Updated ESCC COVID-19 Resource Guide Addresses Contact Tracing
June 29, 2020
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted June 29, 2020
The Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) has updated a resource guide it has developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to add new sections that address planning considerations for contact tracing during mutual assistance and the use of contact tracing for workplace reentry.
The guide was updated with the input of the American Public Power Association and public power utilities. This is version 9 of the guide, which was released on June 26.
The guide is a living document developed under the direction of the ESCC. It has been updated and distributed regularly by the ESCC Secretariat, based on input from several “Tiger Teams” of industry leaders who are tracking key issues related to this global health emergency.
Planning considerations for contact tracing during mutual assistance
In the new section of the guide that discusses planning considerations for contact tracing during mutual assistance, the ESCC says that investor-owned electric and/or natural gas companies, electric cooperatives, and public power utilities should implement and utilize contact tracing programs to identify and assist employees who may have been exposed to the virus.
“Organizations should consider how those tracing programs would be utilized during a mutual assistance deployment that includes non-native employees/contractors from other organizations,” the guide goes on to say.
Prior to the mobilization of crews, a requesting organization should provide responding organizations, including contractors, with an overview of how it will conduct contact tracing for any mutual assistance crew member who tests positive, or has been exposed to the virus, while deployed.
These contact tracing plans for mutual assistance deployments should consider addressing the following:
Reporting: What process should a mutual assistance crew member use to report a positive test result, symptoms, or possible exposure to the virus? Will the requesting/responding organization provide access to testing and access to medical care for mutual assistance crew members with symptoms?
Mitigate: How will the requesting/responding organization support the isolation of the impacted crew member? Will that crew member(s) be released and required to return home immediately? Will the entire crew be required to isolate, or will they be released from the mission?
Investigate: Will the impacted mutual assistance crew member be included as part of the requesting organization’s internal contact tracing efforts? Will mutual assistance crews be required to complete additional documentation, such as detailed logs and summaries of locations visited, to facilitate contact tracing investigations? If so, how will this be facilitated, and what is the retention policy for that documentation?
Inform: Will the requesting organization be required to inform local health authorities when a mutual assistance crew member reports positive test result to the virus?
In addition, the guide suggests addressing the question of how other native and non-native crews, base camp support teams, other housing support staging site staff, food service staff, and customers will be informed of the potential exposure.
Reentering the workplace and contact tracing
The latest version of the guide also said that as organizations begin to consider when and how to transition employees from working remotely to reentering the workplace, they also should consider contact tracing programs as a tool to identify and to assist employees who potentially are exposed to COVID-19.
These programs are designed to protect workers, their families, and their communities by slowing or stopping the transmission of the virus.
Along with listing typical steps for contact tracing (report, mitigate, investigate, inform and track and follow up), the guide also offers a detailed set of approaches for contact tracing.
The latest version of the guide is available here.
House Bill Supported By APPA Makes Energy Tax Credits Available To Public Power
June 26, 2020
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted June 26, 2020
House Subcommittee on Select Revenues Chairman Mike Thompson, D-Calif., on June 25 introduced legislation that will allow public power utilities to directly benefit from energy tax incentives.
The American Public Power Association is one of more than 20 organizations that have voiced support for Thompson’s bill, the Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now (GREEN) Act (H.R. 7330).
“APPA applauds Representative Thompson’s leadership in helping to level the energy tax incentive playing field by ensuring that all utilities can benefit from incentives intended to encourage critical energy investments,” said Joy Ditto, President and CEO of APPA, on June 26.
In a June 19 letter to Thompson, Ditto noted that the GREEN Act “would mean that all – not just some – utilities can directly benefit from energy tax incentives. This will make these incentives fairer and more effective.”
Federal tax expenditures are the primary tool Congress uses to incentivize energy-related investments. However, such incentives do not work for tax-exempt entities — including public power utilities, Ditto pointed out in the letter.
“That means public power utilities are effectively locked out of owning such facilities – and explains why 80 percent of the nation’s (non-hydropower) renewable energy generating capacity is owned by merchant generators,” Ditto said in the letter.
The GREEN Act “addresses this inequity by allowing for the direct payment of energy production and investment tax credits and carbon capture tax credits to any entity that owns the project. This would remove the financial disincentive for public power utilities to own such facilities and would allow the full value of these credits to pay for additional investment or be passed on to our 49 million customers,” she said.
A summary of the bill is available here.
APPA Encourages Members To Reach Out To Lawmakers In Support Of Financial Aid Bill
June 26, 2020
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted June 26, 2020
The American Public Power Association is urging its member utilities to reach out to their congressional delegation in support of legislation that would provide direct COVID-19 pandemic-related aid for public power utilities.
Past legislation has provided aid that will help public power at the margins, such as Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding increases to help customers pay their bills, Coronavirus Relief Funds to state and local governments, and assistance in paying unemployment benefits for laid off workers.
But APPA now estimates that public power utilities will lose up to $5 billion in revenue due to pandemic-related declines in load and customer arrearages.
APPA recently urged its member utilities to take steps to educate lawmakers on the issue and to ask the lawmakers to join in signing a letter in support of public power being circulated by House Energy and Commerce Committee member Doris Matsui, D-Calif.
The due date for signing onto the letter has been extended to July 2.
Board of Colorado Springs Utilities OKs Plan That Will Close Coal Plants, Expand Renewables
June 26, 2020
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted June 26, 2020
The board of Colorado Springs Utilities on June 26 signed off on a plan under which the public power utility will decommission its coal plants by 2030, expand renewable energy and storage and reduce its carbon emissions by 80% by 2030.
The plan calls for grid modernization, integration of more cost-effective renewable energy and incorporation of new technologies like energy storage. Noncarbon resources such as wind and energy storage will replace the generation from the utility’s last coal-fired plant, the Ray Nixon Power Plant, which will be decommissioned no later than 2030.
To enable the decommissioning of the Martin Drake Power Plant no later than 2023, temporary natural gas generators will be placed at the site to ensure system reliability, Colorado Springs Utilities said. Once new transmission projects are complete in the coming years, generation will no longer be needed in downtown Colorado Springs and these units will be relocated.
The plan is aligned with the utility’s Energy Vision, Colorado Springs Utilities noted.
“My goal from this planning process was to develop an energy future that provides the most value to our customers; one that is resilient, reliable, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable,” said Colorado Springs Utilities CEO Aram Benyamin. “Today’s decision sets the stage for a brighter, sustainable future for generations to come.”
Colorado Springs Utilities said that through the utility’s sustainable energy plan, it will:
* Commit to its community with industry-leading reliability and resiliency and support the economic growth of the region;
* Benefit customers by maintaining competitive and affordable rates and advance energy efficiency;
* Reduce carbon emissions at least 80% by 2030 and 90% by 2050;
* Increase renewable energy and incorporate storage resources;
* Decommission all coal generation by 2030 and reduce reliance on fossil fuels; and
* Integrate new technologies responsibly by modernizing its grid and partner with its customers to create distributed energy resources throughout the community.
Benyamin said that the growth of the utility’s energy efficiency programs will be key to success. The utility’s customers are motivated to change the way they use energy in their homes and businesses as determined through public input and surveys, Colorado Springs Utilities noted.
A skilled workforce will be required for this energy transformation, Benyamin said. “As we look to the future, training opportunities will be available and transition plans will provide employees new and exciting opportunities. That is a benefit of a four-service, community-owned utility,” he said.
Colorado Springs Utilities said that the plan was largely delivered by utility employees who built comprehensive financial and technical analyses and took into consideration public input, growth forecasts for the city and future environmental regulations.
Commercial And Industrial Companies Purchase Record Amount of U.S. Wind Power
June 25, 2020
by Taelor Bentley
APPA News
Posted June 25, 2020
Commercial and industrial companies bought 4,447 megawatts (MW) of U.S. wind capacity last year, setting a new record for annual procurements and bringing total corporate agreements for wind power to 16,857 MW, according to the first Wind Powers American Business report from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
More than 140 companies have purchased U.S. wind energy. Google is the top corporate wind energy purchaser in the U.S., having contracted for 2,397 MW. Facebook is the second largest purchaser with 1,459 MW, followed by Walmart, AT&T, and Microsoft.
Walmart also purchased the most wind energy of any company in 2019, signing contracts for three wind projects totaling 541 MW. AT&T was the second largest corporate buyer of wind for the year, contracting 460 MW from two projects. Facebook followed after AT&T with 440 MW.
Eighteen first-time buyers of wind entered the market last year. McDonald’s, Sprint, Ford Motor Company, Crown Holdings, and Gap were the leading first-time buyers of wind in 2019. McDonald’s became the first quick service restaurant company to buy wind energy, having purchased 220 MW. This led McDonald’s to land sixth in wind purchases for the year and into the top 20 for overall contracted capacity.
Before 2015, technology and retail companies made up nearly 80 percent of corporate wind energy purchases. Now the types of companies buying wind are diversifying. Today, technology and retail account for 53 percent of purchases. Wind energy purchases in the retail, food and beverage, and telecommunications sectors have increased significantly in the past few years.
The past six years have seen a large amount of growth for corporate wind purchases, with total contracts rising from fewer than 800 MW at the end of 2013 to over 16,800 MW at the end of 2019. Economics has been a major factor for this growth, AWEA said.
Wind is now the lowest-cost source of electricity generation in many parts of the country, thanks to costs declining more than 70 percent since 2009, AWEA said.
AWEA said that while corporate wind purchases have grown significantly in recent years, it is still a fairly new market and represents a large opportunity for future growth. Today, Fortune 1000 companies only source 5 percent of their electricity needs from renewables, it noted.
Utilities, individuals and businesses looking to reduce their respective carbon footprints buy renewable energy certificates. This is a green power procurement strategy used by electricity consumers to decrease the cost of their renewable electricity use, while also substantiating renewable electricity use and carbon footprint reduction claims.
The AWEA report is available for download here.
Austin Energy Shifts To Virtual Inspections For Green Building Program
June 25, 2020
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
Posted June 25, 2020
The onset of COVID-19 quarantine restrictions prompted Austin Energy to use virtual inspections for its green building program.
“We have rated 170 homes in May and 152 in April,” Catherine Lee Doar, utility strategist at Austin Energy, said. “That is almost one-third of our typical annual production in just two months.”
The ratings are based on sustainability criteria that include items such as energy-, water-, and materials conservation as well as occupant and environmental health.
Texas did not impose restrictions on construction activity during the COVID-19 lockdown, so “our customers have been going full speed,” Doar said.
“I am sure we will continue to do virtual inspections” after COVID-19 restrictions are eased, she said. People will likely be working from home more often, and virtual tours save time and reduce pollution because inspectors do not have to drive in Austin’s heavy traffic, she said.
While the rating measures can be applied during the design and building of new or major remodeling projects, the vast majority of the work the Austin Energy Green Building team does is with contractors and developers engaged in new construction. The virtual tours are essential for residential ratings, Doar said.
The Austin Energy Green Building program evaluates the sustainability of buildings and awards a rating, on a scale of one to five stars, based on a point system of required and voluntary sustainability measures. The program groups buildings into one of three categories: commercial, multifamily and residential.
In a typical year, the Austin Energy Green Building program rates about 25% of permitted houses in the City of Austin. The program rates buildings in Austin as well as in the surrounding counties, but the developers hire contractors to conduct inspections in areas not served by Austin Energy.
“A large part of the ratings we do result from developer agreements with the City of Austin,” Doar said. Many of the people applying for ratings are doing so to fulfill a requirement for a minimum standard qualification as an affordable housing development or as a tradeoff for a zoning variance, she explained.
Since the green building program began in 1991, Austin Energy has rated 16,771 single family homes, 182 multi-family properties with a total of 29,900 dwelling units, and 331 commercial projects including 10,582 dwelling units.
Between the utility’s 2007 fiscal year, when Austin Energy first started measuring impact toward the newly adopted City of Austin Climate Protection Plan, and FY 2019, the program has realized rating savings of 58.7 MW and 156,739 MWh.
The rules and criteria Austin Energy develops for the green building program also find their way into other aspects of the municipal government. When the city revised its rules to require that 50% of construction waste is recycled, they used information on the green building rated projects’ success to develop the new rules. The utility also worked with the city’s fire department when they were drawing up a new Wildland Urban Interface ordinance.
In 1991, Austin Energy, with the help of a grant from the Department of Energy, developed the first residential rating system in the United States. In 1995, a checklist for commercial buildings was added and in 1998 multi-family ratings were added.
Many cities have since followed suit. Austin Energy also advised on the standards set by the more widely known LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program.
Austin Energy updates its green building program criteria every three years generally in conjunction with the release of new building codes.
“We spent the last 18 months developing the new 2020 ratings, which were released in May, and now we are adding innovation guides,” Doar said. The innovation guides encourage customers to come up with solutions that are not in our ratings, she explained.
Alameda Municipal Power’s Budget Is Approved With No Rate Changes
June 23, 2020
by Taelor Bentley
APPA News
Posted June 23, 2020
The city of Alameda, California’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) recently approved Alameda Municipal Power’s (AMP) budget of approximately $65 million with no rate increases for customers.
Throughout the 2021 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2020, customers will see no change in the electric rates they pay.
AMP noted that its budget reflects the priorities set by the board through its adopted strategic plan and the annual budget workshop held in April 2020
Due to the utility’s strong financial outlook, the board decided not to raise electric rates during a time when AMP customers are facing economic hardships caused by COVID-19.
AMP is projecting an increase in purchased power costs, transmission costs, and other operating expenses such as labor and strategic plan initiatives. As presented at the Board’s annual budget workshop in April, the increased costs will be paid out of AMP’s existing reserves.
Major initiatives for the 2021 fiscal year include powering new construction projects at Alameda Point, replacing substation breakers, and moving forward with the undergrounding program to bury overhead utility lines.
Since AMP is a community-owned and locally operated electric system, the utility does not make a profit on rates. The revenue from electric sales goes toward operation of the system and then to the community through annual transfers of $5.5 million to the city’s general fund for valuable community services.
AMP rates average 20% less than those of neighboring communities, saving Alamedans a total of $15.5 million. On January 1, 2020, AMP began providing 100% clean energy to all customers.
AMP’s 2021 fiscal year begins on July 1, 2020 and will end June 30, 2021.
Sonoma Clean Power Program Helps Commercial Customers Navigate Storage Options
June 23, 2020
California community choice aggregator Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) has developed a program under which commercial customers can receive a complimentary backup energy audit.
SCP said the audit can help these customers to answer the following questions:
* Whether battery storage is financially feasible;
* How much storage would be needed to power critical electrical loads during a power shutoff; and
* How storage could be integrated into existing operations to benefit their business throughout the year.
The CCA said that as investor-owned utility Pacific Gas & Electric’s Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events become regular occurrences for communities in California, “and as natural disasters such as wildfires intensify, having a reliable source of backup power has become a necessity for nearly every business.”
That is why SCP developed the Energy Resiliency Audit Program (ERAP).
ERAP will help businesses have a better understanding of their backup energy options, including more sustainable options such as battery storage. Battery-stored energy is cleaner, safer, and quieter to use than gas powered generators, and can also help lower a site’s overall electric costs.
SCP has partnered with the Center for Sustainable Energy, a nonprofit energy program administration and advisory services organization, to connect local businesses with energy experts and engineers who will evaluate businesses’ operations and advise the best steps to take moving forward.
An ERAP audit will provide the information needed to implement a solution to improve resiliency during PSPS events, develop a cost-saving strategy which may lower electricity bills, and estimate the cost of installing commercial battery storage.
Small and medium commercial customers, essential businesses, and businesses that were impacted by prior PSPS events are all eligible to participate in the program for free.
SMUD Utilizes Goats To Help With Fire Risk Reduction
June 23, 2020
by Taelor Bentley
APPA News
Posted June 23, 2020
For the first time, California public power utility SMUD has found an innovative ally in its fire risk reduction efforts – goats.
SMUD has contracted with a company to supply nearly 400 goats that are reducing vegetation along its transmission line corridors in Sacramento County. The goats provide a safe and environmentally sustainable service while also reducing costs and improving safety in SMUD’s community.
Goat have four stomachs, making it easy for them to consume and digest tough roughage and brush in hard-to-reach terrain. The goats can consume 2-3 acres of vegetation a day before they are moved to a new location.
SMUD has a Right of Way Stewardship Accreditation that requires ongoing reaccreditation, environmental stewardship goals, and operational targets that will all benefit from using Integrated Vegetation Management across its system. Utilizing livestock is one of many tools that are executed to provide safe, reliable, and affordable energy to SMUD’s communities.
As part of the utility’s ongoing maintenance (vegetation management work), the goats will move around SMUD’s service territory to reduce vegetation, create fuel breaks and mitigate potential fire risk. SMUD’s territory is mainly urban and considered lower risk, however, it does have transmission lines through open space and rural areas that require weed abatement.
The goats are carefully guarded by two Anatolian Shepherds named Heidi and Ricki. According to the goat’s owners, Capra Environmental Services Corp., benefits of using goats for vegetation management include preserving the integrity of the land and wildlife on it, reducing the use of herbicides, natural fertilization of land, reducing safety risk from humans and machines having to reach dangerous terrain, and community enjoyment.
SMUD will continue to use and explore additional opportunities for livestock grazing on its system. Going forward, site grazing is expected to start in the spring.
To learn more about SMUD’s wildfire mitigation plan, visit SMUD.org/WildfireSafety.
Public Power Utilities Urged To Reach Out To Lawmakers In Support Of Financial Aid Bill
June 22, 2020
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
Posted June 22, 2020
The American Public Power Association is urging its member utilities to reach out to their congressional delegation this week in support of legislation that would provide direct COVID-19 pandemic-related aid for public power utilities.
Past legislation has provided aid that will help public power at the margins, such as Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding increases to help customers pay their bills, Coronavirus Relief Funds to state and local governments, and assistance in paying unemployment benefits for laid off workers.
But APPA now estimates that public power utilities will lose up to $5 billion in revenue due to pandemic-related declines in load and customer arrearages.
APPA on June 22 urged its member utilities to take steps to educate lawmakers on the issue and to ask the lawmakers to join in signing a letter in support of public power being circulated by House Energy and Commerce Committee member Doris Matsui, D-Calif.
The due date for signing onto the letter is Friday, June 26, 2020.
The letter invites House members to join Matsui in encouraging House leadership to include assistance to public power providers in any upcoming coronavirus relief package.
Matsui noted that in previous coronavirus relief bills, the public power sector “has been uniquely left out of certain programs that could provide financial assistance during this hardship, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the employer payroll tax credit for qualified family leave wages.”
As an essential service, public power utilities “continue to provide electricity to customers’ homes, enabling many of us to continue working from home or enabling children to proceed with at-home learning opportunities,” Matsui said in the letter. “Moreover, most public power utilities instituted voluntary moratoriums on shutoffs for nonpayment soon after the pandemic struck, recognizing that no one should be without power during this period of unique hardship.”
Public power “is essential, but has not been treated so by previous coronavirus relief measures. Please join me in urging House Leadership to include direct assistance to public power in any future relief bill. Doing so will ensure that public power can remain solvent and prioritize reliability and affordability in the years to come,” Matsui said.
APPA recently urged Congress to provide direct aid to public power utilities
In a June 16 Statement for the Record submitted for a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing that examined the impacts of the pandemic on the energy industry, APPA said that it is vital that Congress provide direct aid to community-owned utilities.
APPA also submitted a Statement for the Record for the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy June 16 hearing on COVID-19’s impact on the energy sector in which APPA discussed the impact of COVID-19 on public power utilities and the need for direct assistance for public power.