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CISA released cybersecurity and physical security convergence guide

January 11, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 11, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has released a new guide designed to provide guidance on converging cybersecurity and physical security functions.

The guide notes that today’s threats are a result of hybrid attacks targeting both physical and cyber assets.

The adoption and integration of Internet of Things and Industrial Internet of Things devices have led to an increasingly interconnected mesh of cyber-physical systems, “which expands the attack surface and blurs the once clear functions of cybersecurity and physical security,” the guide notes.

Meanwhile, efforts to build cyber resilience and accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies can also introduce or exacerbate security risks in this evolving threat landscape, the guide said.

“Together, cyber and physical assets represent a significant amount of risk to physical security and cybersecurity — each can be targeted, separately or simultaneously, to result in compromised systems and/or infrastructure,” CISA said.

“Yet physical security and cybersecurity divisions are often still treated as separate entities. When security leaders operate in these siloes, they lack a holistic view of security threats targeting their enterprise,” the guide noted. As a result, attacks “are more likely to occur and can lead to impacts such as exposure of sensitive or proprietary information, economic damage, loss of life, and disruption of national critical functions.”

Convergence is formal collaboration between previously disjointed security functions, the guide said. “Organizations with converged cybersecurity and physical security functions are more resilient and better prepared to identify, prevent, mitigate, and respond to threats. Convergence also encourages information sharing and developing unified security policies across security divisions.”

Benefits of convergence

CISA said that an integrated threat management strategy reflects in-depth understanding of the cascading impacts to interconnected cyber-physical infrastructure.

As rapidly evolving technology increasingly links physical and cyber assets, the benefits of converged security functions outweigh the challenges of organizational change efforts and enable a flexible, sustainable strategy anchored by shared security practices and goals, the guide said.

“While many utilities have not integrated physical and cybersecurity operations, it is especially important in the energy sector, to take a holistic risk-based approach when thinking about security”, said APPA’s Senior Director of Security & Resilience, Sam Rozenberg, CPP.

The guide includes a framework for aligning security functions, as well as a set of convergence case studies.

The guide is available here.

Public Power utilities recognized for residential customer satisfaction

January 8, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 8, 2021

Several public power utilities have earned high scores for residential customer satisfaction in a recently released J.D. Power study.

Overall, electric utility residential customer satisfaction for the industry is high, especially for customers that are aware of payment deferment and other good deeds offered by their utility during the pandemic, according to the J.D. Power 2020 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study, which was released in December.

The study is based on responses from 96,546 online interviews conducted from January through November 2020 among residential customers of the 143 largest electric utility brands across the United States, which represent more than 102 million households.

Scores are based on a 1,000-point scale and also covers investor-owned utilities and electric cooperatives.

In the Midwest midsize category, Nebraska public power utilities Lincoln Electric System (750 score) and Omaha Public Power District (749 score) were in the sixth and seventh spots, respectively. City Utilities was in the 13th spot with a score of 716.

In the South large segment, San Antonio, Texas public power utility CPS Energy ranked third with a score of 779.

In the South midsize segment, a total of 11 public power utilities earned a spot in the rankings as follows:

 In the West large utility segment, Arizona public power utility Salt River Project earned the top spot with a score of 806, while California public power utility SMUD came in second place with a score of 783. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was in the 12th spot with a score of 721.

In the West midsize segment, Washington State’s Clark Public Utilities earned the top spot with a score of 812, while California public power utility Anaheim Public Utilities earned a score of 764, landing it in the fourth spot.

Colorado Springs Utilities was in the fifth spot in the West midsize segment with a score of 761, while Seattle City Light was in the sixth spot with a score of 751. Washington State’s Snohomish County PUD was in the 10th spot with a score of 742, while California’s Imperial Irrigation District was in the twelfth spot with a score of 736.

Treasury Department solicits applications from cities, counties for renter assistance grants

January 7, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 7, 2021

The U.S. Department of Treasury is soliciting applications due next Tuesday, from cities and counties with more than 200,000 population for direct grants from a $25 billion renter assistance program established as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020.

While smaller cities and counties can still benefit from the program, it appears they will have to rely on a subgrant from their state.

Under the program, not less than 90 percent of awarded funds must be used for direct financial assistance, including rent, rental arrears, utilities and home energy costs, utilities and home energy costs arrears, and other expenses related to housing. 

Remaining funds are available for housing stability services, including case management and other services intended to keep households stably housed, and administrative costs.  Funds generally expire on Dec. 31, 2021. 

The Treasury Department will make allocations of the $25 billion Emergency Rental Assistance fund to states, U.S. territories, local governments with more than 200,000 residents, and Indian tribes (defined to include Alaska native corporations) or the tribally designated housing entity of an Indian tribe, as applicable. 

Completed payment information and a signed acceptance of award terms form generally must be submitted not later than 11:59 p.m. ET on January 12, 2021, to ensure payments are made within the 30-day period specified by the statute. Eligible grantees that do not provide complete information by that deadline may not receive an Emergency Rental Assistance payment. 

The American Public Power Association does not believe public power utilities will be eligible to be direct recipients of such funds. But larger cities and counties which operate public power utilities are. Likewise, public power utilities may be operating in, but not operated by, grant-eligible counties.

Because this is primarily a rent-assistance program, APPA shares concerns with the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) that customers may not have ready ability to use this program for energy needs.

For utilities serving cities or counties that are not eligible to receive a direct grant, APPA is encouraging those utilities to reach out to local LIHEAP and housing agencies, which may receive direct grants from the utilities’ state and/or to their state LIHEAP and housing agencies.

Silicon Valley Clean Energy receives “A” issuer credit rating from S&P Global Ratings

January 7, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 7, 2021

S&P Global Ratings on Jan. 5 assigned an “A” issuer credit rating to Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE), a California community choice aggregator.

This credit rating, the second investment-grade credit rating for SVCE, “reflects the assessment completed by S&P Global, and speaks to SVCE’s financial strength and robust energy risk management policies,” SVCE said in a news release.

“New opportunities from this credit rating allow SVCE to provide affordable clean electricity while continuing to fund innovation and decarbonization programs within the SVCE service area,” said SVCE CEO Girish Balachandran.

SVCE said that S&P Global’s “A” rating recognizes the stability of the customer base since service began in 2017, a diverse clean power supply, low rates and internal credit-supportive policies seen at SVCE.

S&P Global views SVCE financial and enterprise profiles as strong, with approximately $160 million in cash reserves, the CCA said.

In addition, the rating will enable SVCE to negotiate new energy supply contracts at lower costs, resulting in lower energy rates for customers, it noted.

In 2020, SVCE received a Baa2 credit rating from Moody’s Investors Service.

The American Public Power Association has initiated a new category of membership for community choice aggregation programs.

DOE releases roadmap to boost U.S. energy storage manufacturing

January 7, 2021

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
January 7, 2021

The U.S. Department of Energy, in late December, released its plan to ramp up manufacturing capability so that the country’s demand for the energy storage can be filled by domestic sources by 2030.

The Energy Storage Grand Challenge Roadmap, the DOE’s first comprehensive energy storage strategy, calls for accelerating the transition of storage technologies from the lab to the marketplace, focusing on ways to competitively manufacture technologies at scale in the United States, and ensuring secure supply chains to enable domestic manufacturing.

Under the slogan “Innovate Here, Make Here, Deploy Everywhere,” the DOE’s roadmap identifies initial cost targets focused on user-centric applications with substantial growth potential.

For long duration stationary storage applications, the roadmap aims at achieving $0.05 per kilowatt hour (kWh), a 90 percent reduction from 2020 baseline costs by 2030.

Reaching that target would facilitate commercial viability for storage across a wide range of uses such as meeting load during periods of peak demand and ensuring reliability of critical services, the DOE said.

For electric vehicle battery packs, the roadmap target is $80/kWh by 2030 for a 300-mile range electric vehicle, a 44 percent reduction from the current cost of $143/kWh.

Reaching that target would lead to cost competitive electric vehicles and could benefit the production, performance, and safety of batteries for stationary applications, the DOE said.

In conjunction with the release of the Energy Storage Grand Challenge Roadmap, the DOE also released two companion reports, the 2020 Grid Energy Storage Technology Cost and Performance Assessment and the Energy Storage Market Report 2020, which contain data that informed the roadmap and provide further information for the energy stakeholder community.

“Energy storage has an important role to play in our Nation’s energy future,” Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said in a statement. “DOE worked closely with a wide range of stakeholders and partners to develop this actionable Roadmap to help bring promising energy storage technologies to market and position the United States as a global leader in energy storage solutions.”

NPPD signs letter of intent tied to procurement of renewable energy resources

January 6, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 6, 2021

In order to facilitate Monolith Materials’ proposed $1 billion expansion of its Olive Creek facility near Hallam, Neb., Nebraska Public Power District and Monolith have signed a letter of intent outlining their intention to procure enough renewable energy resources to generate two million megawatt-hours annually.

NPPD President and CEO Tom Kent said NPPD will solicit bids for the project through a request for proposals (RFP) for new wind or solar generation, including energy storage, through a power purchase agreement.

The news was unveiled on Jan. 4 by Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and representatives of NPPD, Monolith Materials, and Norris Public Power District during a joint announcement regarding the facilitation of a significant addition to the renewable energy landscape in the state.

Kent noted that the approximately two million megawatt-hours of generation would create a sufficient number of renewable energy certificates (RECs) to meet 100 percent of Monolith’s average annual energy usage and meet the company’s environmental and sustainability goals.

“While we are adding additional generation resources, NPPD will continue to maintain our highly competitive rates, which was one of the reasons Monolith moved its operations to Nebraska,” he said.

Kent noted that to reach that generation figure, the renewable resource projects could be comprised of wind, solar, or a mix of the two.

NPPD will be securing the generation resources and power to the facility will be delivered by Norris Public Power District, a wholesale customer of NPPD.

Olive Creek 1 (OC1), Monolith’s first production facility, is already utilizing RECs to offset 100% of its electricity needs.

With the new agreement, Monolith plans a mix of solar and wind generation resources along with battery energy storage to provide sufficient renewable power to offset its OC1 and OC2 operations in the future.

NPPD is expecting to enter into power purchase agreements by Sept. 1, 2021, with commercial operations expected to begin no later than Dec. 31, 2025.  

NPPD plans to issue the request for proposals in March 2021 and a shortlist will be developed for further negotiations.

Additional details about Monolith Materials are available here.

APPA works to ensure availability of $25 billion rental assistance program

January 6, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 6, 2021

The American Public Power Association is working with the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) to ensure that a $25 billion rental assistance program authorized under the COVID relief bill signed into law by President Trump in December will be available to help renters pay their rent and utility bills as intended by Congress.

The program will be administered by the states, tribes, and territories and under the new law, funds can be used to help renters pay rent, rental arrears, utilities and home energy costs, and utilities and home energy costs arrears.

NEADA is the primary educational and policy organization for the state directors of LIHEAP, a federal program that provides formula grants to states to help low-income families pay their heating and cooling bills.

Increased funding for LIHEAP has been a top priority for APPA.

NEADA believes that in states where the LIHEAP office falls under the same auspices as the state’s housing agency, the use of program funds for both rent and utility payments will be readily coordinated. For example, there might be a way to use the LIHEAP system to sign up renters for this new program. However, states where the LIHEAP office is housed in an energy or other agency will have a much harder time coordinating.

Likewise, local agencies that jointly operate housing and energy programs will also be able to more easily coordinate.

In either instance, NEADA and APPA are working together to develop guidance to ensure that program funds are available for rent and utility assistance nationwide.

By way of initial guidance, NEADA suggests that local utilities should reach out to their LIHEAP and housing agencies with information on their best estimate of the number of renters in the service territory who are behind on their energy bills.

Local utilities should also offer to provide lists of names of renters who are behind who need help, NEADA said.

And utilities can also offer to help facilitate a process where they inform their customers that funding is available and provide access to applications and point of contact local agencies to sign up for help.

In addition, NEADA said that local utilities could provide funding to local agencies to help pay for extra staff to sign people up or provide supplemental staff.

President Trump in late December signed into law H.R. 133, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, the $2.6 trillion end-of-year bill, which includes roughly $900 billion in COVID relief, $328 billion in tax relief, and $1.4 trillion in fiscal year 2021 spending.

Atlantic Seaboard states embrace measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

January 5, 2021

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
January 5, 2021

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has finalized guidance on developing a “value of carbon” metric.

Separately, three states and the District of Columbia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to reduce their transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions.

In New York, the DEC said a value of carbon metric would help state agencies estimate the value of reducing CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions. (The value of carbon guidance and supplemental documents are available on the DEC’s website).

The value of carbon guidance, developed by DEC in consultation with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Resources for the Future, establishes a monetary value for the avoided emissions of CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide.

When developed, the metric would be “broadly applicable to all State agencies and authorities to demonstrate the global societal value of actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” the DEC said.

The DEC noted, however, that its value of carbon guidance is not a regulation, nor does it propose a CO2 “price, fee, or compliance obligation.”

The DEC said the guidance “establishes a value of carbon focused on the federal social cost of carbon and incorporates public comments DEC received when the draft guidance was proposed earlier this year.”

DEC’s guidance recommends a lower central discount rate of two percent, which should be reported alongside a one and three percent discount rate for informational purposes. Use of the lower central discount rate translates into a 2020 central value of CO2 of $125 per ton; methane of $2,782 per ton; and nitrous oxide of $44,727 per ton.

MOU

The MOU calls for Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Washington D.C. to participate in the Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P), a cap-and-invest program that aims to reduce transportation emissions and raise money to speed the shift to low emitting, safer and more affordable transportation alternatives.

The TCI-P is an ongoing effort among 12 states that seeks to tax fuel suppliers and invest the proceeds in alternatives such as public transportation and clean vehicles and fuels.

Eight of those states chose not to join the launch of the Transportation and Climate Initiative Program, but instead issued a statement, Next Steps for the Transportation and Climate Initiative, in which they committed to continue to engage in “collaboration and individual actions to equitably reduce air pollution, create healthier communities, and invest in cleaner transportation.”

The eight states have the option to sign on to the full program any time in the next three years. The eight states are Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Virginia.

The TCI-P will require large gasoline and diesel fuel suppliers to purchase allowances for the emissions caused by the combustion of fuels they sell in the regions.

The MOU calls for the proceeds of the auction allowances to be invested “in ways that help both urban and rural residents, including improving and expanding public transportation; zero-emission buses, cars, and trucks; electric vehicle charging infrastructure; development of interstate electric vehicle charging corridors; improving high speed wireless internet in rural and low-income areas to allow for teleworking; repairing existing roads and bridges; and providing safer bike lanes and sidewalks.”

The TCI-P jurisdictions have committed to invest 35 percent of annual allowance revenue in communities underserved by current transportation options and with disproportionately high levels of pollution.

Each participating jurisdiction will have an individual program adopted and implemented under its independent legal authority. And each jurisdiction has the authority to decide how to invest program proceeds.

The MOU calls for the four jurisdictions to develop and release a model rule that will establish a multi-jurisdictional base annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions cap starting in 2023, which will be equal to the sum of the TCI-P participating jurisdictions’ CO2 emissions budgets set out in the MOU. From 2023, the base annual CO2 emissions budgets are scheduled to decline by 30 percent by 2032, by equal amounts each year.

The first TCI-P reporting period is set to begin as early as Jan. 1, 2022, and the first compliance period will begin Jan. 1, 2023 or at such later time as at least three jurisdictions have completed the legal processes required to implement their individual programs. The MOU participants intend to conduct one or more early CO2 allowance auctions in 2022.

Massachusetts projects TCI-P will reduce motor vehicle emissions in the state by at least 26 percent and generate over $1.8 billion by 2032. Rhode Island projects the program will provide $20 million annually for public transit, safe streets for bikers and pedestrians, and other green projects.

Despite the potential for eight more states to join the program, there also has been push back against the Transportation and Climate Initiative. Three retail fuel trade groups ─ the National Association of Convenience Stores, the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America, and NATSO, which represents truck stops and travel plazas ─ are urging states to reconsider participation in the Transportation and Climate Initiative.

The plan, as currently structured, “will not work,” the groups said in a statement and would “result in higher costs without any meaningful environmental benefit.”

The governors of New Hampshire and Vermont have declined to implement the program in favor of waiting to see how it unfolds. And several environmental justice organizations have voiced their opposition to TCI-P.

Calif. community choice aggregator Peninsula Clean Energy signs wind power contracts

January 5, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 5, 2021

California community choice aggregator (CCA) Peninsula Clean Energy on Jan. 5 said it has agreed to procure 245 megawatts of power from three California wind projects.

The three contracts Peninsula Clean Energy has signed are as follows:

The additional wind generation will bring Peninsula Clean Energy closer to meeting its goal of providing 24/7 renewable-only generation by 2025.

It will supplement solar generation, including supply from the newly commissioned 200-MW Wright Solar and 100-MW Mustang Two Whirlaway projects, particularly during colder months and other times when solar power has traditionally waned.  

The American Public Power Association has initiated a new category of membership for community choice aggregation programs.

Christie sworn in as member of FERC, resulting in full complement of commissioners

January 4, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
January 4, 2021

Mark Christie was sworn in as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Jan. 4.

Christie, who was previously the Chairman of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, fills the FERC seat vacated by Bernard McNamee in September 2020. Christie is a Republican.

His term runs through June 30, 2025. 

Christie joins Chairman James Danly (R), Commissioner Neil Chatterjee (R), Commissioner Allison Clements (D), and Commissioner Richard Glick (D) to give FERC a full complement of five commissioners for the first time in nearly two years.