the waters off the mid- and southern Atlantic Coast and Florida’s Gulf Coast.
These actions follow the President’s launch of a new Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership.
Biden made the announcements at a former coal-fired power plant in Brayton Point, Massachusetts that will host a cable manufacturing facility to support the offshore wind industry.
Repowered Wind Project Providing Energy To California CCAs Comes Online
July 23, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 23, 2022
California community choice aggregators Central Coast Community Energy (CCCE) and Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) on July 21 announced the start of commercial operation for the Mountain View Wind Repowering Project, developed by the AES Corporation.
The facility will provide 33.33 megawatts (MW) to CCCE and 33.33 MW to SVCE under a 20- year power purchase agreement (PPA).
The PPA is the result of the third joint SVCE-CCCE solicitation issued in 2020. The PPA was board-approved and executed in April 2021.
Wind repowering is the combined activity of dismantling or refurbishing existing wind turbines and commissioning new ones.
AES removed more than 100 old turbines and replaced them with 16 new Vestas turbines. The repowered 67-MW facility will deliver 257 gigawatt hours per year.
CCCE is a public agency that serves 436,000 customers throughout the Central Coast, including residential, commercial, and agricultural customers in communities located within Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz counties.
SVCE provides electricity from renewable and carbon-free sources to more than 270,000 residential and commercial customers in 13 Santa Clara County jurisdictions.
Glendale Water & Power Launches Off-Peak Electric Vehicle Charging Rebate Program
July 22, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 22, 2022
California public power utility Glendale Water & Power (GWP) announced the launch of a new residential program for electric vehicle (EV) drivers called the Off-Peak EV Charging Rebate program.
The program, in partnership with Sagewell, incentivizes EV owners to charge their vehicles overnight on weekdays between 9:00 p.m. and 12:00 p.m. and any time on the weekend in exchange for a credit of $8 a month paid out once per year.
The program shifts EV load to off-peak hours without any special hardware or separate meter needed. Participants will program their vehicles to charge during off-peak hours, and software algorithms developed by Sagewell will confirm off-peak charging compliance from AMI smart meter data.
Enrollment requires an active GWP residential electric account, and a Level 2 charger or 240-volt charging cable provided by the vehicle manufacturer.
With this program, other communities have seen participants charge off-peak at least 90% of the time, efficiently integrating EV load with the distribution system, GWP said.
EV customers can inquire about GWP’s time-of-use rates to also maximize the benefits of charging at off-peak hours, the utility said.
Arizona’s Southwest Public Power Agency Signs Solar And Storage Power Purchase Agreement
July 22, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 22, 2022
Arizona’s Southwest Public Power Agency Inc. (SPPA) has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with a BrightNight joint venture (JV) for the delivery of 300 megawatts of solar energy and 600 megawatt-hours of battery storage.
This is the largest renewable power purchase in SPPA’s operational history and will supply 21 of SPPA’s constituent members who are working to meet growing demand and carbon reduction goals.
Power will be supplied from BrightNight’s Box Canyon project located in Pinal County, Arizona, held jointly with BrightNight’s JV partner, Cordelio Power.
The project recently completed its final major permitting milestones and is expected to begin operation in 2025. It will provide approximately one-third of SPPA’s peak capacity needs and 19-21% of SPPA’s energy needs.
The PPA is the result of a competitive solicitation.
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Enters Into Solar Plus Storage Agreement
July 22, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 22, 2022
Convergent Energy + Power on July 18 announced that its Puerto Rico subsidiary has entered into a power purchase and operating agreement with the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) for a 100-megawatt (MW) solar generation project paired with a 55-MW battery to be located in Coamo, Puerto Rico.
The solar-plus-storage system will be owned and operated by Convergent’s Puerto Rico subsidiary, Convergent Coamo.
Subject to satisfaction of customary conditions, the system is currently expected to come online in 2024 and is part of a larger plan to accelerate Puerto Rico’s strategic clean energy transition.
Puerto Rico has set a goal of achieving 40% renewable energy by 2025 and 100% renewable energy by 2050.
Convergent’s large-scale solar-plus-storage system is among the first awarded by PREPA in response to its multi-tranche solicitation effort to modernize Puerto Rico’s electric grid.