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FERC Designates Pipeline Certificate, GHG Emissions Policy Statements As Drafts

March 28, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 28, 2022

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on March 24 voted to seek additional comments on two policy statements it issued in February that provide guidance regarding the certification of interstate natural gas pipelines and consideration of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in natural gas project reviews. 

FERC last month issued an update to its 1999 Certificate Policy Statement and also issued an interim policy statement focused on the Commission’s assessment of the impact of a project’s GHG emissions. FERC had originally called for comments on the interim policy statement on GHG emissions by April 4, but the agency did not provide for further comments on the updated certificate policy statement.

After further consideration, the Commission at its March open meeting designated both documents as draft policy statements on which the Commission is seeking further public comment.

The two draft policy statements will not apply to pending project applications or filed applications before the Commission issues any final guidance in these dockets.

FERC Chairman Richard Glick noted in a statement that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has on several occasions, including as recently as March 11, “cast significant doubt about the approach the Commission has been taking to site natural gas pipelines and LNG facilities. The policy statements were intended to provide a more legally durable framework for the Commission to consider proposed natural gas projects.”

However, in light of concerns that the policy statements created further confusion about the Commission’s approach to the siting of natural gas projects, “the Commission decided it would be helpful to gather additional comments from all interested stakeholders, including suggestions for creating greater certainty, before implementing the new policy statements,” Glick added.     

He confirmed that FERC will process pending gas certificate applications under the Commission’s longstanding 1999 policy statement, as further interpreted by FERC and judicial precedent. Glick also highlighted a number of gas infrastructure projects approved at the March 24 FERC meeting.

Glick also said at the meeting that “the policy statements, when they are finalized, will apply only to subsequently filed applications for pipeline and LNG facility approval.”

Comments on the policy statements are due by April 25, 2022, with reply comments due May 25, 2022.

All five FERC Commissioners earlier this month testified before a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to review recent actions of FERC relating to permitting construction and operation of interstate natural gas pipelines and other natural gas infrastructure projects.

Click here for FERC’s order on the draft policy statements.

South San Joaquin Irrigation District Bid To Replace PG&E As Power Provider Advances

March 27, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 27, 2022

The California Supreme Court on March 16 denied Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) petition for review of a decision by the Third District Court of Appeal, validating the San Joaquin County Local Agency Formation Commission’s determination that South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) has the ability and authority to provide electric utility service to its customers.

As a result, the SSJID can pursue acquisition of investor-owned PG&E’s electrical assets through eminent domain of the PG&E service area in the SSJID district boundaries, which includes the cities of Escalon, Manteca, and Ripon, and surrounding rural areas.

As part of the denial, PG&E will be required to pay legal costs to SSJID incurred while appealing this case in court over the past four years.  

A December 2021 decision issued by the Third District Court of Appeal validated the Local Agency Formation Commission’s approval of SSJID’s ability and authority to provide retail electric utility service to its customers. The decision also allows the district to move forward with the ability to provide those services by purchasing PG&E’s facilities through the process of eminent domain.

The SSJID expects to resume its eminent domain efforts in San Joaquin County Superior Court within the next year.  

SSJID was established in 1909 and is headquartered in Manteca, Calif.

SSJID provides agricultural irrigation water to about 56,000 acres surrounding Escalon, Ripon and Manteca, and wholesale drinking water to the cities of Manteca, Lathrop, Tracy, indirectly serving over 193,000 residents, and in the future, the city of Escalon.

SSJID, along with Oakdale Irrigation District, owns and operates the Tri-Dam Project, a series of storage reservoirs and electric generation facilities that produce zero-carbon hydropower in the Stanislaus Riverwater shed.

Omaha Public Power District Seeks Proposals For Capacity And Related Energy

March 25, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 25, 2022

Nebraska public power utility Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) recently issued a request for proposals (RFP) for capacity and related energy. Proposals are due April 5, 2022.

OPPD, which is a network transmission customer and member of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), is evaluating supply options for future needs and is seeking proposals.

All proposals provided in response to the RFP must include either: 1) capacity; 2) capacity and an energy product with an option; or 3) capacity and an on-peak energy (5×16) product.

The capacity and energy products must meet the requirements for accreditation and dispatch as defined by the SPP Open Access Transmission Tariff, Integrated Marketplace Protocols, and Planning Criteria.

To receive final selection and a contract, OPPD will need to be able to procure firm SPP network transmission service to deliver power from the source within SPP to OPPD’s load. OPPD reserves the right to reject proposals if OPPD determines in its sole discretion that procuring said firm transmission service is uneconomical.

Parties with sources physically located outside of the SPP footprint are required to retain a firm transmission path from the source to the SPP border for the full duration of the contract, while OPPD will utilize firm SPP network transmission service for the remainder of the path.

OPPD may also elect to choose capacity from a resource that has deliverability to the SPP Balancing Authority Area based upon the results of the Oct. 1, 2022 SPP Deliverability Study.

The RFP notes that OPPD conducts ongoing expansion planning studies to determine how to best meet its power obligations. OPPD also performs ongoing evaluations of its existing resource portfolio in light of regulatory requirements and restrictions.

Respondents may submit in their proposals separate exercisable options for any period listed. The minimum megawatt (MW) offer amount for submitted capacity offers will be 25 MW. OPPD is willing to accept multiple Proposals from a respondent.

The RFP is available here.

White House Calls For Report That Will Address Digital Asset Energy Implications

March 21, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 21, 2022

A recent executive order issued by President Biden calls for a report that will, among other things, address the implications of digital asset technology for energy policy.

President Biden issued the “Executive Order On Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets” on March 9.

Within 180 days of the date of the order, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy will need to submit a report to the President on the connections between distributed ledger technology and short-, medium-, and long-term economic and energy transitions; the potential for these technologies to impede or advance efforts to tackle climate change at home and abroad; and the impacts these technologies have on the environment.

The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy will prepare the report in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, the Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor, and the heads of other relevant agencies.

“The report should also address the effect of cryptocurrencies’ consensus mechanisms on energy usage, including research into potential mitigating measures and alternative mechanisms of consensus and the design tradeoffs those may entail,” the executive order said.

The report should specifically address:

The term “blockchain” refers to distributed ledger technologies where data is shared across a network that creates a digital ledger of verified transactions or information among network participants and the data are typically linked using cryptography to maintain the integrity of the ledger and execute other functions, including transfer of ownership or value.

Tacoma Power Joins CAISO’s Western Energy Imbalance Market

March 14, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
March 14, 2022

Tacoma Power has become one of the newest members of the California Independent System Operator’s Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM). 

“Gaining first-hand experience with centralized markets will better prepare us to engage in regional discussions about expanding such markets to advance our service delivery in safe, reliable, affordable, environmentally-friendly ways,” Clay Norris, WEIM sponsor and power manager for Tacoma Power, said in a statement.

Publicly owned Tacoma Power serves nearly 200,000 electric customers in the Tacoma, Washington, area.

Tacoma Power was joined in its March 2 entry in the WEIM by Avista Utilities, which serves more than 400,000 electric customers in Washington and Idaho. 
While Tacoma Power and Avista are the newest members of WEIM, they are expected to be joined later this year by Bonneville Power Administration and Tucson Electric Power.

Once all four utilities have joined WEIM, the organization will have 19 members serving nearly 77 percent of electric demand in the Western United States.

The WEIM uses the latest technology to find and deliver the lowest-cost energy to its members on a regional basis. Exchanging energy supplies across a wide, multi-state region enhances reliability and provides environmental benefits through the reduction of renewable energy curtailments, leading to lower greenhouse gas emissions because excess renewable energy in one area can be deployed elsewhere potentially offsetting the use of fossil fuels, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) said.

As more utilities join WEIM, CAISO is developing an extended day-ahead market, that will be able to handle the majority of participants’ energy transactions. That initiative is now working through a stakeholder process that began in January.

Last March, the Turlock Irrigation District and the Balancing Area of Northern California Phase 2, comprised of the Modesto Irrigation District, the City of Redding, the City of Roseville, and the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) Sierra Nevada Region, began participating in WEIM. 

Department of Energy Releases Energy Supply Chain Report

March 7, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 7, 2022

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently released a report on a review of the nation’s energy supply chain that identified a range of risks and vulnerabilities that vary by technology and will require a sweeping set of diverse policy actions, DOE said. The report also includes recommendations for congressional action.

The report was issued in response to President Biden’s Executive Order (EO) 14017, America’s Supply Chains, issued last February.

DOE solicited stakeholder input on “approaches and actions needed to build resilient supply chains for the energy sector,” as it prepared the report pursuant to the EO.  The American Public Power Association (APPA) and the Large Public Power Council (LPPC) submitted comments in response to a related DOE Request for Information (RFI).

In the report, which was issued in late February, DOE said that along with identifying a range of risks and vulnerabilities that vary by technology, it also identified common threats, risks, and vulnerabilities across all selected technologies.

DOE said that these common risks and vulnerabilities are grouped into seven main opportunities for action:

Together, they create a strategy to secure a clean energy transition that DOE said it will work with other federal agencies to implement.

Global Energy Marketplace

DOE said that an analysis of the global energy marketplace “shows that many governments and government coalitions have adopted coordinated, government-led strategies and industrial policies to advance ad unlock significant investment in key supply chain segments.”

It said that one example is China’s investment in domestic cobalt production and processing paired with investment in international raw material inputs that enabled China to corner a significant market share in cobalt processing.

Through the report, DOE “maps out a strategy to rapidly secure the critical supply chains necessary to meet economic, national security, and climate goals.”

The policy strategies in the report are informed by 13 supporting deep dive supply chain assessment documents conducted by researchers from DOE and several of its national laboratories, in consultation with stakeholders across the public, private, and social sectors.

In addition to targeted consultation, the policy strategies are informed by comments received in response to the RFI.

Report Highlights Policies

The report highlights policies that DOE said will enable the United States to build resilient supply chains to meet energy security, national security, economic, and climate objectives.

Specifically, the report identifies cross-cutting executive actions that address seven strategic opportunities applicable across all technologies and includes technology-specific executive actions.

It also identifies recommended congressional actions that address strategic supply chain objectives applicable across all technologies. The report also lays out technology-specific recommendations requiring congressional action.

DOE said that the supply chain review reveals several supply chain opportunities that will require additional authority and funding in the next 10 years.

Tables included in the report summarize sector-wide and technology-specific recommendations that will require congressional support to provide DOE and other federal agencies additional authority needed to expand support for supply chains. 

The report is available here.

APPA/LPPC Comments

In response to the RFI, APPA and LPPC said that DOE should utilize a risk-based framework for supply chain security and further recommended that DOE study domestic and international supply of both distribution and bulk electric system transformers and the components needed to manufacture these transformers.

APPA Honors Manchin For Leadership On Energy Policy

March 2, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 2, 2022

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on March 2 received the American Public Power Association’s Public Service Award at APPA’s Legislative Rally in Washington, D.C. 

Manchin was honored by APPA for exceptional leadership on numerous issues of importance to public power.

“I am honored to receive the American Public Power Association’s Public Service Award,” Manchin said. “I am also proud of the work we did together to get the Energy Act of 2020 across the finish line and then get much of it funded through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. These historic pieces of legislation are two shining examples of the good we can achieve when we come together to do what is best for our country. I look forward to continuing to work closely with public utilities across the country to advance all-of-the-above energy solutions.”

Manchin has served on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee since coming to the Senate in 2010 and became chairman of the committee in January 2021. Together with the then-Republican leader of the Senate Energy Committee, Manchin steered the Energy Act of 2020 into law. 

The legislation included significant funding for research, development, and deployment programs at the U.S. Department of Energy for wind energy, solar energy, critical minerals, carbon capture and removal, and grid modernization. 

He built on the work of the Energy Act of 2020 in his leadership role in developing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) that was signed into law in November 2021.

The IIJA funded investments in the transmission and distribution systems that make up the electric grid, cybersecurity, and research and development of energy technology. (Click here for resources and opportunities for public power tied to the infrastructure law curated by APPA).

“Throughout his time on the committee, and even more so as chairman, Senator Manchin has shown exceptional leadership on numerous issues of importance to public power,” said APPA President and CEO Joy Ditto in a statement. “Though there are only two public power utilities in West Virginia, Senator Manchin has long supported the important role public power plays in the electric sector nationwide and its commitment to serving its communities. He — like public power — has a bedrock commitment to ensuring reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible energy to power the economy.” 

Mississippi Public Power Utility Seeks Power Supply Proposals

March 2, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 2, 2022

Mississippi public power utility Clarksdale Public Utilities is seeking power supply proposals through the issuance of a recently released request for proposals (RFP).

Mississippi Delta Energy Agency (MDEA) issued the RFP for power supply resources on behalf of Clarksdale Public Utilities to meet the utility’s capacity and energy requirements beginning June 1, 2023. 

Clarksdale Public Utilities’ transmission system is interconnected to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator transmission system. 

MDEA will accept proposals from any electric utility, independent power producer, qualifying facility, exempt wholesale generator, non-utility generator or electric power marketer that is appropriately certified by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that has resources available and operates within the MISO transmission system. 

MDEA is soliciting proposals for the following types of power supply resources:

The deadline for responses to the RFP are due by April 20, 2022 by 2:00 p.m. (Central).

The RFP is available here.

Incoming Chair Of APPA’s Policy Makers Council Details Key Advocacy Role That Council Plays

February 25, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
February 25, 2022

Jim Brooks, a City Council member for Evansville, Wis., and incoming Chair of the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Policy Makers Council (PMC), recently detailed the key role that the PMC plays as a voice for public power in Washington, D.C.

“The PMC brings together about 40 elected officials from across the country whose main task is to call on Congress and policy writers in Washington to present the concerns of public power communities with a single voice,” Brooks said in a Q&A with Public Power Current.

“Lawmakers see swarms of paid lobbyists on a regular basis, but they know that when we show up, we are bringing along the thoughts and needs of thousands of voters in their district. Many in Congress started in local government and have maintained those ties to our communities, to our advantage,” he said.

Brooks noted that the Chair of the PMC works with APPA staff “to make sure that monthly calls bring the highest benefit to all the members and to make sure that future leadership of the Council keeps to the highest standards. I am looking forward to carrying on the work of so many before me.”

Brooks, who will formally take over as Chair of the PMC later this year, is attending APPA’s Legislative Rally in Washington, D.C., which starts on Feb. 28.

Wisconsin’s Evansville Light & Water, a small utility serving 4,700 customers, is advised by a Utilities Committee comprised of City Council members. 

Brooks has served on the City Council since 2010 and has been president since 2013 and he also serves as the Utilities Committee chair.

Brooks also addressed the question of how important it is that the voice of smaller public power utilities, such as Evansville Water & Light’s, is heard through bodies such as the PMC.

“The PMC works as a leveler to make sure that the thousands of public power communities all have their voice heard by lawmakers,” he noted.

“Whether leading a utility with 300 people in the call-center or one with one person to answer the phones, send out bills, and do daily dispatch, we are all equal when we walk through the doors of the House office buildings to share our requests and ideas,” Brooks said.

“The needs of huge utilities may not be of the same magnitude as the smaller, but APPA — through the PMC — makes certain that we all have the opportunity to be heard.”

Meanwhile, Brooks was recently elected as chair of WPPI Energy’s Policy & Communications Leadership Council (PCLC). 

WPPI Energy, based in Sun Prairie, Wisc., serves 51 locally owned electric utilities in Wisconsin, Iowa and Upper Michigan.

He noted that the PCLC coordinates efforts of the 51 member-owners of WPPI “to share a consistent message to our members and to our ratepayers. We meet quarterly to refine the messages we share across the membership.”

Over the past few years, “we have worked to streamline the quantity of daily and weekly communications to the membership while making them more impactful and tailored to the user. A daily digest of local news stories similar to APPA’s Public Power Current keeps leadership up to date while personalized power use and cost reports allow ratepayers to better understand their bills. And, a weekly digest delivers key WPPI business updates,” Brooks said.

jim
Jim Brooks

Similarly, the PCLC works to shape the advocacy efforts in Madison, Wis., Lansing, Mich., and Des Moines, Iowa, as well as in Washington, Brooks said.

“We work with our government relations staff and with our state association to stay abreast of the goings on in the Capitol buildings and at the PSC and to share a consistent message as needed.”

DOE Unveils Organizational Realignment In Response To Infrastructure Law

February 22, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
February 22, 2022

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced an organizational realignment to ensure that it has the structure needed to effectively implement the clean energy investments in President Biden’s infrastructure law and the Energy Act of 2020.

The new organizational structure establishes two Under Secretaries: one focused on fundamental science and clean energy innovation and the other focused on deploying clean infrastructure.

The infrastructure law and the Energy Act of 2020 provide over $60 billion primarily for new major clean energy demonstration and deployment programs and more than triples DOE’s annual funding for energy programs, including significantly expanded research and development (R&D) and entirely new demonstration and deployment missions. 

The Under Secretary for Infrastructure will focus on deploying clean energy solutions. The new Under Secretary will centralize existing offices focused on major demonstration and deployment with new offices. The existing offices moving to the new Under Secretary include DOE’s Loan Programs Office, Office of Indian Energy, Office of Clean Energy Demonstration, Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), and the Federal Energy Management Program.  

Accompanying the announcement of the new Under Secretary is the launch of three new offices to support clean energy infrastructure deployment:  

The offices in the Under Secretary for Science and Innovation (formerly the Undersecretary for Science and Energy) will drive research and development of energy technologies, with connected demonstration and deployment activities.

Through the realignment the Office of Science, DOE’s applied energy offices, and DOE’s 17 National Labs will continue their core discovery science and innovation missions including leveraging $12 billion in base appropriations as of fiscal year 2021 and $3.8 billion in funding in the infrastructure law and Energy Act of 2020.