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Biden Administration has Now Approved EV Deployment Plans for All 50 States

October 4, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 4, 2022

The Biden Administration has now approved electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure deployment plans for all 50 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico ahead of schedule under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, established and funded by Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

With this approval, all states now have access to all Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 and FY23 NEVI formula funding, totaling more than $1.5 billion to help build EV chargers covering approximately 75,000 miles of highway across the country.

The NEVI formula funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes $5 billion available over five years.

Thanks to flexibility provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) were able to leverage technical assistance available through the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation and begin staffing and activities directly related to the development of their plans prior to approval, the Department of Energy noted.

Now that EV charging plans from all 50 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have been approved, each state, territory, or district can be reimbursed for those costs and now have a wide range of options to use their NEVI formula funding for projects directly related to the charging of a vehicle, including:

All approved plans are available on the FHWA web site and funding tables for the full five years of the NEVI formula program can be viewed here. 

 Additional funding sources include: 

FHWA is also working on related efforts to establish ground rules for how formula NEVI funds can be spent.

FHWA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on proposed minimum standards and requirements for projects funded under the NEVI Formula Program and plans to finalize that rulemaking expeditiously now that the comment period has closed. 

FHWA also proposed a Buy America waiver that will allow a short ramp up period for the domestic manufacturing of EV charging; the comment period for the waiver proposal is open through September 30, 2022. Additionally, FHWA has posted updated Frequently Asked Questions on its website. 

The Federal Highway Administration and the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation will continue to provide direct technical assistance and support to states as they begin plan implementation, as well as throughout the lifetime of the NEVI formula program.

Report Finds Solar with Storage Can Provide Reliable Residential Backup Power

October 4, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 4, 2022

Behind-the-meter solar-plus-energy storage systems (PVESS) can generally provide at least minimum levels of backup power during power interruptions, according to a new report by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).

The report, Evaluating the Capabilities of Behind-the-Meter Solar-plus-Storage for Providing Backup Power during Long-Duration Power Interruptions, found that backup performance of PVESS can vary depending on a variety of circumstances.

The best performance observed in the report, which included both simulations and historical analysis of how PVESS would have performed during a sample of actual historical events, was for residential buildings. If heating and cooling loads are excluded from those residences, a small PVESS with 10 kilowatt hours (kWh) of storage, the lower end of sizes currently in the market, can fully meet basic backup power needs over a three-day outage in virtually all U.S. counties and in any month of the year, the report found.

If critical loads include heating and cooling, a 10-kWh PVESS would meet 86 percent of critical load on average across all counties and months, while a 30-kWh PVESS, the upper end of sizes currently in the market, would meet 96 percent of critical load.

The report’s authors noted, however, that the results showed considerable performance within individual regions, based on variations in building stock. Performance declines for higher-usage homes but, more significantly, performance is affected by heating technology, building infiltration or “leakiness,” air-conditioner efficiency, and temperature set-points.

The single biggest impediment to backup performance is the presence of electric space heating, which is currently mostly electric resistance, and is most prevalent in the Southeast and the Pacific Northwest, the report said.

The authors also noted that backup performance for homes with electric heat or high cooling loads is quite sensitive to weather variability. For example, in counties with high penetration of electric heat, between 53 percent and 96 percent of critical load is served during winter months, depending on which specific day the outage begins. A similar but less dramatic was observed for homes with high cooling loads, the authors added.

In terms of duration, the report found that backup performance is fairly insensitive to outages lasting longer than one day. In general, backup performance declines as outage duration increases, though the effect is relatively modest, given the ability of solar panels to recharge batteries each day, the authors said.

For a PVESS with 30-kWh of storage and critical loads that include heating and cooling, backup performance drops from a population-weighted average of 100 percent of critical load served for a one-day outage to 92 percent for a 10-day outage, the report found.

In seven of the 10 historical outage events analyzed, the majority of homes would have been able to maintain critical loads with heating and cooling, using a PVESS with 30 kWh of storage, the report said. However, the authors noted that there was considerable variability among the five hurricane events analyzed, which was driven by differences in solar insolation levels.

The lowest performing event was Hurricane Florence, where almost no solar generation occurred over the first three days of the roughly eight-day outage due to cloud cover. For the two winter storms analyzed, all critical load was served in the median case, but a sizeable fraction of customers—those with electric heating—saw much lower performance, the report said.

The major constraint to backup performance for commercial buildings were roof area constraints on solar system sizing, the report said. “Providing full-building backup for a multi-day outage would require significantly larger systems than what is typically observed in the market today, for systems installed primarily for other purposes,” the authors said.

LBNL said the report is the first in a series it plans to do in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on the use of PVESS for backup power. The report’s authors plan to host a webinar summarizing key findings of the new report on Oct. 6.

DOE Begins Accepting Applications for $7 Billion in Funding for Hydrogen Hubs

October 4, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
October 4, 2022

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently opened the application process for a $7 billion program to create regional clean hydrogen hubs (H2Hubs) across the country.

As part of a larger $8 billion hydrogen hub program funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the DOE said the H2Hubs will be a driver in helping communities across the country benefit from clean energy investments, good-paying jobs, and improved energy security while supporting the Biden administration’s goal of achieving a net-zero carbon economy by 2050.

For the initial funding opportunity launch, the DOE aims to select six to 10 hubs for a combined total of up to $7 billion in federal funding.

Hydrogen is a versatile fuel that can be produced from clean, diverse, and domestic energy resources, including wind, solar, and nuclear energy, or by using methane while capturing resulting carbon to reduce emissions, the DOE said. Hydrogen’s characteristics also make an option to decarbonize energy-intensive heavy industry and support heavy-duty transportation, the agency added.

Concept papers for H2Hubs proposals are due by Nov. 7 with full applications due by April 7. Additional funding opportunities may follow to accelerate and expand the network of clean hydrogen projects, the DOE said.

The DOE has also released a draft of the National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap for public feedback. A final version of the strategy and roadmap is scheduled to be released in the coming months with an updated version at least every three years.

In February, the DOE released requests for information to inform the implementation and design of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s hydrogen programs, which includes $8 billion for Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs, $1 billion for a Clean Hydrogen Electrolysis Program, and $500 million for Clean Hydrogen Manufacturing and Recycling Initiatives to support equipment manufacturing and strong domestic supply chains.

APPA Says Record Shows Support for Joint Transmission Ownership Opportunities for LSEs

October 3, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 3, 2022

The record of a pending Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proceeding offers specific support for the Commission to find that promoting joint transmission ownership opportunities for load-serving entities (LSEs) is likely to provide the benefits the Commission projects, the American Public Power Association (APPA) said in reply comments filed at FERC.

The Sept. 20 reply comments were made in a FERC proceeding related to regional transmission planning and cost allocation (Docket No. RM21-17-000).

In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR), FERC outlined significant changes to its transmission planning rules, including a proposal to promote joint ownership of transmission lines through the use of a conditional right of first refusal (ROFR) to build jointly owned lines.  In comments filed in response to the NOPR, APPA urged FERC to adopt a more narrowly tailored version of the proposed conditional ROFR focused on promoting joint ownership opportunities for public power utilities and other LSEs.

The proposed reforms outlined by FERC in the NOPR are intended to remedy deficiencies in the Commission’s existing regional transmission planning and cost allocation requirements to ensure that Commission-jurisdictional rates remain just and reasonable and not unduly discriminatory or preferential.

“Focusing the conditional ROFR on joint ownership opportunities for LSEs would not be unduly discriminatory,” APPA said in its reply comments.

APPA’s proposal for a conditional ROFR that is focused on LSE joint ownership is consistent with the specific statutory requirement in Federal Power Act section 217(b)(4) that the Commission exercise its authority in a manner that facilitates the planning and expansion of transmission facilities to meet the reasonable needs of LSEs to satisfy the service obligations of LSEs, the trade group went on to say in the reply comments.

APPA said it recognizes that many commenters have expressed concern that any ROFR for incumbent transmission providers, even a conditional one, would be a retreat from competition.

“APPA acknowledges that transmission competition may be a mechanism to control rising transmission costs, which is a significant concern for APPA members and other transmission customers. The premise of APPA’s joint ownership proposal is that it would make it more likely that the benefits envisioned by the Commission would actually be realized,” APPA said.

Those benefits include helping to increase opportunities for investment in the transmission system and promoting market entry and greater diversity of participation and perspectives in transmission ownership, APPA told FERC.

“These goals are pro-competitive and APPA’s proposed narrow ROFR would provide an option to achieve them.”

Moreover, APPA underscored the fact that its proposal for a narrowly tailored conditional federal ROFR would not be mandatory. “APPA does not support proposals or comments in favor of a mandatory ROFR, conditional or otherwise.”

APPA also said it does not agree with comments that if the Commission decides to reinstate some form of ROFR, it should do so on a nationwide basis or permit the states to make determinations regarding competitive processes.

Instead, APPA’s proposal allows that in those areas where regional transmission planning stakeholders believe that transmission competition is beneficial, they could opt not to implement a conditional ROFR approach.

If the Commission declines to adopt a conditional ROFR in any final rule in this proceeding, APPA urged it to promote public power joint transmission ownership through other methods.

There is a substantial record “in this docket demonstrating the benefits that joint ownership opportunities for public power and electric cooperative LSEs are likely to produce.” 

The Commission should pursue policies to promote these benefits even if it decides not to adopt the conditional ROFR, APPA said.

“The Commission could, for example, seek to promote joint ownership through the transmission planning process by specifying that joint ownership of transmission facilities is a positive factor in evaluating transmission solutions in regional transmission planning processes, including competitive solicitations,” APPA said.

SPP RTO Expansion Into Western Interconnection Details Projected Savings

October 3, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 3, 2022

Expanding the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) Regional Transmission Organization into the Western Interconnection could produce a net total of $55 million to $73 million per year in savings depending on hydrologic conditions, according to a new study commissioned by prospective SPP RTO participants in the Western Interconnection.

The Brattle study evaluated adjusted production cost savings and reported potential market benefits for expanded SPP RTO participation. The study estimates adjusted production cost savings of $71 million per year under average hydrology conditions. The savings increase to $89 million per year under severe drought conditions.

There are also potential operational and reliability benefits provided by RTO participation that are not quantified in the adjusted production cost study.

 “This study, including the specific impacts across WAPA customers, will help inform our next steps and potential future as we adapt to the changing climate and generation mix. We greatly appreciate the effort dedicated to this study from Brattle and other study participants,” said Western Area Power Administration Administrator and CEO Tracey LeBeau. “As always, we are committed to collaborating with our customers and stakeholders as we assess this opportunity. Any decision to move forward with final negotiations for SPP RTO membership will be consistent with our statutory requirements and involve the appropriate public processes.”

Prospective SPP RTO participants included in the study are Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Colorado Springs Utilities, Deseret Power Electric Cooperative, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska along with the WAPA Upper Great Plains region, Rocky Mountain region and Colorado River Storage Project.

Each of these entities is currently participating in the SPP Western Energy Imbalance Service and receives Reliability Coordinator services from SPP. Tri-State, WAPA UGP region, Basin Electric and MEAN are already members of SPP in the Eastern Interconnection.

Although not included in the study, Platte River Power Authority announced in August its intention to join the SPP RTO.

As potential benefits, the SPP RTO expansion could increase the portfolio of tools available to support reliability in the Western Interconnection. This includes consolidated balancing authority operations, coordinated resource adequacy and a fully integrated wholesale market that would optimize real-time, day-ahead and ancillary services.

Additionally, the established SPP RTO transmission processes could improve transmission planning and development needed to support growing electricity demand and addition of more generation resources, including renewables.

“We’re pleased that the study reinforces the promise of an organized power market and our partnership with the Southwest Power Pool,” said Colorado Springs Utilities CEO Aram Benyamin. “For our customers, the benefits are clear – millions of dollars in annual savings by having access to regional energy producers and the reliable and cost-effective integration of additional carbon-free energy resources into our system.”

This study builds on previous evaluations of the benefits of SPP RTO expansion into the Western Interconnection, including a 2020 study commissioned by SPP. The new 2022 study uses updated modeling assumptions about the participant footprint, generation portfolios, natural gas prices and projected hydrology conditions.

The study is not a decision by participants to join the SPP RTO. Each of the participating organizations will continue their internal review and approval processes to determine if they will proceed to the next steps for SPP RTO membership. The 2022 Brattle study results, along with other factors, will help inform those processes.

President Biden Signs Spending Bill that Includes $1 Billion in LIHEAP Funding

October 3, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 3, 2022

President Biden on Sept. 30 signed a stop-gap spending bill that includes $1 billion in additional funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

Half of the funds will be distributed using the old formula, which tends to benefit heating states, while the other half will be distributed using a new formula, which provides greater benefit to cooling states relative to the old formula.

In addition, LIHEAP is expected to receive roughly $4 billion in regular appropriations for fiscal year 2023 when permanent spending bills are approved.

The American Public Power Association strongly supports LIHEAP and the funding increase including the bill, which stems in large part because of rising energy prices.

The spending bill will keep the federal government operating through December 16 to allow time for Congress to pass permanent annual spending bills for the fiscal year which begins on October 1.

The Senate passed the measure on Sept.29, with the House passing it on Sept. 30.

Nominations for APPA’s Policy Makers Council Now Being Accepted

October 1, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 1, 2022

Nominations for the American Public Power Association’s Policy Makers Council (PMC) are being accepted through November 18.

Leaders of public power utilities can nominate members, who are either elected or appointed officials, on the governing authorities of public power distribution utilities, including mayors, city council members, and elected or appointed board members.

The PMC meets twice a year in Washington, D.C. during the APPA Legislative Rally in February and at a separate PMC-only meeting in July to participate in meetings with elected representatives and congressional staff to advance APPA’s legislative and regulatory agendas. 

To nominate a member of a utility’s governing body to the PMC or learn more about the process, contact Steve Medved, APPA’s Government Relations Manager, at: smedved@publicpower.org.

Groups Voice Opposition to Data Reporting Requirements for State, Local Borrowers

October 1, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 1, 2022

The American Public Power Association (APPA) has joined with 17 other members of the Public Finance Network in writing Senate leaders in opposition to data reporting requirements for state and local borrowers included in the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022.

The Public Finance Network consists of state and local governments and other tax-exempt bond issuers, borrowers and municipal market professionals.

The bill would require the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) to require state and local governments to report financial information using uniform reporting categories, or “data standards,” which may require costly updates to financial systems or extensive workarounds.

The changes would take effect no later than two years after final rules implementing the change are promulgated.

The concern is that the provisions of the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022 (S. 4295) were added as an amendment to H.R. 7900, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA). The NDAA passed the House in July, and a companion bill (S. 4534) has passed the Senate Armed Services Committee.

State and local governments “do not oppose transparency and accessibility of information, and in fact, significant financial transparency standards are already in place,” the Sept. 29 letter noted.

“Most issuers of municipal securities (e.g., entities represented by the undersigned groups) adhere to governmental reporting standards established by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), while others follow standards as determined under state law. In whole, issuers of municipal securities exhibit transparency to stakeholders through very established and standardized means.”

APPA and the other groups voiced concern about the impact of the Financial Data Transparency Act’s Section 203 on state, county, municipal, public utilities, hospital and education entities required to submit financial information to the MSRB for several reasons.

“Among others, a primary concern is that this provision would result in an unfunded mandate on state and local governments due to the increased costs to ensure systems are able to comply with future standards,” the letter said.

“Further, this provision represents a substantial federal overreach into the content and structure of issuer disclosures, and more broadly the accounting and reporting principles of government entities, contrary to the principles of federalism,” the groups argued.

Also, Section 203 “could create more confusion and ultimately reduce transparency by forcing vastly different kinds of governmental entities to report using a rigidly standardized schema or taxonomy.”

Power Restored to One Million Customers in Puerto Rico

September 28, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 28, 2022

LUMA Energy on Sept. 27 announced that it has restored electric service to 1 million of its 1.5 million customers in Puerto Rico who lost power as a result of Hurricane Fiona.

As part of the prioritization of restoration to critical customers, LUMA also shared it has restored power to 131 hospitals and 946 Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewers Authority facilities.

As part of its overall and regional restoration efforts, LUMA is continuing to shift its field utility workers to areas in the south and west of Puerto Rico that were hit hardest by the hurricane, with impacts that included severe flooding, and up to 103 mph winds.  

LUMA is continuing to project service will be restored to more than 64-77% of customers by September 28, 2022, while 77-91% of customers are anticipated to be restored by Friday, September 30.

Restoration on a given day can fluctuate and continue to depend on a number of factors, including ongoing damage assessments and real-time repairs, adequate generation including energy reserves to protect and balance the system and access to critical facilities most impacted by the hurricane.

Hurricane Fiona impacted many parts of the electric grid and generation facilities across Puerto Rico, especially in the Ponce and Mayagüez regions that suffered severe damage to roads and critical infrastructure.

Grid and generation infrastructure in these regions were also significantly affected by the severe weather brought by Hurricane Fiona which included 12-30+ inches of heavy rain, winds between 85 and 103 mph and widespread flooding.

LUMA is prioritizing repairs for essential critical services, like hospitals, and is increasing the number of crews in the regions hit hardest. Out of the over 2,000 utility workers mobilized across the island, 460 are now working in the Mayagüez region and 244 in the Ponce region for a total of approximately 35% of mobilized workers addressing areas with the most severe damage. 

In June 2020, Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnership Authority selected LUMA Energy to operate, maintain and modernize the electricity transmission and distribution system of PREPA for fifteen years through a public-private partnership.

Energy Permitting Reform Proposal Pulled from Government Spending Bill

September 28, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 28, 2022

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on Sept. 27 asked Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to remove energy permitting reform legislation from consideration as part of a government spending bill prior to a vote on the spending bill, which is known as a Continuing Resolution (CR).

“Over the last several weeks there has been broad consensus on the urgent need to address our nation’s flawed permitting system,” Manchin said in a statement. “I stand ready to work with my colleagues to move forward on this critical legislation to meet the challenges of delivering affordable reliable energy Americans desperately need. “

The Senate passed the CR on Sept. 27.

Manchin released the text of his energy permitting reform legislation, the “Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022,” on Sept. 21. Manchin is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

As part of the Inflation Reduction Act signed into law on August 16, 2022, Manchin secured a commitment from Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and President Biden a vote on comprehensive permitting reform before the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2022.

The updated bill text is similar to a draft that was previously leaked, although it includes some changes. 

Specifically, there are two new sections on the definition of natural gas and another that would authorize the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

The first new section clarifies that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has jurisdiction to regulate interstate hydrogen infrastructure under the Natural Gas Act.

The second new section would authorize the Mountain Valley Pipeline and expedite its approval process. The updated language removes the specific judicial review section that was in the leaked draft bill.

The transmission language in the legislation is mostly the same as it was in the leaked version of the bill.

There are two small changes that were made to the transmission language. The first changes the wording that allows the Department of Energy to designate “any electric transmission facility proposed to be constructed or modified to be necessary in the national interest.”

The second change would clarify that the Department of Interior would be lead agency regarding Outer Continental Shelf lands.

These changes appear to address concerns raised by others on offshore wind transmission facilities, but do not address concerns raised by the American Public Power Association, the Edison Electric Institute and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association on changes to the Federal Power Act and the scope of FERC’s authority to require the construction of certain electric transmission facilities.

While this is a setback for Manchin’s permitting reform effort, it will likely not be the last attempt to get it attached to legislation this year. 

The CR funds the government through December 16 and full funding measures will need to be taken up before then.  The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) also need to pass this year and are likely two vehicles that Manchin would seek to move his efforts forward on.

Click here for additional details on the legislation.