Groups Urge Lawmakers to Preserve Maximum Funding for LIHEAP
July 14, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 14, 2023
The American Public Power Association recently joined with 14 other national trade associations in urging lawmakers to protect maximum funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
LIHEAP would see a $11 million funding increase to $4.011 billion under a draft fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill released by the House Committee on Appropriations on July 13 that was scheduled to be considered on July 14 by the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies.
The bill also continues the practice of limiting year-over-year fluctuations in state LIHEAP funding allocations with language that no grantee will receive less than 97 percent of the prior year’s allocation.
“More than five million households depend on LIHEAP each year to remain connected to power for air conditioning or fuel their homes,” APPA and the other groups said in a July 13 letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders.
“Residential cooling is increasingly important as temperatures reach dangerous highs across the country. Most recently, an excessive heat warning has been issued for 76 million Americans across 15 states, where the heat index has reached as high as 120 degrees. Nine people died during the current Texas heat dome in Webb County alone,” the groups said, noting that all were between the ages of 60 and 80, “indicative of the urgent need to protect the homebound and older Americans from the dangers of heat stress.”
LIHEAP “is a lifeline for those in economic distress struggling with basic needs. It protects access to power and fuel, prevents disconnection of service, and contributes to housing and family stability. More than 70 percent of LIHEAP recipient households include one or more vulnerable persons, including seniors, disabled persons, and families with young children,” the letter said.
The groups pointed out that many states also use a portion of the LIHEAP funds to provide home weatherization measures, delivering lower energy bills and rendering homes safer and healthier.
“These services are invaluable when extreme heat threatens households with unsafe indoor air temperatures,” the groups said.
“Those same funds will protect families this winter when frigid temperatures arrive. Surviving at the lowest levels of poverty, LIHEAP recipients make heartbreaking choices every day between food, medicine, or utilities.”
“Congress is facing very difficult budget decisions. However, drastic cuts to LIHEAP are not the answer. Please consider these vulnerable populations as you approach the appropriations process, and protect funding for LIHEAP,” APPA and the other groups said.
Bonneville Power Administration Moves Forward with More Than $2 Billion in Grid Projects
July 14, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 14, 2023
The Bonneville Power Administration on July 13 said that it is moving forward with more than $2 billion in multiple transmission substation and line projects necessary to reinforce the grid.
The projects “are intended to increase capacity and accommodate regional growth, as well as an abundance of new, clean energy resources,” BPA said.
The projects must undergo environmental review and, if constructed, would support thousands of megawatts of renewable energy added to the power grid and help Oregon and Washington customers meet 2030 clean energy targets.
“This move demonstrates a strong commitment to our customers and advances their efforts to meet state clean energy mandates,” said John Hairston, BPA administrator and CEO. “We are setting the stage for an infrastructure decade that should significantly advance our efforts to respond to transmission interconnection and service requests and generate sufficient revenue to allow us to keep rates low.”
Six of the projects would reinforce existing major BPA transmission lines that run from east to west, allowing the flow of energy from the east side of the region to load centers such as the Puget Sound area and Portland. These projects, combined with a handful of smaller projects near Seattle and Portland, would reinforce transmission lines that deliver electricity to BPA customers who serve retail loads in those areas.
“I am proud of Bonneville Power Administration’s forward-leaning action plan to accelerate the development of new transmission in the Pacific Northwest,” said David Crane, Department of Energy under secretary for infrastructure. “This multi-project transmission upgrade program will put Bonneville, its customers across the Northwest and utility partners at the forefront of the nation’s transition to clean energy while reinforcing its historic mission of safe, affordable and resilient energy for all.”
Early estimates indicate the projects would collectively cost approximately $1.35 billion with expected energization between 2025 and 2032. If all are energized, they would provide at least 6,000 MW of additional capacity on BPA’s transmission network.
In addition, BPA is working on four projects in Central Oregon where utilities are experiencing significant growth and are attracting large commercial customers. Projects consist of one new transmission line and three substations. They are estimated to cost $839 million and could accommodate new service for incoming large customers and regional load growth while maintaining high reliability.
These projects are a major part of BPA’s Evolving Grid effort that is designed to take a long view of customer and regional transmission needs over the next two decades.
The list of potential projects is likely to expand when BPA finalizes a 2023 Cluster Study.
Moody’s Upgrades BPA’s Credit Rating
In other recent BPA news, Moody’s has upgraded BPA’s credit rating from Aa2 to Aa1 with a stable outlook, BPA reported in late June.
Aa1 is the second highest rating issued by Moody’s. This is BPA’s first upgrade since 2009 when Fitch and S&P issued upgrades.
Moody’s cited BPA’s recent infusion of $10 billion of additional borrowing authority, an updated financial plan that includes reducing leverage over time, and competitive rates under long-term contracts as the principal justifications for the upgrade.
Moody’s also referenced BPA’s strongly positioned and expansive network of hydropower and transmission assets and the carbon-free nature of its resources as support for the move.
“This reaffirms that BPA’s financial reserves and leverage policies make us stronger. They position us well to continue providing low-cost, clean energy and to make necessary transmission service and expansion investments that will help customers greening their power supplies,” said BPA Chief Financial Officer Marcus Harris. “A financially strong BPA is good for the region’s economy and clean energy future.”
Chelan County Public Utility District Enters New Contract to Supply Power to Utility
July 13, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 13, 2023
Washington State’s Chelan County Public Utility District and Puget Sound Energy recently announced a new contract for renewable hydropower from two PUD hydro projects on the Columbia River.
The five-year “slice” contract supplies PSE with 5% of the output from the PUD’s Rock Island and Rocky Reach hydropower projects from 2024 through 2028. The contract complements an existing contract between the two utilities, while generating revenue for the PUD to provide continued rate stability for its customers.
“This contract is part of an overall strategy designed to provide several benefits to customer-owners,” said Chelan PUD General Manager Kirk Hudson. “Ultimately, surplus energy sales keep Chelan County electric rates well below state and national averages, while also protecting customer rates from the risk of volatile markets and variable streamflow.”
The PUD said it ensures a competitive market price for its customers-owners with the public auction process. Bids are submitted and the PUD selects the highest qualified bidder.
The competitive market pricing also allows the PUD to lock in a margin above production costs for the benefit of its customer-owners.
PSE secured the contract as the highest bidder in an auction in early 2023.
Salt River Project, Municipalities to Invest in Forest Restoration
July 13, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 13, 2023
The Arizona municipalities of Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe have joined forces with the Salt River Project to help pay for bioenergy that supports strategic forest thinning across the Salt River and Verde River watersheds.
SRP signed an agreement with the municipalities to provide funding to extend a purchased power agreement with Novo BioPower in Snowflake, Ariz. that generates renewable bioenergy by processing the small trees that are removed through forest thinning projects in northern Arizona.
The Novo Biopower plant uses small trees from forest thinning, other non-marketable woody material such as branches that are left over from thinning operations, and sawmill residues.
SRP notes that a challenge to restoration efforts is finding marketable options for the enormous amount of low-value, small ponderosa pine trees that are removed.
Bioenergy is one of the few options available to dispose of these trees. By extending the PPA with Novo Biopower, the partnership supports the bioenergy industry and ensures thinning projects move forward to continue protecting watersheds and mitigating wildfire risk, SRP said.
The Biomass Power Partnership provides each municipality with renewable energy credits based on their contribution. In addition, each city will receive watershed restoration and carbon benefits and support almost 2,000 acres of strategic forest thinning every year.
The 10-year agreement is part of SRP’s 2035 sustainability goals to protect the health of the watersheds through partnerships, education and support to thin 500,000 acres of unhealthy overgrown forested lands by 2035.
Arizona forests are at a high risk of catastrophic fires that could significantly impact the watersheds that feed SRP’s reservoir system and provide water to the Valley.
Wildfires degrade water quality, significantly increase water treatment costs, and impact water system resiliency by filling reservoirs with debris and sediment. Strategic forest thinning projects in northern Arizona reduce this risk and also protect nearby communities and wildlife habitats.
SRP manages the water supply for much of the Valley – most of which comes from 8.3 million acres of land in northern Arizona.
Snowfall and rain provide the water that travels through the watershed into SRP reservoirs, which is then delivered to 2.5 million homes and businesses in the Phoenix metropolitan area via an extensive network of canals.
New Illinois Law Allows Park Districts to Enter Solar Agreements
July 13, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 13, 2023
Illinois park districts can enter into agreements for solar energy after Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation into law in late June.
Pritzker signed H.B. 2192 into law on June 30. The law allows park districts to enter into a lease, contract, or other agreement related to the acquisition of solar energy, including the installation, maintenance, and service of solar panels, equipment, or similar technology related to solar energy.
In the wake of the governor’s action, the Wilmette Park District moved to finalize a pending contract with Verde Solutions, a Chicago-based solar company for the installation of a roof-top solar array at its Community Recreation Center, Verde Solutions said on July 11.
Verde Solutions said it is installing the project at no upfront cost to the Wilmette Park District.
The district anticipates significant savings on electricity costs for decades to come, according to the solar firm.
Southwest Power Pool Details Progress in Clearing Interconnection Study Backlog
July 13, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 13, 2023
The Southwest Power Pool on July 12 reported that it has reached the halfway point in clearing the backlog of requests to study the impacts of connecting new generating resources to the region’s power grid.
Over the last several years, overwhelming interest in building new generation – primarily from developers looking to construct wind and solar farms – led to longer than usual timelines in SPP’s study processes.
In response to record growth in its interconnection queue, over the last three years SPP said it has worked to make improvements to the quality of its study models and processes.
In January 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved tariff revisions designed to simplify and reduce SPP’s study timelines.
SPP said it has also taken steps to improve model accuracy, such as posting models and draft interconnection study results for review before the final results and using fuel-based dispatch: enhancing planning models so that they simulate the dispatch of generation more like SPP’s real-world, day-ahead market while identifying transmission needs resulting from the interconnection of new generators.
SPP’s “Definitive Interconnection System Impact Study” (DISIS) process utilizes a three-phase approach to evaluate the impact of the proposed generation to the transmission system and provides a report and decision point window for each phase.
Since the implementation of the backlog mitigation plan, SPP has completed five DISIS Phase One analyses and two Phase Two analyses. The remaining studies are currently on track to be completed by the end of 2024.
SPP said it has seen an exponential increase in installation rates over the last nine years adding a record amount of generation to the resource pool. Within that timeframe, an average of 2,800 MW of new wind generating capacity has been added to our region year over year.
“As a result of the success of the backlog mitigation plan, interconnection customers have executed agreements to add over 14.5 GW of new generation to the system over the next four years,” SPP said.
There are 561 active requests remaining in the SPP interconnection queue, of which approximately 220 of them were submitted in 2022. These requests represent 112 GW of new generation—108 GW of which are renewable, storage or hybrid resources.
To facilitate flexibility for generation requests, SPP has performed more than 27 modification studies to analyze generation changes due to technological advancements and supply chain issues. Several other studies have analyzed the replacement and optimization of existing granted interconnection service with new generation.
Federal Government Releases Electric Vehicle Toolkit for Urban Areas
July 13, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 13, 2023
The U.S. Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, on July 12 released a free technical resource to help larger communities take advantage of federal funding for electric vehicle charging stations and other forms of electric transportation.
The release of the new guide follows the release of the Rural EV toolkit last year and updated earlier this summer.
The new guide, Charging Forward: A Toolkit for Planning and Funding Urban Electric Mobility Infrastructure, provides a comprehensive resource for communities, metropolitan planning organizations, transportation providers, businesses, and property owners and developers by including information on how to scope, plan, and identify ways to best leverage funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The toolkit builds on the efforts of the Joint Office “to provide states and communities across America with information and assistance to accelerate an electrified transportation system that is convenient, affordable, reliable, and equitable,” according to a Department of Transportation news release.
The toolkit also includes guidance to help urban areas implement other forms of electric transportation, such as public transit, electric bikes and scooters, and ride-share services.
Last September, DOT approved plans from all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico to build a nationwide network of EV chargers, supported by $5 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program.
And this spring, DOT opened the application process for the first $700 million of the total $2.5 billion in funding to build EV charging infrastructure in communities and neighborhoods across the country through the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program.
The toolkit builds on recent progress towards the expansion of EV infrastructure, including the recently published minimum standards for federally funded EV infrastructure and President Biden’s EV charging Build America, Buy America requirements.
Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris Administration released the first-ever blueprint to decarbonize the nation’s transportation sector and cut all transportation-related greenhouse emissions by 2050 – an interagency effort between DOT, the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
DOT will be hosting a webinar to present the Urban Electric Mobility Toolkit in more detail. More details will be made available soon on the Joint Office’s website at driveelectric.gov.
In May, DOT released an updated Rural EV Toolkit that incorporated feedback from rural communities and stakeholders on the toolkit’s first iteration.
The updated toolkit includes more information on EV charging programs and information on related topics like public transit and school bus electrification.
The revised toolkit and other rural EV resources are available at www.transportation.gov/rural/ev
NPPD Sends Crews to Help Omaha Public Power District with Power Restoration Efforts
July 12, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 12, 2023
The California Independent System Operator recently reported that more than 5,000 megawatts of battery storage capacity is now online and fully integrated into the electrical grid.
As of July 1, total battery storage on the grid had increased to 5,600 MW. Just three years ago, “we had about 500 MW on the grid and this rapid growth of energy storage in California has significantly improved our ability to manage through challenging grid conditions,” said Elliot Mainzer, the ISO’s president and CEO.
Since the summer of 2020, the ISO has seen a ten-fold increase in storage on the grid. The major driver behind the influx has been a series of storage procurement orders authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission requiring regulated utilities to add storage to their portfolios, CAISO said. These orders also call for significantly more storage in the coming years.
The CPUC’s plans call for a buildout of more than 10,000 MW in aggregate storage capacity on the grid by 2026.
In coming years, the ISO is expecting to see the emergence of new storage technologies as well as longer-duration storage resources that will be able to provide additional value to the grid.
California Now has More than 5,000 MW of Battery Storage Capacity Online
July 12, 2023
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 12, 2023
The California Independent System Operator recently reported that more than 5,000 megawatts of battery storage capacity is now online and fully integrated into the electrical grid.
As of July 1, total battery storage on the grid had increased to 5,600 MW. Just three years ago, “we had about 500 MW on the grid and this rapid growth of energy storage in California has significantly improved our ability to manage through challenging grid conditions,” said Elliot Mainzer, the ISO’s president and CEO.
Since the summer of 2020, the ISO has seen a ten-fold increase in storage on the grid. The major driver behind the influx has been a series of storage procurement orders authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission requiring regulated utilities to add storage to their portfolios, CAISO said. These orders also call for significantly more storage in the coming years.
The CPUC’s plans call for a buildout of more than 10,000 MW in aggregate storage capacity on the grid by 2026.
In coming years, the ISO is expecting to see the emergence of new storage technologies as well as longer-duration storage resources that will be able to provide additional value to the grid.
Florida Municipal Power Agency, Public Power Utilities Unveil Major Expansion of Solar Project
July 12, 2023
by APPA News
July 12, 2023
Florida Municipal Power Agency, in conjunction with 20 Florida public power utilities and Origis Energy, on July 12 announced a major expansion of the Florida Municipal Solar Project, one of the largest municipal-backed solar projects in the nation.
Upon completion, the expansion will quadruple the amount of solar power currently generated by the project.
The project currently consists of two solar farms, Taylor Creek Solar in Orange County and Harmony Solar in Osceola County, that generate nearly 150 megawatts of solar power.
There will be two phases in the expansion. Phase 2 will include the addition of two more solar farms, Rice Creek Solar in Putnam County and Whistling Duck Solar in Levy County. It is anticipated that Rice Creek Solar will be completed by the end of this year and Whistling Duck Solar is projected for completion in 2024. When both new sites are online, they will generate nearly 150 megawatts of solar energy.
Phase 3 of the project will bring another four solar farms online, which will double the size of the project from four to eight sites that will generate nearly 600 megawatts of solar power – four times what is currently being generated. Construction and operation of these four additional sites, which will be located in Columbia, Levy and Bradford Counties, will be staggered throughout 2025 and 2026.
By the end of 2026, the Florida Municipal Solar Project will consist of more than 1.8 million solar panels installed on eight farms.
“By partnering with our municipal electric utilities members and Origis Energy, we are able to take advantage of a great opportunity to increase the volume of our low-cost, reliable solar generation at a time when solar costs have been escalating,” said Jacob Williams, general manager and CEO of FMPA. “Expanding the Florida Municipal Solar Project will also enable us to serve several new communities that haven’t had access to solar before.”
The large-scale solar project enables participants to provide solar energy to customers in the most cost-effective way, FMPA said. The cost of solar power from the project is approximately one-third the cost of a typical private, rooftop solar system, it said.
A total of 20 Florida municipal electric utilities will purchase power from the project: Beaches Energy Services (Jacksonville Beach), Bushnell, Clewiston, Fort Meade, Fort Pierce Utilities Authority, Green Cove Springs, Havana, Homestead, JEA (Jacksonville), Keys Energy Services (Key West), Kissimmee Utility Authority, Lake Worth Beach, Leesburg, Mount Dora, New Smyrna Beach, Newberry, Ocala, Orlando Utilities Commission, Starke, and Winter Park. These cities are member-owners of FMPA along with 13 other municipal utilities
For more information on the Florida Municipal Solar Project or FMPA, visit www.fmpa.com.