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November 14, 2024

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Maine Supports Early Insights on PFAS and Air Quality

With a landmark “forever chemicals” ban on the books and new bills introduced to regulate their release into Maine’s environment, the state is working to understand the connection between synthetic fluorinated chemicals and air quality.

Much of the current focus on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Maine is about land and water contamination, but the state is one in a small group helping investigate PFAS in the air, according to Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Melanie Loyzim.

PFAS “is a family of chemical compounds that most people in Maine had never heard of in 2019, but now we’re not doing enough fast enough to deal with it,” Loyzim said during an Environmental and Energy Technology Council of Maine webinar on issues before the Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee.

In July, Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill that bans the use of PFAS in products by 2030, sets a drinking water standard and provides funding to test and treat drinking water in areas where wastewater sludge was spread as fertilizer. New bills under consideration in the ENR Committee seek to curtail distribution or disposal of sludge and leachate that has not been properly tested for PFAS.

The legislative efforts to prevent PFAS release are based on clear connections between spreading activities and contaminated land and water. Some states, however, are identifying PFAS contamination on locations “with no identifiable source … except atmospheric deposition,” Loyzim said. That means PFAS is likely moving from the atmosphere to land and water.

A Maine PFAS task force released a report in 2020 recommending that the state consider establishing an air deposition sampling program for a suite of PFAS. And last fall, the U.S. EPA released a PFAS roadmap that includes a directive for the Office of Air and Radiation to address PFAS air emissions.

“Under the Biden administration, the EPA is rushing to catch up with states like Maine to provide toxicity factors and water quality criteria that we can use to set more standards,” Loyzim said.

EPA on Monday added four PFAS to its Toxics Release Inventory list, bringing the number of PFAS on the list to nearly 200. Chemicals on the list are known to cause chronic human health effects, such as cancer. In a 2018 report, however, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control made a direct link between certain PFAS in carpets and global warming.

For example, the global warming potential (GWP) of one PFAS — perfluoropolymethylisopropyl ether — ranges from 7,620 over 20 years to 12,400 over 500 years, relative to CO2, the department said. Hydrofluorocarbons, which are known to have some of the highest GWPs, have comparable ranges.

Maine is now conducting deposition monitoring at one site through rainwater collection and analysis. EPA pays for the site, according to Loyzim, so the agency owns the site data.

“We’re waiting for the first dataset to come back so we can see what our results are,” she said.

Meanwhile, the DEP is studying other data related to PFAS in the air.

“We’re looking at information that’s been gathered in other states around emissions from sewage sludge incineration,” she said. “We’re really interested in understanding what the various air emission impacts would be of different kinds of treatment methods.”

Sludge drying, she added, could allow the material to be a “stable agent in landfills,” but applying too much heat in the process could “liberate PFAS into the environment.”

“Air emissions is one of the areas where the science is the most difficult because these compounds are so tricky to measure,” she said.

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Fishing Industry Concerned About NY Bight OSW Plan

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) new plan for addressing fishing industry fears over offshore wind projects drew a skeptical reception last week at a public hearing on six projects planned for the New York Bight.

Under the proposed “engagement” plan, an offshore wind developer would have to meet with stakeholders — including fishermen, Native Americans, disadvantaged communities and other ocean users — document issues raised and provide BOEM a report showing adjustments the developer made to address the concerns. If BOEM is not convinced that the developer has done enough, the agency could determine that the lease is not in “good standing” and stop the project until the concerns are resolved.

The hearing came a week after the Biden administration announced the auction of six lease areas in the New York Bight on Feb. 23 that would generate at least 5.6 GW. (See BOEM to Auction Six New Lease Areas in NY Bight.)

The proposed lease areas and the planned engagement process were shaped in part by opinions voiced in the four earlier meetings with the fishing industry, BOEM Director Amanda Lefton told the 130 people attending the online forum.

“Based on your feedback from the proposed sale notice, we’ve built a strong foundation for enhancing engagement,” she said. “This foundation is designed to embed transparency, accountability and communication into the process.”

Mitigation or Compensation

That approach involves a four-step process that BOEM believes will air stakeholder concerns and, through transparency and public pressure, push developers to address them.

BOEM officials said they will require leaseholders to identify the stakeholders affected by the projects and create a plan to communicate with them. The leaseholder must file a report with BOEM every six months detailing the engagement between the stakeholders and the lessee, said Zachary Jylkka, a renewable energy program specialist for BOEM.

“This report is not just a list of meetings that have occurred,” he said. “There’s a requirement that the lessee must document how, if at all, the design or implementation of the project has been informed by, or altered, to address the potential effects of the project.”

BOEM will then review the reports, “ensure that comments from the previous reporting period were addressed,” and post them on the agency website so that the public can comment on them, he said. The lessee is then “required to adequately address those comments,” he added.

If the lessee does not address issues, “BOEM reserves the right to require specific mitigation, including but not limited to requiring third party verification or mediation at the lessee’s expense, increased recording frequency or designation that the lease is not in good standing,” he said.

“If a lease is designated as not in good standing, BOEM will withhold approval of any pending plans from that lessee (such as the site assessment plan or construction and operations plan) until the identified issue is resolved,” said BOEM spokesperson Olivia Woods in an email.

Problems that cannot be mitigated could result in the lessee paying compensation to the injured stakeholder, BOEM officials said.

Industry Skeptical

Yet several fishing industry representatives said they were not convinced the new rules would make the government and wind industry more responsive to their concerns.

“I don’t think any of this has any teeth,” said Scot Mackey, a lobbyist for Garden State Seafood Association, a 1,200-member industry group that represents fishers of scallop, clam and other fish, in an interview after the hearing. “They’re making recommendations to developers. But there’s … nothing behind it. As far as I can see, if developers choose to [ignore complaints] they can.”

Ronald Smolowitz, a technical adviser to the Fisheries Survival Fund, which represents scallop fishermen, said the key issues facing the projects are “compensation, research and mitigation.” He said the NY Bight projects would “probably impact $15 million worth of [fish] landings a year.” How much revenue could be lost is unclear, he said.

The industry’s experience with the Vineyard Wind project in Massachusetts, the East Coast project that is closest to fruition, has not been good, he said. “The fishing industry has been totally left out of the conversation,” he told the hearing. After the hearing, Smolowitz said in an interview that he does not expect BOEM’s new engagement proposals to result in much of a change in the fishing sector’s treatment by wind developers.

Without an “overpowering authority” to make developers “do something — and BOEM doesn’t have the authority to make them do something — then these companies will just do what they want to do, regardless of what the fishing industry says,” he said.

Biggest Single Auction

The six NY Bight leases are the most ever offered in a single auction, totaling 480,000 acres. BOEM had solicited commercial interest for 1.7 million acres in the Bight but excluded 72% of the area to reduce environmental impacts and avoid conflicts with the commercial fishing industry and other ocean users.

The Biden administration has set a goal of 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030, with states on the East Coast already committed to a pipeline of 39 GW by 2040.

New Jersey, with a target of generating 7,500 MW of wind power by 2035, has set three wind projects in motion in two phases. Offshore wind farms would generate 23% of the state’s energy under Gov. Phil Murphy’s effort to reach 100% clean energy by 2050.

The state Board of Public Utilities in 2019 approved the 1,100-MW Ocean Wind 1 project, developed by Danish developer Ørsted and on June 30 approved Ørsted’s 1,148-MW Ocean Wind 2 and the 1,510-MW Atlantic Shores project, a joint venture between EDF Renewables North America and Shell New Energies US. The BPU is planning to hold three more solicitations over the next five years. (See NJ Awards Two Offshore Wind Projects.)

Parts of the fishing industry oppose these projects, as do some property owners and representatives of the tourism sector, who fear that turbines could mar coastal views and reduce the number of visitors.

Fishermen fear the projects will damage habitats, perhaps scaring fish away from long-time fishing areas, and that it will be dangerous to fish around the turbines. Fishing representatives say the combination of the weight of the fishing nets and the impact of the waves, wind and tides passing through rows of turbines can make it difficult and dangerous to maneuver a fishing vessel. Some in the industry have asked for more space between the turbines, to avoid problems. (See Fishermen Fear the Impact of NJ Wind Farms.)

Lefton told the fishermen at the hearing that BOEM reduced the number of prospective offshore wind development areas from eight originally planned to six, in large part because of feedback from them and other ocean users. The mission of the hearing was, in part, to “discuss how we can ensure that there is a seat at the table for ocean users like the commercial fishing industry moving forward.”

“I realize that you’ve all heard some version of this before,” she said. “I know you’ve been frustrated by a perceived lack of communication and transparency from us, that you take time to provide feedback and you don’t know where the information goes or what changes result from it.

“I want to note that we hear you,” she said. “We’re approaching things differently beyond the NY Bight thanks to your feedback.”

Parts of the process sound like a “step in the right direction” said Annie Hawkins, executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, which works to ensure that coast development does not harm the fishing sector. In the past, she said, developers had to file engagement reports, but it was often too late in the process to have much impact.

Still, she said, she has concerns about some elements of the engagement proposal and whether it would “perpetuate the status quo or actually change engagement.”

“By the time six months go by, you know, they’ve put plans in place and procurements, materials and that kind of stuff,” she said. “How do we know that that’s going to be seen and responded to? And it’s not like six months is going to go by and then we’re going to hear ‘Oh, it’s kind of too late to address that.’”

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Colorado Utilities Choose WEIS over WEIM

Colorado utilities Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo), Platte River Power Authority and Black Hills Colorado Electric (NYSE:BKH) said Tuesday they plan to join SPP’s Western Energy Imbalance Service (WEIS) market over CAISO’s Western Energy Imbalance Market.

The utilities said the move will allow them to provide cost savings to customers and improve operational efficiencies. They expect to join WEIS in April 2023 and will continue to study long-term solutions for joining or developing an organized wholesale market.

“As we look at opportunities moving forward, this short-term step meets our energy needs to deliver clean, reliable and affordable energy to customers right now,” PSCo President Alice Jackson said. “The energy imbalance market allows us to participate in an organized market while giving us the flexibility to explore a more permanent solution that will help us integrate more wind and solar energy onto our system.”

SPP’s Board of Directors on Tuesday approved an amended Western joint dispatch agreement (JDA) brought forward by the Western Markets Executive Committee that incorporates terms and conditions agreed upon by participants in the PSCo balancing authority. The WMEC met three times the week of Jan. 17 to hammer out differences.

The board’s approval cleared the way for the three utilities to join SPP’s WEIS. The JDA enables generation within its BA to be shared with Platte River, Black Hills and Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU).

PSCo paused a previous decision to join the EIM when CSU said last May it had decided to join WEIS. The Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) subsidiary approached SPP in August to begin negotiating its BA’s membership in WEIS. (See Xcel Delays Joining EIM to Examine Options.)

A CAISO spokesperson said the grid operator was disappointed to learn PSCo had “decided to change course.”

“We understand and respect its decision. We remain committed to continued collaboration with PSCo as the Western markets evolve,” Anne Gonzales said.

“We’re proud that our relationship-based approach and valuable portfolio of services continues to attract utilities looking to modernize and regionalize the way electricity is delivered,” SPP CEO Barbara Sugg said. “And we’re confident SPP and our WEIS participants will not only benefit from this expansion but will also help these utilities meet their goals of making power delivery more affordable and reliable.”

SPP began operating its WEIS market on a contract basis in February 2021, centrally dispatching energy from the region’s participating resources every five minutes. It currently comprises six members, including Tri-State Generation & Transmission. CSU will join in August.

Tri-State said in a release that PSCo’s decision will bring the remaining 20% of its member load into an organized market. Its Eastern Interconnection load became part of the SPP RTO in 2015.

“We welcome additional participants into the SPP WEIS, which increases the efficiency of the market, lowers power costs and further helps to reliably and cost-effectively integrate renewable energy resources,” Tri-State CEO Duane Highley said. “Our membership in the SPP WEIS has already greatly benefited our members with lower costs, higher reliability and more efficient dispatch of resources.”

Tri-State and CSU are among several WEIS members exploring membership in SPP’s RTO West. The grid operator is also offering a Markets+ service for parties that value RTO benefits but aren’t ready for membership. It has been a reliability coordinator for several Western entities since 2019.

Meanwhile, WEIM is welcoming four new utilities this spring (Avista Utilities, Bonneville Power Authority, Tacoma Public Utilities and Tucson Electric Power). When it adds El Paso Electric, Avangrid and the Western Area Power Authority’s Desert Southwest region in 2023, WEIM will cover almost 80% of the Western Interconnection.

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Calif. EV Incentive Comes with Tax Bill, Some Residents Find

Low-income residents in certain parts of California can receive as much as $9,500 to scrap their old car and replace it with a cleaner vehicle, but the incentive may also increase their income tax bill, according to speakers at a workshop last week.

Two of the four air districts that are running the incentive program, called Clean Cars 4 All, issue 1099 forms to participants, according to Anthony Poggi, an air pollution specialist with the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The 1099 form is used to report non-employment income to the Internal Revenue Service.

Poggi said that in addition to facing an increased tax liability, Clean Cars 4 All participants who receive a 1099 form may also lose their eligibility for other income-based programs because the incentive adds to their reported income.

“[It] really can lead to a nasty surprise tax bill when they have to file,” said Chris Chavez, deputy policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air.

The discussion of 1099 forms came during a Jan. 20 CARB workgroup meeting on proposed changes to the Clean Cars 4 All program.

Air Districts Administer

CARB provides funding for the Clean Cars 4 All incentive program to air districts that administer it. The four districts with incentive programs include the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (AQMD); the Sacramento Metropolitan AQMD; the South Coast AQMD, which calls the program Replace Your Ride; and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (APCD), which calls the program Drive Clean in the San Joaquin.

The incentives vary depending on where a participant lives, their income level and the type of replacement vehicle being purchased. In the San Joaquin program, for example, the maximum incentive of $9,500 is available to someone who lives in a disadvantaged community, has an income of 225% or less of the federal poverty level, and is buying a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle.

A participant buying a plug-in hybrid or a zero-emission vehicle may also receive up to $2,000 for electric vehicle supply equipment or pre-loaded charge card, according to CARB’s program criteria.

After receiving a new car, the participant must drive their old car to an approved dismantling facility. Participants also have an option to buy an electric bike or receive a prepaid public transit card instead of buying a new car.

Poggi noted that CARB does not issue 1099 forms for vehicle incentives it administers, such as the Clean Vehicle Rebate Program. He said CARB has been searching for assurances that the 1099 forms aren’t necessary for the Clean Cars 4 All program.

“We’re doing everything we can … trying to reach out to different agencies and different folks in government to kind of get a grasp on what it would take,” he said.

Program Expansion

The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District is in the process of developing a Clean Cars 4 All program, which it hopes to launch this year.

And more districts may soon be able to participate. CARB’s current Clean Cars 4 All rule limits participation to air districts with populations greater than one million. But a proposed revision to the regulation would remove that restriction.

Smaller districts that don’t have resources to complete tasks such as outreach and education would be able to work with a program administrator selected by CARB. The next public meeting on Clean Cars 4 All will likely focus on CARB’s solicitation of a public administrator.

The proposed regulation would also give districts more flexibility to set requirements for the incentive. A district could decide to make income limits more stringent, such as capping eligibility at 300% of the federal poverty level rather than the 400% that is in CARB’s criteria.

A district could also further restrict eligible types of replacement vehicles in the program. CARB’s criteria allow replacement vehicles to be hybrid vehicles that meet or exceed a specified fuel economy rating, a plug-in hybrid or a zero-emissions vehicle. A district could decide to remove hybrid vehicles from the list.

A district would be required to include its changes to income requirements or eligible vehicles in an implementation proposal that is submitted to CARB.

In November, the CARB board approved $75 million in funding for Clean Cars 4 All for 2021-22. (See CARB Approves $1.5B Clean Transportation Package.)

The board allocated $28 million to South Coast AQMD; $15 million each to the Bay Area AQMD and San Joaquin Valley APCD; $2 million to Sacramento AQMD; and $5 million to San Diego APCD. Another $10 million was set aside in a strategic reserve.

Funding for a potential expansion of Clean Cars 4 All won’t be finalized until after lawmakers approve the 2022-23 state budget.

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Robo Stepping down as NextEra’s CEO

Jim Robo said he is stepping down Tuesday after almost 10 years as CEO of NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE), concluding what he characterized a “long-term succession process” he has undertaken with the board of directors during the last six years.

Jim-Robo-RTO-Insider-FI.jpgJim Robo is stepping down after 10 years as NextEra’s CEO. | © RTO Insider LLC

“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as CEO. I’m as excited as I’ve ever been about the future prospects of NextEra Energy and NextEra Energy Partners,” Robo, 59, said during NextEra’s quarterly earnings conference call with financial analysts.

Saying part of a CEO’s legacy is the “new leader in the next-generation leadership team that follows,” Robo introduced as his successor John Ketchum, a 19-year NextEra veteran, CEO of NextEra Energy Resources (NEER) and president of NextEra Energy Partners.

Ketchum said he intends to remain “intensely focused” on delivering and building upon NextEra’s “long track record of success.”

“I believe there is no company better positioned to lead our country’s energy transformation than NextEra Energy,” he told analysts.

John Ketchum (NextEra Energy) Content.jpgJohn Ketchum | NextEra Energy

Under Robo’s guidance, NextEra has become the world’s largest generator of renewables, operating more than 17 GW of wind and solar energy. With a market cap of over $147 billion, it is bigger than any other utility in the world. However, efforts to acquire other utilities, including Hawaii Electric and Texas’ Oncor, fell short before it acquired Gulf Power from Southern Co. in 2018.

Robo joined NextEra in 2002, becoming CEO in July 2012. Since then, the company’s share price has gone from $17.08 to more than $300 in 2020, surpassing even ExxonMobil before a four-for-one stock split that October.

The company’s share price plunged on the news, dropping 4.5% from $81.87 when the market opened. Shares closed at $75.10, down $6.77 (8.3%).

Robo will serve as NextEra’s executive chairman during a brief transition period expected to end in April.

The Florida-based company announced several other leadership changes, effective March 1:

  • Eric Silagy, president and CEO of NextEra subsidiary Florida Power & Light, will become the utility’s chairman.
  • CFO Rebecca Kujawa was named president and CEO of NEER, succeeding Ketchum.
  • Kirk Crews, NEER’s vice president of business management, was named NextEra’s CFO, replacing Kujawa.

NextEra also reported its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings Tuesday. It said quarterly earnings were $1.2 billion ($0.61/share), compared to 2020’s fourth-quarter loss of $5 million. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 39 cents/share; they came in at 41 cents.

For the year, earnings came in at $3.6 billion ($1.81/share), compared to $2.9 billion ($1.48/share) in 2020.

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Facebook Founder Donates $50M for Hawaii Climate Research

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan have pledged to donate $50 million to the University of Hawaii’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), the university said last week.

The seven-year funding commitment will go to two departments within SOEST, the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) and the Department of Oceanography, to fund research on climate change impacts and mitigation efforts in Hawaiian coastal waters.

“Hawaii has one of the richest marine ecosystems in the world, and having a deeper understanding of this ecosystem is the key to preserving and protecting it,” Zuckerberg and Chan said in a statement.

The funds will go to programs that focus on climate change impacts, coral reef restoration, ocean acidification prevention, conservation of large predators, resource management via indigenous means and community partnership growth, Marcie Grabowski, SOEST outreach coordinator, told NetZero Insider.

The research will be spearheaded by mature programs and initiatives that have already made significant contributions in ocean conservation and marine ecosystem knowledge, Grabowski said. “The gift is aimed at amplifying and expanding those efforts.”

More specifically, the research will:

  • more clearly define the extent of climate change impacts in Hawaiian coastal waters;
  • increase the accuracy of climate change forecasting for ocean conditions;
  • increase climate change resilience in coral reef ecosystems;
  • improve the understanding of shark behavior to help in their protection and conservation;
  • improve outreach efforts to inform the public and policy makers on research findings;
  • train the next generation of ocean scientists; and
  • revive indigenous resource management practices.

Although no new programs are slated to be created, the funds will pay for acquisition of “saildrones,” sailing vehicles that can gather oceanographic data autonomously. The solar- and wind-powered saildrones will be used to collect data to strengthen computer models for climate change forecasting.

Grabowski noted that the $50 million will not be used to explore efforts to specifically reverse climate change, instead focusing on data collection, mitigation and resilience.

HIMB Director Eleanor Sterling said that “this generous gift is a wonderful opportunity to support much needed interdisciplinary work that will help us to better understand ocean systems and indigenous management strategies and to develop effective approaches for ocean conservation.”

Interim SOEST Dean Chip Fletcher pointed to the increased public and governmental outreach efforts made possible by the grant.

“Through internships, mentoring, community engagement efforts and graduate research fellowships, we will grow our pool of scholars, policymakers and conservationists from underrepresented communities around our state,” Fletcher said.

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Without TCI-P, Vt. Will Explore Joining Western Climate Initiative

The Vermont Climate Council is considering the option of having the state join the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) as an alternative to its plan to reduce transportation sector emissions through the Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P).

Joining WCI for transportation only could help fill an emission reduction gap in the council’s initial Climate Action Plan that was left when TCI-P destabilized in November. (See Vt. Climate Council Adjusts Course on TCI-P.)

The council released its plan in December without a clear alternative to TCI-P, instead including language that further studying other options is needed this year. Without the multistate cap-and-invest program, the plan has a 26% gap — equivalent to 0.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) — in emission reductions needed by 2030, according to a transportation task group of the council’s Cross-Sector Mitigation Subcommittee.

Under the 2020 Global Warming Solutions Act, transportation sector emissions must decline by 0.5 MMTCO2e by 2025 and an additional 1.38 MMTCO2e by 2030.

WCI is one of two options that the task group supports as needing further exploration because of their ability to reduce emissions equitably and cost-effectively, according to a memo the group shared with the council Monday. The WCI price per ton in November was $28.60, while the projected price per ton for TCI-P was $6.60 starting in 2023. Vermont already participates in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which saw its highest auction price in December at $13/ton.

Under WCI, which California and Quebec participate in to cap and reduce emissions economy-wide, Vermont could tailor its program requirements for transportation to meet unique economic and environmental circumstances, the memo said.

As a complement to WCI, the task group recommended exploring a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) similar to programs already adopted in California, Oregon and Washington. Vermont has reduced emissions significantly in its electricity sector with a clean energy standard, and the council recommended in its initial plan that the state adopt a clean heat standard to reduce emissions in the buildings sector.

An LCFS, the memo said, could come at a higher cost than a cap-and-invest program. The latest program prices in California and Oregon were $147/ton and $126/ton, respectively. Vermont, however, could act independently to implement an LCFS without relying on the interstate collaboration necessary for other options, like TCI-P and WCI, to work, according to the memo.

Secondary to a cap-and-invest strategy in the council’s initial plan was a recommendation for Vermont to adopt California’s pending Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) regulation. ACCII, as proposed, would reduce emissions from new light- and medium-duty vehicles, while increasing zero-emission vehicles sales between 2026 and 2035.

The regulations could help Vermont achieve 11% of the 26% emission reductions needed in transportation by 2030, according to the memo, but the task group said that ACCII is not “sufficient on its own.” Additional policies and actions are needed to increase public investment in charging infrastructure and an expansion of electric vehicle purchase incentives.

The Agency of Natural Resources is already preparing to initiate a rulemaking for ACCII and California’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulation, as recommended in the council’s plan. However, a final rulemaking package for ACCII by the California Air Resources Board is not expected until June.

Members of the transportation task group will continue with an analysis of TCI-P alternatives and deliver a final recommendation to the council by May, and the council expects to adopt a final recommendation by June.

With the Vermont legislature scheduled to adjourn in May, any meaningful legislative action on a TCI-P alternative potentially could not happen until 2023. The council, however, expects the state can make short-term progress on transportation emissions with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Gov. Phil Scott introduced his recommended fiscal year 2023 budget Jan. 18, with transportation funding of $40 million from ARPA. In addition, the state expects to receive $1.7 billion in IIJA funding over five years for transportation.

Those resources come with timing and funding matching requirements that limit how they can benefit long-term emission reductions, so they would not be available when the state needs to scale its efforts “massively” to meet 2030 requirements, the memo said.

The task group cautioned that, absent a framework for medium- and long-term emissions reductions combined with a dedicated funding mechanism, transportation sector investments from ARPA and IIJA will “fall off a cliff in 2027.”

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MMU Releases Fall Market Reports for SPP, WEIS

SPP’s Market Monitoring Unit is “strongly” recommending that transmission congestion rights’ (TCRs) funding shortfall be considered a high-priority item, according to its latest quarterly market report.

In the fall report, covering September through November, the MMU said the TCRs’ funding percentage varied over the trailing 12 months, ranging between 71 and 115%. It said the underfunding was down by more than $97 million when compared to fall 2020; TCR funding was it its lowest in October at 71%, driven by significant outages not included in the TCR model.

The Monitor said an item has been initiated in SPP’s roadmap process to correct the issue. Staff and stakeholders collaborate in this process to identify, educate, prioritize and approve new and existing initiatives for development over the next two to five years.

“Given the magnitude of the issue, we strongly recommend this item be considered as a high-priority item,” the MMU said in its report.

The report also found the average gas price at the Panhandle Eastern hub increased to $5.16/MMBtu in October, the highest price since March 2014 outside of last February 2021. The average gas price was up 143% from $1.99/MMBtu the previous fall.

Electricity prices also increased from 2020 to last fall, although at a lower rate. Day-ahead prices rose from an average of $18.21/MWh in 2020 to $33.72/MWh in 2021, an increase of 85%. Real-time prices increased from an average of $17.57/MWh to $31.27/MWh over the same period, up 78%.

The MMU said wind generation was the primary fuel type during the quarter, accounting for 38% of total generation, up 4 percentage points. Coal generation increased from 31% of production to 35%.

A webinar has been scheduled for Monday to allow stakeholders to discuss the quarterly report with MMU staff.

The Monitor has also released its latest quarterly report for the same period on SPP’s Western Energy Imbalance Service (WEIS) market.

It said the market’s average hourly load for September and November was about 2.3 GWh but was down slightly to 2.18 GWh in October. Coal remained the predominate fuel source, the report said, with 66% of total generation in September and decreasing to 62% by November. Hydroelectric generation was the second largest energy source, averaging 22% of total generation in September before trending downward to 17% by November.

The report found that average load and generation energy prices remained consistent with August pricing at slightly over $35/MWh until November, when there was an approximate decrease of 35%.

The market was averaging 1,692 MWh of hourly exports when September began, but they declined to about 1,500 MWh in October and November, the MMU said. Hourly imports averaged 626 MWh in September and increased throughout the quarter to 1,078 MWh by November.

The MMU said the WEIS market continues to struggle with ramp availability and short-term system flexibility, despite an abundance of online capacity. Many dispatchable resources are offered with minimal available dispatchable and/or ramp-able capacity, it said.

Economic limit parameter changes that force additional ramp needs, load forecast changes and changes in net schedule interchange also continue to drive market struggles to supply sufficient ramp. Market participants are also reluctant to offer additional resources because of risks associated with recovering costs when prices drop.

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MISO Hosts First In-person Meetings amid Pandemic

CARMEL, Ind. — MISO this week pulled off a series of in-person meetings at its three offices almost two years since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The RTO held on-site committee meetings simultaneously in its offices in Carmel, Ind.; Eagan, Minn.; and Little Rock, Ark. Stakeholder attendance was sparser than usual with the Omicron variant peaking and company travel budgets bouncing back. Some speakers appeared through video conferencing.

“I will have to relearn to stand at a podium in front of stakeholders. It’s been nearly two years,” MISO’s Jeremiah Doner said in opening a Monday presentation on transmission cost allocation.

The grid operator required proof of full vaccination or a recent negative COVID test before admitting stakeholders into its conference rooms. Masking was optional, lunches were boxed and stakeholders had the option to sit more than six feet apart.

The grid operator gathered stakeholders in-person and off site late last year in Orlando, Fla., for its final quarterly board meeting of 2021. (See MISO Board of Directors Briefs: Dec. 9, 2021.)

MISO kicked off its first major meeting week of 2022 with a review of important subjects it plans to cover through the summer. It was the RTO’s inaugural executive update, which it plans to hold on a near-monthly basis to keep its stakeholder community abreast of its goals and work timeline.

Wayne Schug, vice president of strategy, said MISO will debut a rolling 12 to 18-month management plan that lays out committee tasks, time reserved for analysis and filing deadlines.

Leadership said the footprint’s rapid clean energy transition supports its case for long-term transmission planning and seasonal capacity auctions. It also said stakeholders should expect ongoing discussion in the first half of 2022 on its new participation models for energy storage and distributed resources; implementation of dynamic transmission line ratings; upgrades to its market-clearing engine; and an accreditation process for renewable, storage and hybrid resources.

Seventeen MISO utilities have emissions reduction targets greater than 80%, and five states in the footprint are considering 100% clean energy goals.

The topics will be explored under a lighter meeting schedule that calls for the RTO’s main stakeholder committees to hold eight meetings each per year. MISO plans to evaluate the meeting schedule’s effectiveness in May. (See MISO Modifies Stakeholder Meeting Schedule.)

Some stakeholders have objected to the slimmed-down schedule, arguing that MISO is facing industry changes that necessitate in-depth discussion and that stakeholders are supposed to dictate the frequency of meetings, not the RTO.

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PG&E Ends Probation as a ‘Menace to California,’ Judge Says

Pacific Gas and Electric (NYSE:PCG) ended five years of probation Tuesday night with the judge in charge lamenting that California’s largest utility had caused more damage on probation than it had before it was sentenced.

PG&E was placed on probation in January 2017 after being convicted of six felonies related to the San Bruno gas explosion, which killed eight people and destroyed a suburban San Francisco neighborhood in September 2010.

“While on probation, PG&E has set at least 31 wildfires, burned nearly 1.5 million acres, burned 23,956 structures and killed 113 Californians,” Judge William Alsup, of the U.S. District Court for Northern California, wrote in his parting comments on the case.

The utility pleaded guilty to 84 manslaughter charges in the 2018 Camp Fire, which leveled the town of Paradise, Alsup said. It faces five felony counts in the 2019 Kincade Fire in Sonoma County and four manslaughter charges from the 2020 Zogg Fire in Shasta County. The Dixie Fire, ignited by PG&E equipment last summer, was the second largest in state history at nearly 1 million acres and will likely result in lawsuits and possibly criminal charges, he said.

“So, in these five years, PG&E has gone on a crime spree and will emerge from probation as a continuing menace to California,” Alsup said.

“Rehabilitation of a criminal offender remains the paramount goal of probation,” he said. “During these five years of criminal probation, we have tried hard to rehabilitate PG&E. As the supervising district judge, however, I must acknowledge failure.”

Alsup told federal prosecutors on Jan. 3 that he would give “serious consideration” to a request for more probation time based on the state criminal charges against PG&E, but the U.S. Attorney’s Office decided not to seek an extension. (See Judge Refrains from Adding Time to PG&E Probation.)

PG&E Responds 

In a November court filing, PG&E assessed its own progress on probation, often in contrast to the judge’s remarks.

“PG&E acknowledges, deeply regrets and owns the tragic consequences of the wildfires caused by its equipment,” it said. “The company has taken a stand that catastrophic wildfires shall stop.” But during the past four years, thanks in part to the court’s supervision, its “electric grid is fundamentally safer.”

“PG&E believes it is on the right path,” it said. With its 70,000-square-mile service territory and the speed at which climate change appears to be impacting Northern California, there are “no fast or fail-proof options,” but the utility insisted it has changed.

PG&E is now “led by a board and senior management team that is new compared to those in place at the time of the San Bruno tragedy, the North Bay fires [in October 2017] and the Camp Fire,” it said. “Recognizing the need for the best thinking on operations, safety and risk, the company has hired leaders from stable, safe and operationally excellent utilities around the country,” including new CEO Patti Poppe, former head of CMS Energy in Michigan.

PG&E cited its use of public safety power shutoffs to prevent ignitions, which it did not use in 2017 but now employs widely in fire season along with fast-trip sensors to shut down power lines when faults occur.

The utility contended it has greatly improved its vegetation management. Trees and limbs falling on power lines have caused many of the major fires in the past five years.

“Between 2017 and 2021, PG&E increased spending on vegetation management from approximately $440 million a year to approximately $1.4 billion, representing an over 200% increase,” it said. “The total number of employees and contractors dedicated to vegetation management rose from 4,446 in 2019 to 10,265 in 2021.

“These unprecedented monetary and workforce investments have resulted in a significant amount of additional work,” it said. “In 2021, PG&E has removed or trimmed over 1.63 million trees as of Oct. 31 and forecasts it will remove or trim 1.82 million trees in total by year-end, a 20% increase over the 1.52 million trees worked in 2019.”

Alsup, however, said tree trimming remains one of the utility’s biggest problems.

“We remain trapped in a tragic era of PG&E wildfires because for decades it neglected its duties concerning hazard-tree removal and vegetation clearance, even though such duties were required by California’s Public Resource Code,” Alsup said. “In time, this neglect led to hazard trees and limbs falling on its distribution lines and sparking wildfires or becoming ‘ground faults,’ wherein the tree remains against a live wire and conducts sufficient electrical power to the earth to overheat and explode in flames.

“PG&E’s backlog of unattended trees and vegetation was staggering at the outset of probation,” he said. “As probation ends, PG&E remains at least seven years, [in] my estimate, from coming close to being current. During its criminal probation, all or virtually all of the wildfires started by PG&E distribution lines have involved hazard trees.”

The Camp and Kincade fires were started by broken transmission lines that ignited dry vegetation, he noted.

Alsup said he believes a “systemic cause” of distribution-line fires has been PG&E’s outsourcing of tree trimming and line inspections.

“A large part of the wildfire problem, as the [court-appointed] monitor has pointed out, has been sloppy inspection and clearance work, almost exclusively outsourced to independent contractors,” he said. PG&E should hire and train “as many arborists as are needed to fully comply with California’s Public Resource Code,” and the state should outlaw or restrict outsourcing.

The utility’s size is another problem, Alsup continued. PG&E operates 107,000 circuit miles of distribution lines and 18,500 miles of transmission lines, with about half its territory in high fire-threat districts.

Alsup said he has “come to fear” that PG&E should be split into at least two entities, one to serve fire-prone areas and one or more to serve the rest of its 5.5 million electric customers.

“Less sprawling utilities would be easier to train and to instill practices and procedures that truly put safety first.”