Three Republicans, including the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, say they are concerned that federal agencies are making plans to use the Yucca Mountain site for something other than a nuclear waste repository.
Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan, John Shimkus of Illinois and Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania — all proponents of the waste site plan — told Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz that they heard the Department of Energy and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) have “discussed the possibility of conducting activities at or near the Yucca Mountain site that are not related to the statutorily required uses for the site.”
The agency denies it is looking at the site for testing activity. “The Defense Threat Reduction Agency has never used the Yucca Mountain site for any testing activity, and we have no plans to do so in the future,” a spokesman said. The department declined comment.
Opponents to PennEast Pipeline Want FERC to Grant More Speaking Time
A Federal Energy Regulatory Commission public scoping meeting in New Jersey on the proposed $1.2 billion PennEast natural gas pipeline ended at 11 p.m. with 22 people still waiting to speak, spurring a call on FERC to extend the public comment period.
“People stayed for five hours,” Hopewell Township Committeeman Kevin Kuchinski said at the meeting in Ewing, N.J. “They want to be heard.”
A FERC spokeswoman said the hearing was concluded because of time limits on the rented venue, and that the public could submit written comments. The proposed 104-mile pipeline, which would transport gas from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region to a pipeline interconnection in New Jersey, has drawn opposition on both sides of the Delaware River.
Vermont Joins Petition to Ask NRC to Examine Vermont Yankee Finances
Vermont is the latest entity to join a petition before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to investigate the finances of the Entergy unit overseeing the decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee reactor.
“While Vermont Yankee recently disconnected from the electric grid, there are a number of immediate and long-term activities that will occur at the plant that could affect the safety of Vermonters,” Vermont’s motion to join the petition reads. Entergy has asked the NRC for permission to reduce emergency plans for the site and indicated that money to fund decommissioning activities is limited.
The attorneys general of Massachusetts and New York have filed similar petitions. The plant was shut down in December.
NRC Inspecting Damage to Summer Unit 2 Containment Caused by Workers
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission sent inspectors to SCANA’s under-construction Summer Unit 2 in South Carolina after workers accidentally damaged the reactor containment vessel bottom head last month.
Workers from Chicago Bridge & Iron were cutting reinforcement bar when they accidentally cut into the containment vessel itself. The actual damage appears to have been “minor,” but the NRC said it wanted to make sure it understands its potential impact and “the apparent breakdown in controls that might have prevented it.”
SCANA says that Unit 2 will be completed in the first half of 2019, with Unit 3 following a year later.
Petition Calls for Security Upgrades at Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Plant
Two watchdog groups are petitioning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to modify or suspend the operating license of Entergy’s Pilgrim nuclear generating station near Plymouth, Mass., until the plant’s security is upgraded.
Pilgrim Watch and Cape Downwinders cited recent warnings about possible terrorist activity and noted the plant experienced 10 trespassing incidents in the past three years. They also noted the station’s dry cask spent fuel storage is only about 175 feet from Cape Cod Bay. “Granted, the probability of attack is very small, but the consequences are very large,” said Mary Lampert, director of Pilgrim Watch.
Entergy spokeswoman Lauren Burm said the company recently upgraded its signage to warn beachgoers they are subject to arrest if they stray onto the plant’s property. “Entergy takes the security of our power plants and the safety of our employees and the communities in which we operate very seriously,” she said.
Niagara Mohawk Power has agreed to reduce its return on equity in a settlement with groups representing public power and municipal utilities.
If accepted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the settlement would reduce the ROE in Niagara Mohawk’s transmission service charge to 10.03% from the current 11.5%. The new rate would be backdated to Nov. 2, 2012, resulting in a refund of $3.16 million.
The Municipal Electric Utilities Association of New York, the New York Association of Public Power and Niagara Mohawk, a unit of National Grid, filed the settlement with FERC last week.
The settlement arose from complaints filed by the associations against the transmission owner and NYISO claiming that the current rate was too high (EL12-101, EL13-16 and EL14-29). FERC consolidated the cases and an administrative law judge facilitated negotiations.
The case began in September 2012, when the public power association filed complaints to reduce the current 11.5% ROE to 9.49%, including a 50-basis-point adder for participation in NYISO. The municipal utilities filed a similar complaint two months later seeking to reduce ROE to 9.25%, also including the participation adder. Last year, the public power group filed another complaint seeking a further reduction from its original complaint to 9.36%, citing the fall in interest rates.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week increased its pressure on PJM and MISO to resolve their longstanding boundary disputes, saying it was considering taking action “to improve the efficiency of operations” at the RTOs’ seam.
Despite 12 years of joint meetings that have resolved some issues, the two RTOs remain locked in a standoff over issues such as interface pricing, which MISO Market Monitor David Patton says is costing consumers millions.
At a presentation during FERC’s Jan. 22 meeting, Patton asked the agency to help resolve the disputes.
On Tuesday, FERC ordered the RTOs and their market monitors to answer questions on eight unresolved issues by April 10 (AD14-3). The commission indicated it is considering its own solutions to at least two of the issues.
FERC Solutions?
On the issue of capacity deliverability, the commission told the RTOs to identify “any reliability problems associated with modeling capacity in each RTO as a single product across the two markets.”
FERC also required the RTOs to report on what they “would need to do to implement day-ahead market coordination.”
At Thursday’s Board of Directors meeting, MISO Director Michael Curran said he was surprised by FERC’s action. “Are we moving into a phase where if we don’t fix it, [FERC will] fix it for us?” he asked .
The commission ordered the RTOs to report on proposed solutions, obstacles to solutions, and a timeline for overcoming them and making filings at the commission on the issues of:
Interface pricing
Capacity deliverability
Day-ahead market coordination
Firm-flow entitlement freeze date
Use of commercial flow in the market-to-market process
Modeling of the Ontario/Michigan phase angle regulators for congestion management
Room for Improvement
The commission noted the RTOs’ progress in areas such as RTO-to-RTO data exchanges and financial transmission rights market coordination. It also acknowledged that the RTOs are moving to improve interchange optimization through coordinated transaction scheduling. (See related story, PJM MRC/MC Briefs.)
In December, the commission ordered a technical conference on Northern Indiana Public Service Co.’s complaint over the interregional transmission planning provisions in the RTOs’ joint operating agreement (EL13-88). NIPSCO, a MISO member that is flanked by PJM in eastern Indiana and Illinois to its west, complained that the MISO-PJM seam is highly congested and that the RTOs have not approved a single cross-border transmission upgrade project under the JOA.
The commission also said the RTOs have completed a coordinated study on deliverability despite their differing modeling approaches. The study concluded that “more than 96% of MISO and PJM units are jointly deliverable to the aggregate MISO and PJM load footprint and [that] the total transmission capability between the two systems is quite significant.”
The RTOs found that the transmission capacity in the MISO-to-PJM direction is fully subscribed, while capability in the PJM-to-MISO direction is “minimally utilized for capacity.”
“Therefore, there could be benefit in the PJM-to-MISO direction, even in the near-term,” the commission said.
FERC ordered the RTOs and their market monitors to respond to the commission’s questions within 45 days with reply comments from stakeholders due April 27.
Interface Pricing
PJM and MISO have been working for two years to resolve differences in the way they price transactions at interface buses. Patton told FERC in January that transactions are overcompensated when expected to relieve a constraint and overcharged when expected to contribute to congestion. (See Patton Asks FERC to Set Deadline on PJM-MISO Interface Pricing Dispute.)
The RTOs agree that current methods are inaccurate because they both model the same constraints, resulting in double-counting. But they have been unable to agree on a solution.
Bowring told the commission that there will continue to be issues between the RTOs “as long as there are very substantial differences between the design for procuring capacity in MISO and the design for procuring capacity in PJM.”
Meetings of the Maryland Public Service Commission may get a lot livelier if Gov. Larry Hogan’s pick to replace Lawrence Brenner is confirmed.
Hogan nominated Montgomery County Republican Party Central Committee Chairman Michael L. Higgs Jr., an attorney with Shulman Rogers specializing in telecommunications and media regulations.
Higgs is an unabashed conservative who has used his now-deactivated Twitter account to compare President Obama’s advisor Valerie Jarrett to Rasputin and speculate that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had disappeared for several weeks to receive a facelift.
Higgs would be joining a commission that has been one of the most outspoken defenders of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emission rule.
Hogan submitted Higgs for state Senate approval on Feb. 20 to replace Brenner, a former administrative law judge with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission whose five-year term expires June 30.“I’m thrilled with the trust that the governor has placed in me and I look forward to serving the people of Maryland once I’m confirmed,” Higgs told the Gazette.
The Rockville resident is a graduate of the University of Maryland, with a bachelor’s in government and politics, and received his law degree from the George Washington Law School.
While attending law school, he worked for several firms where he gained experience learning the rules and policies of the Federal Communications Commission. At Shulman Rogers, Higgs’ clients include Internet service providers and radio and TV broadcasters. According to his LinkedIn profile, Higgs has no experience in the electricity industry.
In November’s gubernatorial election, Republican Hogan beat Democrat Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, a big upset in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1.
NEW ORLEANS — Independent Market Monitor David Patton told the MISO Board of Directors on Wednesday that MISO members are paying outsized premiums as a result of transmission loading relief actions (TLRs) called by neighboring SPP, PJM and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Patton said day-ahead binding on a TVA flowgate caused more than half of the price divergence at the Michigan Hub and much of the premiums in Arkansas in January.
Binding constraints that result in TLRs “tend to be very costly to MISO,” Patton said, blaming SPP TLRs for 20% of the congestion pricing at generator locations in January. Much of that was due to a single constraint that priced 10 times higher in MISO than in SPP, he said.
Patton said the problem should decline with the beginning of market-to-market coordination with SPP on Sunday and the introduction of Coordinated Transaction Scheduling with PJM. (See related story, PJM MRC/MC Briefs.) A joint operating agreement with TVA also would help, he said.
Patton said he will “investigate whether the TLRs are in all cases justified” and what else can be done to moderate price volatility.
Winter Forced Outage Rates Return to Normal
Forced outage rates have returned to typical levels during cold days this winter, with 15,000 to 18,000 MW out or derated, compared with more than 40,000 MW at the peak in January 2014, said Todd Ramey, vice president of system operations and market services.
Director Baljit “Bal” Dail asked whether there was any evidence of generators improperly claiming outages to withhold supply.
“That is something that we are investigating,” responded Patton, who said he would provide a report in March. “We are looking at some of those outages.”
The Board of Directors is considering reducing its Markets Committee meetings from monthly to the seven times a year that the full board meets. MISO staff created a proposed schedule at Director Michael Curran’s request.
“There is an opportunity to tighten up the agenda,” Curran said.
“We tried to do it before, but the members said they like it every month,” cautioned Director Paul Feldman.
The board will discuss the matter this month after getting stakeholder feedback.
Extended LMP Starts
Uplift rises each time a new unit is committed but does not rise dramatically at high levels of demand, because ELMPs are also rising.
MISO launched extended locational marginal pricing (ELMP) Sunday, a new calculation method that the RTO says will allow it to better capture fast-start gas turbines and emergency demand response in clearing prices.
It will allow fast-start resources that are either offline or scheduled at limits to set prices, which was previously impossible because of limitations in the RTO’s algorithm.
Emergency DR will also be able to set prices in the real-time energy and operating reserve markets.
MISO says the changes should minimize price spikes during shortages, provide more accurate price signals and reduce uplift charges.
Patton called it a “very important” initiative that should also allow price-responsive demand.
ELMP was one of four market changes introduced Sunday:
Market-to-market coordination with SPP, which allows the two RTOs to use economic dispatch to improve the cost effectiveness of their congestion management along the seam. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the initiative in January (ER13-1864). (See SPP, MISO Move Ahead on Flowgate Rules.)
DR will be allowed to provide multi-part offer curves and maximum regulating reserve and contingency reserve limits daily. It removes the host load zone association for some resources.
External asynchronous resource (EAR) market participation: Market resources connected to the main MISO market by a direct-current tie, such as Manitoba Hydro, were previously able to offer only generation into the market. Now, a bidirectional EAR will allow participants to submit price sensitive bids and offers. It also will allow dispatch of flexible hydro facilities in response to changes in supply and demand.
Pepco Holdings Inc. reported fourth-quarter earnings of $35 million ($0.14/share), a drop from the $58 million ($0.23/share) it earned for the same period last year.
Earnings for the year were up, however, rising to $242 million ($0.96/share) from $110 million ($0.45/share) in 2013.
Pepco CEO Joseph M. Rigby attributed the increase in annual earnings to higher electric distribution and transmission revenue. The decrease in fourth-quarter earnings compared with 2013 was due to higher operation, maintenance and depreciation expenses, he said.
Because of the company’s pending acquisition by Exelon, it provided no earnings guidance for 2015. (See related story, DC Consumer Advocate Seeks Delay in Exelon-Pepco Proceedings.)
Story on ComEd Contributions Spurs Call for Investigation
A state senator called for an investigation of Commonwealth Edison after the Chicago Tribune reported that the utility spent $60 million in ratepayer money over seven years on politically influential charities.
“The allegations in the Tribune article are serious and call for immediate action,” state Sen. Dan Duffy said in a letter to Attorney General Lisa Madigan. “ComEd should be required to disclose these contributions to ratepayers. At best, ComEd shareholders, not ratepayers, should bear the burden of funding these contributions.”
A 1987 law allows ComEd, the state’s largest utility, to pass on the cost of its charitable contributions to ratepayers. The Tribune article listed instances where some charities that received ComEd assistance were in the position to aid it.
County Emergency Management Agency Uses Dresden’s Cooling Pond Water to Battle Ice
Warm water from Dresden nuclear plant is being used to melt down ice flows on the Kankakee River to prevent flooding and damage to homes and docks.
The Will County Emergency Management Agency has devised a system to siphon the 70 F water into the Kankakee River. “The warm water from Dresden’s pond helps break up the ice so it can flow freely downstream,” said Harold Damron, the agency’s director.
Challenges to NIPSCO’s $1.1 Billion Modernization Plan Heard in Court
In a case before the state Court of Appeals, the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor and a group of industrial customers are challenging Northern Indiana Public Service Co.’s $1.1 billion electric modernization plan as too costly.
“These plans can cost ratepayers hundreds of millions, even billions, of dollars,” said Utility Consumer Counselor David Stippler. The Utility Regulatory Commission approved the plan in 2013, which would be funded by yearly rate increases that will total 4.9% by 2020.
A NIPSCO attorney said the improvements are necessary. “The commission determined the plan is beneficial to consumers, and no one has disputed that,” said Brian Paul. The court decision could affect improvement plans proposed by other state utilities.
Kentucky Power Appeals PSC Ruling on ‘Unreasonable’ Fuel Costs
Kentucky Power is appealing a Public Service Commission order requiring it to refund $13 million to customers after the commission determined some of its fuel costs last year were unreasonable.
The American Electric Power subsidiary says the commission disallowed charges associated with having both the Mitchell power plant and Big Sandy Unit 2 in operation simultaneously. Kentucky Power said it was necessary to run both units in Louisa to maintain system reliability and to meet demand, especially during last winter’s polar vortex.
Big Sandy Unit 2 is being retired later this year.
City Upset That DTE Rate Hikes Would Kill LED Lighting Incentive
The city of Ypsilanti says a proposed DTE Energy rate increase for LED street lighting, combined with a cut in charges for conventional sodium-vapor streetlights, would undermine the incentives that prompted the city to spend $500,000 last year to convert its streetlights to the more efficient LED technology.DTE’s proposal would increase the cost of powering a 65-W LED bulb from $138 to $154 a year, while the cost of running a 100-W sodium bulb would drop from $184 to $129. “If this rate hike happens, we’ll really feel like this was a bait and switch,” said Ypsilanti City Council Member Brian Robb.
The utility said the old LED rate was experimental. “As we gained more experience with LED technology, we changed the pricing to reflect a more complete understanding of the costs associated with it,” said DTE spokesman Scott Simons.
University Report IDs Ways State Could Improve Fracking Oversight
A University of Michigan report suggested the state take a number of steps to strengthen its oversight of hydraulic fracturing, including better monitoring of surface and groundwater and mandating more emergency planning by natural gas exploration companies.
The recommendations were included in a 277-page report compiled by scientists, lawyers and other University of Michigan faculty. “The purpose of the study is to pull together a massive amount of information and analyze the options in a way that is clear, so the state can look at these options and decide which if any they might want to adopt,” said Sara Gosman, one of the report’s authors.
More than 12,000 fracked wells have been drilled in Michigan since the late 1940s, but high-volume fracking of deep shale deposits is a new phenomenon. Michigan has 13 producing wells in the Utica-Collingwood shale formation, but drilling companies have leased hundreds of other sites.
Mississippi Power’s CEO Warns Kemper Ruling Could Result in Rate Hikes of 35%
Mississippi Power CEO Ed Holland said a state Supreme Court ruling that orders the company to refund customers $271 million for plant construction costs will almost certainly lead to higher rates.
Holland, in a Sun Herald op-ed, said the court’s ruling effectively voids a plan the company and the Public Service Commission developed to keep down rate hikes associated with construction of the Kemper County integrated gasification combined-cycle plant. “If the court’s opinion stays in place and the refund is required, we will have little choice but to seek at least the original estimated amount of approximately 35% in rate increases,” he wrote.
The court threw out a PSC decision to allow $281 million in rate recovery for costs associated with the plant’s construction. The court said the PSC never found that the funds were “prudently incurred,” a requirement for recovery. Mississippi Power is challenging the court ruling.
PSC Approves Ameren’s Efficiency Plan Allowing 2013 Recovery Calculations
The Public Service Commission approved a settlement that determined Ameren Missouri’s energy efficiency programs saved 347 GWh in 2013. The amount will determine how much money the utility can recover from ratepayers.
Ameren had claimed that its program saved nearly 400 GWh. The Office of the Public Counsel estimated the savings at 300 GWh. They settled on 347 GWh.
2nd State Judge Signs Injunction Against Keystone XL Eminent Domain Actions
A York County District Court judge became the second state judge to grant an injunction halting TransCanada’s use of eminent domain to secure a route for its controversial $8 billion Keystone XL Pipeline.
The judge ruled in favor of a group of landowners who are challenging a state law that gave TransCanada eminent domain powers to build its crude-oil pipeline to Gulf Coast refineries and terminals.
“I know the war is not won yet, but it’s a start,” property owner Susan Dunavan said after the ruling.
JCP&L Planning $267 Million on System Improvements; Rate Counsel Endorses $107 Million Rate Cut
Jersey Central Power & Light said it will spend $267 million on transmission and distribution improvements this year, including a new transmission line in Middlesex County.
Among the projects planned are nearly $6 million in distribution circuit upgrades, $24 million in tree trimming, and money for planning and constructing a 230-kV transmission line in Monmouth County.
JCP&L’s reliability record has been a recent target of regulators and consumers. The Division of Rate Counsel last month endorsed a decision by an administrative law judge that would force the company to cut rates by $107 million, saying that the utility’s reliability record is poor.
The Rate Counsel argued that the company had earned profits in excess of the amount allowed by the Board of Public Utilities. About 90% of its customers were left without power after Hurricane Sandy.
“JCP&L customers have suffered poor reliability too long and should be provided a remedy immediately,’’ the Rate Counsel argued.
Hearing Scheduled for New Power Plant near Williston
The Public Service Commission will hold a hearing this week on the proposed $161 million expansion of the Pioneer Generation Station near Williston to meet growing electricity demands from the state’s oil and gas industry.
Basin Electric said the proposed expansion is needed to meet a forecasted 1,600-MW increase in load by 2035. The company wants to add 12 reciprocating gas-fired internal combustion engines generating up to 111 MW.
PUCO Rejects AEP’s Guaranteed Income Plan for Coal Plants
The Public Utilities Commission last week rejected American Electric Power’s request for a guaranteed income for two of its coal-fired plants, saying the proposal wasn’t in the best interest of ratepayers.
While PUCO rejected the proposal, it ruled that the power purchase agreement was legal. That gave AEP a kernel upon which to press forward with a similar request for other plants. It has argued that customers would benefit from supply stability if the plants received a guaranteed rate. Critics say its proposal would represent a retreat from market-rate pricing.
“Further delays in deciding this issue will postpone our customers’ ability to take advantage of the financial benefits of what we proposed,” AEP Ohio President Pablo Vegas said in a statement. “We will work with the PUCO to address their outstanding issues with our problems.”
Rumors Surround Porter’s Move to PUCO, Johnson’s Tenure
Porter
Gov. John Kasich’s choice of Andre Porter, the state commerce director, to fill a vacancy on the Public Utilities Commission has sparked speculation that Chairman Tom Johnson’s reign may be ending.
Some observers wonder why Porter, who served previously on the commission, would want to make the move back to PUCO if he wasn’t angling for the chair. Johnson, who has been the commission’s chair for less than a year, has faced several controversial issues, including proposals to guarantee prices for merchant power and a legislative proposal to freeze the state’s renewable and energy efficiency standards.
The governor’s office did not comment on his plans for the commission.
PUC Orders FirstEnergy’s Pa. Companies to Give More Details on Improvement Plan
The Public Utilities Commission ordered FirstEnergy’s four companies in the state — Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power and West Penn Power — to provide more details on how they intend to address issues raised in a PUC management audit.
The PUC’s Bureau of Audits identified 28 areas of improvement in the companies’ management practices that could produce one-time efficiency savings of $19.2 million and annual savings of up to $3.8 million. The PUC said FirstEnergy’s response was short on specifics and directed the company to devise a more detailed implementation plan.
“Because we have received similar responses to previous audit recommendations in the past with little meaningful improvement, it is imperative that FirstEnergy develop more robust responses to these recommendations,” Commissioner James H. Cawley said in a motion approved by the commission.
Tomblin Vetoes Net Metering Bill, Solar Advocates Applaud
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin vetoed a bill that would have prohibited utilities from subsidizing solar customers by charging other ratepayers for costs associated with installing and administering solar net-metering systems.
Solar advocates said the bill would have allowed utilities to raise costs for owners of solar installations, reducing incentives for renewable power.
“This bill was fatally flawed,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. “Did it end up that way for political reasons? Or was it a case of sloppy drafting? Whichever the case, Gov. Tomblin did the right thing by vetoing the bill and sending it back to the drawing board.”
NEW ORLEANS — MISO last week signed a new Operations Reliability Coordination Agreement (ORCA) with its southern neighbors, increasing the flow limits within the MISO footprint.
Curran
MISO reached this agreement with SPP and the so-called “Joint Parties” — neighboring systems including Southern Co., Tennessee Valley Authority, Associated Electric Cooperatives, Louisville Gas & Electric, Kentucky Utilities and the PowerSouth Energy Cooperative.
Jennifer Curran, vice president of system planning and seams coordination, told the Board of Directors that the new agreement, which was filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Feb. 27, increases MISO’s ability to flow from 2,000 MW to a total of 3,000 MW in the area (ER15-1141).
MISO said the signing of the new agreement will allow it and its neighbors to continue work on a long-term, market-based solution. The original ORCA was due to expire April 1. The new pact will expire on April 1, 2016, or earlier if FERC approves a replacement arrangement sooner.
MISO “continues to believe that current industry-wide reliability measures more than sufficiently protect system reliability and coordination,” the RTO said in a statement. “However, MISO is pleased to have developed a cooperative agreement to accommodate the desire for greater experience for its neighbors.”
No Rush on Review of Entergy Out-of-Cycle Tx Projects
The board will rule “no earlier than April” on Entergy’s request for approval of six out-of-cycle transmission projects totaling $220 million, Director Michael Evans said. Evans said the board would begin its review this month.
Entergy’s request for a $187 million transmission upgrade near Lake Charles, La., has become a lightning rod for transmission developers, who have accused the company of seeking an out-of-cycle designation to avoid opening the project to competition.
New MISO Chair Plans Changes on Governance; Higher Board Profile
Walsh
New MISO Board Chair Judy Walsh said last week she will seek a review of the RTO’s governance principles while increasing the board’s visibility with state regulators.
Walsh, a former Texas Public Utility Commissioner who took the gavel in January, said the RTO has “looked mostly inward” in the past but needs to increase its outreach because of challenges such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon emission rule.
She asked Director Eugene Zeltman, chair of the Governance Committee, to review the term and role of the chair. “If the board will represent MISO before [the National Association of Regulatory Commissioners] and state regulators, perhaps more visibility and continuity may be desirable,” she said.
In the interim, she said, Director Michael Curran will continue to represent the board with outside parties, building on the relationships he developed during his recently completed two-year term as chairman.
Walsh asked the Governance Committee to review “all principles of governance,” including stakeholder relations, conflicts of interest standards and the Nominating Committee process, saying she hoped to have changes ready for adoption by the end of the year.
She said MISO management “has challenged itself to look at all operations and processes [to] ensure we are consistent and that a policy adopted for one purpose does not get in the way of us accomplishing our overall goals.”
She also said the Advisory Committee should consider reducing the number of subcommittees it has and the time spent in meetings.
MISO Names New Security Chief; Plans Additional Cybersecurity Spending
MISO will increase its technology budget “by a confidential amount” in order to eliminate the use of shared infrastructure between critical and non-critical assets, Director Baljit Dail said.
The spending is necessary to comply with tightened Critical Infrastructure Protection standards that will take effect in 2016.
The spending will be overseen by the RTO’s newly appointed Chief Information Security Officer Mark Brooks, who joined the RTO several weeks ago.
Incentive Payout: 68.8%
The board awarded MISO employees 68.8% of their potential incentive awards under its short-term incentive program for 2014.
The incentives are based on achievements measured against a weighted list of seven metrics: reliability standards, unit commitment efficiency, market efficiency, compliance with operations and capital spending budgets, customer satisfaction and strategic initiatives.
The board judged staff’s performance “excellent” for capital budgeting and “mid-range” for most other measures.
Former Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Chairman David C. Boyd has joined MISO as vice president of government and regulatory affairs. Boyd, who served eight years on the commission, will be MISO’s primary liaison with the governors and state regulatory and legislative policymakers in the 17-state region.
PJM and its Transmission Owners won federal regulators’ conditional approval for their plan to integrate multi-driver projects into the regional transmission expansion plan (RTEP).
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Feb. 20 ruling (ER14-2864, ER14-2867) requires PJM to revise its Tariff to include the criteria it will use to determine whether and how to divide a multi-driver project that combines two or more proposed projects and two or more transmission developers.
The commission also ordered PJM to clarify its definition of multi-driver projects. PJM proposed to define such projects as “a transmission enhancement or expansion that addresses more than one of the following: reliability violations, economic constraints or public policy requirements.”
FERC said the definition “might be read to include reliability or economic transmission projects that also address public policy requirements for which PJM planned during the assumptions stage of the RTEP process,” which would conflict with PJM’s Order 1000 compliance filing.
PJM said the multi-driver concept could lower the cost of states’ public policy transmission projects by incorporating them in upgrades that address market efficiency or reliability.
Three Republicans, including the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, say they are concerned that federal agencies are making plans to use the Yucca Mountain site for something other than a nuclear waste repository.
A Federal Energy Regulatory Commission public scoping meeting in New Jersey on the proposed $1.2 billion PennEast natural gas pipeline ended at 11 p.m. with 22 people still waiting to speak, spurring a call on FERC to extend the public comment period.
Vermont is the latest entity to join a petition before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to investigate the finances of the Entergy unit overseeing the decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee reactor.
Two watchdog groups are petitioning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to modify or suspend the operating license of Entergy’s Pilgrim nuclear generating station near Plymouth, Mass., until the plant’s security is upgraded.
