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September 26, 2024

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DHS Offers $280M in Grants for Cyber Investments

The Department of Homeland Security is looking for recipients for $279.9 million in grant funding to invest in cybersecurity for fiscal 2025, which begins Oct. 1. 

The grants are part of the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP), which Congress established in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. (See Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Offers Funding for Grid, EVs.) 

The SLCGP, along with the Tribal Cybersecurity Grant Program (TCGP), provides about $1 billion in funding over four years. Both programs are intended to support state, local, territorial and tribal governments in reducing cyber risk and building resilience against cybersecurity threats. Entities may apply for the grants until 5 p.m. Dec. 3, 2024. 

The DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) jointly administers SLCGP and TCGP with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). CISA serves as the subject matter expert on cybersecurity issues, while FEMA administers grants and oversees the use of appropriated funds. 

In a press release, CISA Director Jen Easterly said the programs would help “governments lay a solid foundation for building a sustainable and resilient cybersecurity program for the future.” 

According to the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) issued by DHS, SLCGP applications can be submitted by designated State Administrative Agencies (SAA). States and territories will be responsible for distributing sub-awards to local entities. The IIJA requires local governments to receive at least 80% of awarded funds, with at least 25% to be distributed to rural areas. 

Each state must receive at least 1% of the total available grant funding, according to the SLCGP fact sheet; this mandate also applies to the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands each have a minimum allocation of 0.25%. Additional funds will be allocated “based on a combination of state population and rural population totals.” 

To receive grants, states and territories must have a CISA-approved cybersecurity plan and a cybersecurity planning committee and charter. Plans must be submitted by Jan. 30, 2025. Entities that already have a CISA-approved plan do not need to revise it unless the agency notifies them that it does not meet requirements, but CISA indicated that “there are no additional plan requirements” in FY 2025.  

CISA also reminded applicants that implementing the agency’s cybersecurity best practices is a “key requirement” of cybersecurity plans. The NOFO provided a list of practices for entities to incorporate: 

    • multifactor authentication; 
    • enhanced logging; 
    • encrypted data at rest and in transit; 
    • discontinued use of unsupported or end-of-life software and hardware that are accessible from the internet; 
    • restricted use of known, fixed, and default passwords and credentials; 
    • the ability to reconstitute systems from backups; 
    • rapid bidirectional information sharing between CISA and state, local and tribal entities; and 
    • migration to the .gov internet domain. 

CISA said incorporating the recommended best practices will help entities reach the baseline outlined in its cyber performance goals. 

“In the modern threat landscape, every community can — and too often does — face sophisticated cyberattacks on vital systems like hospitals, schools and electrical grids,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “Our message to communities everywhere is simple: Do not underestimate the reach or ruthlessness of nefarious cyber actors. Through initiatives like the [SLCGP] we can confront these threats together.” 

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MISO, TVA to Enter Agreement on Emergency Purchases

INDIANAPOLIS — MISO and the Tennessee Valley Authority say they’re poised to strike an agreement on emergency energy transactions after months of RTO leadership complaining that TVA doesn’t return the favor of energy transfers in times of need.

The two have confirmed they will file an agreement with FERC to codify emergency purchases between the federal utility and the RTO.

According to TVA, the agreement is between MISO and two authorized TVA purchaser utilities. It will allow MISO to “act on their behalf to purchase power from TVA during certain emergency conditions, consistent with TVA’s obligations under the TVA Act,” TVA spokesperson Scott Fiedler said.

MISO said the draft agreement is not publicly available yet.

“We are focused on establishing a process for the provision of emergency energy during emergency events to support reliability on our respective systems, as well as provide terms for compensation,” MISO spokesperson Brandon Morris said. MISO did not comment on the degree it expects emergency transfers from TVA to benefit its operations.

During MISO Board Week in Indianapolis on Sept. 17, Vice President of System Planning Aubrey Johnson said in early October, TVA operators will visit MISO’s control room in Little Rock, Ark., to perform desktop exercises to familiarize themselves with MISO operations.

Johnson said he and other MISO leaders in turn will travel to Chattanooga, Tenn., to celebrate the emergency energy agreement the two should have completed by then.

The agreement is meant to forge a more symbiotic relationship between the two. Prior to the agreement, MISO leadership expressed disappointment in TVA because although MISO has assisted TVA with exports — especially during the late December 2022 winter storm — TVA as a rule didn’t flow power to MISO. (See “JOAs with Neighboring Systems?” MISO Winter Recap Centers on December Emergency.)

“TVA is an interesting animal in the Eastern Interconnect. They are limited in who they can sell power to,” Executive Director of Market Operations J.T. Smith said when the agreement was in the works in spring.

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MISO Tries to Win over Stakeholders on New LMR Capacity Accreditation

INDIANAPOLIS — Stakeholders appear wary of MISO’s proposed, availability-based accreditation method that it plans to file with FERC by the end of the year for the RTO’s approximately 12 GW of load-modifying resources (LMRs). 

MISO wants to accredit LMRs based on past performance levels by the 2028/29 planning year. It would split them into two categories — those that can respond in 30 minutes or less and those that can’t — and accredit them accordingly. (See MISO Proposes to Split LMR Participation, Accreditation into Fast/Slow Groups.) 

The LMR Type II category would have a maximum response time of 30 minutes and presumed availability for all maximum generation emergency step 2 events. An LMR Type I class would carry a maximum response time of six hours and be called up earlier, when MISO declares a maximum generation alert. The RTO has long said it needs to be able to access LMRs outside of actual emergency declarations. 

MISO plans to use a similar accreditation to its proposed, availability-based method for its more traditional generation resources. However, to measure demand response, MISO said it would use backward-looking meter data from hours when capacity advisory declarations are in place to accredit resources. The RTO plans to draw on data from a minimum of 65 historical hours per season over the past year and will give more weight in accreditation to performance during hours when capacity advisories escalate into maximum generation events, alerts or warnings. 

The RTO would cap accreditation at an LMR’s maximum stated capability during registration and reduce accreditation when LMR owners submit inaccurate availability information. Currently, MISO does not tie the accuracy of LMR availability data to accreditation values. 

During a Sept. 23 stakeholder workshop, WPPI Energy’s Steve Leovy said he was concerned that the sample size of hours during which capacity advisories are in effect is too small to be a good indicator of LMR performance. He said MISO’s capacity advisories seem too infrequent to use as a basis for accreditation.  

Other stakeholders said one year’s worth of data might not be adequate to create a stable, year-to-year accreditation. They pointed out that a particularly heat wave-laden or mild summer could skew the numbers, especially for those LMRs tied to air conditioning loads.  

MISO said it will turn to other previous years as needed if the past season doesn’t have the requisite 65 hours. Joshua Schabla, an economist in MISO’s market design group, also said the RTO intends to account for temperature-based adjustments in the accreditation. 

MISO said it needs the split classification because its long-lead-time LMRs are incapable of deploying in the time it takes for emergencies to materialize. The RTO experiences maximum generation alerts most frequently, with 20 occurring between 2020 and 2023, compared to 10 warnings, four maximum generation emergency step 1 events and five maximum generation emergency step 2 events in the same time frame. 

“Resources that deploy earlier can be used effectively, even if the event escalates quickly,” Schabla said. “In practice, we need these long-lead resources to be called up during maximum generation alerts.”  

MidAmerican Energy’s Dennis Kimm asked for more nuance beyond the two capability classes. He said MidAmerican has several LMRs that can respond within two hours but none that are ready within 30 minutes. Leovy advocated for the 30-minute requirement to be bumped up to a two-hour response time. 

Schabla said LMRs are more highly accredited than any other in its resource stack, yet the LMRs are less available than any other in its resource stack. “There’s a fundamental disconnect here.” 

Though MISO officially has about 12 GW of LMRs, staff have said MISO receives only about 7 GW to 8 GW worth of movement during emergencies. 

Schabla said the gap does not necessarily mean LMR owners are doing anything wrong or gaming the system. He said it likely represents a “misalignment between what is accredited and what is available.” 

In August, Reliability Subcommittee Chair Ray McCausland called the LMR response rate “eye-opening” and “a huge concern.” 

The RTO currently has an “inability to access many of the megawatts available in a useful time frame,” Executive Director of Market and Grid Strategy Zak Joundi said at MISO Board Week this month. The inability is magnified by the fact that MISO currently must declare an emergency before gaining access to load adjustments, he said.  

“We want to make sure [that] if someone is clearing the Planning Resource Auction, we can access those resources and they can deliver,” Joundi said. 

Joundi acknowledged to board members that stakeholders were dissatisfied with MISO’s timeline.  

“Ultimately, we want to make sure the rules we file at FERC are effective,” Joundi said. “Our goal is not necessarily to discourage the megawatts that are important. We want to make sure there are megawatts that we can leverage under the circumstances that we do.” 

MISO will again discuss LMR accreditation with stakeholders at its Oct. 9 Resource Adequacy Subcommittee meeting. 

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State Briefs

CALIFORNIA 

Poway City Council Approves Battery Storage Facility

The Poway City Council last week unanimously approved a land use designation change that will pave the way for a battery storage facility. 

The Nighthawk battery storage facility drew heavy opposition from residents, who have recently dealt with storage facility fires. 

More: KNSD 

GEORGIA 

PSC Approves Georgia Power’s Biomass Plan

The Public Service Commission last week voted 4-1 to approve a Georgia Power plan to source more energy from burning wood known as “biomass,” despite criticisms about its cost. 

An independent evaluator found the three contracts Georgia Power was seeking approval for would cost customers two to three times more than other sources. While the regulators acknowledged the high cost, they said they were motivated to give an economic boost to rural parts of the state that rely on the timber industry. 

The costs could add about $45 to the average customer’s monthly bill by next year. 

More: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

LOUISIANA 

PSC Awards APTIM Energy Efficiency Contract

The Public Service Commission last week voted unanimously to contract with APTIM as the administrator of its energy efficiency program through 2029 for $24.5 million. 

Commissioners issued a request for proposals in May to build and oversee the state’s new energy efficiency program. Nine companies responded, with three submitting formal proposals. APTIM was both the lowest bidder and the only company headquartered in Louisiana. 

More: Louisiana Illuminator 

MAINE 

PUC Says CMP Can Skip Review of Acquisition Deal

The Public Utilities Commission last week voted 2-1 to allow Central Maine Power (CMP) to skip a state review of a $2.5 billion deal that puts its parent company, Avangrid, under full control of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola. 

Chairman Phillip Bartlett II and Commissioner Patrick Scully followed a hearing examiner’s report that said CMP’s request for a waiver of state law calling for a review is warranted based on regulators’ previous approval of the corporate structure. The utility argued that regulators already authorized Iberdrola’s indirect ownership of CMP and Maine Natural Gas in 2008 when Iberdrola acquired Energy East Corp., a predecessor of Avangrid. 

Iberdrola will acquire the remaining 18.4% of shares of Avangrid it does not currently own. 

More: Portland Press Herald 

Trenton Extends Solar Moratorium

Trenton last week extended its moratorium on medium- and large-scale solar development by 180 days. 

The current moratorium expires Oct. 5 but will be extended another 180 days or until an amendment dealing with solar developments in the town is adopted. 

More: Bar Harbor Story 

NEVADA 

PUC Denies NV Energy’s Proposed Rate Change

The Public Utilities Commission last week denied a NV Energy request to raise its Northern Nevada customers’ rates by 175%. 

The request would have increased Northern Nevada’s basic service charge from $16.50 to $45.30 per month and made it the highest in the U.S. Instead, the PUC approved a $2 per month increase that will take effect in October. 

In its draft order, the commission stated the proposed increase was “inordinately large and not in the public interest.” 

More: The Nevada Independent 

NORTH CAROLINA

Appeals Court Upholds Duke Energy’s Lower Net Metering Rates

The Court of Appeals in North Carolina last week upheld Duke Energy’s reduced net metering payments. 

NC WARN, Environmental Working Group and others opposed to an earlier compromise made between Duke and solar installers argued the Utilities Commission adopted it without conducting their own analysis of the costs and benefits of net metering, a requirement of a 2017 statute. 

While Judge Hunter Murphy said commission “erred in concluding that it was not required to perform an investigation of the costs and benefits of customer-sited generation,” “the record reveals the commission performed such an investigation when it opened an investigation docket in response to [Duke’s] proposed revised net energy metering rates.” He went on to say the commission “properly considered the evidence before it and made appropriate findings of fact and conclusions of law.” 

More: Energy News Network 

TEXAS 

Pipeline Fire Burns Near Houston After Vehicle Strikes Valve

A towering flame gradually subsided last week in the aftermath of a massive pipeline explosion after a vehicle drove through a fence and struck an above-ground valve, officials said. 

Firefighters initially were dispatched at 9:55 a.m. on Sept. 16 for an explosion at a valve station in Deer Park. Operators shut off the flow of natural gas liquids in the pipeline, but so much remained that firefighters could do nothing but watch. The fire eventually went out on Thursday. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said 20 miles of pipeline between the two closed valves had to burn off before the fire would stop. An evacuation area included nearly 1,000 homes, and initial shelter orders included schools. 

Deer Park officials said police and local FBI agents found no preliminary reports that would suggest a coordinated or “terrorist” attack, and it appeared to be an isolated incident. 

More: The Associated Press; The Associated Press; The Associated Press 

WEST VIRGINIA

PSC Dismisses AEP Rate Hike Because of Incomplete Filing

The Public Service Commission last week dismissed a rate increase request from Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power for failing to include crucial financial information. 

PSC staff offered the companies the chance to submit the information and avoid a dismissal, but the companies refused, saying they filed all the necessary information. On Sept. 12, PSC staff reiterated that the application was incomplete and that the information provided was not properly presented. 

The request would have raised rates nearly 18% ($28.72/month) for residential customers. 

More: West Virginia Watch 

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Company Briefs

ENGIE Reaches 1.8 GW Battery Storage Capacity in US

ENGIE last week announced it has surpassed 1.8 GW of battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity in operation across the U.S. 

Since the beginning of 2024, ENGIE has added around 1 GW of new BESS capacity in North America. 

More: ENGIE 

GE Vernova Releases 2-kV DC Utility-scale Inverter

GE Vernova last week introduced a new 2-kV DC utility-scale inverter. 

The company said the Flexinverter 2000 Vdc will debut in a multi-megawatt solar park as part of a pilot installation in North America, which is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2025. 

The product combines an inverter, medium-voltage transformer, and various configurable options, including GPS-enabled fault timestamping and revenue-grade metering. It features an air-cooled system. Its maximum power station efficiency at 40 degrees Celsius is rated at 98.4%, and its max inverter efficiency at 40 C is 99.1%. 

More: pv magazine 

Exowatt to Repurpose Tech to Deal with AI Power Demand

Exowatt last week unveiled its plan to develop a combination heat collector, heat battery and heat engine meant to provide emissions-free power for AI firms. 

The company held an event at an RE+ industry conference and showed off its thermal battery that can hold energy for up to 24 hours. It also employs a Fresnel lens to focus and concentrate solar energy onto hot bricks, which is then extracted from the bricks with a Stirling engine. 

Exowatt aims to ​“eventually” offer firm, clean electricity for 1 cent/kWh without subsidies. 

More: Canary Media 

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Federal Briefs

DOE Loans $1.5B for Carbon Sequestration Fertilizer Project

The Department of Energy last week announced it has made a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.559 billion to Wabash Valley Resources (WVR) for a West Terre Haute fertilizer development. 

WVR intends to pipe and inject 1.67 million tons of carbon dioxide annually a mile below the surface as part of its plan to produce “low-carbon-intensity” anhydrous ammonia fertilizer at a former coal gasification plant in Vigo County, Ind. WVR aims to produce 500,000 metric tons of anhydrous ammonia annually. 

The $1.559 billion would be part of a total investment of $2.4 billion WVR would secure through private investment. 

More: Indiana Capital Chronicle 

DOE Picks NextEra for Solar Project on Nuclear Repository

The DOE last week announced it has chosen NextEra Energy Resources Development to design a 150-MW solar farm at a nuclear repository in New Mexico. 

The project, which would also have 100 MW of storage, would be located on up to 1,800 acres at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.

More: Axios 

NRC Approves Renewals for Turkey Point

Florida Power & Light Company last week said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a license renewal for two of its Turkey Point nuclear plant units for another 20 years.  

FPL said licenses for Units 3 and 4, both located south of Miami, have been extended through 2052 and 2053, respectively. 

FPL said nuclear power accounts for 20% of its fuel mix and is the second-largest energy source in the state. 

More: Reuters 

NRC Says Palisades Needs More Inspecting, Repairs

The NRC last week said the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant will need more inspections, testing and repairs on its steam generator regarding the reopening of the plant. 

The NRC said it is evaluating the data and assessing Holtec’s plans to correct the conditions. 

Earlier this year, the federal government announced a $1.5 billion conditional commitment to support the reopening of Palisades. 

More: WOOD 

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California GHG Emissions Decreased 2.4% in 2022

California’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 2.4% in 2022 compared with the prior year, with the largest decrease seen in the transportation sector, according to a report released Sept. 20 by the California Air Resources Board.

The state’s total GHG emissions were 371 million metric tons (MMT) of CO2 equivalent in 2022, a figure that includes emissions from imported electricity. The decrease from 380 MMT in 2021 resumes the generally declining trend of GHG emissions that the state has seen since 2004.

The year 2021 was an exception to that trend, when GHG emissions grew by about 3%. The emissions increase in 2021 was viewed as rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, which sent GHG emissions plummeting in 2020.

According to the CARB report, the transportation economic sector accounted for 39% of California’s GHG emissions in 2022, followed by the industrial sector at 23%. The electricity sector contributed 16% of the state’s GHG emissions: 11% from in-state generation and 5% from imports.

Transportation sector emissions fell by 5.2 MMT in 2022, a 3.6% decrease. Emission decreases were seen for passenger vehicles as well as heavy-duty vehicles. CARB attributed the drop to the increased use of renewable fuels and growth in the zero-emission vehicle market.

Emissions from electricity generation fell by 2.6 MMT, or 4.1%, in 2022 due to increases in in-state solar power and hydropower and an increase in imported wind power, according to the report.

GHG emissions dropped in five out of seven sectors that CARB tracked. Emissions were up by 1.7% in the residential and commercial sector, which CARB attributed to an increase in commercial activity following the pandemic. On the residential side, emissions fell slightly in 2022.

California’s agricultural sector accounted for 8.0% of statewide GHG emissions in 2022. Livestock emissions, which are responsible for 70% of the sector’s emissions, fell in 2022 due to the use of methane digesters funded by the California Climate Investments and incentivized by the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, CARB said.

Assembly Bill 32 of 2006 set a state limit of 431 MMT of GHG emissions in 2020. California emissions dropped below that limit in 2014, six years ahead of schedule. Now the state is working to reduce GHG emissions to 260 MMT by 2030, a limit set by Senate Bill 32 of 2016.

The state has set a target of net-zero emissions by 2045.

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DOE Awards $3B to Tackle Gaps, Challenges in US Battery Supply Chain

The Smackover Formation in southwest Arkansas has one of the highest lithium brine concentrations in the U.S., which is why the Department of Energy is planning to invest $225 million in federal funds to help stand up an environmentally sustainable lithium extraction and purification project being developed by SWA Lithium. 

A partnership between Standard Lithium and Equinor, SWA is one of 25 battery supply chain projects DOE has selected to receive $3 billion in grants from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, according to a Sept. 20 announcement. 

“The selected projects will retrofit, expand and build new domestic facilities for battery-grade processed critical minerals, batter components, battery manufacturing and recycling,” the announcement said, as well as create 8,000 construction and 4,000 permanent operating jobs.  

Located in 14 states, the awardees represent the “most essential building blocks of the battery supply chain,” as well as a diverse range of companies, according to DOE. For example, Dow Chemical is set to receive $100 million to turn waste carbon dioxide into battery-grade electrolytes, while Silicon Valley startup Mitra Chem is up for a $100 million award to manufacture next-gen lithium iron phosphate battery components in Muskegon, Mich. 

“This award selection represents a pivotal moment for the entire U.S. battery industry,” said Vivas Kumar, CEO of Mitra Chem. “By bringing advanced battery production to American soil, we’re securing our energy future and positioning the U.S. at the forefront of the global electric vehicle revolution.” 

The company’s DOE grant is being topped up with a $25 million grant from Michigan, according to a Mitra Chem announcement.

Awardees must be able to match the IIJA funds dollar for dollar at least as part of the negotiations that will now begin to finalize contracts for the awards. The DOE announcement also noted that nearly 90% of the projects will be located in or adjacent to disadvantaged communities, and more than half have already signed or committed to signing project agreements with labor groups. 

The SWA project, for example, has committed to ensuring that 40% of workers and 20% of apprentices on the project will be local hires. 

“Taking action on climate change and rebuilding our domestic manufacturing capacity are mutually reinforcing goals,” said Ali Zaidi, White House national climate adviser. 

The “game-changing” awards announced Sept. 20 will “support the technologies that we need in the market today, the components that we will need in the future and the innovative technologies we need to advance our vision for a circular domestic battery supply chain,” Zaidi said. 

Breaking Chinese Dominance

With batteries a core technology for decarbonizing the grid and electrifying transportation, building out a domestic supply chain ― and breaking China’s dominance in critical mineral processing and battery manufacturing ― has been a political flashpoint and a high priority for the Biden administration.  

The success of these projects could also have a critical impact on EV adoption rates in the U.S., as half of the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits for EVs require that their batteries meet specific domestic content requirements. (See Will Final Rules on EV Tax Credits Help or Hurt US Market Growth?) 

Released in May, the Treasury Department’s final rules on the tax credits give automakers a two-year phase-in period for some of the domestic content provisions — for example, graphite — but also puts DOE’s awardees on relatively short lead times. 

Mitra Chem, for example, expects its plant in Muskegon to be online and ready to double the U.S. output of lithium iron phosphate by 2027. 

The current awards are the second round of grants for battery materials processing, manufacturing and recycling, following $2.8 billion in awards to 20 companies announced in October 2022.  

At the time of the first awards, DOE had set ambitious targets for companies building out U.S. supply chains, such as developing enough battery-grade lithium to manufacture 2 million EVs annually. Scale is still a factor in the second round, but DOE is also focusing on some of the main challenges facing the EV industry: from ongoing consumer anxiety about EVs’ range and charging times to the environmental impacts of lithium mining. (See DOE Awards $2.8 Billion to ‘Supercharge’ Battery Production.) 

With a $67 million grant, Albemarle US plans to retrofit a manufacturing facility in Charlotte, N.C., where it will produce advanced lithium anodes that will increase EV battery density and range, cut charging times and improving safety. Target output is 50 metric tons per annum. 

Forge Battery intends to use its $100 million grant for a first-of-its-kind facility, also in North Carolina, to manufacture high-performance lithium-ion battery cells for “underserved, specialized domestic markets,” including heavy-duty trucks, off-road vehicles, and aerospace and national defense applications. Production will begin in 2026 and reach full capacity — 3 GWh per year — by 2029. 

And the SWA project aims to be a model for sustainable lithium mining through its use of direct extraction technology, which draws lithium brine from aquifers, filters out the lithium and then reinjects it into the ground to create a closed-loop process. The first phase of the project could produce up to 22,500 MT of lithium carbonate per year, the company says. 

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Northeast Utility Commissioners Talk Costs of Grid Modernization

BOSTON — Increasing electricity prices must be met with a greater effort to reduce peak loads and protect low- and moderate-income ratepayers, several Northeast utility regulators said at Raab Associates’ New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable on Sept. 20.

“There is no question that affordability is being strained today,” said Ron Gerwatowski, chair of the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission, adding that electricity costs are likely to remain high for the foreseeable future.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows the Northeast has some of the highest electricity prices in the country, rivaled only by parts of the West Coast. The costs associated with transmission and distribution system upgrades and grid decarbonization could push rates even higher.

While investments in grid infrastructure and renewable generation may benefit ratepayers in the long-term, Gerwatowski stressed that many customers are “not worried about whether electricity rates will stabilize in the long-term, they’re worried about paying their electricity bills today.”

However, Gerwatowski also emphasized it is “oversimplistic, and not reasonable, to blame the strain on affordability solely upon the costs associated with any one individual initiative, especially our initiatives that are designed to advance renewable energy deployment in order to address carbon emissions.”

He said the region’s rates are being pushed up by inflation, the increasing need to replace aging grid infrastructure, high winter gas costs, utility biases toward capital expenditures and the decreasing availability of easy energy efficiency improvements.

Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities Commissioner Staci Rubin said LNG volatility and reliance on the Everett LNG import terminal also contributes to high rates, along with predatory third-party competitive suppliers.

Rubin said the ratepayer benefits of long-term renewable energy contracts often are not apparent to customers, noting that “things like price suppression do not actually show up on your bill.”

At the same time, “the entire clean energy transition cannot be funded entirely through electricity bills — we need to look for outside sources of funding,” Rubin said, emphasizing the importance of seeking and using all available federal funding.

Maine PUC Commissioner Carolyn Gilbert added that electricity bills are a “somewhat regressive means” to fund the clean energy transition. She said states must push to unlock cost and emissions savings from time-varying rates, echoing similar comments made by Gerwatowski.

“Any time there’s a potential to save money I think we have to go after it,” Gilbert said.

Lisa Wieland of National Grid, which owns electric and gas utilities in Massachusetts, said the company this fall is beginning a multiyear process of deploying advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) in the state. The company expects to bring AMI to between 750 and 1,000 of its approximately 1.3 million customers in the state by the end of the year and plans to roll out time-varying rates once it has completed most of its AMI deployment.

Gas Decarbonization

Reducing the region’s reliance on natural gas is essential to keeping energy costs manageable in the region, said Bradley Campbell, president of the Conservation Law Foundation.

“The energy transition can drive affordability,” Campbell said, adding that “the message that the clean energy transition is antithetical to affordability” is “a false narrative being pushed heavily by the fossil fuel industry.”

While the Massachusetts DPU has ruled the state will need to chart a course off gas to meet its climate goals (DPU 20-80), natural gas consumption in the region for buildings and electricity generation has ticked up in recent years, according to state’s most recent emissions inventory update and data from ISO-NE.

Gas prices remain a key driver of the region’s energy costs, with pipeline constraints driving up gas prices in the winter and leading to expensive out-of-market contracts for LNG. Enbridge, which owns the major natural gas pipeline into the region, has proposed a major project to expand its gas transmission capacity into the region, to the staunch opposition of climate activists.

grid

From left: Dan Berwick, New Leaf Energy; Lisa Wieland, National Grid New England; Claire Coleman, Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel; and Janet Gail Besser, moderator | © RTO Insider LLC

“In a region where ratepayer misery is driven by gas price volatility, the message that we should double down on natural gas dependency in New England is not only unsound, it’s immoral,” Campbell said.

Disagreements between the Massachusetts Senate and the House over how aggressively the state should move away from gas have derailed progress on a wide range of other climate and energy issues, including a widely agreed-upon proposal to reform the permitting and siting processes for clean energy infrastructure. (See Mass. Gov. Healey Includes Permitting Reform in Budget Proposal.)

“Massachusetts siting reform failed to pass, despite broad consensus, because gas utilities would not agree to take the first steps needed to implement the DPU’s order on the future of gas,” Campbell said. He criticized both the administration of Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) and the utility industry for not moving more quickly to prepare for the transition away from gas.

At the same time, he expressed optimism about the administration’s newly created Office of Energy Transformation, which he said could “could provide the venue to forge consensus among stakeholders on how to speed the energy transition while advancing affordability.”

Solar Stagnation

Dan Berwick, CEO of New Leaf Energy, expressed concern about the stagnation of solar development in the state, noting that 2023 was “the lowest year for solar deployments in over a decade” in the state, with 2024 tracking to be even lower.

While large-scale solar projects are the cheapest form of solar in the state, “we’ve all but stopped doing big solar projects in Massachusetts,” Berwick said. He attributed the slowdown to interconnection delays and constraints on where solar projects can be sited to receive support from state programs.

“We have a much more restrictive land use framework for our clean energy developments than we do for other types of developments,” Berwick said, also expressing hope that “there’s an outcome that we ought to be able to find alignment on.”

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NJ Committee Backs Bill to Require Fast-charger Tariffs

The New Jersey Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee on Sept. 19 advanced legislation that would require utilities to submit tariffs for commercial direct current fast chargers (DCFCs) and limit their ability to set their rates based on peak demand. 

The committee voted 7-5 along party lines to advance A4624, which would require utilities to “utilize alternatives to both traditional demand-based rate structures and capacity demand charges” and “establish cost equity between commercial electric vehicle tariffs and residential tariffs.” Tariffs would be due to the Board of Public Utilities for approval within 180 days after the bill became law.  

As in other states, the limited availability of chargers in New Jersey is considered a key stumbling block to EV uptake. The state in June had 185,000 EVs on the road, which are served by 2,421 Level 2 ports and 1,249 DCFC ports, according to Atlas Public Policy, which provides information to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. That’s about one DCFC port per 148 vehicles. 

Committee Chair Clinton Calabrese, the bill’s sponsor, said A4624 is needed to stimulate investment in DCFCs. Developers have shied away from investing in high-speed chargers in the state because the elevated rate levels stemming from the use of peak demand calculation methods make the infrastructure economically unviable, he said. 

“This bill is necessary and vital [to] advancing New Jersey’s electric vehicle infrastructure by ensuring a fair and supportive rate structure for charging stations,” Calabrese said. “The bill is essential to overcoming a significant financial hurdle — which is known as demand charges — that has been a barrier to investment in fast-charging infrastructure across the state.” 

Demand charges were created to address the needs of “large industrial customers who use substantial amounts of electricity consistently, and they are intended to help utilities recover those costs of maintaining the grid’s capacity to meet spikes in demand,” Calabrese said. But while DCFCs may have brief, high demand peaks, “they don’t use as much energy overall during the billing cycle,” he said. 

Calabrese added that he had amended the bill to add a “phased approach” that would give businesses “certainty and stability” by initially setting rates low and introducing demand-based rates over time as EV charging around the state increased. 

The bill would also require any new rate-setting system to be “non-volumetric,” and it explicitly requires utilities’ tariffs to “accelerate third-party investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure” and “promote electric vehicle adoption in the state.”

Among the groups that opposed the bill were the Environmental Defense Fund and Clean Water Action, as well as business groups including the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA), the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and the New Jersey Utilities Association. 

Testifying before the committee, Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey, said the “bill’s intent is exactly right” in its effort to put more chargers in communities. But it also is “essentially short-circuiting a process that is already ongoing” through the BPU. One of the group’s concerns is that it does not resolve the question of who would pay for the discounted rates if the commercial customers paid less, he said. 

Rhiannon Davis, director of government affairs at Electrify America, which has 4,200 chargers across the U.S., said in support of the bill that “demand charges can account for over 90% of electricity costs for DC fast charging and lead to operating costs that far exceed the revenue these chargers can receive from customer payments.” 

She said a typical Electrify America DCFC station has four to six chargers that serve customers at a year-round rate that is calculated at a peak of “just a few hours of charging over the summer.” 

Eric DeGesero, a lobbyist representing the New Jersey Motor Truck Association, said he initially supported the bill but was not sure of the organization’s position after the amendments were added. 

He said that in general, demand charges add to the hurdles blocking electric truck adoption, which include a price tag that is about three times that of a diesel truck and a reduction in the amount of cargo that can be carried because the battery takes up so much space and weight. 

DeGesero added that truck charging costs are driven up dramatically by the amount of electricity needed, which requires the installation of new interstate transmission lines and new substations. 

While some Republican committee members said they were swayed to vote against the bill, Democratic legislators backed it. 

“I know that there’s going to be additional discussion about this and potential changes down the road,” Assemblymember David Bailey Jr. (D) said. “I am going to vote ‘yes’ for now.” 

EV Parking Dilemma

With a 7-4 vote, the committee also advanced A3035, which would prohibit gas-fueled vehicles from parking in a space with an EV charger in place. Violation of the law could incur a $55 fine for the first offense and $100 for the second offense. 

Opponents of the bill argued that the issue would be better handled at the local level. 

But O’Malley called it a “no-brainer,” adding that a regular car parking in front of an EV charger is the equivalent of someone parking in front of a gas pump. 

“EV drivers that need to have that spot need to know that when you look on an app … and it says that a spot is open,” that the space is available, he said. If “you pull in and the spot’s blocked, that’s a huge problem.” 

Chair Calabrese, who also sponsored the bill, said a statewide law is far simpler than local regulation, the latter of which “would mean every municipality would have to pass an ordinance for this.”