Skip Navigation

NYPA Reaches Milestone In Modernization, Digitization Of Niagara Power Plant

October 5, 2021

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 5, 2021

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has completed a $460 million modernization and life extension project of its Lewiston Pump Generating Plant and the digitization of the first of 13 hydropower turbines at the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant.

The Lewiston and Robert Moses pump generating plants together comprise the 2,675-megatwatt (MW) Niagara Power Project, the largest generating station in New York State.

The digitization is the first major milestone of Next Generation Niagara, a $1.1 billion, 15-year program to extend the operating life of the Niagara Power Project.

The modernization and life extension of the Lewiston Pump Generating Plant began in 2012 and included the replacement of the facility’s 12 pump turbines and its generator step-up transformers, which date back to 1961 when the Niagara plant first entered service.

The work involved the replacement of one pump turbine every eight to nine months, ensuring that 11 of the 12 turbines were available for operation during the upgrade so that NYPA could meet commitments to its power customers.

The Lewiston pump provides energy when power demand peaks and supplements the output of the Robert Moses plant, which is the main generating facility at the Niagara Power Project.

The Next Generation Niagara program aims to extend the operating life of the Robert Moses plant. The recently completed installation of new digital controls on the first turbine generator unit included making corresponding digital connections to the facility’s control room as part of the plant’s overall control room upgrade and redesign, and to the plant’s switchyard where Niagara’s power is distributed across New York’s transmission system. In the switchyard, workers installed digital controls on the transformers and circuit breakers corresponding to the upgraded turbine.

In addition to digitizing the plant’s generating units and building a new back-up control room, the Next Generation Niagara initiative encompasses a comprehensive inspection of the Robert Moses plant’s penstocks, the 485-foot pipes that carry water from the forebay to the turbine generators; replacement of the 630-ton crane that enables mechanical work on the turbines; and the overhaul and/or replacement of mechanical components that have reached the end of their operating life.

A planned unit outage to digitize the next turbine generator unit is expected to begin in May 2022.

The digitization and modernization projects represent nearly $1.6 billion of clean energy infrastructure investments at the Niagara plant intended to advance New York State’s goal to transition to 100 percent carbon dioxide free electricity by 2040.

OPPD Partnership With Nebraska State Agency To Provide Peregrine Falcon Education Resources

October 5, 2021

by Vanessa Nikolic
APPA News
October 5, 2021

Nebraska’s Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) recently partnered to provide education resources to help educators across the state teach students about peregrine falcons, their role in the ecosystem, and how peregrines have adapted to survive in the wild. 

The peregrine falcon was added to the endangered species list in the 1970s, but was able to survive due to extensive conservation efforts that helped advance its growth in numbers. 

A family of peregrines currently live on OPPD’s North Omaha Station. The public power utility set up a live webcam with footage that can be viewed on Facebook, YouTube, and on OPPD’s website. The livestream has attracted thousands of viewers from across the country each year. 

OPPD planned to develop a poster detailing the family tree of peregrines living on their north tower. OPPD staff reached out to NGPC to see if they would be interested in partnering on the project. 

Staff members at OPPD provided creative services in designing the poster and gathering information for it. The poster was sent to NGPC experts for review before final printing. 

While OPPD worked on finalizing the poster, NGPC worked to create several lesson plans focusing on grades 2-12. 

The lesson plans for younger students are designed to teach them about peregrine falcons by using researching and writing skills. The middle school lesson plans teach students about wildlife adaptations and the adaptations that make peregrine falcons successful hunters and flyers. The lesson plan for older students aims to teach them about population dynamics and emphasizes the impact of pesticides on peregrine falcon populations through the last 100 years. 

NGPC fish and wildlife education division administrator Lindsay Rogers said the peregrine falcons, like all wildlife species, are important to NGPC because of their unique role in the ecosystem. She said the ability for viewers to watch the peregrine nest in real time is a great way to highlight how people are connected through shared spaces with wildlife animals. 

“Our goal with these resources is to provide teachers and students with background information and meaningful educational resources to engage students in learning about Nebraska’s wildlife species while also gaining an understanding of their role in conserving wildlife species and natural resources,” Rogers said. 

OPPD wildlife and natural resources specialist Chris Vrtiska said OPPD’s involvement in the peregrine project aligns with the utility’s broader environmental efforts. 

“Our mission is to provide affordable, reliable, environmentally sensitive energy services,” Vrtiska said. “This partnership with Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, and our educational outreach, are excellent examples of OPPD’s efforts to be good stewards of and enhance the environment.” 

All lesson plans are available for download at: http://outdoornebraska.gov/peregrinefalconlessonplans/

Nebraska teachers can request the poster on NGPC’s website as well. 

In addition to OPPD’s peregrine collaboration with NGPC, the utility is currently partnering with the Nebraska state agency on an Osprey Nest Camera project at OPPD’s Fort Calhoun Station. OPPD built an artificial nest structure earlier this year to replace a structure that a pair of ospreys were using for nesting that was demolished as part of Fort Calhoun Station’s decommissioning.

CISA and NIST Take First Step in Implementing Presidential Memo on Cybersecurity

October 5, 2021

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 5, 2021

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have identified recommended cybersecurity practices intended to serve as the foundation for preliminary control system cybersecurity performance goals.

The recommendations were made to comply with a July 28 presidential memorandum on national security that established a voluntary initiative intended to foster collaboration between the federal government and the critical infrastructure community to improve cybersecurity of control systems.

The memorandum instructed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to lead the development of preliminary cross-sector control system cybersecurity performance goals as well as sector-specific performance goals within one year of the date of memorandum. The goals are intended to provide a common understanding of the baseline security practices that critical infrastructure owners and operators should follow to protect national and economic security, as well as public health and safety.

As an initial step in that process, CISA and NIST looked at available control system resources and recommended practices that have been generated by government and the private sector.

CISA and NIST identified nine categories of recommended cybersecurity practices to serve as the foundation for preliminary control system cybersecurity performance goals.

The nine categories are:

Each of the nine goals includes specific objectives that support the deployment and operation of secure control systems that are further organized into baseline and enhanced objectives.

All the outlined goals are foundational and represent high-level cybersecurity best practices and are not intended as an exhaustive guide to all facets of an effective cybersecurity program, CISA and NIST said. The enumerated goals are preliminary and were developed and refined with as much interagency and industry input as practical during the initial timeline of the overarching cybersecurity initiative.

The Department of Homeland Security said it expects to conduct much more extensive stakeholder engagement as the goals are finalized in the coming months.

NHA Report Identifies Challenges To Realizing Pumped Storage’s Potential

October 5, 2021

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 5, 2021

A new report from the National Hydropower Association (NHA) provides recommendations for policymakers and other stakeholders aimed at raising the profile of pumped storage hydropower (PSH) and making the technology better able to support the growing level of intermittent renewable resources coming on to the grid.

The 2021 Pumped Storage Report notes that pumped storage provides 94 percent of the bulk energy storage in the United States, but the last PSH project—a 40 megawatt (MW) plant in California – was commissioned in 2012.

“The acceleration of wind and solar deployments underscores the increasing need to integrate large amounts of variable resources,” Cameron Schilling, NHA’s vice president of market strategies and regulatory affairs, said in a statement. “This report shines a spotlight on the value of pumped storage, while providing a path forward for solving the market, policy and regulatory hurdles that hinders its growth. In addition to financing, for pumped storage to fully realize its growth potential, it requires market policies that appropriately value its grid services.”

A total of 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of PSH projects have received permitting authorizations, and over 50 GW of PSH have been issued preliminary permits or in the process of receiving permits, but no new projects have yet to begin construction.

The report also noted that pumped storage hydropower is nearly two to three times less expensive than lithium-ion batteries on a per kilowatt hour (kWh) basis and PSH’s annual operations and maintenance costs at $20 per kilowatt hour year are three times lower than batteries.

Nonetheless, NHA said the key takeaway from a 2020 survey of developers it conducted is that developing a PSH project is “a risk, and without some policy or market modifications there may not be adequate long-duration energy storage capacity to meet the demand from wind and solar resources.”

The NHA report recommends that

“Current market and energy policies do not fully value the critical services that PSH can provide to the grid,” the NHA report said.

With the potential for 50 GW of pumped storage, “now is the time to develop new long-duration energy storage resources to enable a reliable, clean energy grid, the NHA report said.

APPA Outlines Support For Several Measures Included In Infrastructure Legislation

October 4, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 4, 2021

In a recent letter to Congressional leadership, Joy Ditto, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association (APPA), detailed APPA’s support for provisions in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684). 

“We appreciate that H.R. 3684 includes significant investments in energy infrastructure, including investments in electric vehicle supply equipment, the transmission and distribution systems that make up our electric grids, cybersecurity, and federal research, development, and deployment of cutting-edge energy technology,” wrote Ditto in the Sept. 29 letter.

“Robust federal support remains critical as public power utilities continue to transition to cleaner energy resources, all while keeping their rates affordable and ensuring reliable service for their customers,” she said.

APPA is particularly supportive of section 11401, which would establish a Department of Transportation grant program for entities, which includes public power utilities, to deploy alternative fuel vehicle infrastructure, including for electric and hydrogen vehicles. 

“This funding, as well as grants to states for electric vehicle charging equipment, will help public power utilities as they seek to support the specific transportation needs of their local communities,” Ditto noted in the letter.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would also fund programs to prevent outages and increase grid resiliency (section 40101), deploy innovative smart grid technology (section 40107), and increase appropriations for both the Weatherization Assistance Program and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) program to assist low-income families with their energy costs.  

Cybersecurity is another key element of a reliable energy system, Ditto said. 

“While the electric utility industry and its federal government partners have made great strides in addressing cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities in recent years, we must redouble our efforts to keep pace with the changing grid and security threat landscape. APPA strongly supports the bill’s increase in funding for various energy sector cybersecurity programs and efforts,” she wrote in the letter. 

APPA supports section 40121, which would require the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program to promote and advance the physical and cybersecurity of electric utilities, with priority provided to utilities with fewer resources. 

This provision will build on the existing successful public-private partnership between APPA and the Department of Energy to bring greater resources, training, and tools for cyber and physical security to small- and medium-sized electric utilities.  

As public power utilities continue their efforts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change, “APPA appreciates that H.R. 3684 builds on the success of the Energy Act of 2020 to fund DOE research on a host of innovative technologies, including carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, energy storage, advanced nuclear, and solar power.” 

Maintaining and enhancing hydropower as a generating resource “will also be critical to ensuring reliable power during this transition and APPA strongly supports the provisions of the bill that increase incentives for hydropower production and improvements,” Ditto said.

“APPA truly appreciates that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act recognizes the importance of energy infrastructure, which is the lifeblood of our nation’s economic and national security, as well as vital to the health and safety of all Americans. We thank you for your leadership and for the support as public power utilities work tirelessly to provide reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity to their customers and your constituents,” Ditto wrote. 

H.R. 3684 passed the Senate on August 10 and is currently under consideration by the House of Representatives but the timing of a vote on the bill remains unclear as of Oct. 4.

Peninsula Clean Energy Enters First Solar-Plus-Storage Power Purchase Agreement

October 1, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 1, 2021

California community choice aggregator (CCA) Peninsula Clean Energy and Leeward Renewable Energy have entered into a 15-year solar-plus-storage power purchase agreement (PPA) tied to Leeward’s 102-megawatt (MW) Chaparral Solar Facility in Kern County, California.

As part of the agreement, Redwood, Calif.-based Peninsula Clean Energy will also purchase the energy and capacity from Chaparral’s 52 MW (208 megawatt-hour) battery storage system.

Peninsula Clean Energy’s board of directors on September 25 approved the PPA, which is the organization’s first to involve a solar-plus-storage project. The CCA said that the Chaparral project will allow Peninsula Clean Energy to take another step toward its goal of delivering 100 percent renewable energy generation to its customers across San Mateo County and the City of Los Banos, Calif.

Construction of the facility will begin in December 2021 and the project is expected to begin delivering energy to Peninsula Clean Energy by December 2023. Leeward will own and operate the facility.

Peninsula Clean Energy is the official electricity provider for San Mateo County and, beginning in 2022, for the City of Los Banos. Founded in 2016, the agency serves 295,000 customers.

Peninsula Clean Energy is on track to deliver electricity that is 100 percent renewable by 2025 and has earned investment grade credit ratings from Moody’s and Fitch.

The American Public Power Association has initiated a new category of membership for community choice aggregation programs.

Additional information about Leeward is available here.

TVA Plays Key Role In Drawing New Ford EV And Battery Manufacturing Plant To Tennessee

October 1, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 1, 2021

Ford Motor Company recently announced that it will be locating an electric vehicle (EV) and battery manufacturing plant in West Tennessee at a site certified through the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Haywood County, Tenn.

This is a $5.6 billion investment — the largest in the state’s history — and will create nearly 6,000 jobs in the area. “TVA is proud to partner with the state of Tennessee, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and others to bring these jobs to Tennessee,” TVA said. 

“Reliable, low-cost, clean energy attracts world-class companies like Ford to the Tennessee Valley,” said TVA CEO Jeff Lyash in a statement. “Bringing jobs and capital investment to this region is what we do at TVA — it’s a fundamental part of our mission — and by helping to bring companies like Ford to this region, we are creating the jobs of the future.”

In an episode of the American Public Power Association’s Public Power Now podcast earlier this year, Lyash discussed TVA’s economic development activities.

TVA said that Ford set high standards in its search for a location for the new production facility and was looking for an energy provider committed to supplying low-cost, low-carbon energy from a reliable, resilient power system. “Tennessee checked those boxes because of TVA, which has one of the nation’s largest, most diverse, and cleanest generation portfolios,” TVA said.

TVA noted that it has been working with the state and others on this effort for more than year to ensure the site is suitable and to show that reliable, clean and low-cost TVA energy will support plant operations.

“TVA Economic Development works to attract new jobs and investment to the Valley, engages with existing industries, and serves with its partners to help foster economic growth,” said Ashton Davies, a spokesperson for TVA.

“To that end, the Economic Development team partners with state, regional and local economic development partners to facilitate site-selection services for companies looking to locate or expand in the seven-state Valley region,” she said.

TVA worked with Ford to provide solutions to meet the company’s sustainability and project needs, Davies said, adding that TVA’s carbon strategy goals align with Ford’s and in partnership with TVA’s local power companies, “we are able to deliver reliable low-cost, sustainable energy.”

TVA has already helped to attract more than $8.2 billion to the Tennessee Valley region for EV and battery manufacturing, which has helped create almost 4,600 EV-related jobs.

TVA is also partnering with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, local power companies and third parties to begin building a fast-charging network across Tennessee and it has partnered with other utilities to be a founding member of the National Electric Highway Coalition.

In August, TVA announced a plan to convert its entire fleet of passenger cars and at least half of its own pickup and light cargo trucks to EVs by 2030.

OUC Completes Purchase Of 510-Megawatt Power Plant

September 30, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 30, 2021

Florida public power utility Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC) on Sept. 28 completed its purchase of the Osceola Generating Station, a 510-megawatt (MW) single-cycle natural gas-fired power plant located near Harmony in Osceola County.

OUC announced plans to purchase the facility last month.

OUC noted that the nearly $100 million deal to purchase and upgrade the inactive plant from Genova, a Texas-based private ownership group, does not change OUC’s commitment to net zero CO2 emissions as outlined in its Electric Integrated Resource Plan (EIRP), the utility’s 30-year energy roadmap.

The acquisition enables OUC to retire its oldest coal-fired power plant, Stanton Unit 1, which went into operation in 1987 at the Stanton Energy Center in east Orange County, instead of converting it to natural gas as stated in the EIRP.

Unit 1’s retirement date has not been determined, but OUC remains committed to significantly reducing coal fired generation no later than 2025 and eliminating it no later than 2027, the utility said.

The 20-year-old Osceola plant is comprised of three separate turbines, known in the industry as “peakers,” which can be powered up or down in just minutes. This capability will be used to mitigate fluctuations in solar energy production.

OUC is aggressively increasing its reliance on solar energy, with plans to boost capacity to power 50,000 typical residential homes by late 2023.

“Acquiring the Osceola Generating Station provides OUC with an extra layer of resiliency because it’s equipped with emergency backup fuel, a critical resource to have on hand in case of fuel supply disruptions and is more cost effective for OUC’s customers than converting and operating Stanton Unit 1,” OUC said.

“As we move forward with our clean energy transition, ensuring operational flexibility is essential to maintaining reliability, resiliency, and affordability for our customers,” OUC General Manager & CEO Clint Bullock said in a statement. “We are also committed to continued investments in solar and energy storage. This purchase of peaker generator units positions us to better manage the solar production fluctuations caused by cloud cover in Florida.”

Under the EIRP, OUC plans to increase the use of renewable energy resources and encourage conservation to reach net zero CO2 emissions by 2050, with interim carbon emissions reductions of 50% and 75% by 2030 and 2040, respectively.

APPA To Assist Public Power Utilities With Energy Storage Under DOE Funding

September 29, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 29, 2021

The American Public Power Association (APPA) will bring together public power utilities to facilitate discussion, evaluate opportunities, and define barriers to integrating energy storage technologies with power plants thanks to funding it has received from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM). APPA will also work with DOE and other stakeholders to mitigate these barriers.

The cooperative agreement issued with the award “will support the development of tools, educational resources and training in long-term planning and policy analysis to improve the conditions of frontline communities impacted by the legacy of fossil fuel use and support a healthy transition to a clean energy economy,” DOE said.

APPA will also develop educational resources, publications and technical tools for public power utilities that will enhance their ability to explore and implement energy storage projects. “This work will directly benefit public power utilities, as well as the customers and communities that rely on them to ensure regional grid stability,” DOE noted.

“Integration of new resources can be leveraged to enhance the resilience of a public power utility,” said Nathan Mitchell, Senior Director of Operations Programs at APPA. “Being knowledgeable and prepared for this energy transition will help position public power utilities to meet the needs of their customers with high resilience and low emission energy delivery systems.”

He noted that energy storage is a developing technology and some public power utilities have utilized it for the benefit of their city and customers.

For example, Sterling Municipal Light Department (SMLD) in Massachusetts in 2019 marked a major milestone related to the department’s two energy storage systems. In March of that year, SMLD celebrated over $1 million in avoided costs to the light department, thanks to the two systems.

APPA plans to utilize the lessons learned from these and other energy storage installations to inform the work of a new energy storage working group to analyze the feasibility of energy storage at fossil fuel plants to enhance resiliency and lower emissions. DOE will provide $100,000 per year for five years, while APPA will provide $25,000 of in-kind cost share per year for five years, for a total value of $625,000.

DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) will serve as the contracting authority for the cooperative agreement.

NYPA Selects Developer for Solar Arrays To Supply To Empire State Plaza

September 29, 2021

by Vanessa Nikolic
APPA News
September 29, 2021

New York State’s Office of General Services (OGS) and the New York Power Authority (NYPA) recently selected a developer for several remote solar arrays that will help power the Empire State Plaza, a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany. 

The solar arrays, which will be located in central New York’s Oneida County, are part of an extensive energy efficiency plan for the Empire State Plaza. The plaza plans to follow the state’s goal of reaching 100% renewable energy by 2040. 

OGS and NYPA have selected DG Development & Acquisitions, an Albany-based subsidiary of NextEra—a leader in wind and solar energy production—to develop more than 30 megawatts of solar generation near the former Oneida County Airport in Oriskany, with the power benefiting the plaza in Albany. 

Officials said the land near the former airport was selected due to its size of about 1,100 acres. 

NYPA president and CEO Gil Quiniones said the project is a key component of OGS’ and NYPA’s plan to improve reliability and sustainability at the plaza. 

“The development of this massive solar project in Oriskany will be the largest concentration of distributed-scale solar generation in New York State, providing a significant benefit to the state and the Empire State Plaza in Albany,” Quiniones said. 

In 2019, NYPA and OGS completed a thorough evaluation of energy options for the Empire State Plaza. The two entities worked together to conduct a series of technical reviews, several community listening sessions, and meetings with neighborhood associations. 

The solar array development is currently in the design phase. The installation of the arrays is expected to begin in 2022 and end in 2023. 

In addition, more than $16 million in LED lighting fixtures will be installed throughout the complex to reduce energy use.

OGS and NYPA have additional plans to conduct a comprehensive energy audit of the plaza to determine what further projects need to be taken into consideration, and continue to align operations with the state’s long-term environmental goals.