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Texas public power utilities take action to help customers financially

March 8, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 8, 2021

Texas public power utilities are taking a number of actions to help protect customers financially in the wake of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) last month entering emergency conditions and initiating rotating outages in the state in the wake of an arctic blast.

Austin Energy

The Austin, Texas City Council on March 4 approved $10 million in emergency bill relief for customers experiencing financial difficulty as a result of Winter Storm Uri or COVID-19.

The approved funding is effective immediately and is made possible through a combination of rate reductions, utility bill credits and a funding infusion to the “Plus 1-Customer Assistance Program” from Austin Water and Austin Energy. 

The Plus 1–Customer Assistance Program, which increased funding levels in April 2020, on March 4 received an additional $5 million funding infusion from Austin Water and $5 million from Austin Energy.

It has helped nearly 16,000 individual households and provided more than $11.7 million in assistance to Austinites experiencing financial difficulty due to COVID-19, serious illness, recent job loss or other emergencies. 

The Austin City Council also approved a series of measures designed to avoid high utility bills as a result of last month’s extreme freezing temperatures.

CPS Energy

Meanwhile, San Antonio-based CPS Energy on March 5 said that it is continuing to fight for customers to keep their bills affordable while pursuing prudent business practices that ensure the utility and San Antonio remain financially stable and strong. 

CPS Energy will begin releasing February 2021 bills on March 8, 2021, it noted.

CPS Energy said it is currently assessing the validity of the additional fuel and purchased power costs from the winter storm and is currently not passing them through to customers.  

As a precaution, CPS Energy officials suspended billing for customers on February 19 to confirm that energy bills did not include any rate changes or fuel adjustment costs related to the historic winter storm, and to ensure that billed usage is based on actual meter reads and not estimations. “That important step has been completed; February bills do not include any additional exorbitant fuel or purchased power charges from the winter storm,” the utility noted.  

Additionally, CPS Energy is also reviewing the accounts of customers who were most impacted by the February 2021 extreme winter storm and expects to provide helpful credits in those cases. The company’s credit plan will be announced in the next 30 to 45 days. 

Electronic and paper bills began to be released on March 8. Depending on a customer’s billing cycle, it could take until Saturday, March 13, 2021 for a customer’s delayed bill to be sent. 

As a result, customers may receive their February bill close to their March bill. CPS Energy said its energy advisors were standing by to work with all customers to discuss their bills and to assist with helpful payment arrangements. Additionally, no late fees will be charged to customers for their February bills or in the case of a customer being on a payment plan.  

CPS Energy noted that the suspension of energy disconnections announced in March 2020 is still in effect and late fees are waived on unpaid balances for customers who participate in a payment plan. 

Meanwhile, the Residential Energy Assistance Partnership (REAP), a partnership of CPS Energy, the City of San Antonio and Bexar County, provides energy bill assistance twice a year to those in need, CPS Energy said. 

And the utility’s new Energy Angels program fills a need not currently met by REAP. The Energy Angels program allows an individual to give the gift of energy to a specific individual or business account. This financial gift is not tax deductible, but the recipient is not required to meet an income-qualifying threshold. The gift will appear on the recipient’s bill as a credit to their account.

To help customers during the COVID-19 pandemic and winter storm disaster, CPS Energy is actively making phone calls to customers to share bill assistance and REAP information with them.

Bryan Texas Utilities

On March 3, Bryan Texas Utilities (BTU) said that it was continuing to monitor the financial issues and discussions surrounding the recent historic winter weather event as it affected the energy market.

“While there are financial settlements still to be resolved in ERCOT and the situation changes daily, BTU expects no changes to customer rates. The Bryan City Council, BTU Board and staff will work diligently to ensure rates are kept as reasonable and predictable as possible,” the public power utility said.

GEUS

In order to maintain strong financial stability, the Greeneville Electric Utility System (GEUS) Board of Trustees will consider securing short-term financing, GEUS said on March 5. A public hearing will be held to discuss this matter on March 11.

Short-term funding will provide GEUS with the ability to pay the increased energy costs for the month of February while continuing to manage the financial health of the utility, it noted.

“At this time, the costs of this event are being absorbed by GEUS,” said GEUS Board of Trustees Chair Sue Ann Harting.

GEUS said that “there are many questions about the legitimacy and even legality of some costs that were incurred during this event. We will continue to monitor the developments affecting pricing as financial settlements are resolved and will diligently work to ensure no unfair costs are passed on to GEUS customers.”

City of Georgetown

The City of Georgetown, Texas, on March 5 said it plans to issue $47.8 million in a 10-year bond to pay for energy used during February’s winter storm. The City Council in a March 2 meeting directed staff to pay the debt over 10 years from electric utility revenues at current rates.

“Even as we got word on the exorbitant cost of energy while we were in the middle of the disaster, there was never a question of whether we would not keep the power on as much as we could,” Mayor Josh Schroeder said. “Our focus was delivering electricity to our customers and controlling the variables we could. Another variable we have some control over is the burden placed on Georgetown electric customers as a result of this event, and the steps we took Tuesday will mitigate additional costs for our customers,” he said in a statement.

As a result of the planned bond issuance, Georgetown electric customers will see no difference in their electric rates, despite the high energy costs during the storm.

The city’s bill currently is due at the beginning of April. However, what the city owes continues to change as electric generators and providers, Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), and legislators evaluate the financial situation and weigh options, it said. Any changes to rates or the bond needed because of an amended bill will be brought before the council for discussion and direction.

At the direction of the city council, the city plans to use the existing power cost adjustment (PCA) of $0.01375 per kilowatt hour to help cover the cost of the bond as it is paid back over 10 years. The PCA was on track to be eliminated in 2022 due to the end of a purchased power contract. The current PCA generates about $6 million a year, which would cover the additional, annual debt payment of $5.4 million from the 10-year bond.

The city also is pursuing a surety policy to cover an additional $6.4 million in reserves, which will be required to maintain debt service coverage ratios after the costs from the winter storm. The one-time, up-front payment (expected to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars) for the policy will be paid for using existing revenues.

Georgetown said that customers might see higher-than-normal electric bills for February due to increased usage. Even with the mandated power outages from ERCOT, heating and reheating of a home consumes considerable energy and is likely to result in higher bills this month, it noted.

The city “has multiple options to help you pay your electric bill, such as funding assistance through partner agencies and in-house customer programs you may qualify for,” it noted.

On March 11, Schroeder, City Manager David Morgan and electric general manager Daniel Bethapudi will participate in a presentation and live question and answer about the electric costs facing the City of Georgetown as a result of February’s winter storm.

ERCOT board dismisses CEO in wake of power outages

In other news, the Board of Directors of ERCOT on March 3 voted to dismiss ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness in the wake of rotating outages implemented by ERCOT after an arctic blast hit the state last month.

“The ERCOT Board of Directors met this evening and directed the Corporate Secretary to exercise the 60 days’ termination notice to ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness pursuant to the employment agreement with ERCOT,” ERCOT’s Board of Directors said in a March 3 statement.

“During this transition period, Bill will continue to serve as President and CEO and work with state leaders and regulators on potential reforms to ERCOT. The ERCOT Board is expected to begin an immediate search for a new President and CEO, and will continue to discuss the transition plan at future meetings during this time period,” the board said.

DeAnn Walker on March 1 resigned as chairwoman of the Public Utilities Commission of Texas, days after she faced questions from state lawmakers at a hearing that examined rotating outages implemented by ERCOT in the wake of an arctic blast.

On Feb. 25, Walker appeared before a hearing held by the Texas Senate’s Committee on Business and Commerce. Magness also participated in the hearing.

TMPA’s Bob Kahn selected to serve on ERCOT’s board

Bob Kahn, general manager of the Texas Municipal Power Agency, has been selected to serve on the board of ERCOT, the Austin American Statesman reported on March 7.

Kahn served as President and CEO of ERCOT from July 2007 to November 2009.

Kahn was an ERCOT board member from 2002 to 2006 and was also the deputy general manager at Austin Energy.

PUCT votes to claw back ERCOT ancillary services payments made to generators

Meanwhile, the PUCT on March 3 voted to “claw back” ERCOT payments made to generators for a special category of power reserves they failed to deliver.

Known as ancillary services, the electricity reserves are contracted in advance to help ERCOT support the transmission of energy to users while maintaining reliable operation.

The PUCT situation was brought to the PUC’s attention by ERCOT’s Independent Market Monitor? who identified a number of instances between Feb. 14 and 19, in which ancillary services were not provided in real time because of forced outages or decreases in the available capacity of electric generating units.

While ERCOT operators would traditionally note the ancillary services’ “failure to provide” so that payments would not be made, the pace of activity surrounding the grid event caused this function to be overlooked, the PUCT said. As a result, the ERCOT payments must be returned.

U.S. House subcommittee launches probe of ERCOT’s role in Texas power crisis

On March 3, U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Environment, sent a letter to Magness, seeking information and documents “regarding the lack of preparation” by ERCOT for the recent winter storm. The subcommittee is also seeking information regarding ERCOT’s response to the winter storm and its preparedness for future storms.

“Extreme winter weather events in Texas have occurred repeatedly over decades and ERCOT has been unprepared for them,” wrote Khanna.

“ERCOT’s own consultant has predicted that such extreme winter weather events will continue to occur every decade. The subcommittee is concerned that the loss of electric reliability, and the resulting human suffering, deaths, and economic costs, will happen again unless ERCOT and the State of Texas confront the predicted increase in extreme weather events with adequate preparation and appropriate infrastructure,” the lawmaker said.

U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, others seek answers from ERCOT

Meanwhile, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr., D-N.J., Energy Subcommittee Chairman Bobby L. Rush, D-Ill., Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Diana DeGette, D-Colo., Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, and Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas wrote to Magness on March 4 to inquire about ERCOT’s role in preparing for and responding to the recent extreme weather event.  

“The ongoing crisis raises significant questions regarding Texas’ grid resilience and regulatory regime, and ERCOT’s stewardship of the grid prior to and during this crisis,” the lawmakers wrote. “According to reports, ERCOT was aware of the possibility of a significant winter weather event as early as Tuesday, February 9, 2021, but may not have appreciated the seriousness of the event or its possible implications.”  

The lawmakers stressed in their letter that more must be done to protect communities disproportionately impacted by winter power outages. 

They pointed to a 2011 report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) that made a number of recommendations for the electric and natural gas industries intended to help prevent blackouts and natural gas curtailments after another major storm event that year.

“Several of these recommendations were directed at ERCOT, but it is unclear the extent to which ERCOT implemented any of these recommendations,” the lawmakers said. “With extreme weather events becoming more frequent due to climate change, it is critical that ERCOT and Texas apply lessons from earlier emergency events in order to increase the strength and resiliency of the grid and prevent future blackouts.”

The lawmakers requested a briefing and information regarding the outages, including:

Kansas governor signs bill to protect Kansas cities from surging costs

March 8, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 8, 2021

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on March 3 signed a bill to protect Kansas cities from potential price surges in electricity bills caused by extremely cold temperatures in February.

Senate Bill 88 establishes a $100 million low-interest loan program for municipal utilities facing high utility bills after last month’s frigid temperatures. 

“This loan program was absolutely necessary for our cities to manage the surging utility costs,” Kelly said. “It gives cities the immediate relief they need to avoid dire financial decisions while we pursue other, long-term solutions.”

The loan program will be administered by the Kansas State Treasurer’s Office using Pooled Money Investment Board (PMIB) funds.

The City Utility Low-Interest Loan Program is a backstop for cities in Kansas with public power or public gas systems that were financially devastated by the February extreme winter weather event, noted Colin Hansen, Executive Director of Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU).

“Dozens of cities across Kansas face exorbitant natural gas and power supply costs. For many, six days of usage in February cost multiple times more than an entire year’s gas or power budget,” he said.  

The legislation enacting the City Utility Low-Interest Loan Program went from a hearing on the morning of March 3 to passage on emergency action by both the full House and Senate later that day, Hansen said, with Kelly signing the measure that evening. The State Treasurer was accepting applications 24 hours after the measure was enacted.  

“We are incredibly appreciative of the Governor, State Treasurer and our legislative leaders all joining together on a measure needed to help Kansans in such an incredibly abbreviated timeframe,” Hansen said.

“The loan program will enable cities that were using words like ‘insolvency,’ ‘bankruptcy,’ and ‘dissolution’ the time to begin to address the financial crisis caused by outlandishly high natural gas and electricity prices,” he said.

Monitor says ERCOT decision resulted in $16 billion in additional costs to market

March 5, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 5, 2021

An Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) decision last month resulted in $16 billion in additional costs to ERCOT’s market, of which roughly $1.5 billion was uplifted to load-serving entities (LSEs) to provide make-whole payments to generators for energy that was not needed or produced, the independent market monitor (IMM) for ERCOT’s wholesale electricity markets said.

The IMM, Potomac Economics, on March 4 submitted a filing to the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) in a proceeding related to rotating outages implemented by ERCOT in February in the wake of an arctic blast that hit the state.

Potomac Economics said that it agrees with the PUCT’s order from Feb. 15, 2021, which mandated that real-time energy prices reflect firm load shed by setting prices at the value of lost load (VOLL). “This is essential in an energy-only market because it provides efficient economic signals to increase the electric generation needed to restore the load and service it reliably over the long term,” the IMM said.

“Conversely, it is equally important that prices not reflect VOLL when the system is not in shortage and load is being served. The Commission recognized this principle in its order, expressly stating it is only ERCOT’s out-of-market shedding firm load that is required to be reflected in prices,” Potomac Economics said.

ERCOT recalled the last of the firm load shed instructions at 23:55 on February 17, 2021. “Therefore, in order to comply with the Commission order, the pricing intervention that raised prices to VOLL should have ended immediately at that time,” the IMM told the PUCT.

 However, ERCOT continued to hold prices at VOLL by inflating the real-time on-line reliability deployment price adder for an additional 32 hours through the morning of February 19, Potomac Economics said.

This decision resulted in $16 billion in additional costs to ERCOT’s market, of which roughly $1.5 billion was uplifted to LSEs to provide make-whole payments to generators for energy that was not needed or produced.

Although most energy costs can be hedged by ERCOT’s LSEs through bilateral contracts or generation, “these make-whole payments are particularly harmful because they are uplifted to all loads through the Real-Time Ancillary Service Imbalance Charge. Therefore, they cannot be hedged and will likely result in substantial adverse economic effects, including higher levels of defaults,” the IMM said.

“Therefore, the IMM recommends that the Commission direct ERCOT to correct the real-time prices from 0:00 February 18,2021, to 09:00 February 19,2021, to remove the inappropriate pricing intervention that occurred during that time period,” Potomac Economics said.

“From a practical standpoint, this will primarily be accomplished by removing most, if not all, of the Real-Time On-Line Reliability Deployment Price Adder during these intervals, which will substantially eliminate the Real-Time Ancillary Service Imbalance Charge,” it said.

The IMM said that adopting this recommendation will not result any revenue shortfalls for ERCOT’s generation as the corrected prices will cover the generator’s as-offered costs, and efficiently reflect the actual supply, demand, and reserves during this period.

“We recognize that revising the prices retroactively is not ideal. In this case however, given that the prices are inconsistent with ERCOT’s protocols and the Commission order and that allowing them to remain will result in substantial and unjustified economic harm, we respectfully recommend that the Commission take the action described above to correct ERCOT’s real time prices,” Potomac Economics said.

In a March 1 filing in the proceeding, the IMM offered several recommendations “related to ancillary services in light of certain market outcomes.”

Among other things, Potomac Economics recommended that for operating days February 15 through February 20, 2021, there should be a repricing of all day-ahead ancillary services clearing prices to cap them at the System-Wide Offer Cap of $9,000 per megawatt hour.

Siemens Energy, Intermountain Power Agency partner on hydrogen energy storage system study

March 3, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 3, 2021

Siemens Energy has teamed up with Intermountain Power Agency to perform a conceptual design study on integrating a hydrogen energy storage system into an advanced class combined cycle power plant, Siemens Energy said on March 1.

 The project has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, one of four funding awards received by Siemens Energy in late 2020 to advance hydrogen applications in the U.S. power generation sector. 

The study is set to begin in March at the 840-MW Intermountain Generating Station in Delta, Utah. The goal of this study is to analyze the overall efficiency and reliability of CO2-free power supply involving large-scale production and storage of hydrogen.

In addition, the study will analyze aspects of integrating the system into an existing power plant and transmission grid, such as the interaction with subsystems, sizing and costs.

“The study will be designed around Siemens Energy’s Silyzer technology, which uses electrolysis to generate hydrogen.  The scope of our research will include hydrogen compression, storage and intelligent plant controls,” said Tim Holt, executive board member at Siemens Energy, in a statement.

The Intermountain Generating Station is transitioning from coal to natural gas, with plans to integrate 30% hydrogen fuel at start-up in 2025 and 100% hydrogen by 2045. The project is to provide 840 MW of electricity to customers in Utah and Southern California.

“By switching from coal to a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen we can reduce carbon emissions by more than 75%,” said Dan Eldredge, general manager of Intermountain Power Agency, in a statement. “We are committed to being a leader in the transition to a clean energy future while taking advantage of the significant energy infrastructure already in place at the Intermountain Power Project. This study will help pave the way for the successful transition to net-zero carbon power generation.”

Sevier County Electric System’s Robbins details leadership lessons, highlights key projects

March 3, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 3, 2021

In a Q&A with Public Power Current, Allen Robbins, General Manager and CEO at Sevier County Electric System in Tennessee, discusses leadership lessons, highlights projects underway (including a large scale solar project) and details what he sees as the biggest challenges facing the utility and the broader public power community in the next five to 10 years.

Public Power Current: In your book, “Trial By Fire,” you detail how Sevier County Electric System in late 2016 had to unexpectedly deal with a sudden, unexpected surge of wildfires. You had only been General Manager of the electric system for four months.

Can you describe how Sevier County Electric System was able to successfully respond to these wildfires and what leadership lessons you drew from the experience?

Robbins: It was perseverance and intestinal fortitude of the employees of Sevier County Electric System that contributed most to our response to the Gatlinburg Wildfires.

I was promoted to General Manager on August 9, 2016 but I did not become the leader of Sevier County Electric System until November 28, 2016.

In the span of 12 hours I was making decisions with our line personnel I never imagined having to make. In times past the final decision making was left with someone else. Now the buck stopped with me.

During the chaos of this tragic event I had to display a calm and focused demeanor no matter how I was truly feeling on the inside. Hopelessness and inadequacy crept into my psyche but I quickly suppressed those thoughts and feelings because failure was not an option. Thank God that I had two things going for me, an outstanding staff and three predecessors that expressed solid foundational leadership skills that I was able to draw on. All three visited with me at different times offering their support.

The one thing they all said was none of us has ever experienced anything of this magnitude and that this will definitely make me a better manager.  So to George Seaton, Howard Murrell and Rick Harrell I thank you for leadership and positive influences you had on me.

allen
Allen Robbins, General Manager and CEO at Sevier County Electric System

Public Power Current: The recent extreme weather events in Texas and elsewhere have highlighted reliability and power grid issues for utilities. Can you discuss some recent examples of how Sevier County Electric System has successfully responded to power outages caused by weather?

Robbins: On December 23, 2020 we had a volatile windstorm that resulted in multiple small outages throughout the day. Then on December 24, 2020 we had a snowstorm that brought 8” of snow to the lower areas of our service territory but much more in the higher elevations that include the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The two major challenges we had, aside from the snowstorm, was the Christmas Holiday and COVID-19.

First and foremost, what helped us in our response that turned a 7 to 10-day outage event into a 4 to 5 day event was the relationships with other public power utilities both in the Tennessee Valley and the Southeast Region.

The mutual aid agreements we have in place with TVPPA and APPA are so beneficial to a utility in need. It takes a lot of stress out of acquiring help. 

Another important measure that we have put in place to help mitigate a Texas issue in Sevier County is on August 23, 2019, we signed the Long Term Partnership agreement with TVA to further ensure equitable rates and stability for our customers for many years to come.

Public Power Current: Are there specific projects underway at Sevier County Electric System that you would like to highlight?

Robbins: Sevier County is known as the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with approximately 15 million visitors per year. Keeping up with the growth has had many challenges but it has borne out many opportunities for us as well.

Currently we are working on our first large scale solar project with Sevier Solid Waste using one of their Class 3 landfills. Sevier Solid Waste has state of the art digesters that processes the County’s garbage into mulch. They receive visits from all over the world and we felt like utilizing one of their landfills for solar would further demonstrate our commitment to protecting the environment and having a diverse power mix.

Secondly, we are working on a 10-mile transmission line project with one of our neighboring utilities to bring more redundancy and reliability to both of our service territories. Thirdly, through Seven States Power Corporation we have installed 7 EV chargers throughout Sevier County with 4 to 5 more to be installed in the near future.

Public Power Current: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Sevier County Electric System and the broader public power community in the next five to 10 years? How is Sevier County Electric System positioned to successfully meet these challenges?

Robbins: Retirement of skilled personnel, cyberattacks, DER, energy storage, updating grid infrastructure, unpredictable weather patterns and many more emerging technologies will all be challenges for us over the next 5 to 10 years. All of these are most definitely challenges, but where there are challenges there is opportunity.

To meet the loss of our retiring skilled workforce we have partnered with the Sevier County Economic Development Council, Walter State Community College and trade school institutions in developing a curriculum that addresses the needs of electric utilities like Sevier County Electric System.

Tennessee College of Applied Technology has a 6 to 10-month lineman curriculum that prepares the individual with entry level electric utility skill sets equivalent to a first year Apprentice.

We are the energy experts and we need to ensure our customers know this as well. So instead of resisting rooftop solar or energy storage we have worked with and tried to inform our customers on the best applications that will meet their needs.

Cyberattacks are all about training. There is no way we can prevent cyberattacks but what we can do is try to prevent cyberattack success. This requires a lot of employee training on being vigilant and not just sometimes but all the time. Beyond this I really don’t like talking about it. Brings too much attention to the issue.

Over the past 10 years we have rebuilt several of our distribution circuits, making them more robust by integrating newer components such as line sectionalizers and automated switch gear.

NYPA offers remote monitoring of utility assets to customers

March 3, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 3, 2021

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) recently announced the availability of an asset health monitoring service that will enable centralized management of power plants, substations and power lines for use by its power supply customers, including municipal utilities, cooperatives and manufacturers.

The Massena Electric Department (MED) in Northern New York will be the first customer to pilot the expanded services of NYPA’s Integrated Smart Operations Center (iSOC), which will deploy the same set of analytics that are used to monitor and help prevent equipment failures and outages of NYPA’s power assets to monitor the local municipal utility’s assets.

“These expanded digital utility services enable NYPA, along with its customers, to make continued progress in meeting New York State’s clean energy goals and creating a more resilient, reliable and flexible energy system,” NYPA said.

 In the case of MED, NYPA will pilot the service and monitor select substation assets, including a transformer and two battery banks.

The pilot aims to reduce the cost of asset management and minimize business disruptions caused by unanticipated asset failures. NYPA will design and install sensors to identify “bad actor” occurrences and notify system MED personnel of any irregularities through alerts.

NYPA’s iSOC system has more than 63,000 data points that currently monitor 283 power generation and transmission assets throughout the state. This monitoring helps identify problems and issues before they occur in an effort to prevent potential service outages and reduce repair and replacement costs.

The state-of-the-art center uses a myriad of digital tools, one being GE Digital’s analytics software, which oversee NYPA’s 16 power plants and more than 1,400 circuit miles of transmission lines.

Online monitoring of power plants, substations and transmission lines will increase plant efficiency and productivity, reduce unplanned downtime, lower maintenance costs and minimize operational risks, the Authority said.

The service is available to all municipal utilities, coops and manufacturing customers served by NYPA. NYPA is offering customers the ability to centrally manage specific asset health alarms and alerts, while maintaining current utility decision-making such as approving and scheduling maintenance and ordering parts.

Traditional asset management practices rely on manual processes, institutional knowledge, and scheduled inspections and analysis, NYPA noted. “The industry, however, has continued to slowly move away from the pure decentralized approach as utilities invest in additional near-real-time monitoring, improved data quality and standardized analysis processes.”

NYPA plans to integrate and offer additional monitoring capabilities in the future, including a suite of sensors across multiple assets.

TVA, IOUs unveil plan to add EV fast chargers to allow for seamless travel across major regions

March 3, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 3, 2021

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and five investor-owned utilities (IOUs) on March 2 announced a plan to ensure that electric vehicle drivers have access to a seamless network of charging stations connecting major highway systems from the Atlantic Coast, through the Midwest and South, and into the Gulf and Central Plains regions.

The plan was unveiled by the Electric Highway Coalition, which consists of TVA and the following IOUs: American Electric Power, Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Entergy Corp. and Southern Co.

The plan will enable EV drivers seamless travel across major regions of the country through a network of DC fast chargers for electric vehicles.

The companies are each taking steps to provide EV charging solutions within their service territories. “This represents an unprecedented effort to offer convenient EV charging options across different company territories and allow EV travel without interruption,” TVA noted in a news release.

While many drivers recognize the benefits of driving an EV, such as the ease of low-cost home charging, some are concerned with the availability of charging stations during long road trips.

Sites along major highway routes with easy highway access and amenities for travelers are being considered as coalition members work to determine final charging station locations.

Charging stations will provide DC fast chargers that are capable of getting drivers back on the road in approximately 20-30 minutes.

The Electric Highway Coalition welcomes interested utilities to join as it seeks to extend the reach of network. Additionally, it supports, and looks forward to working with, other regional utility transportation corridor electrification initiatives, TVA said.

“This is one of many strategic partnerships that TVA is building to increase the number of electric vehicles to well over 200,000 in the Tennessee Valley by 2028,” said Jeff Lyash, TVA president and CEO.

Lyash believes that electrifying transportation can spur the same innovative transformation that electrifying the Tennessee Valley did back when TVA was founded.

TVA is leading the charge to increase EV adoption in its seven-state service area with the recently announced EV Initiative, which is based on building partnerships with LPCs, state agencies and other organizations.

TVA noted that it is making investments and coordinating partner funding that could bring up to $40 million in programs to support EV adoption in the next five years. This initiative is a multi-year plan to accelerate the electrification of transportation through programs to reduce or eliminate the market barriers that currently prevent more people from choosing EVs.

By addressing the barriers to EV adoption, the anticipated outcome is:

This announcement comes on the heels of the recently announced partnership between TVA and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to develop and fund a fast charging network across the interstates and major highways of Tennessee. TVA plans to work with state agencies in other states to develop a fast charging network across the Tennessee Valley.

CPS Energy issues RFP for conservation and energy efficiency programs

March 2, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 2, 2021

San Antonio, Texas-based public power utility CPS Energy on March 1 formally launched a request for proposals (RFP) for conservation and energy efficiency programs to develop the next phase of its Save for Tomorrow Energy Plan (STEP).

CPS Energy said the severe impact of February’s historic winter weather storm in Texas demonstrates the relationship between year-round conservation and energy efficiency programs that enhance our community’s energy reliability.

The use of these programs contributed to material energy demand savings, which, when combined with action taken to stabilize the utility’s electric system, helped avoid a potential statewide loss of the power grid during the storm, it said.

Creating additional successful programs that are forward thinking is the goal of the RFP and CPS Energy “is moving quickly to improve the tools it uses to help customers proactively manage how they use energy,” the utility said.

STEP began in 2009 to empower customers to manage their energy through energy efficiency, weatherization, demand response and the adoption of both rooftop and community solar with a goal of saving 771 MW. This goal was achieved early and under budget in 2019 with 845 MW in energy savings.

In January 2020, the CPS Energy Board of Trustees and the City of San Antonio City Council extended the STEP Bridge program for an additional year with a target of 75 MW in energy savings. 

In January 2021, the City Council approved an additional extension until July 2022 to allow additional time to recover from COVID-19 related program impacts and continue gathering public and stakeholder input for FlexSTEP.

CPS Energy is expanding the focus of FlexSTEP to include both energy and demand savings in targets.

In or around the fall of 2021, CPS Energy plans to seek the CPS Energy Board of Trustees’ and the City of San Antonio City Council’s approval of FlexSTEP.

The deadline for receipt of proposals is April 30, 2021 and additional details on the RFP are available here.

Texas PUC chair resigns; state attorney general files lawsuit against power provider

March 2, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 2, 2021

DeAnn Walker on March 1 resigned as chairwoman of the Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT), days after she faced questions from state lawmakers at a hearing that examined rotating outages implemented by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) in the wake of an arctic blast.

On Feb. 25, Walker appeared before a hearing held by the Texas Senate’s Committee on Business and Commerce. ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness also participated in the hearing.

Among other things, state Sen. Robert Nichols asked Walker questions about winterization by generators, which he said is “key to keep this from happening in the first place.”

She said that while the PUCT has enforcement authority over weatherization, it is limited to emergency operation plans. “We do not have any authority to require them to do weatherization.”

In response, Nichols said, “the time to fix these things is not during an emergency. It’s during a time when we’re not in an emergency.”

Sen. Brandon Creighton noted that Walker had mentioned several times that she doubted the authority she held.

When asked by Creighton whether she feels like she has enough authority, Walker said, “I think it depends on what obligation you’re referring to. If you’re referring to weatherization, I think I need more.”

Creighton pointed out that under the Texas Public Utility Regulatory Act, “that act gives the Commission complete authority over ERCOT…you have complete authority over ERCOT. So I’m having trouble with you mentioning several different times that you lack the authority or that this or that has been delegated to ERCOT.”

Texas AG sues power provider

Meanwhile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on March 1 filed a lawsuit against Griddy LLC “for violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act through false, misleading, and deceptive advertising and marketing practices,” Paxton’s office said in a news release.

“During the February freeze, Texas power companies failed to withstand the winter storm and left millions of Texans without power and heat during lethal, record-low temperatures across the state. Compounding this disaster, Griddy passed skyrocketing energy costs to customers with little to no warning, resulting in consumers paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars each day for electricity,” the news release said.

The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief from Griddy “to ensure that the Texans it serves will receive truthful and accurate energy service in the future, and to have the court order refunds from available sources,” Paxton’s office said.  

ERCOT in a Feb. 26 market notice said that it had revoked all rights of Griddy Energy LLC to conduct activity under the ERCOT protocols due to a payment breach.  

ERCOT said in the notice that it had initiated the mass transition of Griddy Energy customers on February 26 and that it was working closely with PUCT staff and affected market participants to ensure an efficient and effective transfer of customers to designated providers of last resort.

CPS Energy fights to protect customers, keep bills affordable in wake of extreme weather

March 2, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
March 2, 2021

In the wake of a recent reliability crisis in Texas, San Antonio, Texas-based public power utility CPS Energy on March 2 said that it will proactively protect customers to keep their bills affordable while continuing to pursue prudent business practices that keep the utility and San Antonio financially stable and strong. 

“Last month’s extreme and historic Texas weather disaster has exposed a systemic market failure that has unfairly impacted communities and utilities across the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT),” the utility said.

“For those people who live here, please know that CPS Energy did not do anything to add to the problem. In my opinion, CPS Energy was well prepared and helped in the situation by doing what it had to do when ERCOT asked it to shed load,” said Texas State Senator José Menéndez, following the March 1, 2021, CPS Energy Special Board of Trustees meeting. 

Relative to the February 2021 energy reliability crisis, the management team at CPS Energy is also focused on improving communications and other important aspects of its systems.

Formal reviews have been separately requested by the San Antonio City Council and CPS Energy’s Board of Trustees. The first review, from the city, will be starting soon and CPS Energy said that it will fully cooperate with both requests.

Since Feb. 15, 2021, CPS Energy President and CEO Paula Gold-Williams has often talked about a new financial tsunami in Texas that has been caused by gas suppliers that raised their prices by as much as 16,000 percent in anticipation of and during the storm and by ERCOT for allowing power prices to rise to and hold at the $9,000 per megawatt hour market cap, CPS Energy noted.  

On Feb. 25, 2021, CPS Energy filed a voluntary event notice to the investor community that provided a general estimate of what is owed by the utility.

The estimates of the components, which could change, are natural gas fuel costs of approximately $675 million to $850 million and purchase power costs of approximately $175 million to $250 million.

CPS Energy said that it is fighting to protect its customers and taking steps to mitigate future customers’ bills from the potential impacts of these costs. 

There are multiple mitigation options being considered and pursued, including federal and state financial assistance, regulatory intervention, policy help at the federal and state levels, negotiation, and appropriate legal actions as needed.

CPS Energy is also deploying multiple tools the utility has available to maintain cash and liquidity.

These tools were outlined at the March 1 Special Board of Trustees meeting.

In addition to a review of tools previously supported and approved by the Board and San Antonio City Council, there was a request to approve an additional line of credit to support operations in the interim. The credit line would only be accessed if necessary.  

At the end of the meeting, the Board approved this latest request from management to create additional borrowing capacity of approximately $500 million, which the utility noted is the equivalent of an insurance policy necessary to protect the financial health of CPS Energy and its customers.

This liquidity request will also be presented to the San Antonio City Council for its consideration, as soon as reasonably possible. 

“Our first priority is to protect our San Antonio customers. We will absolutely pay justified and legitimate charges, as we always have.  However, prudently, we must challenge all charges that we believe may be unlawful, unconscionable, or illegitimate,” said Gold-Williams.

“This is a very complex situation, and we are focused on shielding our customers from outrageously high costs that are inappropriate. Currently, we are holding all costs on our balance sheet and not passing them through to customers. We understand we must be the advocate for our San Antonio customers to ensure a more fair and equitable end result for everyone.”

While CPS Energy believes its plan is thoughtful and prudent, it has not been fully presented to and assessed by the financial markets.

In immediate reaction to the Texas crisis, Fitch and S&P initially put the utility on a Negative Watch. Moody’s review is in process. 

“CPS Energy believes that its plan will provide comfort to the financial markets. These presentations and discussions, including investor and lender outreach, are happening now,” it noted.

CPS Energy said its multifaceted strategic approach has been designed to: