Skip Navigation

Columbus, Ohio, Unveils First Solar-Powered Microgrid

November 16, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 16, 2022

The City of Columbus, Ohio’s Department of Public Utilities recently put into operation its first-ever solar-powered microgrid.

The purpose of the microgrid, which is located at the Tussing Water Booster Station, is to serve as a backup power source to the main power grid.

If grid power is lost or disrupted, the microgrid will enter “island mode” and utilize the onsite solar and battery energy storage system to operate one of the three booster pumps at the station, ensuring residents continue to receive safe and clean drinking water, the city noted in a Nov. 3 news release.

The microgrid consists of two main components — a 100-kilowatt solar panel system and the battery energy storage system. The solar energy can be stored in the batteries or converted for use in island mode to power the pump station. The battery system has a power rating of 442 kW.

The water towers can supply drinking water for 1-2 days without electricity, but the microgrid is designed to extend its ability to supply water during an outage for a minimum of six hours with the potential to extend it for many days using energy supplied by the solar panels.

“This microgrid will support residents continuing to receive safe, clean drinking water during times of climate crisis and emergency situations,” said Kristen Atha, director of the Department of Public Utilities.

In an interview with Public Power Current, Phil Schmidt, project manager for the Division of Water Tussing Water Booster Station Solar Microgrid, detailed why the water booster station was chosen for the project’s location.

He noted that available space on the site was a key driver for the microgrid’s site selection. “About a decade ago we built a second water tower and as part of that process we acquired some additional land,” Schmidt said. “We had some green space available, and I think that was just the big driver for this project…we needed the footprint to be able to put these solar panels on the property, so this site was a good candidate.”

The city’s climate action plan commits Columbus to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. One of the actions under the plan aims to evaluate microgrids and storage projects, with targets to complete a prioritization study by 2025 and implement five microgrid pilot projects by 2030. 

Erin Beck, Assistant Director in the city’s Sustainable Columbus office, told Public Power Current that the climate action plan “is really meant to be our roadmap” for how the city will achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 “and how we’re imparting equity and environmental justice to our residents here in Columbus.”

Beck noted that “another key goal in our climate action plan is we’re looking for at least a 45 percent reduction in emissions by 2030.” The plan includes five sections, 13 strategies and 32 distinct actions.

The microgrid project has been in development since 2019 and was supported through a funding initiative and partnership with investor-owned AEP Ohio.

When asked about where things stand with planning for the other microgrid pilot projects, Beck said, “From the wider community perspective, the goal is to do five by 2030 and that is across our entire community, so that could be either with” the city’s Division of Power or working again with AEP Ohio “to identify some potential other sites.”

She noted that “one other thing we’re really looking to do throughout the community is establish a network of resiliency hubs and so we’re really trying to tie some of the microgrid work into that resiliency hub work as well.”

The climate action plan notes that “every neighborhood is unique, and as such the needs of its members vary. The development of localized resilience hubs can respond to its community depending on the situation. Whether it is natural disasters or utility outages, a trusted community member will know how to reach and assist its most vulnerable citizens.”

Department of Energy Announces Nearly $9 Billion for Home Energy Rebate Programs

November 15, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 15, 2022

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced nearly $9 billion will be available to states and Tribes from the Inflation Reduction Act for consumer home energy rebate programs.

DOE estimates that the home energy efficiency and electrification consumer rebates authorized will save households up to $1 billion annually.

From November through January, DOE will hold a series of listening sessions to engage a wide array of stakeholders, including direct engagement with states and Tribes, labor, industry, and others, on these consumer rebate programs.

Following the listening sessions, DOE will issue a Request for Information for public input in early 2023.

DOE anticipates that the funding to states and Tribes will be available by Spring 2023, and the rebates will be available to the public later in the year.

The Inflation Reduction Act includes multiple tax incentives and investments to bolster consumer home energy rebate programs.

Programs that states will implement include:

The home energy performance-based, whole house rebates (HOME Rebates) for:

The high-efficiency electric home rebate program to:

To learn more about home energy efficiency and electrification rebates available through Inflation Reduction Act, visit https://cleanenergy.gov/.

NYPA’s Sylvia Louie Receives DOE Clean Energy Education and Empowerment Award

November 15, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 15, 2022

Sylvia Louie, a director of business development at the New York Power Authority (NYPA), is the recipient of a Department of Energy (DOE) 2022 Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) award.

The C3E Initiative aims to close the gender gap and increase the participation, leadership, and success of women in a diverse array of clean energy fields.

As part of the NYPA development team, Louie focuses on development of large-scale renewables, energy storage, and transmission projects. Along with a variety of projects, she supports opportunities for public–private collaborations to help achieve state energy goals. 

Louie joined NYPA in 2009 as a mechanical engineer, providing engineering design skills to the Energy Services & Technology group and supporting implementation of energy-saving initiatives for NYPA customers. In 2012, she joined the Clean Energy Technology group, focusing on development of clean energy technology projects.

In 2014, she entered the executive office as a Special Project Manager, helping NYPA leadership set strategic initiatives for a clean energy future. Prior to joining NYPA, she spent four years as a design engineer of HVAC systems for a small consulting engineering firm.

Each awardee receives a cash gift of $8,000 and national recognition of their efforts. 

Now in its 11th year, the C3E Initiative is led by DOE in collaboration with the MIT Energy Initiative, Stanford University’s Precourt Institute for Energy, and the Texas A&M Energy Institute.

Additional information about the awards including other winners is available here.

California PUC Issues Revised Proposal on Solar Net Metering Rates

November 14, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
November 14, 2022

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently issued a proposal to revise the state’s Net Energy Metering (NEM) solar tariff to better reflect the value of solar power generation to the state’s grid.

The proposal would replace NEM payments to utility customers tied to the retail electric rate with payments linked to the avoided cost a utility would pay to buy the electricity elsewhere. The CPUC said the aim is to provide the largest incentives for solar exports during the late afternoon and early evening hours when the grid is the most stressed and prices are highest and minimize incentive payments during times when demand, and prices, are lowest, such as midday during a week day.

The proposed tariff would also provide extra electricity bill credits to residential customers who adopt solar or solar paired with battery storage in the next five years, which would be paid on top of the avoided cost bill credits. Customers would be able to lock in the extra bill credits for nine years.

The proposed tariffs would also provide low-income customers more access to solar power by providing a larger amount of extra bill credits to ensure the solar system payback is just as attractive as the payback for higher-income customers.

The proposal would cover 150 percent of a customer’s electricity usage to accommodate future electrification of appliances and vehicles, the CPUC said.

The proposal would have no impact on existing rooftop solar customers who would maintain current compensation rates.

“NEM has helped California make significant progress toward meeting its climate goals, but now that California has nearly 25 gigawatts (GW) of solar on our grid, needs have shifted,” the CPUC said in a statement. “It is now essential to address grid reliability shortfalls during ‘net peak’ hours in the early evening when the sun is down and we rely on fossil fuels to meet demand.”

In December 2021, the CPUC issued an initial proposal to reform its NEM tariffs and to encourage customers to combine energy storage with their solar systems. The proposal also included a grid participation charge of $8 for every kilowatt hour of rooftop solar power produced. The proposal met with heavy criticism from many stakeholders, and in January the commission postponed a vote on the proposal.

Like the December proposed revisions, the new proposal would use avoided costs to determine incentive levels, but the new proposal does not include the controversial participation charge.

Under the new proposal, the CPUC said “average residential customers of Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, or San Diego Gas & Electric installing solar will save $100 a month on their electricity bill, and average residential customers installing solar paired with battery storage will save at least $136 a month.”

While CPUC decisions apply only to investor owned electric and natural gas utilities and not public power utilities, the commission’s effort has a broad impact on the state’s electric grid.

The CPUC said the revised proposal on NEM tariffs will be on its Dec. 15 voting meeting agenda.

California Energy Commission Grant Will Fund Long Duration Storage for Calif. Tribe

November 14, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
November 14, 2022

The California Energy Commission (CEC) earlier this month made a $31 million grant to fund a long duration energy storage system for the Viejas Tribe of Kumeyaay Indians in Southern California.

The grant is the first award under California’s $140 million Long-Duration Energy Storage Program, which is part of the state’s efforts to fight climate change and to achieve 100 percent clean electricity by 2045.

The CEC said the 60-megawatt-hour (MWh) project is one of the first of its kind in the country and will provide renewable backup power to the Viejas community in the event of local outages and provide the opportunity for the tribe to shift electricity use away from California’s electric grid during calls for conservation.

The CEC awarded the grant to Indian Energy LLC, a privately held Native American-owned developer that is building a microgrid project on the tribe’s behalf.

“This solar microgrid project will enable us to create a reliable and sustainable source of clean energy for our gaming, hospitality, and retail operations going forward,” John Christman, chairman of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, said in a statement.

The Viejas Band is one of 12 bands of the Kumeyaay Indian Nation that lives on a 1,600-acre reservation in the Viejas Valley, near Alpine in San Diego County, where the tribe owns and operates the Viejas Casino and Resort.

The microgrid system is designed to deliver power to the casino and resort. The energy storage system will connect with an existing, onsite 15-MW solar power installation. Eos Energy Enterprises is supplying a 35-MWh, zinc-based flow battery to the project. Invinity Energy Systems is supplying a 10-MWh vanadium redox flow battery. The energy storage system will have the potential to discharge for up to 10 hours.

The remaining 15 MWh will also be non-lithium ion and will provided by the tribe at a later date, CEC spokeswoman Lindsay Buckley said via email.  The initial 45 MWh are scheduled to enter service by summer 2023, and we expect the full 60 MWh to be operational by the summer of 2024.”

Flow batteries use electrolytes moving through tanks to produce electricity. They are rechargeable and do not degrade. And, because they do not use lithium ion, they avoid the potential first hazards associated with those batteries.

Vehicle To Grid Charging Could Provide Grid Savings, Report Finds

November 14, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
November 14, 2022

Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging could provide substantial system savings for New England as it transitions to a clean energy future, according to a new report.

The report, Can vehicle-to-grid facilitate the transition to low carbon energy systems?, published in the journal Energy Advances, examined V2G potential in the context of the greenfield buildout and operation of renewable energy resources in the New England power system in 2050 in which there is high electric vehicle penetration and tight emissions constraints.

In that scenario, V2G in aggregate could shift load via demand response and shift excess renewables generation to periods of low availability and high net loads across a range of carbon constraints and participation rates, the report found.

If V2G electric vehicles were to participate in both power and ancillary markets, they could provide substantial value, primarily by displacing stationary storage.

With relatively little participation of just 13.9 percent of the New England light duty vehicle fleet, “14.7 gigawatts (GW) of 6-hour stationary storage is completely displaced and amounts to over $700 million in savings,” the report’s authors said.

Additional savings could come in the form of reductions in firm generation capacity and more efficient utilization of renewable resources, that is, reduced curtailments, they said.

“Not only does this analysis demonstrate V2G’s utility, but also the importance of how one chooses to measure its value (i.e., counting investment deferral), particularly in the context of future systems,” the report said.

The magnitude and nature of V2G savings also changes as the electric system changes. Under more aggressive emissions caps, for instance, V2G decreases the need to compensate for the intermittency of renewable resources by increasing the size of the deployed resources or by using fossil fuel generation with expensive carbon capture technologies, thus increasing the marginal value of V2G, the report found.

In addition, the nature of optimal V2G dispatch changes with participation rates. At low electric vehicle participation rates, V2G power injection is called on at a higher rate in order to shave uncontrolled evening charging loads, while higher participation rates rely on less injection through charge load shifting, the report said.

Similarly, the value of V2G could change depending on geography and the energy storage marketplace. Shorter duration storage, such as the 6-hour lithium ion batteries studied in the report, are not sufficient to remedy extended periods of low renewable generation availability, so firm generation is required to satisfy electric vehicle loads.

However, long duration storage and V2G could add flexibility to each other’s ancillary service offerings, with EV batteries providing rapid frequency regulation and long duration storage increasing operating reserve contributions. Pumped hydroelectric storage in the Northwest, for example, could provide “significant utility” throughout the region, the report found. The implications and interactions of more prevalent long duration storage with V2G are areas that “stand to be investigated further in future works,” the report’s authors said.

Combined Cycle Gas Plants Reverse Trend, Adding Nearly 8 GW This Year: EIA

November 14, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
November 14, 2022

By the end of the year, eight natural gas-fired combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants have either come online, reversing a four-year decline in CCGT start-ups, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The new plants will add 7,775 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity to the electric grid, according to the latest estimates and data from EIA’s Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. The EIA expects CCGT capacity to reach almost 290 gigawatts (GW) by year-end, or 24 percent of total U.S. generating capacity.

Output from CCGT plants, which use combine a gas and steam turbine in a single plant, will likely rise from the 1,326,278 gigawatt hours (GWh) they generated in 2021, which was 32 percent of total electric generation last year. Coal-fired generation ranked second at 22 percent of total generation and nuclear power was third at 19 percent in 2021.

The EIA expects 4,215 MW of CCGT capacity will be added in 2023, when five new plants are slated to open. All of those facilities are under construction and expected to enter service before the end of 2023.

About half of the existing CCGT fleet currently operating entered service between 2000 and 2006. CCGT additions have continued since then albeit it at a slower pace. This year’s additions are about 80 percent below the record level of CCGT additions set in 2002 and 2003, the EIA noted.

Seven of the eight CCGT plants opening this year are either in the upper Midwest or in Florida where they are being built to meet rising demand for electricity and to replace retiring coal-fired power plants, the EIA said.

In Michigan, 1,403 MW of new CCGT capacity will replace the 1,560 MW of existing coal-fired generating capacity scheduled to retire this year.

In Florida, the 2,222 MW of new CCGT capacity will replace 1,486 MW of coal-fired capacity retiring this year.

Three CCGT plants, with 3,918 MW of capacity, are opening this year in the PJM Interconnection region where they will help replace the 5,346 MW of coal-fired capacity in PJM that is retiring this year and the 3,774 MW of coal capacity scheduled to retire next year, EIA said.

Groups Urge Risk-Based Approach for Covered Entities for Cyber Incident Reporting

November 10, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 10, 2022

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) should define “covered entities” for cyber incident reporting in a risk-based manner, the American Public Power Association (APPA) and the Large Public Power Council (LPPC) said in response to a request for information (RFI) issued by CISA on the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA).

“While the whole electric sector is critical to national and economic security, not all electric utilities have the same risk profile,” APPA and LPPC said in their comments.

“Acknowledgement of this fact is of particular importance to public power utilities, as APPA’s and LPPC’s members have widely different risk profiles ranging from an electric utility with transmission assets that serves millions of customers to a very small distribution electric utility without an industrial control system serving 200 customers,” they said.

Moreover, APPA and LPPC strongly encouraged CISA to utilize previous efforts to identify the most critical of critical systems and assets as it determines what constitutes a covered entity under the law.

APPA and LPPC believe that such a targeted definition of “covered entity” — especially in this initial implementation period — has the dual benefit of ensuring that entities with the highest risk profiles begin incident reporting immediately, thereby increasing national security, and keeping the number of entities covered under the law to a limited, more manageable level, allowing CISA and industry to more easily work out any implementation kinks.

APPA and LPPC also recommended that CISA tightly limit the definition of “covered cyber incident” to significant and substantial incidents that impact critical systems or services.

For example, a large electric utility that is a covered entity should have to report if it discovers an industrial control system breach at a generation plant or transmission facility. “A covered entity should not have to report a phishing attempt on the email of an accountant that has no connection or control of the operating technology for the electric system,” APPA and LPPC said.

“Critical infrastructure entities are the targets of malicious cyber actors millions of times a day. An overly broad definition of covered cyber incidents would present enormous compliance challenges for utilities, and even if these challenges could be overcome, the result would be a deluge of reports that would make it difficult, if not impossible, for CISA to determine a signal through the noise.”

Balancing Situational Awareness and Cyber Incident Response

The groups also argued that as CISA considers reporting processes and reporting content, it is important that it considers the ultimate purpose of this reporting, which is not to over burden victims for the sake of reporting, but to assist critical infrastructure and the federal government in identifying, addressing, or responding to cyber security threats. 

Some critical infrastructure sectors are already covered by federal mandatory reporting of certain cyber incidents, in addition to state laws for reporting of data breach incidents. “In implementing CIRCIA’s incident reporting standards, APPA and LPPC strongly encourage DHS CISA to harmonize any new obligations with utilities’ existing requirements to avoid confusion and conflict between CIRCIA obligations and other mandatory reporting channels.”

Additionally, some sectors, like the electric sector, also have active voluntary reporting and machine-to-machine sharing already taking place. “CISA should recognize and take into consideration these voluntary reporting pathways and associated sector focused analysis, given the value these mechanisms currently provide to critical infrastructures.”

Existing Reporting

A covered entity is exempt from reporting under CIRCIA if it is already required to make reports on similar information to another federal agency, within a similar timeframe, if there is an agreement in place between CISA and that other federal agency, the groups pointed out.

Given the existing incident reporting regimes overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy, “CISA should engage in direct and deep consultation with FERC and DOE as it works to implement CIRCIA.”

Moreover, CISA must take into account existing data breach reporting requirements at the state level, they added.

“To improve the threat landscape and associated awareness of it, it will be critical to work with existing infrastructures wherever possible to allow single-point reporting with the government being responsible for sharing information internally in a need-to-know environment, rather than imposing multiple reporting obligations on an impacted entity, which may also be dealing with a live cybersecurity event.”

Cost Impacts

APPA and LPPC also said that CISA must be mindful of the cost of any new rule on smaller entities.

“The cost of electric service is a key factor in the nation’s economic health, and the reality of varying, but finite resources and budgets suggests that overspending on security measures may compromise grid reliability in other respects. This is especially important to consumer-owned, not-for-profit public power utilities,” they said.

Snohomish County PUD Marks Completion of Microgrid and Clean Energy Center

November 10, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 10, 2022

Washington State’s Snohomish County PUD recently hosted a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the completion of its Arlington Microgrid and Clean Energy Center.

The project is located near the Arlington Airport and demonstrates multiple uses of energy storage, including utility-scale battery energy storage, residential battery energy storage and vehicle-to-grid charging systems.

The PUD’s Arlington Microgrid is a combination of a 500-kilowatt solar array, 1-megawatt/1.4-megawatt-hour lithium-ion battery energy storage system and a pair of vehicle-to-grid charging stations. The group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources focus on disaster recovery, grid resiliency and electric vehicle integration.

Washington’s Department of Commerce Managing Director Jennifer Grove stressed the importance of collaborating with forward-thinking utilities like the PUD in her remarks. The PUD received $3.5 million in funding from the Department of Commerce’s Clean Energy Fund.

Other attendees included U.S. Congresswoman Suzan DelBene, state Senator June Robinson, and Representatives Keith Goehner, Mike Steele and Carolyn Eslick, and members of the Arlington City Council.

John Haarlow, PUD CEO/General Manager, spoke about the project’s connection to the future and how the PUD is working to better understand new technology.

“The lessons the PUD is learning at this project every day are informing our future,” said Haarlow. “Battery energy storage will help make critical infrastructure impervious to outages and help us meet energy demand when customer usage is at its highest. Vehicle-to-grid charging will allow us to work with homeowners and business owners to leverage EVs as backup or grid-assisted power sources.”

The Arlington Microgrid was designed and sized to provide power to the Clean Energy Center and a future community office, which is currently under construction on the site, during an outage that could be caused by a major windstorm or earthquake.

PUD Generation Engineer Scott Gibson, who oversaw the Arlington Microgrid project, and Hitachi Energy General Manager of Grid Edge Solutions Antonio Verga both spoke on the complexity of the project and the key to collaboration between the PUD and the numerous vendors.

“The Arlington Microgrid provides a foundation for meeting both today’s emerging energy challenges and the future energy needs in Washington state and beyond,” said Verga.

One of the most impressive aspects of the project is the ability for the microgrid to disconnect from the electrical grid and transition to microgrid mode seamlessly, the PUD said.

“At most microgrids, the disconnection from the larger grid to microgrid mode is very noticeable and can result in a momentary power interruption lasting several seconds,” said Gibson. “At the Arlington Microgrid this transition is not noticeable to the eye or even the PUD’s metering equipment and has no effect on computer systems running in the Clean Energy Center. This is a significant achievement.”

The PUD plans to use the Clean Energy Center and accompanying solar tree to demonstrate microgrid technology and educate the public about battery energy storage and vehicle-to-grid technology.

For more on the Arlington Microgrid and Clean Energy Center, visit snopud.com/microgrid.

Public Power Utility Crews Deploy to Help with Florida Power Restoration Efforts

November 9, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 9, 2022

Crews from public power utilities on Nov. 9 traveled to various locations in Florida prior to the arrival of Tropical Storm Nicole, which is expected to turn into a hurricane.

Amy Zubaly, Executive Director of the Florida Municipal Electric Association (FMEA), on Nov. 8 said that FMEA and its members were closely watching and monitoring Nicole.

Florida public power utility Keys Energy Services (KEYS) on Nov. 9 said it had mobilized six linemen to assist with post-Hurricane Nicole power restoration efforts in Ft. Pierce, Florida.

KEYS’ crew will assist personnel from other regional utilities and contractors with regional power restoration in the aftermath of the storm.

KEYS’ linemen, along with three bucket trucks, one digger truck, one material trailer, and one utility pole trailer, departed for Ft. Pierce on Wednesday, November 9, and will be pre-staged to begin assisting with power restoration once the storm has passed.

“Our crew is looking forward to lending their unique hurricane restoration experience to Fort Pierce Utilities Authority, a fellow public power utility,” said Lynne Tejeda, KEYS’ General Manager & CEO.

Also on Nov. 9, Louisiana public power utility Lafayette Utilities System (LUS) reported that LUS line crews headed out early that morning to travel to Tallahassee, Fla., a public power city, ahead of Tropical Storm Nicole. “LUS crews will ride out the storm with the Tallahassee crews and will assist in restoration once weather conditions are safe,” LUS said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, crews from Alabama public power utility on Nov. 9 headed out for Ocala, Fla., to arrive in advance of Nicole and be ready to work as soon as weather permits.

Another Alabama public power utility, Riviera Utilities, reported that 14 of its linemen and two engineering technicians on Nov. 9 departed for Gainesville, Fla., a public power city. “Our mutual aid crews will be on-site and ready to help once Nicole makes landfall,” Riviera Utilities said.

“Tropical Storm Nicole continued to strengthen as it swirled across the western Atlantic from Tuesday to Wednesday, and AccuWeather meteorologists said the massive storm will make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane along Florida’s east coast early Thursday morning,” AccuWeather reported on Nov. 9.