Page 1458 – RTO Insider

March 14, 2016

FERC Upholds MISO Cancellation of GIA

By Amanda Durish Cook

FERC has accepted MISO’s request to terminate a generator interconnection agreement (GIA) with EDF Renewable Energy’s 150-MW Merricourt wind project in North Dakota, eliminating the prospect the facility would be granted additional time in the interconnection queue before completing construction.

FERC said MISO’s interconnection policy is clear in denying such extensions unless a project’s development has been hindered by another project in the queue.

“No such circumstances are presented here, and, even if such circumstances were present, Merricourt could not extend its [commercial operation date more than] three years beyond the original COD,” the commission wrote (ER16-471).

Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur was the sole dissenter in the 3-1 ruling, citing worries that the decision could create barriers for other wind projects.

MISO revoked Merricourt’s GIA after the facility failed to meet a Dec. 1 deadline to begin commercial operations, despite a request to extend the term until Sept. 30, 2017. Merricourt maintained the project was eligible for such treatment because it had completed a significant amount of construction and was close to securing a long-term power purchase agreement. Development hit a snag in 2011 when Xcel Energy withdrew its PPA for the project, but Merricourt said it could bring the wind farm online by the end of this year.

FERC’s ruling pivoted on a narrow reading of the text within MISO’s GIA with Merricourt, particularly a provision permitting the developer to extend the in-service date after demonstrating “significant steps to maintain or restore operational readiness.” The commission ultimately agreed with MISO’s interpretation that the language only applies to a facility that has already begun — and then ceased — operating.

FERC added that keeping the wind project active could be unfair to other projects in the queue.

In her dissent, LaFleur focused instead on Merricourt’s progress with the project, which she said was so advanced that it would not cause harm to other project developers.

“In my view, our precedent provides the commission with clear authority to determine whether a COD extension is appropriate in a given case,” LaFleur wrote. “Here, I believe that Merricourt has both demonstrated meaningful progress towards reaching commercial operation in a reasonable timeframe … and effectively rebutted concerns expressed by MISO that the Merricourt project is speculative and potentially harmful to other customers in the queue.”

MISO has said that Merricourt is free to continue work on the project, which has so far cost about $20 million according to the developer. That will require it to re-enter the queue and obtain a new GIA.

March 14, 2016

Cost Estimate of PSEG Portion of Artificial Island Fix Doubles to $272M

By Suzanne Herel

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — The estimated cost for Public Service Electric & Gas’ portion of the Artificial Island stability fix has nearly doubled, from $137 million to $272 million, PJM told the Transmission Expansion Advisory Committee on Thursday.

“We certainly were surprised when we first saw the numbers,” Steve Herling, PJM vice president of planning, told RTO Insider. “In retrospect, we wish we’d had more foresight. We’re going to have to take a real hard look at what this tells us about our process going forward. We don’t like making an estimate that’s this far off.”

PJM stands by its selection of the project, which involves building a new 230-kV transmission line from the nuclear complex in New Jersey to Delaware.

“Based on what we have seen so far, we still believe we have the right project,” Herling said. “There are elements of the design that we continue to discuss, and we’re looking for opportunities to further optimize it and mitigate costs, but at this point we still believe we have the right project.”

LS Power was chosen to build the line, with PSE&G and Pepco Holdings Inc. assigned to construct the necessary connection facilities. LS Power won the deal in large part because it committed to limiting construction costs to $146 million. (See PJM Staff Picks LS Power for Artificial Island Stability Fix; Dominion Loses Out.)

“LS Power’s cost cap commitment has not changed, and LS Power continues to focus on successful development of its portion of the Artificial Island project,” company Vice President Sharon Segner said.

Paul McGlynn, PJM general manager of system planning, said the cost allocation of the project would remain the same, with the bulk of the price tag being designated to customers on the Delmarva Peninsula.

After Delaware and Maryland regulators and consumer advocates complained about the seemingly disproportionate cost assignment, FERC suspended PJM’s Tariff changes involving the project’s cost allocation pending additional review (EL15-95).

At a Jan. 12 technical conference ordered by the commission, stakeholders debated cost allocation based on the solution-based distribution factor (DFAX) method. (See related story, Commenters: DFAX Cost Allocation Inappropriate for Some Projects.)

So, how did PJM planners miss the mark so widely?

Herling said the Artificial Island project is unique and there was little to compare it to.

“This is the first time we’ve had to deal with so much work inside of a nuclear station,” he said. “We did our best to add substantial adders … but in some areas they weren’t big enough,” he said. “I don’t know how PJM could have done better with that other than doing more extensive detail design work,” which would be expensive and time-consuming, he said. “We will be talking about that, as far as how to do things differently moving forward.”

The Board of Managers, which approved the Artificial Island project, reviews cost increases but does not need to approve them unless the scope of the project is altered, Herling said.

“We review all significant changes with the board. They will ask us questions. They will ask us to get more information. They may suggest alternatives that we should be looking at. At the end of the day, we will do everything they ask us to do, and hopefully they will be satisfied with the information.” But, Herling said, “If the project continues in the [Regional Transmission Expansion Plan], the board does not have to approve revised costs.”

The board could decide to switch to another project, but that’s not likely, Herling said.

PSE&G’s portion of the project consists of three main elements: installing a static VAR compensator (SVC) at the New Freedom substation; putting in optical ground wire (OPGW) for high-speed relaying; and expanding the Salem substation. Herling noted that the SVC and OPGW work were common to all proposals and that any vendor likely would have run into the same cost issues.

The SVC work, which PJM estimated at $38 million, is expected to cost $43 million more, according to PSE&G, in part because of additional site work including wetland mitigation, storm water management and the relocation of a helicopter pad and several buildings. PSE&G also ran into higher vendor cost estimates, McGlynn said.

Additional site work for the OPGW installation increased PJM’s estimate of $25 million by $14 million.

The Salem expansion, estimated at $74 million, will cost an additional $78 million, in part because of the cost differential for security and access requirements needed to work in a nuclear facility.

“We understood that working in Salem would be more challenging than working at a 500-kV substation in the middle of a cornfield someplace,” McGlynn said. “What we’re trying to look at and consider and get a better understanding of is the difference in cost.”

A number of committee members were incredulous.

“Percentage-wise, this is a big miss as far as what we thought we were looking at,” said Dave Mabry, representing the PJM Industrial Customer Coalition, noting that there are no cost commitments involved in the PSE&G work, all of which is considered an upgrade as opposed to a greenfield project.

“We were at $250 million … now we’re up to $350 million,” Mabry said. “The concern here is, is there another shoe that’s going to drop?”

March 14, 2016

EBA 2016 Midwest Chapter Annual Meeting

INDIANAPOLIS — The Clean Power Plan, Order 1000, FERC enforcement and distributed generation were favorite topics at last week’s annual meeting of the Energy Bar Association’s Midwest chapter. Here’s a sampling of what we heard.

Energy Bar Association, Commissioner Colette Honorable, FERC — Honorable *© RTO Insider*

“Let’s not talk about how the stay will halt work” on the Clean Power Plan, FERC Commissioner Colette Honorable said. “The industry was moving toward a more renewable future long before the Clean Power Plan came along. Let’s continue our work regardless of the stay. It’s a stay. It’s not a decision on the ultimate merits of the plan.”

Honorable also asked the Energy Bar Association for feedback on whether Order 1000 could be improved. “I know it’s not perfect. … We know that the sticky part is interregional planning. I want Order 1000 to aid in the development of these very important interregional projects and not be a barrier.”

Steve Allen, IURC — Allen *© RTO Insider*

Steve Allen, pipeline safety director at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, commented on the trend of electric utilities acquiring gas businesses to feed their gas turbines. “You can have a good safety culture without having a good pipeline safety management system in place, but you can’t have a good pipeline safety management system without a good safety culture.”

John Tsoukalis The Brattle Group — Tsoukalis *© RTO Insider*

John Tsoukalis, an associate with The Brattle Group, said if FERC prohibits virtual trades at nodes with financial transmission rights in order to stop participants from taking losses on virtuals to increase the value of their FTRs, it would also end legitimate trading and harm the market. “FERC is growing aggressive on how they [prove intent],” he said. “But that’s still a question: How heavily does intent versus economic evidence weigh in FERC’s investigation?”

John Parsons, MIT Sloan School of Management — Parsons *© RTO Insider*

John Parsons, of the MIT Sloan School of Management, discussed the bidding strategy that landed J.P. Morgan in FERC’s crosshairs for market manipulation in California and Michigan in 2013. “From 10 to 11 p.m., their bid price was negative $30/MWh; from 1 to 2 a.m., their bid price was $999/MWh. What they were trying to do was exploit a seam in the algorithm. [The unit] got paid $999/MWh for the two to three hours it took to ramp down,” he said.

Jim Cater, director of economic and financial policy for the American Public Power Association, questioned the appeal of customer-owned distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar. “There’s a notion that somehow there’s a customer groundswell of this, but I don’t know that many people who are involved with this at home,” he said. “I don’t want to be perceived as a naysayer … but this has got momentum behind it that could benefit from a bit of cost-benefit analysis.”

Donna Attanasio, GWU Law School — Attanasio *© RTO Insider*

Donna M. Attanasio, senior advisor for energy law programs at George Washington University Law School, talked about the genesis of the e21 Initiative, which the university launched in 2014 along with the Great Plains Institute, Xcel Energy and others to plot a new regulatory model in Minnesota. “Customers want green power; they want more flexibility. If the utilities aren’t going to provide these, customers are going out and getting it themselves. This is where the e21 Initiative started.”

Stacy Stotts, Stinson Leonard Street — Stotts *© RTO Insider*

Stacy Stotts, a partner and member of the environmental and natural resources division at Stinson Leonard Street, commented on the Supreme Court’s stay of the Clean Power Plan. “To say the stay is unprecedented is an understatement. The biggest argument [against the CPP] is that utilities are already regulated under the Clean Air Act. If this argument prevails, the rule is gone, it’s going to be vacated … I think that’s a strong argument. Now, what if the rule is vacated? An important thing to remember is the EPA [still] has to regulate emissions — the Supreme Court told them to in Massachusetts v. EPA.”

Stotts also predicted President Obama’s effort to win Senate approval of a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia “will be a brutal appointment process.”

– Amanda Durish Cook

March 14, 2016

Company Briefs

Duke Energy has appealed a $6.8 million fine levied by North Carolina for the catastrophic Dan River coal ash spill, calling the penalty “entirely arbitrary and capricious.”

The company said the state Department of Environmental Quality raised the fine “to a newsworthy amount” after the Dan River spill attracted media attention. The appeal alleged the state improperly used admissions the company made in a federal action that resulted in $102 million in fines. And it said the punishment violates precedents that established DEQ cannot penalize a party multiple times for a single violation.

Frank Holleman, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, scoffed at Duke’s appeal. “Since Duke committed crimes that led to the Dan River spill and Duke caused such harm to the state and its citizens, you would think Duke would have the humility to pay a relatively modest fine and ask forgiveness from the people of the state,” he said.

More: Charlotte Business Journal

Whole Foods Inks Solar Deal with NRG, SolarCity

nrg Whole Foods Market Inc. has announced separate deals with NRG Energy and SolarCity to install solar systems on the roofs of many of its U.S. stores. The grocery store chain, known for selling natural foods and products, already has solar installations on 25 of its stores. With the new deals, 100 more stores will get solar panels installed.

More: The Wall Street Journal (subscription required)

Lack of NY Timbering Permits Forces Constitution Delay

The developers of the proposed Constitution Pipeline delayed the completion date of the 124-mile natural gas pipeline for six months after New York state regulators failed to approve permits in time for it to clear trees before the migratory bird season commences.

The pipeline developer, Williams Co., notified FERC that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation had not issued the permits in time for the project to comply with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommendations to complete tree cutting by March 31 to mitigate impacts on migratory birds and the northern long-eared bat. Constitution said it is pushing back the completion date of the $750 million pipeline from the end of 2016 to the second half of 2017.

The pipeline, which received FERC approval in December, would deliver 650,000 dekatherms of Marcellus Shale natural gas to the Iroquois Gas Transmission and Tennessee Gas Pipeline systems, which serve New England.

More: Times Union

Michigan Speedway Wins $29K Incentive from Consumers Energy

Consumers Energy has given the Michigan International Speedway a $29,460 energy efficiency incentive check to use toward the racetrack’s efforts to become the “greenest” NASCAR track in the country.

The utility’s incentive comes after the racetrack transitioned to LED lighting in its pedestrian tunnel and outside its administration building last year. The racetrack also installed a system to automatically control the temperature in the air conditioning system of its infield suites based on occupancy settings. The speedway said it saves an annual $60,835 in natural gas, electricity and maintenance bills through energy efficiency efforts.

Garrick Rochow, Consumers Energy’s vice president and chief customer officer, said the speedway’s projects achieve the same carbon-reduction effect as planting 796 trees each year.

More: Energy Manager Today

Great River Energy Lobbyist Retires After 34 Years

Great River Energy lobbyist Bob Ambrose has announced his retirement after 34 years of service to the Minnesota company.

“Bob has always represented us effectively with grace and dignity, and we are grateful for his 34 years of service. We will miss him,” said Great River Energy vice president and general counsel Eric Olsen.

Ambrose, a Brown University graduate, briefly pursued medical and social work degrees and taught at a public school before becoming involved in energy policy. More recently, Ambrose had been taking trips to Germany to study renewable energy, a topic he thinks should gain more traction stateside.

More: Midwest Energy News

ATC: Sales to Illinois Drive Need For New High-Voltage Line

Just two years after it opened a 345-kV transmission line in the same area, American Transmission Co. proposed a new line near the Illinois-Wisconsin border to serve higher-than-expected forecasted power demand.

ATC is trying to sell ratepayers and regulators on a $52 million to $63 million line that would run from a new substation in Wadsworth, Ill., to the nearby transmission system owned by Commonwealth Edison. ATC says it will file applications with Illinois and Wisconsin regulators this year.

The need for more transmission persists even after a $36 million line was put into service in late 2013. “Market conditions have continued to change in Wisconsin and Illinois, leading to unanticipated congestion in the Wisconsin-Illinois electrical interface,” said Luella Dooley-Menet, an ATC spokeswoman. “This project is needed to resolve that.”

More: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Developers Break Ground on Carbon-Sequestration Gas Plant

Construction has begun on a 25-MW natural gas-fired plant near Houston that will sequester its carbon dioxide emissions for use in industrial purposes or enhanced oil recovery.

The zero-emission pilot project is being developed by Net Power, a collaboration between Exelon, CB&I and 8 Rivers Capital. Exelon and CB&I are leading the funding for the $140 million project.

If successful, the developers plan to build larger, 295-MW power plants that would represent the next generation of cleaner-burning natural gas plants. The pilot project is expected to come online in 2017.

More: FuelFix Blog

Bloomberg Sources Say Westar Exploring Sale

Westar Energy is said to be in the early stages of exploring strategic options that could lead to a sale. According to Bloomberg News sources, the company is talking with potential financial advisers as it evaluates its options.

Several possible buyers have been contacted to gauge interest in Westar, one source said. Westar hasn’t yet formally hired an adviser and may still decide to remain independent, according to the sources.

A Westar spokeswoman said the company doesn’t comment on merger and acquisition activity. Westar CEO Mark Ruelle fanned takeover speculation in November when he indicated the company would be open to a sale.

More: Bloomberg News

Cleco Seeks LPSC Rehearing On Investors’ Purchase Bid

Cleco has asked Louisiana state regulators to revisit their decision to reject a coalition of Australian and Canadian investors’ purchase of the utility for $4.9 billion.

The five-member Public Service Commission said representatives of Cleco, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets have contacted them about reconsidering the PSC’s Feb. 24 decision rejecting the sale.

The $4.9 billion deal would have given Cleco shareholders a 15% premium. The new company would be privately held.

More: The Advocate

PNM Proposing $87M Program To Install Smart Meters

Public Service Company of New Mexico filed a request last month with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission to install advanced meters for its 500,000 customers. The $87 million proposal could eventually lead to the layoffs of 125 employees and a customer charge of about $5 a year starting in 2020.

The wireless advanced meters would be cost-effective and provide significant benefits for customers, including eventual savings on electric bills, PNM said. The utility contends the smart meters will save customers nearly $81 million over 20 years.

PNM asked the commission to approve the proposal in nine months so it can begin testing.

More: Albuquerque Journal

Arch Coal Abandons Plans For Controversial Montana Mine

Arch Coal, which filed for bankruptcy protection two months ago, announced it has halted plans to open a new surface coal mine in the grasslands of southeastern Montana, blaming “capital constraints, near-term weakness in coal markets and an extended and uncertain permitting outlook.”

The proposed Otter Creek mine would have been in the Powder River Basin, home to some of the most productive coal mines in the country. Although many people in the region supported the proposal, the plans have also drawn strong opposition from environmental groups, ranchers and some Native American tribes, including the Northern Cheyenne, whose reservation is nearby.

More: Los Angeles Times

FirstEnergy Coal Plant Idled For First Time in 17 Years

FirstEnergy said it idled the 2,500-MW Bruce Mansfield coal plant in Shippingport, Pa., last month because of sustained low energy prices. The last time all three units at the site were shut off was in 1999.

No restart date is planned, and no FirstEnergy workers have been laid off.

More: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Dominion Forges Ahead with Plans to Close Ash Ponds

Dominion Virginia Power is preparing to close its 11 coal ash ponds and discharge the treated wastewater into state rivers, despite pressure from environmental activists.

The millions of gallons of water set to flow into the James River — which was used to saturate the coal ash to keep it from becoming airborne — will be cleaner than the state requires, the company said.

The wastewater will be tested three times a week, with the results posted on the utility’s website. Any failed test will require Dominion to stop releasing water.

More: Richmond Times-Dispatch

Dan Eggers Moves to Exelon As SVP of Investor Relations

Former Credit Suisse managing director Daniel L. Eggers has joined Exelon as senior vice president of investor relations. Eggers also will be part of the company’s executive committee.

Eggers spent 18 years at Credit Suisse, where he was in the equity research department, and also served as co-head of U.S. energy research. He also had positions with the bank covering oilfield service and equipment sectors, and as an associate on the integrated oils and independent refiners group.

“Dan brings a distinguished track record of covering the power sector for a top investment bank,” said Jack Thayer, Exelon’s senior executive vice president and CFO. “His expertise in the electric utilities industry, as well as his long-standing relationships in the financial arena, will strengthen Exelon’s investor relations program and provide valuable insights for our senior management team.”

More: Exelon

Wisconsin Wind Tower Firm Gets $28 Million Order

Wisconsin-based Broadwind Energy announced it closed an order from an unnamed domestic turbine manufacturer to build $28 million worth of steel turbine towers.

Broadwind has built more than 2,000 turbine towers since 2008. The latest order should fill out its 2016 manufacturing capacity. The company’s interim CEO, Stephanie Kushner, said the extension of the federal production tax credit would bring stability to an industry that has seen fitful starts and stops.

“It caused developers to start and stop commercial activities based not on underlying project economics, but based on legislation toggling back and forth from full speed ahead to a dead stop,” she said. “And those of us in the supply chain were whipsawed even more, with capacity demand shifting from maximum to idle and back again and with little good planning certainty.”

More: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

March 14, 2016

MISO Touts $2.6 Billion in Member Benefits

By Amanda Durish Cook

CARMEL, Ind. — MISO provided members about $2.6 billion in economic benefits during 2015, compared with membership costs of $267 million, according to the RTO’s most recent “value proposition” study.

The benefit figure represents an average of MISO’s estimated $2.1 billion to $3.1 billion in member savings last year, which is in line with the range for 2014. MISO estimates it has generated $14.5 billion in cumulative net benefits for market participants since it began calculating the financial impact of its services in 2007. (See Year 1 Judged a Success for MISO South; Gains Limited by SPP Dispute.)

The study examined RTO services such as improving coordination with neighboring systems and helping members assess the impact of environmental regulations. Benefits are assessed across nine subject areas, which include reliability, market commitment and dispatch, wind integration, compliance efforts and generation investment deferral. MISO excludes hard-to-quantify benefits like seams management and does not calculate individual member savings.

Other highlights of the report:

The diversity of MISO’s 15-state footprint helped delay generation investments through capacity sharing across zones with different peak seasons, resulting in savings of $1.6 billion. The South region alone saved between $559 million and $753 million.
Improved unit commitment through five-minute dispatch saved members $147 million, while broader sharing of regulation and spinning reserves — along with the centralization of FERC, NERC and North American Energy Standards Board compliance responsibilities — yielded an additional $208 million.
Reliability and demand response technology improvements saved an average of $181 million and $112 million, respectively.
Wind integration efforts in the North and Central regions produced 787 MW of additional wind generation, translating into savings of $347 million. MISO credits its regional planning for resulting in more economical placement of wind resources. MISO also said improvements in generator availability incentives in those regions delayed the need for 1,694 MW of new capacity construction, saving market participants between $213 million and $263 million.

“By centrally managing the transmission system as a large region, MISO is able to deliver reliable service and provide billions in economic value,” MISO CEO John Bear said in a press release.

March 14, 2016

PJM COO Kormos Leaving; Post Won’t be Filled

By Suzanne Herel

Mike Kormos, PJM — Kormos *© RTO Insider*

Mike Kormos, executive vice president and chief operations officer for PJM, is leaving the RTO on April 15 after 27 years.

Kormos had sought last year to replace retiring CEO Terry Boston, but the post went to Andy Ott, who had long been Kormos’ equal on the organizational chart, with Kormos heading up operations and Ott running the markets.

Formerly executive vice president of operations, Kormos was given his current title and additional responsibility over the RTO’s state and member services in June, as part of a string of organizational changes set off by Ott’s promotion. But with Boston gone and Ott in place, Kormos’ career had hit a ceiling at PJM. (See Boston Retirement Prompts Additional Promotions at PJM.)

“We are grateful for Mike’s countless contributions to PJM,” Ott said in a statement. “His relentless focus on driving operational excellence has helped solidify our reputation as a grid operator. After a very long career with PJM, he has decided that it is time to move on and pursue something new. The entire executive team and I wish him the best in his future.”

In addition to overseeing state and member services, Kormos is responsible for system operations, planning and corporate compliance functions.

The RTO said that Kormos’ position would not be filled and that his responsibilities will be transferred to other members of the executive team. Until then, Ott will assume those functions.

“We have a strong management team that will carry on the day-to-day operations and execution of PJM’s long-term strategy,” Ott said.

Kormos’ top deputy, Mike Bryson, was promoted to vice president of operations, from executive director of system operations, in June.

“Mike Kormos has been a great contributor to PJM, and he’ll be missed,” said Joe Bowring, PJM’s Independent Market Monitor.

A PJM spokeswoman said Kormos has not indicated his future plans. Kormos could not be reached for comment.

March 14, 2016

SPP Briefs: Wind Records, Canadian Border as POS

FERC last week accepted SPP’s proposed Tariff revisions to identify the U.S.-Canada border as the point-of-sale for potential transactions with Canadian transmission service providers (ER16-704).

The commission’s March 8 order found “establishing a point of demarcation for transactions between SPP and Canadian entities … will clarify the regulatory authorizations required by market participants on both sides of the border for international exports and imports between SPP and Canada.” FERC said the demarcation clarifies that those transactions must be reported to the U.S. Department of Energy and Canada’s National Energy Board.

The order is subject to an SPP compliance filing, due April 7. The RTO said it will modify its Tariff by using the term “source” instead of “resource,” addressing Manitoba Hydro’s assertion that the latter term creates two distinct classes of offers that would restrict transactions by non-resource offers.

SPP gained its interconnection with Canada when Basin Electric Power Cooperative joined the RTO as part of last year’s addition of the Integrated System. (See Integrated System to Join SPP Market Oct. 1.)

SPP told FERC the interconnection allows Canadian utilities to participate in its Integrated Marketplace. It said the Tariff revisions are necessary “to allow Canadian entities to register resources and make them available under SPP’s market rules.”

The RTO completed its first international transaction late last year, importing power from Canadian electric utility SaskPower during a mid-December “emergency situation” in North Dakota. (See SPP, SaskPower Make First International Trade.)

SPP Nears ERCOT’s Wind Penetration Levels

SPP set new records for wind penetration last week, putting it within a whisker of ERCOT for the national record.

The RTO established a new record March 7, when its 9,450 MW of wind energy represented 45.08% of its total load (20,960 MW). That broke the record set the day before, when SPP reported a 44.77% penetration level (9,715 MW of 21,700 MW).

SPP’s wind penetration record is within a tenth of a percentage point of ERCOT’s. The Texas grid operator’s 45.14% record was set Feb. 18, when wind energy produced 13,907 MW.

“We continue to see a lot of wind capacity added,” SPP’s engineering vice president, Lanny Nickell, told stakeholders March 9. He said the footprint’s coal consumption has dropped by about 6% over the last three years, replaced by wind and natural gas.

Wind energy accounted for 13.5% of SPP’s electric production last year, trailing coal (55.1%) and natural gas (21.6%), but surpassing nuclear (8.1%). The RTO had 12,397 MW of installed wind capacity in 2015, accounting for 14.9% of its total. It says it has an additional 33,819 MW under development.

ERCOT has 15,764 MW of installed wind capacity. Wind energy accounted for 18.4% of its electric production in 2015.

— Tom Kleckner

March 14, 2016

CAISO Tariff Change Would Extend Market to DER

By Robert Mullin

CAISO has asked FERC to approve a new Tariff provision that would enable rooftop solar and other small distributed energy resources (DER) to participate in California’s energy and ancillary services markets (ER16-1085).

The rule changes create an “initial framework” to extend market participation to DER smaller than 0.5 MW — the current minimum for selling into the ISO’s wholesale market — by allowing for aggregation at the distribution system level.

CAISO is anticipating participation by distributed generation, energy storage and electric vehicle charging stations, but the framework leaves open the possibility for market entry by other types of resources located on either side of the customer meter. This “broad definition” of eligibility is intended to avoid excluding emerging technologies from participating in aggregation.

“The framework will accommodate various resource types as well as different business models, provided the aggregation is capable of operating as an integrated resource and meets specific technical requirements,” CAISO wrote. Those models could include microgrids interconnected to distribution systems as well as third-party aggregators and utilities operating DER.

The rules would bar some resources from participating in aggregations, including generation rated at 1 MW or greater, demand-side resources bid into the market by curtailment service providers and demand response intended to react to grid emergencies. Generating units between 0.5 MW and 1 MW would need to terminate their participating generator agreements in order to join an aggregation. Also excluded would be resources already participating in a retail net energy metering program.

New Participant Type

The Tariff revisions would introduce three new terms into CAISO’s official market lexicon:

Distributed energy resources: Any resource in the ISO balancing area with a first point of interconnection to a utility distribution company or a metered subsystem.
Distributed energy resource aggregation: A “market resource” comprising one or more DER organized to participate in the wholesale market. Aggregations can contain multiple resource types, but resources will be restricted to participating in a single aggregation.
Distributed energy resource provider: “A new type of market participant,” according to CAISO, DER providers would be owners or operators of an aggregation. They would engage the market through a registered scheduling coordinator, which would submit schedules and bids based on the aggregation’s generation distribution factors.

The rules would permit a DER aggregation to operate at a single pricing node or across multiple nodes. Regardless of the configuration, the resources are required to provide a net response at the nodal level consistent with dispatch instructions, with missteps subject to imbalance charges.

Compensation will be based on nodal LMPs, but CAISO will not directly poll meters in an aggregation, so DER scheduling coordinators must provide the ISO with settlement quality meter data in order to receive payments.

In its filing with FERC, CAISO urges approval of the changes by pointing out that distributed facilities already participate in ISO wholesale markets as both generating and demand-side resources.

“The Tariff revisions proposed in this filing do not change those arrangements,” CAISO wrote. “Instead, the CAISO is extending the same opportunity to support the reliable operation of the transmission system to aggregations of distribution-connected resources, recognizing the significant transformation in the industry and deployment of emerging technologies.”

March 14, 2016

CT Power and Energy Society’s Annual Energy, Environment and Development Conference

Connecticut sees itself as an energy technology and policy innovator, but much work remains to help it maintain its leadership position, speakers said at the annual Connecticut Power and Energy Society’s Energy, Environment and Development Conference last week.

CT Gov Dan Malloy — Dan Malloy *© RTO Insider*

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said he is looking forward to the Clean Power Plan, which he believes will be upheld in the courts. “In Connecticut and New England, what these rules are saying is ‘finally, the rest of the country is going to have to live by the same set of rules that we’ve had to live by,’” he said.

New England has long complained of being at the ‘end of the tailpipe’ from Midwest polluters. Malloy said the CPP will be good for his state’s environment — and its economy. “I think it will level the playing field, at least with respect with our ability to compete with other states [and] with respect to the cost of the eventual product, electric energy.”

David Kooris, director of the City of Bridgeport’s office of planning and economic development, recounted the difficulties the city had winning state and federal regulatory approval for a 1.6-MW anaerobic digester and cogeneration facility built near a wastewater treatment plant. “The regulatory environment isn’t yet ready to accommodate some of the new technologies we’re talking about. That was a tough regulatory process and [state environmental regulators] were working closely with us, knowing it was an objective of theirs. But it was fairly arduous just because of the outdated aspects of the regulations.”

Daniel Sosland, Acadia Center — Daniel Sosland *© RTO Insider*

Daniel Sosland, president of the Acadia Center, said technology is creating a historic transition in the electric industry. “The question is how fast will we get there. Will markets drive changes? Will policy keep up?” he asked. “The system that we’ve built and has been reliable is a one-way power flow … but in the system we’re building now, the centerpiece is in your community. It’s in your home, it’s in your place of work.”

Jonathan Milley © RTO Insider — Jonathan Milley *© RTO Insider*

Jonathan Milley is director of business development for Vionx Energy, which is developing flow battery technology that proponents say will deliver long-duration energy storage at lower costs than lithium-ion batteries. He talked about storage’s challenges in winning a place in the market. “Storage is trying to find a leg in the three-legged stool in between generation, transmission and distribution, and doesn’t quite know how to fit into the equation.”

Katie Scharf-Dykes © RTO Insider — Katie Scharf-Dykes *© RTO Insider*

Katie Scharf Dykes, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s deputy commissioner for energy, spoke of accommodating state public policy goals in deregulated wholesale energy markets. “I hope there’s a peaceful resolution, a productive resolution,” she said. “State public policy goals are not discretionary whims; we have a statutory mandate to cut carbon, and we have an obligation to our ratepayers and our children to address this challenge.”

Paul Hibbard © RTO Insider — Paul Hibbard *© RTO Insider*

Paul Hibbard, vice president of The Analysis Group, said resolving cost allocation questions is essential to overcoming the region’s infrastructure challenges. “The real confusing piece is what consumers will pay for which pieces of infrastructure, how much will that cost and what might be the alternatives.”

– William Opalka

March 14, 2016

State-Sponsored Energy Procurement Moves Ahead in NE

By William Opalka

CROMWELL, Conn. — Requests for proposals for the next rounds of multistate clean energy, efficiency and storage procurement were released on Wednesday.

The RFPs were for resources from 2 to 20 MW as well as energy efficiency and energy storage, according to Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Deputy Commissioner for Energy Katie Scharf Dykes.

“It’s clear the transformation in the energy market and the electricity market is really accelerating,” she told the Connecticut Power and Energy Society’s annual Energy, Environment and Development Conference.

In addition to the multistate procurement, DEEP also issued a draft RFP for natural gas resources. The procurements were authorized by the state’s Affordable and Reliable Energy law, passed last year.

Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island last year released an RFP for large-scale renewable energy projects, reasoning that joint proposals and larger projects would obtain lower costs than states could secure on their own. (See New England States Combine on Clean Energy Procurement.)

The selection of successful bidders will begin in late April.

Eversource Energy President of Transmission Jim Muntz said the RFP for large-scale projects provided a glimpse of how market participants would respond to multiple jurisdictions.

“This was really the first real opportunity for folks to put some reality to their idea and try to marry up with the customers who stated a willingness to pay,” he said. “This is somewhat rare to have that in the neighborhood of a big idea.”

Among the proposals is Eversource’s Northern Pass transmission line, which would carry Canadian hydropower into the region.
In total, about 4,200 MW were proposed. But “big ideas” like undersea transmission lines from Canada or large offshore wind projects were noticeably absent.

Although several projects proposed large-scale wind and transmission in Maine, none were paired with any proposals that would build transmission to move energy farther south. Except for relatively small improvements along the New York-New England interface, no solutions were offered to relieve many of the existing choke points.