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Public power green pricing programs make NREL top 10 lists

November 4, 2020

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 4, 2020

A number of public power utilities are included on top 10 lists compiled by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for utility green pricing programs. The recently released rankings are for 2019.

Utility green pricing programs allow homes and businesses to procure green power through their electric utility.

Since 2000, NREL has compiled data on these utility green pricing programs and released annual “Top 10” lists to recognize outstanding programs.

In terms of the top green power sales (as of December 2019), the following public power utilities were on the Top 10 list compiled by NREL:

With respect to green power customer counts, three public power utilities made the top 10 list: SMUD (71,867 customers); Austin Energy (23,720 customers); and Seattle City Light (10,964 customers).

Turning to green power sales rates, the following public power utilities were represented on the top 10 list:

In terms of green power participation rates, public power utilities represented seven of the top 10 utilities listed:

The full report is available here.

Platte River Power Authority’s board approves integrated resource plan

November 3, 2020

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
November 3, 2020

The Platte River Power Authority’s Board of Directors on Oct. 29 approved the utility’s 2020 integrated resource plan (IRP).

The approval of the IRP follows two years of public discussions and surveys, numerous studies and reports, and energy mix modeling on multiple levels, Platte River noted in a news release.

The Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) requires IRPs from its members every five years to maintain long-term hydropower contracts with the federal government.

The plan, to be submitted by Platte River to WAPA in November, will also serve as its baseline for future energy planning and resource acquisition in pursuit of the objectives within the resource diversification policy approved by the board in December 2018.

The 2020 IRP places Platte River on the path to achieve a minimum of 90% carbon emissions reduction from 2005 levels, based on current technology as well as anticipated advancements, it noted.

The plan will allow Platte River “to reduce emissions further should improvements in renewable and energy storage technologies enable a 100% noncarbon energy mix while maintaining strong system reliability and low cost.”

Platte River said that its IRP earned support from the Colorado Energy Office and Department of Public Health and Environment whose leaders acknowledged the plan is consistent with state goals, which call for an 80% carbon reduction by 2030 for participating utilities.

The leadership team of Platte River initiated the 2020 IRP following the board’s adoption of a resource diversification policy that recognizes several milestones must be achieved before the noncarbon goal can be met.

The milestones include participation in an energy market, the strategic integration of distributed energy resources (DER), improved integration of the transmission and distribution grids, and greater overall investment in energy delivery systems and technologies.

While developing the 2020 IRP, Platte River initiated actions to address the key marks identified in the policy.

In late 2019, Platte River and partner utilities announced joint participation in the Western Energy Imbalance Market.

Meanwhile, Platte River and its owner communities recently announced the formation of the DER strategy committee, which will formulate policies and plans to effectively integrate such tactics and technologies as distributed generation and energy storage (e.g., rooftop solar and batteries), more energy efficiency and demand response programs, electric vehicle adoption and delivery systems integration. The committee plans to complete its work on a strategy by the end of 2021.

Although system planning remains an ongoing effort, Jason Frisbie, General manager and CEO at Platte River, noted that two additional IRP processes will be conducted before 2030, which Platte River said will provide greater clarity concerning the attainment of a 100% noncarbon energy mix. He said each process will again seek involvement by stakeholders and the public.

More information about the 2020 IRP can be found at the project microsite.

Platte River Power Authority is a not-for-profit wholesale electricity generation and transmission provider that delivers energy and services to its owner communities of Estes Park, Fort Collins, Longmont and Loveland, Colorado for delivery to their utility customers.

East Bay Community Energy seeks offers for renewable energy, storage resources

October 30, 2020

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 30, 2020

California community choice aggregator East Bay Community Energy (EBCE) on Oct. 29 issued a request for offers to procure long-term renewable energy and storage resources.

The RFO also seeks to provide long-term clean energy hedges and resource adequacy and to contribute to EBCE’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) obligations under state laws.

EBCE is seeking offers for the sales of RPS-eligible energy for a contract term of 10, 15, or 20 years, with a preference for offers with terms less than 20 years.

EBCE will also evaluate offers for long-term clean energy hedges from large hydro resources and other eligible resources for a duration minimum of five years.

Eligible offers may be for: (1) as-Available RPS product; (2) As-available RPS Product plus energy storage; (3) indexed energy plus RPS attributes; (4) shaped RPS energy product; (5) stand-alone energy storage toll; or (6) shaped clean energy hedge.

Respondents may submit offers for as many or as few products as they wish, relative to their capabilities and expertise.

EBCE seeks energy and related products from both existing and new construction resources.

Projects must begin deliveries no later than December 31, 2024 to qualify for the RFO. EBCE has a preference for deliveries beginning in 2021 or 2022.

Offers are due by Dec. 1 and additional details on the RFO are available here.

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

Authority overseeing new Calif. municipal utility executes agreement tied to microgrid

October 28, 2020

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 28, 2020

Concentric Power Inc. and Gonzales Electric Authority (GEA), which was established by the City of Gonzales, Calif., to oversee its new municipal electric utility, have executed an energy services agreement to deliver wholesale electric power via a community-scale microgrid.

The microgrid will initially have 35 megawatts of capacity to provide power to the Gonzales Agricultural Industrial Business Park, which houses processing facilities for fresh vegetable and wine producers. It will also meet the clean energy requirements of the city’s climate action plan.

Concentric Power said in an Oct. 7 news release that it designed the microgrid to integrate a mix of 14.5-MW-AC of solar energy, 10-MW/27.5 MWh of battery energy storage and 10-MW of flexible thermal generation, all of which will be managed by the company’s Advanced Microgrid Controller.

The system will allow the park to island from the wider energy grid, “ensuring that end users have reliable, high-quality power 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even when facing planned or unplanned grid outages,” Concentric Power said.

The microgrid will also include a privately owned substation that will allow energy and capacity services to be sold into the California electricity grid.

The City of Gonzales, which is located California’s Salinas Valley, formed GEA to help attract and retain a strong agriculture and industrial base as well as to protect companies doing business there from unplanned power outages and poor power quality, Concentric Power noted.

The project will support continued economic development and job creation to further build the city’s tax base. With the Agricultural Industrial Park currently one-third occupied, the ESA allows for the power infrastructure to expand and meet growing demand.

The $70 million project will be funded primarily by Concentric Power, with supplemental funding from GEA and the Gonzales Municipal Electric Utility towards ownership of the distribution infrastructure.

Concentric Power will develop, design, build, operate and maintain the microgrid assets, including both generation and distribution. The distribution assets will be transferred to Gonzales Municipal Electric Utility.

The initial term of the energy services agreement is 30 years and the project is expected to break ground in mid-2021 and be ready for service in 2022.

Calif. CCA Clean Power Alliance seeks renewable energy, storage proposals

October 27, 2020

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
October 27, 2020

California community choice aggregator Clean Power Alliance recently released a request for offers to expand its renewable energy portfolio.

Clean Power Alliance on Oct. 22 said it will solicit offers for long-term clean energy power purchase agreements, with an eye towards diversifying its renewable energy sources, adding long-duration storage, and securing structured products to deliver energy at specific key times.

The CCA said within the renewable energy contract category, it will be seeking renewable portfolio standard (RPS)-eligible generation and RPS plus storage projects that are 5 megawatts to 300 MW in size.

Within the standalone storage contract category, Clean Power Alliance will be seeking standalone storage projects that are 5 MW–100 MW in size.

For projects that include a storage component, eligible storage durations include conventional four-hour duration as well as longer storage duration (up to 12-hour duration). 

Eligible projects must have a commercial operation date no later than the end of 2025. However, projects with commercial online dates of December 21, 2023 or sooner are preferred.

The CCA said that the projects solicited under the RFO will complement its recently expanded portfolio, which includes new solar plus storage, standalone storage, wind, and small hydroelectric projects approved by the CCA’s board over the past year.

Bid submissions are due by Nov. 20, 2020.

Clean Power Alliance serves approximately three million customers and one million customer accounts across 32 communities throughout Southern California.

Additional details about the RFO are available here.

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

Colorado Springs Utilities signs PPA for 175-MW solar plus storage project

September 22, 2020

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 22, 2020

Colorado Springs Utilities has signed a 17-year power purchase agreement for all the output of a 175-megawatt (MW) solar power project coupled with a 25-MW, four-hour battery energy storage system being developed by juwi.

Boulder, Colo.- based juwi is a developer, engineering-procurement-construction contractor, and operator of utility-scale renewable energy projects and is wholly owned by German renewable energy company juwi AG.

The Pike Solar and Storage project is sited in El Paso County and is slated to begin construction in early 2022 and be completed in 2023. When built, it will be the largest solar facility and first contracted storage system on Colorado Springs Utilities’ system.

The energy stored in the battery will be discharged during peak periods when electricity prices are high or into the night when the solar facility is not generating electricity.

With the addition of Pike Solar to the utility’s other solar, wind and hydro resources, renewable energy will comprise an estimated 27% of Colorado Springs Utilities’ energy portfolio.

When completed, the 25-MW storage system will be one of the largest in the state. “The additional solar we will bring online will help diversify our energy mix and help us reach our Energy Vision goal of achieving 80% carbon reduction by 2030,” Aram Benyamin, the CEO of Colorado Springs Utilities, said.

On June 26, the public power utility’s board approved a Sustainable Energy Plan for Colorado Springs that aligns with the utility’s Energy Vision plan. The plan calls for the retirement of all the utility’s coal-fired generation by 2030, including the Martin Drake plant in downtown Colorado Springs no later than 2023.

To retire the Drake plant, Colorado Springs Utilities is placing temporary power generation units, primary fired by natural gas, at the power plant site to ensure system reliability. Once new transmission projects are completed, generation will no longer be needed in downtown Colorado Springs, and the gas plants will be relocated.

Pike is the second solar project Colorado Springs Utilities and juwi have worked on together. The first, Palmer Solar, is a 60-MW facility and is currently the largest solar project on Colorado Springs Utilities’ system.

When the Pike Solar project is completed, Colorado Springs Utilities’ solar portfolio, which in addition to Pike and Palmer includes the Grazing Yak solar plant, will be able to procure 270 MW of solar energy at an average rate of less than $28 per megawatt hour (MWh), spokesperson Natalie Watts said.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe launches crowdfunding effort for 235-MW wind farm

September 17, 2020

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 17, 2020

SAGE Development Authority has launched a crowdfunding initiative for the next phase of its 235-megawatt (MW) Anpetu Wi wind farm.

Anpetu Wi means “breaking of the new day” in the Lakota language.

The wind farm is sited on the Standing Rock Reservation, between Porcupine and Fort Yates, N.D., home to the Lakota and Dakota people of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST). The crowdfunding initiative, https://anpetuwi.com/, aims to raise $1.5 million.

The SAGE Development Authority is the first public power authority owned by a single Native nation in the United States.

SAGE has already submitted an application for interconnection to the Southwest Power Pool and has raised nearly $2 million from nine different philanthropic foundations for pre-development work to set up SAGE.

“We are proud to achieve another milestone in our quest to create a model for self-determination and economic development not only for our people but for all Native communities,” Joseph McNeil Jr., general manager of SAGE, said in a statement.

The total cost of the wind project is estimated at $325 million, and the debt-to-equity is targeted at 70% debt, 30% equity. The remaining sponsor equity is being raised through a combination of grants, some additional crowdfunding and contributions from the sponsor when they are selected, spokesman Ludovic Leroy said. SAGE, as a not-for-profit, cannot use the tax credits the wind farm will generate, so the credits will be monetized as part of the project financing.

SAGE is working with LIATI Capital, Connexus Capital, and Hometown Connections. LIATI is overall head of the project’s advisory team. Hometown Connections is handling institution building and identification and implementation of best practices in governance, strategic planning and implementation. Connexus works on the crowdfunding initiatives, including data driven digital marketing and audience targeting.

“Developing renewable energy resources—for export as well as local consumption—will foster badly needed economic development on the Reservation and provide employment and skills training,” Fawn Wasin Zi, chairman of SAGE, said in a statement.

SAGE expects Anpetu Wi to be a revenue source for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and will help provide essential needs such as schools, roads, health care, and housing development.

The Standing Rock Reservation has a poverty rate of 40% and an unemployment rate of 70%.

APPA joins DOE program to help utilities expand community solar

September 16, 2020

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 16, 2020

The American Public Power Association has joined the National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP), a program sponsored by the Department of Energy that aims to expand access to affordable community solar to every American household by 2025.

Nearly 50% of households and businesses are not able to host rooftop solar systems, according to a report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Partners in the program, first announced last September, have access to peer networks and technical assistance resources that can be used to set goals and work toward overcoming barriers to expanding community solar projects.

The National Community Solar Partnership program’s three goals are to make community solar accessible to every U.S. household, ensure community solar is affordable for every U.S. household, and to enable communities to realize supplementary benefits and other value streams from community solar installations.

More specifically, partners in the NCSP program have access to an online community platform that includes virtual person-to-person meeting and webinars that allow them to communicate with DOE experts and each other. Program partners also have access to the technical resources of the DOE and its network of national laboratories.

Program partners also can participate in collaborative groups to address barriers to establishing community solar projects. The program’s Municipal Utility Collaborative, for instance, seeks to demonstrate replicable models for solar energy deployment that offer low or no fee subscriptions and result in energy savings for customers.

“Through the program, the DOE provides technical assistance for utilities to come together and solve community solar challenges. APPA will work with the DOE to help produce guides and webinars for people who want community solar,” Alex Hofmann, vice president of engineering services at APPA, said.

Despite early successes – dating back to 2011, public power utilities were among the first utilities to develop community solar projects – but barriers have limited the spread of that success. NCSP’s Municipal Utility Collaborative aims to address those barriers, including conflicts that can arise between community solar programs and existing rate structures, finding appropriate locations for community solar projects, streamlining procurement processes, and creating project financing structures that accommodate the fact that public power utilities are not eligible for tax incentives often used to fund renewable energy projects.

To reach its aims, the Municipal Utility Collaborative is focused on identifying and implementing best practices and lesson learned regarding community solar program design, including pre-qualification of income status, and working with third-party sponsors.

The collaborative also focuses on developing sustainable customer financing options, such as on-bill financing, monthly subscription products, subsidy options for low income residents, and finding models that can integrate community solar with other utility programs, such as demand response, energy efficiency, and rate assistance programs for low income customers.

The Association’s kick-off meeting for the NCSP program is scheduled for next week with meetings for more technical aspects of the program slated for November.

“Community solar is a great way for utilities to provide access to solar energy for people in the community that wouldn’t normally have the option” Hofmann said. In most cases, it is more cost effective for a utility to build a community solar project than for an individual to install rooftop solar, if they own a roof top to put solar on, that is, he added.

Public power utilities that were already participating in the Municipal Utility Collaborative include Austin Energy, BrightRidge, City of Colton Electric Utility, Seattle City Light, Snohomish County Public Utility District, and the Town of Marblehead Municipal Light Department.

TVA’s flexibility program enables local utilities to embrace distributed energy

August 19, 2020

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 19, 2020

In June, the Tennessee Valley Authority began allowing local power companies the flexibility to generate up to 5% of their average electric needs from distributed resources.

That equates to about 800 megawatts of new distributed generation, or 2,000 MW if all the generation is solar power, TVA said.

The program, approved by TVA’s board in February, allows any of the 141 local power companies that have entered into 20-year Long-Term Partnership Agreements with TVA to reduce the amount of energy they buy, potentially cutting their overall energy costs. TVA serves 154 local power companies.

TVA anticipates that much of the generation that will be built under the program will be solar power because the cost of the technology has fallen rapidly in recent years.

Since the June 22, 2020, launch, 47 local power companies have signed on to the program, citing a desire to provide customers with more renewable energy, a chance to lower costs for customers, and the economic development benefits of being able to offer renewable energy.

The flexible partnership agreement, which launched August 2019, committed to developing a flexibility solution by October 2021, but that schedule was moved forward by about 15 months to accommodate the immediate needs of customers of some of TVA’s local power companies.

It is “impressive to watch the diverse and creative solutions that are now beginning to sprout up all around the Tennessee Valley,” Dan Pratt, TVA’s vice president for customer delivery, said in a statement.

“We found ourselves in a non-competitive state when we were faced with some of the options being offered to us when school systems, universities, industries would come to us asking for renewable power and asked, ‘Can you do this for us?’” Jeff Dykes, president and CEO of BrightRidge, which provides electric and broadband services to Johnson City, Tenn., said during a Webex meeting to discuss the flexibility program. “It was always disheartening to tell them, ‘No. We agree that this is an option we should look at, but our current contract does not allow that.’”

So, the flexibility program is an opportunity to help meet customers’ needs in terms of solar power, as well as electric vehicle charging stations, Dykes said. “I think all 150-plus utilities in the valley will be able to use flexibility to their advantage,” as an economic development advantage, he added.

Dykes said BrightRidge already has “a lot of things in the hopper.” The goal is to get a large-scale solar plant in place in 2021 and some smaller solar projects that could be brought on at a quicker pace, Dykes said.

Greg Williams, executive vice president and general manager of Appalachian Electric Cooperative, also welcomed the flexibility program. “It will allow us to bring a solution to the table for a university customer” that otherwise the co-op could not do, he said during the meeting.

Appalachian Electric Cooperative has been exploring options for a number of months that will likely include solar power in combination with energy storage, as well as demand response options that would “help us lower our overall costs” by reducing demand charges, Williams said. The cooperative is in the process of preparing to issue a preliminary solicitation and is looking at potential providers, Williams said.

“We are certainly excited about the possibility [of the flexibility program] and what this truly means for public power,” said David Wade, president and CEO of EPB, the public power utility serving the Chattanooga, Tenn. area, during the online meeting. “It is really about ‘how do we serve our community in the best possible fashion?’”

One of the uses Wade sees for the program would be as a means of increasing reliability in outlying neighborhoods where adding generation would provide the redundancy to re-route power around damage when it occurs. Wade said the utility has $10 million in generation and storage projects in its budget this year.

“We do not have anything in the hopper right now, but we are certainly open to it,” Chris Davis, the general manager of Cumberland Electric Membership Corp. said during the meeting. “We see this as a marketing tool going forward.”

The new flexibility program could have a “huge impact” in the community and throughout the Tennessee Valley, Dykes at BrightRidge said.

The utility executives at the meeting said they are happy to have the reliability afforded them by a long-term supply agreement with TVA. “Right now, we need the baseload generation and support for increased renewables,” Wade at EPB said. “As the world changes, we’ll continue to change.”

Agreeing with Wade about the need for baseload power, Dykes added that the 5% mark is “just a start. It could become 20% at some point.”

SRP to provide expanded customer group with 100MW of solar energy

August 19, 2020

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 19, 2020

Salt River Project recently announced 21 commercial, municipal and school district customers have signed agreements to get a portion of their energy from solar power. A total of 100 megawatts of solar energy will soon be helping to power operations at these organizations.

This is the second phase of SRP’s Sustainable Energy Offering, which is part of the public power utility’s ongoing commitment to provide commercial customers with the option to obtain clean, emission-free energy at an affordable price.

The first phase, announced in 2018, included 12 companies and municipalities from across different industries.

With the addition of the 21 companies during this second phase, a total of 33 companies have signed up to receive approximately 300 MW of solar energy. The energy will be provided from facilities to be developed in Arizona.

The offering allows SRP to share the benefits of large-scale renewable resources with its diverse customer base. The companies range from school districts/higher education and technology to agriculture and governmental agencies and from data centers to grocery, defense contracting, telecom and hospitals.

The offering will also help customers achieve their sustainability goals, reduce carbon emissions and invest in renewable energy while sharing the economic benefits of a utility-scale, renewable energy resource.

The solar resources contribute to SRP’s 2035 Sustainability Goals to reduce carbon intensity by more than 60% in 2035 and by 90% in 2050 from 2005 levels. SRP is also on track to complete the goal of adding 1,000 MW of new utility-scale, solar energy to its system by the end of fiscal year 2025.

The solar energy for the phase two group of customers will be generated by Central Line Solar, a 100-MW, solar plant to be built in Eloy, Ariz. by sPower and scheduled to achieve commercial operation in December 2021.

Participating phase 2 customers include, among others, Apple Inc., PepsiCo, Boeing, Chandler Unified School District, Target Corporation, City of Tempe, Wells Fargo Bank and Verizon Communications.