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October 15, 2024

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IEA Expects 5.5 TW of New Renewables by 2030

The world is on track to expand its renewable energy capacity 2.7 times by 2030, the International Energy Agency reports. 

That is enough to outpace the national goals of many countries but not quite enough to meet the target established at the COP28 climate summit: tripling the capacity by 2030. However, the IEA said, tripling still is possible with bold near-term action by governments. 

In “Renewables 2024,” its flagship annual report released Oct. 9, IEA projects more than 5,500 GW of new capacity coming online by 2030. 

Photovoltaic panels and wind turbines account for the vast majority: 80% and 15%, respectively. 

Hydropower capacity growth is expected to remain stable while renewables such as bioenergy, geothermal, concentrated solar and ocean energy are expected to decline without greater policy support. 

IEA attributes the growth to climate and energy security policies in nearly 140 countries that, combined with favorable economics, have made renewables cost-competitive with fossil-fired generation and fostered new demand from the private sector. 

The report projects that nearly 70 countries accounting for 80% of global generation capacity are on track to reach or exceed their 2030 goals. 

China is the standout among them, expected to account for 60% of the global expansion through 2030 thanks to its comprehensive support for utility-scale and distributed generation across all renewable technologies. 

In all, renewables would account for nearly half of global electricity generation by 2030. 

Potential stumbling blocks include high cost of capital in developing economies, weak grid infrastructure, inadequate auction visibility, unstable policy environments and curtailment of installed resources due to lagging grid investments and system integration. 

Also, at least 1,650 GW of renewable capacity in advanced stages of development is waiting for grid connection worldwide; some early-stage projects are dropping out of the queue due to lack of progress. 

And kinks remain in the supply chain: Record-low prices, a supply glut and manufacturing overcapacity exist for the solar industry, while the wind turbine sector is crimped by limited investment in new capacity. 

Finally, beyond power generation, fossil fuel demand continues to grow in the transport, industry and buildings sectors, the report states; almost 80% of total energy demand worldwide still will be met by fossil fuels in 2030, down from 87% in 2023. 

In the news release, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said: 

“Renewables are moving faster than national governments can set targets for. This is mainly driven not just by efforts to lower emissions or boost energy security — it’s increasingly because renewables today offer the cheapest option to add new power plants in almost all countries around the world. 

“This report shows that the growth of renewables, especially solar, will transform electricity systems across the globe this decade. Between now and 2030, the world is on course to add more than 5,500 gigawatts of renewable power capacity — roughly equal [to] the current power capacity of China, the [EU], India and the United States combined. By 2030, we expect renewables to be meeting half of global electricity demand.” 

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Report Examines Grid Planning for Building Electrification

A new report argues that discussions about building electrification largely leave out one key issue: how to prepare the grid for the higher demand and new consumption patterns associated with the shift.

The Energy Systems Integration Group’s (ESIG) “Grid Planning for Building Electrification” report seeks to start that conversation, with a focus on the increasing share of home heating being served by the grid, which has the biggest impact on overall demand patterns.

“Building electrification gets a lot of attention in the industry, but little information is available about what grid planners should do about it today,” said Sean Morash, chair of ESIG’s Grid Planning for Building Electrification Task Force. “This report bridges the gap between building energy modelers and grid planners, providing insights that will shape the distribution and bulk power systems that support our energy transition.”

The effects of load growth on the distribution system are often only a minor consideration, but the long lead time and extended life of power infrastructure means that decisions today will support society into the 2060s, the report said.

“Load impacts from building electrification will increase the seasonality and weather dependence of loads, as well as increase the vulnerability of the power system to extreme weather, largely due to heating demand,” the report said.

Building electrification promises one major shift for the grid: as electricity is increasingly used for heating, many regions will shift from summer to winter peaks. Increased adoption of heat pumps, which tend to be more efficient than air conditioners, mean that summer peaks could decline in some regions. And while solar output aligns with gross peaks in the summer, winter peaks happen just before the sun comes up.

The report cites priority areas to improve distribution system planning in the face of growing electrification.

The first is to improve forecasting because the load shape impacts of building electrification will vary by location.

Areas such as the Southeast and Texas, where a lot of heating is already electrified, could see overall use decline as more energy-efficient heat pumps replace less efficient older units, or resistance heaters. But when it comes to winter peak demands for those states, cold snaps plus even more electrified homes could cause them to be higher.

“On the other hand, the adoption of electric heating in areas predominantly served with fossil fuels could result in a doubling of electricity use, affecting both peak power and total electricity needs,” the report said.

Distribution system planners will need a more granular understanding of technology adoption, such as the rates of electrification, what kinds of heat pumps are being adopted, and what that means for the local climate zone. Planners should also develop a solid baseline of current building demand broken down by end use because electrification will impact some significantly and others not at all.

Increased Winter Risk

Because electrification will make the grid more vulnerable to extreme temperatures, planners must consider extreme events, which includes factoring how climate change can impact those events over time, according to the report.

Traditional planning has centered around one peak demand event, but severe weather — especially in winter — can cause longer-duration stress by increasing loads for prolonged periods. Electrification of heating will exacerbate that stress, but it can be planned for by switching to a “time-series analysis” that assesses risk across multiple hours of the year and the efficacy of solutions for those intervals.

Distribution system equipment has some universal engineering standards, but local utilities embed their own assumptions about system conditions, demand diversity and load growth.

“However, past practices may not be well suited for electrification-driven load growth, which may have different hourly load impacts,” the report said. “Distribution system planners will need to reevaluate the underlying assumptions that drive equipment standards.”

The shift to longer-duration winter peaks can impact grid-edge equipment, which is typically designed to serve peak demands for short durations and can lead to component failures.

“Overload failures can occur throughout the grid, including in distribution systems, where equipment is often unmonitored,” the report said. “Grid failures during extreme winter weather events pose much more risk to human health and wellbeing than do summer peaks.”

The industry could avoid the largest impacts from electrification by relying more heavily on energy efficiency and demand management practices, the report said.

“In the context of building electrification, the most important energy efficiency measures are those that maintain building temperature with minimal input from the grid, because of the long duration of winter reliability events,” the report said.

Thirty percent of thermostats are “smart,” and actively tapping those and other demand resources can greatly help in reliably electrifying buildings, the report said.

To some extent, utilities can predict when some areas in their service territories are going to electrify because some programs target specific neighborhoods or are focused on low-income customers. They should then plan ahead and upgrade infrastructure with an eye to growing future demand.

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Wash. Kicks off Cap-and-Invest Electricity Forum

Washington’s Department of Ecology kicked off its first virtual electricity forum Oct. 3 to provide updates on recent electricity-related rulemaking efforts related to the state’s carbon market and to give stakeholders a chance to discuss those initiatives.

The state’s Cap-and-Invest Electricity Forum aims to allow parties to discuss policy issues related to Washington’s cap-and-invest program and greenhouse gas emissions reporting programs.

The Ecology Department has moved forward with amending several electricity provisions in its rules. The rulemaking closest to completion concerns centralized electricity markets, such as CAISO’s Western Energy Imbalance Market/Extended Day-Ahead Market and SPP’s Markets+.

The rule establishes a framework for accounting for “specified” electricity imported through centralized markets and defines the electricity importer for specified electricity imported through a centralized market. The update is anticipated to go into effect in January.

The agency is also working on “linkage” rulemaking to align cap-and-invest program regulations with California and Québec as Washington looks to join the larger shared carbon market. (See Calif., Quebec, Wash. to Explore Linking Carbon Markets.) The recently enacted Senate Bill 6058 allows Ecology to adjust the cap-and-invest program by, for example, aligning allowance purchase limits for auctions across jurisdictions and having the same compliance period dates.

“This rulemaking may also be used as an opportunity to address other electricity sector topics, including centralized electricity markets,” Camille Sultana, senior environmental planner at the Ecology Department, noted during the meeting.

Sultana added that Ecology will provide more information on the bill’s implementation later this fall. The goal is to publish a proposed linkage rule in spring 2025 and put it up for adoption later that year. However, the timeline is subject to change as the agency must consider anticipated updates to California and Québec’s respective cap-and-trade programs.

The department also opened the floor for participants to chime in on GHG issues related to centralized electricity markets, such as accounting for emissions from electricity from “unspecified” resources, emissions leakage and accounting for energy flowing from centralized markets with different operators.

Clare Breidenich, assistant executive director of the Western Power Trading Forum, said the agency should define surplus energy in the context of GHG accounting in centralized markets.

“I think by establishing clear requirements and conditions for what Ecology thinks is appropriate for those markets, that will give the guidance to the market operators and help them to align their approaches,” Breidenich said.

Participants also discussed emissions reporting requirements and the transition from netting to a wheel-through framework under SB 6058.

As defined in the bill, “‘electricity wheeled through the state’ means electricity that is generated outside the state of Washington and delivered into Washington with the final point of delivery outside Washington including, but not limited to, electricity wheeled through the state on a single NERC e-tag, or wheeled into and out of Washington at a common point or trading hub on the power system on separate e-tags within the same hour.”

Alisa Kaseweter, climate change strategist at Bonneville Power Administration, said the definition “seems to conflate what the industry would think of as a standard wheel-through which happens on a single e-tag with perhaps some netting.”

Sultana noted that SB 6058’s definition of a wheel-through “might not directly align with industry standard.” She added that Ecology’s “ability to modify this definition in ways that are not aligned with what’s already there in statute is beyond our authority.”

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Vermont PUC Rejects Heating Fuel Credit Trading Concept

The Vermont Public Utility Commission has published a draft of the Clean Heat Standard mandated by a landmark decarbonization law but declined to include the specified credit-trading system. 

In a report accompanying the draft, the PUC said it makes no sense for a single small state to create such a costly and complex system. It is looking instead at other options to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced by heating fuels and will propose an alternative mechanism before the January deadline set by the legislature. 

Vermont Act 18 became law in May 2023 when the legislature overrode a veto by Gov. Phil Scott (R), who cited cost concerns. (See Vermont Governor to Veto Building Decarbonization Measure.) He had vetoed a similar measure in 2022. 

Act 18’s full title — “An act relating to affordably meeting the mandated greenhouse gas reductions for the thermal sector through efficiency, weatherization measures, electrification and decarbonization” — summarizes the intent of the 41-page measure. 

There is much to reduce. Like residents of the two other northern New England states, Vermonters rely heavily on delivered fossil fuel to heat their homes. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that 59% of housing units in Vermont were heated with kerosene, propane or fuel oil as of 2020, compared with 13% nationwide. 

The use of electric heat pumps is gradually increasing in Vermont. (See Vermont Heating Fuel Sales Decreasing in Recent Years and Vermont Gas Utility Explains its Effort to Electrify Customers.) 

But many people still rely on fossil fuels to heat their homes through what historically have been long, cold winters. As elsewhere, there are concerns about equity: Those unable to afford electrification of their homes may be most vulnerable to the added costs resulting from policies that attempt to speed electrification. 

The legislature sent the matter to the PUC to research (23-2221-INV) and codify (23-2220-RULE). The commission issued its draft CHS rule on Oct. 1 and set an Oct. 30 public hearing on the document. Also on Oct. 1, the PUC issued a companion report explaining the 16 months of work that produced the draft. 

After the hearing, the PUC must, by Jan. 15, 2025, submit the draft rule to the legislature, which then will decide whether and how to implement the CHS. 

Central to the CHS’ goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from heating fuel is a requirement that entities importing heating fuel into Vermont reduce their emissions by generating or purchasing clean heat credits earned from delivery of clean heat measures. These can include weatherization, heat pumps, advanced wood heat and biofuels. At least 32% of annual clean heat credits were mandated to come from customers with low or moderate income. 

Given the substantial cost and complexity of developing a credit management platform, the PUC did not create or recommend such a mechanism until the legislature decided whether and how to continue develop a CHS. 

But the PUC’s companion report cast doubt on the very idea of a Vermont-based credit-trading system. Among other things, it would involve participation and regulatory oversight of hundreds of fuel dealers and other entities not historically regulated by the PUC, and the potential would exist for market manipulation or outright fraud, the authors wrote. 

“Our work over the past year and a half on the Clean Heat Standard demonstrates that it does not make sense for Vermont, as a lone small state, to develop a clean heat credit market and the associated clean heat credit trading system to register, sell, transfer and trade credits,” the report says. “Because the Clean Heat Standard introduces these additional regulatory hurdles and costs, the commission is considering other options to achieve Vermont’s greenhouse gas emission-reduction goals for the thermal sector.” 

The PUC said one of those options is a new thermal energy benefit charge on sale of fuel oil, propane and kerosene, with proceeds going directly to fossil fuel-reduction efforts such as weatherization and electrification. 

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W.Va. PSC Adviser Jackie Roberts Announces Retirement

Jackie Roberts, federal policy adviser for the West Virginia Public Service Commission and a pillar of PJM’s relationship with state consumer advocates and regulators, announced her retirement Oct. 8, capping a 14-year career with the state.

Roberts has worked for the PSC since January 2021, when she joined after serving as the West Virginia consumer advocate for more than a decade. Her final day with the PSC is Nov. 12.

The hallmarks of her career, Roberts told RTO Insider, include her work establishing the Consumer Advocates of the PJM States (CAPS) and breaking PJM’s internal market monitoring unit off as an independent company, Monitoring Analytics.

The creation of CAPS, and the funding that came with it, has improved consumer advocates’ participation at PJM and allowed them to take a more proactive role in the stakeholder process, she said.

Greg Poulos, executive director of CAPS, said Roberts has a gift for bringing people together and has made a positive impact on consumers through her advocacy.

“Throughout the time I’ve known Jackie, she has been a strong advocate, with an incredible wealth of knowledge, passion and strong communication skills,” Poulos said. “For me, her efforts to connect and collaborate with all parties that are interested has helped create many successful outcomes. Her efforts to encourage collaboration have made her involvement in stakeholder processes at state, regional and federal levels incredibly valuable.”

The Independent Market Monitor has also been a success, Roberts said, preventing undue RTO influence on the monitoring role.

She expressed concern, however, that the Monitor’s work could be jeopardized by contract deliberations that have been ongoing for more than a year regarding the future of the position. “It causes disruption for the Market Monitor and his staff and considerable angst on behalf of the commission,” she said.

Surveying the challenges facing the PJM region, Roberts said resource adequacy is a growing concern, as well as the cost of electricity, noting a significant increase in Base Residual Auction prices with the potential for another fourfold increase in the auction scheduled for December. (See “Price Cap Increases in 2026/2027 BRA Planning Parameters,” PJM MIC Briefs: Sept. 11, 2024.)

“Many people will simply not be able to afford electricity. I know PJM will say, ‘That’s not what we do; that’s what the states do,’” she said. But she argued that PJM plays a role in the costs for retail ratepayers.

State utility commissions are on the front lines of managing rising rates, but PJM has not given their recommendations the proper weight when making decisions about capacity market design and the generation interconnection queue, Roberts argued. She pointed to a protest the PSC filed with FERC seeking participation in PJM’s Liaison Committee. (See FERC Rejects Complaints from IMM, W.Va. PSC Arguing for Access to PJM Liaison Committee.)

“I think it takes good leadership at PJM to balance and implement the appropriate stakeholder input,” she said. “I’m concerned that PJM is just managing those stakeholders and not taking leadership to incorporate really good suggestions into their operations.”

Roberts has held positions on the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, NERC’s Member Representatives Committee, the Keystone Policy Center’s Energy Board and the executive committee of Edison Electric Institute’s Critical Consumer Issues Forum. She continues to serve on the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee.

Prior to her time in West Virginia, Roberts worked as an attorney at the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel and as corporate counsel for electric and natural gas utilities in New England.

PJM Senior Vice President of Governmental and Member Services Asim Haque, also former chair of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, said Roberts will be missed.

“Jackie has been not only an important voice in this industry, but she’s also been a friend to me going back to my Ohio days,” he said. “She will definitely be missed professionally, and I’ll miss her personally.”

West Virginia PSC Chair Charlotte Lane said Roberts “brought a lot of knowledge and insight into her position as our federal liaison. She will be missed.”

Emile Thompson chair of the District of Columbia Public Service Commission and current OPSI president, said of Roberts’ retirement: “Jackie has been an amazing colleague to work with over the past few years.  She has been a fierce advocate for the citizens of West Virginia, the W.V. PSC and OPSI.  Whenever Jackie spoke, I was sure to listen, and her institutional knowledge will certainly be missed.”

“Jackie Roberts has been an important participant in the PJM stakeholder process in a range of capacities,” said Joe Bowring, independent market monitor. “Jackie has been a strong and effective advocate for customers, for the role of state public utility commissions, for rational PJM governance, for efficient and competitive markets, and for a truly independent market monitor.”

The complex, challenging work found in the electric sector, as well as the opportunity to work with a diverse range of stakeholders, has kept her interested for nearly 20 years. Roberts said she hasn’t decided what her future in the electric sector may look like, but she plans to spend much more time riding her horse.

“It has been a great privilege to work on PJM issues for the last almost 20 years. I’ve learned a lot. I appreciate the professional relationships I have developed through that process, and I appreciate what could be robust differences of opinion. What’s important is we move forward with what’s in the best interest of retail and wholesale customers.”

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IRP Settlement Accelerates Xcel’s Clean Energy Transition

Xcel Energy has reached a settlement with clean energy nonprofits that further swings the utility’s integrated resource planning toward zero-carbon resources.  

The utility and Clean Grid Alliance, Fresh Energy and Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy announced a settlement agreement in early October that will nudge Xcel Energy’s Upper Midwest Energy Plan to zero carbon emissions sooner. Other parties to the settlement include the Minnesota Department of Commerce, labor unions and generation developers.  

The agreement affects both Xcel’s integrated resource plan (24-67) and its Firm Dispatchable Resource Acquisition (23-212) dockets before the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Now Xcel’s Firm Dispatchable Resource Acquisition is open not just to gas, but also to renewables and storage. Xcel also has pledged to better use existing gas plants to avoid the need for multiple gas peaking plants in its IRP.  

In the firm dispatchable docket, Xcel has agreed to build more than 300 MW of new storage across two standalone projects, as well as an additional 230 MW in the form of a wind-and-storage hybrid project and a 170-MW solar-and-storage project. Xcel also will extend two power purchase agreements with existing gas plants and build just one 374-MW peaker gas plant in Lyon County that also will be hydrogen-capable. The settlement negates the need for a second natural gas plant Xcel had proposed for Fargo, N.D.  

In addition to the resource acquisition docket, the settlement dictates even more wind, solar and storage through 2030 via the IRP, including: 600 MW of standalone storage; 400 MW of new solar connecting to the grid at the A.S. King plant site in Oak Park Heights, Minn.; and 3.2 GW of wind additions, most of which will use the Minnesota Energy Connection transmission line.  

Xcel also agreed to plan for longer lifespans of its nuclear plants. It will use a 2050 retirement date for the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant and 2053 and 2054, respectively, for Prairie Island Generating Plant Units 1 and 2.  

An earlier version of Xcel’s IRP assumed a little more than 2.2 GW of new gas peaker capacity by 2030, spread across six or more new plants. The settlement terminates all but the Lyon County plans. Xcel also agreed to explore thermal battery options with Rondo Energy and file a pilot proposal with the Minnesota PUC by the end of 2025.  

As part of the settlement, another filing with state regulators will come due in late 2025. Xcel agreed to devise a new model for planned and scaled distributed solar and storage capacity procurement and file it at the commission by Oct. 3, 2025. 

Finally, Xcel and parties agreed the utility would try to bolster rates of participation in its energy efficiency programs for its low-income customers, track data and report on results in its next IRP.  

Xcel said the agreement will allow it to reliably ensure an up to 88% carbon emissions reduction by 2030 from a 2005 baseline. The company also said the new plan unlocks tax credit savings from the Inflation Reduction Act for renewables and energy storage.  

Xcel said it expects a final decision on the settlement from the Minnesota PUC in early 2025.  

Leadership at the clean energy nonprofits had good things to say about the shift in resource planning.  

“This joint effort marks major progress in Xcel’s and Minnesota’s energy transition,” Fresh Energy Executive Lead of Policy Allen Gleckner said in a press release. “All the parties involved are working [toward] the same goal: reliably decarbonizing our state’s electricity.” 

“In addition to the 3.6 GW of new clean energy projects in the short term, we are very excited to see significant battery storage projects be selected. Storage is a real game-changer,” added Peder Mewis, Clean Grid Alliance’s regional policy director. “Among other things, it will help during extreme weather conditions and is critical for maintaining reliability and meeting Minnesota’s clean energy standard.” 

Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy Climate Program Director Amelia Vohs called the settlement a “great outcome for the climate.”  

“This plan invests in innovation that maximizes value for customers, creates jobs and supports the communities we serve,” said Ryan Long, president of Xcel Energy in Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota. “We’re making great progress toward our vision for reliable, affordable, 100% carbon-free electricity, and we appreciate the support of our stakeholders on an agreement that allows us to keep building the clean energy economy of the future.” 

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Dynegy Unsuccessful in Rehearing Requests of 2015 MISO Capacity Auction Manipulation Case

Nearly a decade on, the saga over Dynegy’s manipulation of MISO’s capacity market continues, with FERC denying the company’s asks for procedural changes that might have softened repercussions in the case.  

FERC dismissed all four of Dynegy’s rehearing requests related to evidence, intent, a report on remand, and the bounds of FERC’s jurisdiction in an Oct. 4 order (EL15-70).  

The latest order is part of FERC’s yearslong inquiry into Dynegy’s apparent manipulation of clearing prices in MISO’s 2015/16 capacity auction. This year, the commission directed hearing and settlement procedures. (See FERC Sets Dynegy’s MISO Market Manipulation Case for Hearing.) 

Approximately eight years after the auction, commission staff unwound FERC’s original conclusion that Dynegy — now owned by Vistra — conducted itself appropriately in the auction. That’s due to a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals 2022 ruling that FERC hadn’t sufficiently supported its decision to accept the $150/MW-day Southern Illinois capacity price produced in the 2015/16 auction. (See FERC Staff Finds Dynegy Manipulated 2015 MISO Capacity Auction.)  

This time, FERC rejected Dynegy’s fresh argument that it didn’t know it was manipulating MISO’s capacity market by refusing to sell capacity at a loss ahead of the auction. The commission said Dynegy should have been aware the actions it took to make sure one of its resources set the clearing price for Southern Illinois to raise profits amounted to manipulation.  

FERC also said Dynegy’s argument ignores intent.  

“Dynegy’s argument that its pre-auction sales strategy was ‘driven by a desire to stop losing money’ misses the point because it ignores the broader question of whether that sales strategy was part of an intentional or reckless effort to set the Zone 4 clearing price in the auction,” FERC said.  

Dynegy argued it “could not have known that [FERC’s] market manipulation rules would compel Dynegy to operate a charity — mandating that Dynegy donate its capacity to the market at prices that would not cover its going-forward costs.” 

FERC declined to take up Dynegy’s claim that its alleged manipulation scheme might involve non-jurisdictional retail transactions in South Carolina rather than the MISO portion of Kentucky. The commission said it is best to “defer any legal determination as to jurisdiction until after the hearing because certain disputed issues of material fact are likely to bear upon the jurisdictional question.”  

Dynegy also proved unsuccessful in persuading FERC to strike from the record its heavily redacted report from June 2022 that concluded that manipulation occurred.  

FERC said the report is necessary to the case because the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered FERC to establish a public record in the case, which was lacking after the nonpublic investigation and a poorly explained decision in 2019 to accept the Zone 4 capacity price.  

“[P]arties and participants are free to rely on the remand report in making their cases, and at that point, Dynegy is free to challenge the parties’ or participants’ use of the remand report. … In this way, information would be appropriately considered by the presiding judge in an evidentiary hearing encompassing allegations of market manipulation,” FERC said.  

Finally, FERC rejected Dynegy’s claim that FERC didn’t share exculpatory evidence with the company during the nonpublic investigation.  

Dynegy contended that it could have used nonpublic, video footage of testimony to help prove its innocence.  

FERC countered that the investigation was closed without a show-cause order or sanctions and pointed out that it’s under no obligation to share exculpatory evidence in a Section 206 proceeding. Further, the commission said its staff combed through materials and didn’t find anything that could be deemed exculpatory.  

At any rate, FERC said the footage Dynegy singled out is now part of the nonpublic record in the case and can be addressed during hearing proceedings.  

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Company Briefs

Constellation Seeks Taxpayer Backing to Restart Three Mile Island

Constellation Energy, the owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear plant, is pursuing a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee to help finance its plan to restart the facility and sell the electricity to Microsoft. 

The taxpayer-backed loan could give Microsoft and Constellation a major boost in their unprecedented bid to steer all the power from a U.S. nuclear plant to a single company. A loan guarantee would allow Constellation to shift much of the risk of reopening Three Mile Island to taxpayers. The federal government, in this case, would pledge to cover up to $1.6 billion if there is a default. 

Constellation plans to restart Three Mile Island by 2028. 

More: The Washington Post 

Dominion Energy Announces Sale of Public Service Co. of North Carolina

Dominion Energy last week announced closure of the sale of its natural gas utility, Public Service Company of North Carolina, to Enbridge for $3.2 billion. 

This is the last of three separate transactions as part of an agreement Dominion and Enbridge announced on Sept. 5, 2023, whereby Dominion would sell its Ohio-, Utah- and North Carolina-based gas utilities for about $14 billion. 

Public Service Company of North Carolina serves about 600,000 customers. 

More: Dominion Energy 

Virginia Natural Gas Taps New CEO

Virginia Natural Gas last week announced Shannon O. Pierce will be the company’s new CEO. 

Pierce will succeed Robert Duvall after he retires in April. 

Pierce started out as a lawyer for McGuireWoods in Richmond and joined Southern Gas, Virginia Natural Gas’ parent company, in 2004. 

More: Virginia Business 

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Federal Briefs

SCOTUS Declines to Block Methane, Mercury Regulations

The U.S. Supreme Court last week left in place two Biden administration environmental regulations aimed at reducing industry emissions of methane and mercury. 

The high court denied petitions brought by Republican states and energy industry groups seeking a stay of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard while the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals weighs the merits of legal challenges to the rule. The states challenging the rule called the new standards “impossible to meet” and said they amounted to an “attack” on the industry. The court is still considering challenges to a third EPA rule aimed at curbing planet-warming pollution from coal-fired plants. 

The rules will have a direct effect on the Colstrip coal plant in Montana. NorthWestern Energy, one of Colstrip’s six co-owners, previously indicated the rules could make the plant’s operation “uneconomic” due to needed upgrades. 

More: The Associated Press, Montana Free Press 

Siemens to Pay $104M in DOJ Trade Secret Probe

Siemens Energy AG has agreed to pay $104 million to resolve a criminal investigation into misappropriating confidential information from competitors to win a bidding process. 

The Justice Department accused Siemens of “illicitly obtaining” confidential information from competitors General Electric and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries “to obtain an unfair competitive advantage” in a bidding process involving a gas turbine plant project. Siemens, which didn’t receive credit for voluntarily reporting, pleaded guilty, according to a federal court filing. 

Siemens is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 5. The company also agreed to three years of organizational probation. 

More: BNN Bloomberg 

NRC: Palisades Nuclear Plant Corrosion Exceeds Estimates

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week said Holtec, the company that wants to reopen the Palisades nuclear reactor in Michigan, found corrosion cracking in steam generators “far exceeded” estimates. 

A summary of an early September call between the NRC and Holtec said indications of stress corrosion cracking in tubes in both of Palisades’ steam generators “far exceeded estimates based on previous operating history.” It found 1,163 steam generator tubes had indications of the stress cracking. 

Holtec spokesperson Patrick O’Brien said the return of Palisades is still on schedule and the company wants to fix, and not replace, the steam generators. 

More: Reuters 

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State Briefs

ALABAMA 

Alabama Power, EPA Settle Over Coal Ash Pond

Alabama Power last week said it reached a settlement with the EPA over concerns about millions of pounds of coal ash dumped in unlined ditches near Mobile. 

The settlement requires the utility to increase monitoring of its coal ash ponds by adding groundwater monitoring wells and updating its emergency action plan to account for severe weather. 

Plant Barry is 597 acres and holds almost 22 million cubic yards of coal ash. The company further stated that testing has shown no impact on the Mobile River. 

More: Alabama.com 

Solar Fee Lawsuit Moves Forward in Federal Court

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson last week denied a motion to dismiss a case that challenges the fees levied on people who install solar panels on their homes and will allow the case to move forward. 

The plaintiffs in the case argued the Public Service Commission violated federal energy laws by allowing Alabama Power to charge fees to people who use solar panels. Alabama Power and the PSC had asked for the case to be dismissed, arguing the court did not have jurisdiction and the plaintiffs did not make a claim for which relief can be granted. 

Thompson ruled against the defendants, arguing the court does have standing to adjudicate claims made under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act. 

More: Alabama.com 

CALIFORNIA 

Imperial County Approves Solar Project

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors last week approved the VEGA SES 6 Solar and Battery Storage Project. 

The project, which spans around 320 acres, will deliver 80 MW of solar energy paired with 160 MW of battery storage. 

More: Calexico Chronicle 

COLORADO 

PUC: Need More Time to Consider Xcel Energy’s Wildfire Plan

The Public Utilities Commission last week pushed back a deadline to approve Xcel Energy’s $1.9 billion wildfire mitigation plan, saying the proposal could create new risks if it is not thoroughly reviewed. 

The plan lays out how Xcel will notify customers when it preemptively shuts off power to reduce wildfire risks. The commission now has until August 2025 to rule on the proposal.  

Xcel Energy is currently facing at least 300 lawsuits for its alleged role in sparking the Marshall fire and additional lawsuits that blame its equipment for sparking Texas’ largest wildfire. 

More: CPR News 

ILLINOIS 

Madigan Judge Refuses to Toss Counts After Supreme Court Ruling Limited Bribery Law

U.S. District Judge John Blakey last week declined to dismiss several criminal counts against former House Speaker Michael Madigan in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that limited bribery laws. 

The Supreme Court found in June that a bribery law key to Madigan’s prosecution does not also criminalize after-the-fact rewards known as “gratuities.” Madigan’s defense attorneys argued weeks later that prosecutors had failed to allege a “quid pro quo” that would be required to prove bribery under the high court’s standard. 

Prosecutors plan to pursue a so-called “stream of benefits” theory, explained in an appellate court ruling from the prosecution of ex-Gov. George Ryan. In it, the court wrote the corruption there “was more like a meal plan in which you don’t pay for each item on the menu. Rather, there is a cost that you pay, an ongoing cost, and you get your meals.” Blakey ruled the approach theoretically satisfies the requirement prosecutors have to prove a “quid pro quo.” 

More: Chicago Sun-Times 

MARYLAND 

Lawsuit Seeks to Derail New Consumer Protection Law

The Retail Energy Advancement League and Green Mountain Energy last week filed suit in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, saying the state’s new guardrails on energy companies that compete with utilities violate the firms’ First Amendment rights and act as an impediment to the state’s clean energy mandates. 

The 37-page suit asserts that the law’s constraints on energy companies’ ability to market themselves is a violation of their First Amendment rights — and impedes their ability to tout the clean energy they may be purchasing. The suit names the state attorney general’s office and the Public Service Commission, which will implement parts of the new law on the electricity marketplace, as defendants. 

Maryland laws require the state to create a 100% clean energy standard by 2035, while reaching zero carbon emissions by 2045. 

More: Maryland Matters 

NEW JERSEY

BOEM Approves OSW Farm

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management last week gave its approval for an offshore wind farm that would be built between Atlantic City and Long Beach Island. 

BOEM approved Atlantic Shores’ plan to construct and operate the facility, which would generate 2,800 MW from 197 turbines. 

The project still requires a review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and several state permits. 

More: The Associated Press 

NORTH CAROLINA

Biden Approves More Federal Aid After Hurricane Helene

President Joe Biden last week announced additional aid for the state as it recovers from Hurricane Helene. 

Biden said he accepted Gov. Roy Cooper’s request for a 100% federal cost share for debris removal and emergency protective measures for six months. The funding will cover work addressing the impacts from debris flow, flooding and removing fallen trees. 

Biden also directed the Department of Defense to deploy 1,000 soldiers to assist North Carolina’s National Guard. 

More: NC Newsline 

WEST VIRGINIA

PSC Staff Slams Appalachian Power Outage Performance

Public Service Commission staff last week said Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power’s reliability was “unreasonable” and urged the PSC to deny their request for more lenient targets in metrics measuring the duration and frequency of outages. 

Staff noted the American Electric Power subsidiaries have routinely failed to meet minimum reliability targets, and their performance negatively impacts reliability compared to other states. Staff also said it is ready to launch an investigation into Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power. 

As staff made its recommendations, customers of both companies were still dealing with outages stemming from Hurricane Helene. 

More: Charleston Gazette-Mail 

WISCONSIN 

WPS, We Energies Announce Renewable Energy Projects

Wisconsin Public Service and We Energies have announced plans to build nearly 800 MW of new solar, wind and battery storage in the state. 

The projects would add 500 MW of solar and 180 MW of wind power to the grid, along with 100 MW of new battery storage. 

More: WLUK