Santee Cooper Formally Joins Southeast Energy Exchange Market
January 7, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 7, 2022
Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned electric and water utility, has joined the Southeast Energy Exchange Market effective Jan. 4, 2022.
“After nearly two years working with the other SEEM member utilities, Santee Cooper is pleased to formally join the group. We are excited by the opportunities SEEM will offer our customers, including better capability for integrating renewables and savings from lower fuel costs and improved efficiencies,” said Charlie Duckworth, Santee Cooper Deputy CEO and Chief Innovation and Planning Officer, in a statement.
The new SEEM platform will facilitate sub-hourly, bilateral trading, allowing participants to buy and sell power close to the time the energy is consumed, utilizing available unreserved transmission.
Participation in SEEM is open to other entities that meet the appropriate requirements.
Other founding members of SEEM are expected to include Associated Electric Cooperative, Dalton Utilities, Dominion Energy South Carolina, Duke Energy Carolinas, Duke Energy Progress, Georgia System Operations Corporation, Georgia Transmission Corporation, LG&E and KU Energy, MEAG Power, N.C. Municipal Power Agency No. 1, NCEMC, Oglethorpe Power Corp., PowerSouth, Southern Company and TVA.
The founding members represent nearly 20 entities in parts of 11 states with more than 160,000 megawatts (summer capacity; winter capacity is nearly 180,000 MW) across two time zones.
California Community Choice Aggregators Seek Clean Energy Supply Proposals
January 7, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 7, 2022
Three California community choice aggregators (CCAs) have partnered to jointly issue a request for proposals (RFP) for new clean energy resources.
The RFP, which was issued by Central Coast Community Energy, Silicon Valley Clean Energy and Sonoma Clean Power, solicits proposals from qualified and experienced individuals or firms to develop non-polluting energy sources to meet California’s new Mid-Term Reliability procurement mandate in addition to each respective CCA’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), greenhouse gas emission reductions and reliability requirements.
The CCAs are seeking to procure resources to satisfy the requirements of a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) order that includes a procurement mandate in response to more extreme weather events and to replace power from the Diablo Canyon nuclear facility, which will be decommissioned in 2025.
As a result, the CPUC ordered all load serving entities in the state, including CCAs, to purchase 11,500 megawatts of new, clean resources to come online by 2026.
The CPUC decision requires the three CCAs to procure a combined total of more than 600 MW of additional Net Qualifying Capacity (NQC) to come online before June 1, 2026. NQC refers to the ability of a power plant to meet the reliability needs of the grid, particularly during peak, evening hours.
Eligible resources for the RFP include non-fossil fuel sources such as solar, wind, renewable plus storage hybrids, and demand response; zero-emitting resources available during peak evening hours, such as energy storage; firm generation resources that are not weather dependent, such as geothermal; and long duration energy storage that is able to discharge over at least an eight-hour period.
Proposals are due by 5 p.m. PT on Jan. 31, 2022, and the RFP is available here.
Central Coast Community Energy serves more than 400,000 customers throughout California’s Central Coast, including residential, commercial and agricultural customers in communities located within Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz counties.
Silicon Valley Clean Energy provides clean electricity from renewable and carbon-free sources to more than 270,000 residential and commercial customers in 13 Santa Clara County jurisdictions.
Sonoma Clean Power is the public power provider for Sonoma and Mendocino counties, serving a population of about a half-million.
KYMEA And Partners Send Relief To Western Kentucky In Wake Of Tornadoes
January 5, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 5, 2022
The Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency (KYMEA) and a number of partners have provided $30,000 in direct relief and contributions to a Kentucky tornado relief fund in the wake of tornadoes that hit the western part of the state on December 10, 2021.
KYMEA has partnered with nFront Consulting, Spiegel & McDiarmid, BKD, Rubin & Hays, and LightChange Technologies to provide the funds to the Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund.
KYMEA noted that it is also working with its members, the American Public Power Association, and the Kentucky Municipal Utility Association to provide storm restoration to the hardest-hit areas.
In September of 2015, ten municipal electric utilities entered into an Interlocal Cooperation Agreement creating KYMEA, a joint public agency.
Additional information about the tornado relief efforts is available here.
NYPA Deploys Technology To Monitor, Improve Transmission Capacity
January 5, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 5, 2022
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) plans to deploy light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology to monitor the health of its grid and to help it unlock transmission capacity to enable more renewable energy to reach the grid.
The LiDAR sensors will be deployed to monitor NYPA’s 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission lines in Franklin and Clinton counties in upstate New York to provide insight into conductor health and to detect in real time anomalies and potential risks.
The technology, developed by LineVision, uses sensors mounted to transmission towers and combines an electromagnetic field sensor with a scanning optical sensor using LiDAR. The real time data provided by the technologies delivers data on conductor positions and temperatures and alerts on anomalous behavior to help ensure safe clearances are maintained.
The analytics platform connected to the sensors also evaluates the condition of conductors, helping to determine when line maintenance is required, and can safely increase existing transmission capacity through the application of dynamic line ratings.
NYPA says recent studies have shown grid-enhancing technologies can help double renewable energy integration, while dynamic line ratings have shown the ability to increase capacity on power lines by as much as 40 percent.
NYPA said the new technology will also give it real-time situational awareness of grid conditions by measuring blowout and phase-to-phase distance, providing alerts on dangerous conditions that can cause wildfires or on anomalous and damaging events such as high amplitude vibrations and icing.
NYPA’s Moses-Willis-Plattsburgh transmission line is vulnerable to vibrations and icing because of its location in the northern most portion of the state near the Canadian border.
The grid sensing project is being supported by a $376,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) Smart Grid program for which NYPA and LineVision jointly applied.
In 2019, NYPA received a $125,000 grant from the American Public Power Association’s Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Development (DEED) program for a project that integrated LiDAR technology into an existing in-house drone program for inspecting transmission rights of way for vegetation management.
In California, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is using LiDAR as part of a suite of tools to help it manage vegetation on its right of ways to help reduce the risk of wildfires.
In Arizona, Salt River Project is using LiDAR to help monitor forest and reservoir conditions of its water resources.
Chelan County PUD To Supply Hydropower To Avista
January 5, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 5, 2022
Washington State’s Chelan County Public Utility District (PUD) and investor-owned utility Avista have finalized a contract for hydropower from the PUD’s two hydro projects on the Columbia River.
The 20-year contract will increase Avista’s carbon-free resources toward its 2030 renewable energy goals, as well as contributes flexible capacity to identified needs in Washington and Idaho. The acquisition closes out Avista’s 2020 Renewable request for proposals.
The competitively priced contract provides Avista with 5% of the output from the PUD’s Rock Island and Rocky Reach hydropower projects from 2026 through 2030 and increases to 10% of the output from these projects in 2031-2045.
The contract includes both carbon-free energy attributes provided by hydropower as well as dispatchable capacity to help Avista meet peak energy needs during high customer usage times.
Navajo Tribal Utility Authority Seeks Power Supply Proposals
January 4, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 4, 2022
The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) recently issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking power and energy for the Navajo Nation.
The RFP, which was issued in December 2021, seeks a three-year, five-year, and seven-year firm supply of power and energy to be delivered to the trading hubs at the Four Corners/Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) Shiprock and WAPA Pinnacle Peak delivery points.
Proposals are due by Feb. 4, 2022 and the RFP is available for download here.
Arizona-based NTUA was established on Jan. 22, 1959, to address the absence of utilities on the 27,000 square-mile Navajo Nation. Since then, NTUA has grown into a self-sustaining, not-for-profit, successful tribally-owned enterprise.
NTUA is organized for the operation, maintenance and expansion of electric, communications, natural gas, water, wastewater and generation, including photovoltaic (solar) services for the Navajo people at a low and reasonable cost.
In addition to providing multi-utility services, other objectives of NTUA are to promote employment opportunities on the Navajo Nation and to improve the health and welfare of the residents of the Navajo Nation while improving the standard of life.
Financing Package Closes For Solar Project That Will Supply Energy To AMEA Members
January 4, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 4, 2022
Lightsource bp has successfully closed on a $100 million financing package for its 130-megawatt Black Bear Solar energy project in Montgomery County, Alabama.
The power contract secured with Alabama Municipal Electric Authority (AMEA) played a critical role in enabling investment and financing of this new energy infrastructure for Alabama, Lightsource bp noted.
AMEA, located in Montgomery, Alabama, is the wholesale power provider for 11 public power utilities in Alabama, which serve some 350,000 customers in the cities of Alexander City, Dothan, Fairhope, Foley, LaFayette, Lanett, Luverne, Opelika, Piedmont, Sylacauga, and Tuskegee.
The tax equity investment for the project was secured from Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank. Debt for the project was provided by Spain’s Banco Santander and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, a global financial group headquartered in Tokyo. The balance of the equity requirements will be invested by Lightsource bp.
Black Bear Solar will supply energy to AMEA’s 11 member utilities located across the state. The project will also contribute almost $7 million in property tax revenue to county schools over the first 35 years of the project life.
Massachusetts Taps Offshore Wind Project That Will Supply Energy to Public Power Utilities
January 4, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 4, 2022
Massachusetts officials recently announced the selection of an offshore wind project that includes a partnership between Vineyard Wind, the developer, and Energy New England (ENE), which is representing 20 participating Massachusetts Municipal Light Plants (MLPs) including Reading Municipal Light Department (RMLD).
The partnership will allow MLPs to purchase offshore wind power for the first time, an opportunity that will green the portfolios of MLPs across the state, RMLD said.
Under the agreement, MLPs will be able to purchase up to 32 megawatts (MW) or approximately 146,000 megawatt hours (adjusting for capacity availability for offshore wind) per year, plus the associated non-carbon certificates — specifically, renewable energy credits (RECs).
Announced in October, Commonwealth Wind is a first of its kind partnership between Vineyard Wind and ENE, which is representing 20 participating Massachusetts MLPs, including RMLD. It is the first time MLPs were allowed to bid for Massachusetts offshore wind power.
The Vineyard Wind project is one of two offshore wind projects that will now move forward to contract negotiations.
The selected projects include a 400 MW proposal from Mayflower Wind and a 1,200 MW proposal from Vineyard Wind. The Mayflower Wind and Vineyard Wind bids were selected for contract negotiations based on criteria established under a Request for Proposal (RFP) released in May 2021.
Established in 1894, RMLD is a Massachusetts public power utility serving over 70,000 residents in the towns of Reading, North Reading, Wilmington, and Lynnfield Center. RMLD has more than 30,000-meter connections within its service territory.
ENE is a wholesale risk management and energy trading organization serving the needs of public power utilities in New England.
Santee Cooper Solar Farm Becomes South Carolina’s First Gold Certified Solar Habitat
January 4, 2022
by Vanessa Nikolic
APPA News
January 4, 2022
South Carolina public power utility Santee Cooper’s Jamison Solar Site, a 1.2-megawatt facility located on over 5 acres in Orangeburg, has become South Carolina’s first Gold Certified Solar Habitat Site.
To become a Gold Certified Solar Habitat, Santee Cooper had to commit to planting a variety of native flowering plants underneath and around the site’s 4,482 solar panels.
The plantings of native pollinator plants provide added ecological benefits to solar arrays. It aids in reducing soil erosion, protecting water quality and enhances the aesthetic of a solar site.
South Carolina governor Henry McMaster signed the Solar Habitat Act into law in 2018. Under the authority of the law, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) established “Technical Guidance for the Development of Wildlife and Pollinator Habitat at Solar Farms” and worked with Clemson University’s Department of Fertilizer Regulation and Certification Services to develop the S.C. Certified Solar Habitat Program.
The South Carolina Solar Habitat Act provides a framework to encourage owners of commercial solar energy generation sites to follow voluntary site management practices that provide native perennial vegetation beneficial to songbirds and pollinators, and reduce stormwater runoff and erosion at the solar generation site.
“We are pleased that Jamison Solar Farm is the first Gold Certified Solar Habitat in the state and even more pleased to help lead the way to more certified solar habitats across South Carolina,” Santee Cooper Chief Power Supply Officer Marty Watson said.
Watson said creating the habitat for pollinators is a way the public power utility puts its environmental stewardship into action. He also recognizes the guidance of the team at SCDNR.
For more information about the S.C. Solar Habitat Program, visit www.dnr.sc.gov/solar.
ERCOT Says Generation Fleet Ready for Winter Weather Following Winterization Inspections
January 4, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 4, 2022
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has completed on-site inspections of mandatory winterization efforts, and inspection results show the independently owned electric generation fleet and electric transmission companies serving the ERCOT region are ready for winter weather.
Inspections were completed at more than 300 electric generation units, representing 85 percent of the megawatt hours lost during 2021’s Winter Storm Uri due to outages and 22 transmission station facilities, ERCOT said on Dec. 30.
ERCOT has filed a preliminary summary inspection report with the Public Utility Commission of Texas and will submit its final inspection report on January 18, 2022 for review and any potential enforcement action. In 2021, the Legislature increased the maximum penalties for violating weatherization rules to $1,000,000 per day per violation.
Of 302 generation resources inspected, some generators had exceeded PUC winterization requirements. Only ten generation resources inspected had items identified on the day of inspection requiring correction. For example, a generation unit may have needed a windscreen to be compliant, but it was not yet installed on the day of inspection. Many items like this have now been completed since the inspection occurred and all ten units are still operational. The ten generation units have a total capacity of 2,129 megawatts, representing about 1.7 percent of the total ERCOT generation fleet.
Of the 22 transmission station facilities inspected, ERCOT found that six had potential identified deficiencies, most of which have already been corrected. These were generally minor items, such as cabinet heaters out of service or missing weather stripping on cabinet doors on the day of inspection. Most of these items have already been corrected.
ERCOT will conduct follow-up inspections on the generation and transmission facilities with potential identified issues.
ERCOT and its contractors have spent more than 3,600 hours on these inspection-related activities to date. Additionally, ERCOT and PUC staff are actively monitoring the compliance plans of the generation resources that requested additional time to finalize compliance with the new winterization regulations.