Thirty-Eight Public Power Utilities, Organizations Earn Public Power Communications Awards
October 27, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 27, 2021
Thirty-eight public power electric utilities and utility organizations earned Excellence in Public Power Communications Awards from the American Public Power Association. The awards were presented at APPA’s Customer Connections Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The annual awards recognize excellence in communications. The entries are judged in three categories: print/digital, web/social media, and video.
Awards were given to those that showed ingenuity and creativity in telling their stories through outstanding copy, design, financial data presentation, graphics, social media engagement, video editing, and web layout and interactivity.
This year’s awards were judged by Jeff Beddow, Independent Public Relations Consultant; Steve Mitnick, Executive Editor at Public Utilities Fortnightly; and Dianne Vance, Director of Business Development and Sales at the American Occupational Therapy Association.
For a list of this year’s winners, click here.
California Community Choice Aggregators Seek Firm Clean Energy Resources
October 27, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 27, 2021
A recently issued solicitation seeks up to 200 megawatts (MW) of firm clean resources for a group of California community choice aggregators (CCAs) through one or more projects, with deliveries beginning no later than June 1, 2026.
California Community Power, a Joint Powers Agency comprised of ten California CCAs, on Oct. 25, 2021 issued a request for offers (RFO) for firm clean resources that produce renewable energy on demand and include geothermal and biomass sources.
On June 24, 2021, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a decision requiring load serving entities, including members of California Community Power, to procure long lead-time clean resources to address mid-term reliability. The decision mandates new generation with at least an 80 percent capacity factor that has zero on-site emissions, or otherwise qualifies under the California Renewable Portfolio Standard program eligibility rules.
The RFO follows a set of enhanced conditions that the California Community Power board adopted for its first, joint procurement of up to 500 MW of long-duration storage in October 2020.
The guidelines state that California Community Power will also consider workforce and environmental concerns for projects through enhancing the conditions imposed on project developers for workforce, the environment, and environmental justice.
California Community Power members are: Central Coast Community Energy, CleanPowerSF, East Bay Community Energy, MCE, Peninsula Clean Energy, Redwood Coast Energy Authority, San José Clean Energy, Silicon Valley Clean Energy, Sonoma Clean Power and Valley Clean Energy.
The RFO may be found at cacommunitypower.org/solicitations. Proposals are due December 13, 2021.
The long-duration storage procurement is still ongoing. On October 8, the California Community Power board provided notice of its intent to consider a 69 MW/552 megawatt hour energy storage project to be built in Kern County, Calif.
Negotiations are still ongoing, but California Community Power is expected to enter into an Energy Storage Services Agreement for this project in December 2021.
The American Public Power Association has initiated a new category of membership for community choice aggregation programs.
Fitch Upgrades Illinois Municipal Electric Agency’s Credit Rating
October 26, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 26, 2021
Fitch Ratings recently announced that it has upgraded its assessment of the credit worthiness of the joint action agency that provides wholesale power to 32 municipal electric systems throughout Illinois.
On Oct. 22, 2021, the ratings service upgraded its evaluation of the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA) from A+ with a positive outlook to AA- with a stable outlook.
The upgrade reflects the strong long-term financial performance of IMEA and the municipal members that it serves, and places IMEA among the top-rated electric joint-action agencies in the nation.
In granting the upgrade to AA-, Fitch noted IMEA’s “strong operating risk profile is driven by a low cost burden and diversifying resource base.”
Fitch also noted that IMEA’s wholesale rates have been steady over the past several years and retail rates for the largest members are near the state average and considered very affordable.
IMEA President and CEO Kevin Gaden said the new rating “demonstrates a positive, independent appraisal of our agency’s fiscal policies. IMEA provides our members with an affordable and reliable power supply, while we continue to diversify our resources and manage all the changes in the electric utility industry.”
IMEA is a not-for-profit wholesale power provider comprised of 32 municipal electric systems. Municipal members include Altamont, Bethany, Breese, Bushnell, Cairo, Carlyle, Carmi, Casey, Chatham, Fairfield, Farmer City, Flora, Freeburg, Greenup, Highland, Ladd, Marshall, Mascoutah, Metropolis, Naperville, Oglesby, Peru, Princeton, Rantoul, Red Bud, Riverton, Rock Falls, Roodhouse, St. Charles, Sullivan, Waterloo and Winnetka.
NYPA Renewable Hydrogen Demonstration Project To Start In November
October 26, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 26, 2021
The New York Power Authority (NYPA), in collaboration with project partners, will start a demonstration project in November to assess the potential of substituting renewable hydrogen for a portion of the natural gas used to generate power at its Brentwood Power Station on Long Island.
Project partners are the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), General Electric (GE), Airgas, an Air Liquide company, Sargent & Lundy, and Fresh Meadow Power.
Representatives from the project partner organizations were on site in Brentwood on Oct. 25 to view progress on plant readiness to begin the project.
The NYPA-led, first-of-its-kind demonstration will evaluate the effects of different concentrations of hydrogen blended with natural gas at regular intervals to assess the blend’s effect on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and its overall system and environmental impacts, including nitrogen oxide emissions.
At the close of this short-term project, peer-reviewed results will be shared with the industry and public to better inform what efforts can help New York State reach its goal of reducing carbon emissions 85 percent by 2050. The project is expected to last between six and eight weeks.
NYPA’s Brentwood Power Station, which is operated by a GE LM-6000 combustion turbine fueled by natural gas, was commissioned in 2001 to increase power generation capacity for Long Island and New York City in anticipation of shortages.
As the gas turbine’s original equipment manufacturer, GE will supply a state-of-the art hydrogen/natural gas blending system and support the project’s planning and execution.
Sargent & Lundy, acting as the engineer of record for the project, will provide overall engineering and safety reviews.
Airgas is the supplier of renewable hydrogen and Fresh Meadow Power is providing piping system design, material procurement and installation services.
EPRI conducts research, development, and demonstration projects, with a focus on electricity generation, delivery, and use in collaboration with the electricity sector, its stakeholders and others.
The American Public Power Association recently issued a report that offers a perspective on where the emerging hydrogen market is in the U.S. and globally, what is driving the growing interest in hydrogen and what obstacles are preventing hydrogen technology from being able to scale-up.
Lansing Board of Water and Light Seeks Information On Battery Storage-Only Projects
October 26, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 26, 2021
Michigan public power utility Lansing Board of Water and Light (BWL) is soliciting information for battery storage-only projects. Specifically, BWL is interested in learning about all aspects of storage projects, such as how they can be scheduled, priced, sited and more.
Information received in response to the request for information (RFI) may be used to assist the BWL in planning the scope of future technology studies, deployment, or technology commercialization efforts.
BWL may also use the RFI to gain public input on its efforts and formulate plans to mobilize investments.
“The information collected may be used for internal BWL planning and decision-making to ensure that future activities maximize public ownership while advancing the BWL’s goals for leading and building a competitive, clean energy utility and reducing carbon pollution,” the RFI said.
BWL noted that it is issuing the RFI solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a request for proposal.
Responses to the RFI are due by Nov. 30, 2021 and it is available here.
BWL currently provides electricity to more than 97,000 customers and drinking water to nearly 56,000 customers in the greater Lansing area. BWL also serves the Lansing downtown district with steam, heating, and chilled water.
APPA storage tracker
The American Public Power Association recently launched a Public Power Energy Tracker, which is a resource for association members that summarizes energy storage projects undertaken by members that are currently online.
The tracker is available here.
70 Public Power Utilities Earn Smart Energy Provider Designation
October 26, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 26, 2021
Seventy public power utilities have earned a Smart Energy Provider (SEP) designation from the American Public Power Association. The designations were presented on October 26 during APPA’s Customer Connections Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.
SEP designees are recognized for demonstrating commitment to and proficiency in energy efficiency, distributed generation, and environmental initiatives that support a goal of providing low-cost, quality, safe, and reliable electric service.
In total, 97 public power utilities nation-wide hold the Smart Energy Provider designation.
The SEP designation, which lasts for two years (December 1, 2021 to November 30, 2023) recognizes public power utilities for demonstrating leading practices in four key disciplines: smart energy program structure; energy efficiency and distributed energy programs; environmental and sustainability initiatives; and the customer experience. This is the third year APPA has offered the SEP designation.
In an episode of the Public Power Now podcast, Liz Jambor, manager of data analytics and business intelligence at Austin Energy in Texas, discussed the SEP Program and her work as chair of the SEP review panel. To listen to the December 2020 episode, click here.
The full list of SEP designees is available here.
Kansas Municipal Utilities Completes Another Successful Distribution Overhead Workshop
October 26, 2021
by APPA News
October 26, 2021
Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU) earlier this month completed another successful Electric Distribution Overhead Workshop, which offers training sessions on overhead installation, construction, maintenance requirements and techniques and provides attendees with the opportunity to practice these job tasks in a simulated energized environment.
Brian Meek, KMU’s Director of Training and Safety, noted that the 36-acre KMU training field contains an example of almost every situation encountered in the real world.
Trainees work in crews that are assembled from multiple different utilities. “The multi-utility crew composition forces trainees to hone their communication skills and adapt to the different work practices that are performed by different municipalities,” he said. The workshop is designed to offer training for all experience levels of lineworkers, from apprentice to crew leader. The workshop is taught primarily by journey lineman from across Kansas.
This year’s workshop kicked off with a simulated mutual aid event, Meek noted. Prior to trainee arrival, the field was prepped to simulate a tornado touchdown. Poles were cut down or pushed over, crossarms were broken, lines were cut, and insulators were damaged.
When the trainees arrived, they were given a class on mutual aid response followed by a briefing of the potential damage in the field. After the briefing, the trainees formed their work crews with their instructors and had to access and repair the damage within 3 hours. This exercise also required multi-crew coordination to ensure that everyone could accomplish their tasks safely.
Throughout the workshop, apprentices in the KMU Lineworker apprenticeship program complete required program skill evaluations and participate in hurt man rescue exercises, Meek said.
Meanwhile, Meek detailed how the 2021 KMU Electric Distribution Overhead Workshop that wrapped up on October 1 was a success.
“During our workshops we ensure that safety is the top priority,” he said. “The number one success for the workshop is that no one was injured during their training,” Meek noted.
“Building on that success, a large number of apprentices were able to perform activities that they have never completed before. By completing these tasks in a real-world situation but with the absence of the electrical hazard, the trainees can make mistakes without deadly consequences.”
This practice time improves their skills to ensure the work can be completed safely when they return to their municipalities, Meek said.
“Lastly, networking is one of the most commonly overlooked benefits of the workshop. Trainees leave the facility with the contact information for other lineman in neighboring utilities. The relationships they build during the workshop spill over into their regular work lives. When they have questions or need help, they call their classmates for help. Most workshop attendees say that the networks they build during the classes provide invaluable benefits.”
Meek noted that this year marked the 10th year for the workshop. “When the workshop began there was no training center and no poles, just an open field. As time went on and the amount of poles and simulated circuits grew, we were able to get more complex in our offerings,” he said.
“Two years ago, we modified the workshop significantly. In the first eight years, trainees would spend a set amount of time at a ‘training station’ learning one aspect. They would then rotate stations after a set amount of time. The workshop was modified to create work crews and allow the crews to work an actual job from start to finish during the week.”
This format incorporates all of the aspects that were taught in the stations, but in a more real-world and comprehensive setting, Meek noted. “Last year we added the mutual aid component discussed earlier. All of these evolutions have occurred based on the input of the trainees and the instructors. I believe this is why the workshop continues to grow. This year we had a record number of participants (59) and were at capacity for the number of instructors we had.”
The Electric Distribution Overhead Workshop takes place at KMU’s Training Center in McPherson, Kansas.
“We have a large number of training events at our facility each year,” Meek noted. “In addition to the Overhead Workshop we offer an Underground Electric Distribution Workshop, Transformer Connections Workshop, Power Plant Operator Workshop, Watt-Hour Metering School, Substation Workshop, T&D Switching Workshop, multiple Leadership Seminars, a CDL workshop, multiple Utility Locate Certification Workshops, Gas Pipeline Operator Workshop, multiple Mobile Crane Certification Workshops, and a variety of water and wastewater classes.”
In 2022, “we will be expanding our workshop offerings to include heavy equipment workshops,” he said.
In addition to the workshops, “we also host our lineworker apprenticeship training program. This program has grown to over 70 apprentices.”
Colin Hansen, who is currently Executive Director of Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU), is the chair of the American Public Power Association’s Board of Directors.
It was recently announced that Hansen will be joining Kansas Power Pool (KPP) effective Feb. 1, 2022 as KPP’s new CEO and General Manager.
FERC Rejects Bid To Require TVA To Provide Open Access Transmission Service
October 25, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 25, 2021
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Oct. 21 denied a request by local power companies (LPCs) that the Commission require the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to provide open access transmission service to the LPCs pursuant to section 211A of the Federal Power Act (FPA).
In January 2021, Tennessee-based Athens Utilities Board, Gibson Electric Membership Corporation, Joe Wheeler Electric Membership Corporation and Volunteer Energy Cooperative filed a request seeking a Commission order requiring TVA to provide transmission service under section 211A of the FPA and interconnection service under section 210 of the FPA (Docket Nos. EL21-40-000, TX21-1-000).
In late August 2021, Joe Wheeler Electric Membership Corporation filed a notice seeking to withdraw its participation in the petition and indicating that it had reached an agreement on a new power supply arrangement with TVA. It is therefore no longer a petitioner in the proceeding.
The LPCs currently purchase their full power supply and delivery requirements from TVA under bundled full requirements power supply contracts.
They said in their petition that they were seeking unbundled transmission service from TVA, which they said is the only transmission provider that can feasibly serve them, in accordance with the Commission’s longstanding open access principles.
In response, TVA argued that that the Commission lacks statutory authority under section 211A of the FPA to grant the request of the LPCs. TVA said that while section 211A authorizes the Commission to require government-owned utilities to provide the type of service the LPCs sought, TVA asserted that FERC’s authority to require TVA to provide transmission service under section 211A is limited by another provision of the FPA – section 212(j).
TVA further argued that section 211A gives the Commission discretionary authority to oversee the rates and non-rate terms and conditions for transmission service that is already being provided, but not to order new wheeling service.
TVA also said that the interpretation of section 211A by the LPCs would destroy TVA’s ability to meet its broad statutory mandate to support the physical, economic, and social welfare of the TVA region and balance its varied missions to achieve that mandate.
Moreover, TVA argued that the Commission’s exercise of its authority under section 211A is discretionary, extremely rare, and must advance the public interest. TVA therefore asserted that there is no basis for exercising any such authority in the LPC proceeding.
In considering the public interest, TVA asserted that, due to a statutory “Fence,” stranded costs resulting from the loss of LPC load could not be mitigated and would shift to remaining LPCs.
The TVA Fence refers to the non-physical boundary that the U.S. Congress placed around TVA’s service territory in 1959.
FERC Order
In an order approved at its Oct. 21 open meeting, FERC noted that Section 211A of the FPA provides that “the Commission may, by rule or order, require an unregulated transmitting utility to provide transmission services.” Thus, FERC’s authority under section 211A is discretionary.
“In this case, we decline to issue a rule or order requiring TVA to offer unbundled transmission service to petitioners or to outside power suppliers to serve load within the TVA Fence under section 211A, and thus we deny the petition,” FERC said.
FERC clarified that, contrary to claims that unregulated transmitting utilities must “abide by” section 211A, there are no established requirements under section 211A that an unregulated transmitting utility must meet, so there can be no “violation” of section 211A by an unregulated transmitting utility.
The Commission’s jurisdiction under section 211A(b)(1) is not invoked automatically upon action by an unregulated transmitting utility, it said.
Rather the Commission “has the discretion to choose to exercise, or as relevant here to instead choose to not exercise, this authority.”
FERC Chairman Richard Glick issued a separate statement concurring in the decision, as did Commissioners Mark Christie and James Danly. Commissioner Allison Clements dissented from the order.
FERC Commissioners Weigh In On Southeast Energy Exchange Market Vote
October 25, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 25, 2021
Commissioners at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently weighed in with their views on a proposed agreement for a Southeast automated, intra-hour energy exchange. The agreement recently took effect as a result of a deadlock on the Commission.
In an Oct. 13 notice, FERC noted that pursuant to section 205 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), in the absence of Commission action on or before Oct. 11, 2021, the proposed Southeast Energy Exchange Market (SEEM) agreement became effective by operation of law.
The Commission did not act on the proposed SEEM agreement “and concurrences thereto because the Commissioners are divided two against two as to the lawfulness of the change,” the notice said. Under a provision added to the FPA in 2018, each Commissioner must provide a statement explaining the Commissioner’s views on any filing that goes into effect as a result of such a deadlock.
Chairman Glick
“Expanding regional electricity markets is one of the single most important steps that the Commission can take to save customers money, enhance reliability, and integrate intermittent resources most efficiently,” said FERC Chairman Richard Glick. He believes regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) “are, by far, the best way to achieve these benefits.”
“From my perspective, utilities and other stakeholders in this region should be working to establish an RTO/ISO in the Southeast for the benefit of consumers and to promote grid reliability. But that is not the proposal presented to us in this docket,” he said in an Oct. 20 statement.
Glick said he believes that much of the SEEM proposal arguably satisfies the standard for FERC approval under Section 205 of the FPA. “However, I voted no in large part because the filing parties’ proposal to apply the Mobile-Sierra public interest presumption to the Southeast EEM Agreement violates well-established Commission precedent. When Mobile-Sierra applies, the Commission must presume that the relevant agreement meets the statutory just-and-reasonable standard, so the agreement can only be changed if it seriously harms the ‘public interest,’ a significantly higher evidentiary hurdle,” he wrote.
“Considering the history of entrenched resistance to organized markets in the Southeast, the Southeast EEM represents at least a positive step forward,” Glick said. “Currently, several large incumbent utilities serve most of the consumers in the Southeast as bundled retail customers. Delivering power across multiple balancing authority areas in the region requires multiple transmission reservations and payment of pancaked transmission rates. A centralized and competitive wholesale market in the Southeast, or at least something closer to that model, is a step in the right direction.”
But finding a proposal just and reasonable and not unduly discriminatory or preferential under Section 205 of the FPA requires that it be more than just a step in the right direction, he said. The filing parties initially proposed to apply Mobile-Sierra to the entire SEEM agreement and later narrowed that to a smaller subset of “enumerated provisions.”
“I cannot support this part of the proposal because I believe that application of the Mobile-Sierra presumption here violates Commission precedent. Under that well-settled precedent, the Mobile-Sierra presumption applies to a contract ‘only if the contract has certain characteristics that justify the presumption,’” Glick said.
He argued that the SEEM agreement fails this test. Applying the Mobile-Sierra public interest presumption to at least the enumerated provisions of the SEEM agreement departs from FERC’s precedent without justification, he said.
“We must always tread cautiously when determining whether a presumption that an agreement satisfies the statutory ‘just and reasonable’ standard is applicable,” wrote Glick.
Had the Commission been able to reach agreement on the Mobile-Sierra issue, “I believe that our existing statutory protections against undue discrimination would have been sufficient to address protestors’ concerns about the Southeast EEM and to protect consumers and market participants in the region. Applying the Mobile-Sierra presumption in these circumstances will make it more difficult for third parties or even the Commission to mount legitimate challenges in the future to the justness and reasonableness of the Southeast EEM. Put simply, there is no need (and no basis) to apply the Mobile-Sierra presumption here — and there is considerable risk to the public in doing so.”
Aside from his disagreement on the Mobile-Sierra issue, Glick was willing to support the SEEM proposal, as modified by the filing parties’ June 7 and August 11 responses to Commission deficiency letters, because he believes the modified proposal otherwise meets the “just and reasonable” standard of section 205 of the FPA.
Glick said the stated benefits of this platform, “though unverified, appear to be meaningful: The filing parties project over $100 million per year in market-wide savings by 2037 assuming higher renewable and energy storage penetration across the region, or $40 million per year relative to the current bilateral market under a more conservative estimate.”
For customers to realize such benefits, however, “market outcomes must be the product of genuine competition, not market manipulation. For this reason, I share the concern of many that the Southeast EEM Agreement may present opportunities for the participants to engage in manipulation.”
He noted that the SEEM parties made commitments, in their responses to deficiency letters, to provide additional transparency safeguards.
“While the original filings, not those subsequent responses, go into effect by operation of law, I urge the parties to stand by their additional commitments on transparency,” wrote Glick.
“Beyond what the parties have offered, the Commission has the tools — and stands ready — to investigate any potential fraudulent or manipulative conduct and take any corrective action as needed, including imposing civil penalties. As I have often stated, guarding against market manipulation remains one of the core obligations vested in this agency by Congress. I intend for the Commission to continue to remain vigilant on this front.”
Commissioner Clements
“To be very clear, my lack of support for the instant proposal is not because I would prefer a different market structure or that I fail to appreciate the parameters of the legal inquiry that Section 205 prescribes,” said Commissioner Allison Clements.
“I am cognizant of Section 205’s requirements that we not let perfect be the enemy of the good and that we can only review the proposal in front of us. But legal insufficiency must foreclose Commission approval. In my view, the Southeast EEM, as proposed, contains infirmities that compel the Commission to find that the Filing Parties have not satisfied their legal burden,” she wrote in a statement.
She voiced concern that the SEEM may expose participants to unjust and unreasonable rates and said she agreed with Glick’s conclusion that applying the Mobile-Sierra standard to the generally applicable SEEM Agreement provisions, even the “enumerated provisions” identified in the response to the first deficiency letter from FERC, would violate Commission precedent.
By failing to reject the SEEM as proposed, FERC “compromises its fundamental principles of transparency, oversight and fair and open market access,” Clements said. “Failing to apply these principles to this market is dangerous not only because of the discriminatory and unjust rate impacts it may impart in the region, but because it may inhibit the Commission’s ability to ensure that other organized markets, existing or forthcoming, are just and reasonable and not unduly discriminatory.”
She argued that failing to reject the proposal “is likely to invite future attacks on the Commission’s fundamental market design safeguards in existing and future markets across the country.”
Commissioner Christie
Commissioner Mark Christie said that the SEEM proposal meets the standard for approval under section 205 of the FPA.
“The opposition to this proposal stems from one core issue: the goal of many interest groups to force the Southeastern states into a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) or at least into a halfway-house to an RTO now, with full submission later,” Christie asserted.
Christie said he would have voted to accept the SEEM proposal as a package. The filings “unquestionably meet the statutory criteria for acceptance under section 205 and should have been approved by majority vote of this Commission,” wrote Christie in his statement. He said he would have voted to approve the SEEM proposal as a package within the deadline of August 6, 2021 created by a May 4 FERC deficiency letter.
He said that “any claim in this record that an RTO would provide ‘more’ benefits than those offered by the Southeast EEM is purely speculative and unpersuasive.” The issue of RTO benefits versus costs and disadvantages, “in terms of both reliability and consumer protection, are complex and multi-faceted.”
The only proposal before the Commission is the SEEM “and under section 205 the Commission’s analysis is limited to whether this proposal is just and reasonable and not whether some other proposal is more just or more reasonable,” he wrote in his Oct. 20, 2021 statement.
Commissioner Danly
For his part, Commissioner James Danly said that the Commission’s “deficient notice is just one more in a line of improper procedural maneuvers that have unjustifiably delayed the establishment of this market and delayed the issuance of a merits order by half a year.”
Danly said that “in the face of all of the potential benefits that could be realized by the creation of the Southeast EEM, and the fact that there is virtually no downside to its implementation, there is simply no lawful basis upon which to reject this submission.”
While protestors raise concerns with various aspects of the SEEM proposal, “we should have found that the filing parties have satisfied their burden under FPA section 205, and we should have ruled on the proposal before us and not upon protestors’ alternatives.”
He noted that FERC will get a second chance to issue a merits order in response to requests for rehearing. “I sincerely hope that wisdom prevails, and that the Southeast EEM proposal is ultimately accepted,” he said in his statement.
However, should this matter eventually come to the court under FPA section 205(g), “the court should remand it back to FERC for an order in the first instance. Failing that, if the court chooses to issue a decision on the merits, it should deny the petitions for review and remand with instructions that every aspect of the filers’ submission — in all related dockets — be accepted,” Danly said.
Background on SEEM
On Feb. 12, 2021, Southern Company Services, Inc., as agent for Alabama Power Company, filed the SEEM agreement on behalf of itself and the other prospective members of the SEEM. In addition, seven prospective SEEM members on Feb. 12, 2021 submitted certificates of concurrence to the SEEM agreement.
Over the summer, SEEM members offered changes to the proposal that they said would create greater oversight ability for FERC and more transparency for all participants.
Fitch Highlights Fayetteville Public Works Commission’s Strong Financial Performance
October 24, 2021
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 24, 2021
Fitch Ratings has assigned and affirmed an “AA” rating to bonds issued by North Carolina’s Fayetteville Public Works Commission (PWC). The rating reflects PWC’s very strong financial performance characterized by very low leverage, strong operating cash flow and healthy liquidity, Fitch said.
The rating outlook is stable for the public power utility, Fitch said.
Additional planned debt issuances to fund capital expenditures over the next five years will increase leverage for PWC, but Fitch believes revenue contributions from the utility’s multiple business lines, which includes electric, water and wastewater systems, will continue to support ratios consistent with the current rating.
“PWC maintains strong revenue defensibility assessment, which is buoyed by each utility system’s monopolistic revenue source characteristics and autonomous rate setting ability,” Fitch said.
The rating also considers an expectation for lower electric operating costs following the execution of PWC’s renegotiated Power Supply and Coordination Agreement with Duke Energy Progress, LLC in November 2019.
The power supply agreement is expected to save PWC approximately $300 million through the remaining life of the contract which extends to 2042, although PWC has the option to terminate the contract in 2032, and in each year thereafter, if it provides a three-year written notice.
Fitch assigned the “AA” rating to approximately $98.3 million revenue bonds, series 2021, issued by PWC.
In addition, Fitch affirmed the “AA” rating to approximately $266.6 million outstanding series 2014, series 2016 and series 2018 parity revenue bonds issued by PWC.
In addition, Fitch has assessed PWC’s Standalone Credit Profile (SCP) at “aa.” The SCP represents the credit profile of the utility on a stand-alone basis irrespective of its relationship with and the credit quality of the city of Fayetteville, N.C.