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New DOE Program Offers Cybersecurity Assistance To Public Power Utilities

August 21, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 21, 2022

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) recently launched the Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program.

The program will prioritize rural, municipal, and small investor-owned utilities that have limited cybersecurity resources, are critical to the reliability of the bulk-power system, and/or those that own defense critical electric infrastructure. 

CESER will develop the program in coordination with other government partners, leveraging the $250 million made available in Section 40124 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

On Aug. 18, CESER hosted the first in a series of listening sessions for eligible entities and other interested parties.

CESER will collect input from the listening sessions to create a comprehensive program plan that bolsters cybersecurity for eligible utilities based on the needs identified by session participants, DOE said.

A listening session scheduled for Sept. 29 will focus on the unique needs of electric municipal utilities and their key priorities.

Registration will open approximately two weeks before the listening session date. Additional details about this and other listening sessions are available here.

WAPA To Provide Hydropower To Kansas, Nebraska Municipalities

August 21, 2022

by APPA News
August 21, 2022

Eleven municipalities in Kansas and Nebraska and one military installation in Colorado have been approved to receive at-cost federal hydropower from Western Area Power Administration’s (WAPA) Loveland Area Projects starting Oct. 1, 2024.

 It is the largest addition of WAPA customers since the remarketing of Hoover Dam hydropower in 2017, WAPA said on Aug. 18.

Many of the new customers, like our current customers, are small rural entities. Having access to the affordable hydropower resource and transmission services can be a real benefit,” said WAPA Contracts and Energy Services Manager Parker Wicks.

The new customers join 124 existing entities who have renewed firm electric service contracts for Loveland Area Projects hydropower starting Oct. 1, 2024. Under those contracts, customers will receive allocations of energy from 20 federal Bureau of Reclamation hydroelectric facilities in Montana, Wyoming and Colorado for 30 years.

The new customers include nine Kansas municipalities, two Nebraska municipalities and a U.S. Space Force base:

Colorado

Buckley Space Force Base

Kansas

City of Alma

City of Blue Mound

City of Elwood

City of Luray

City of Montezuma

City of Morrill

City of Prescott

City of Robinson

City of Wathena

Nebraska

Village of Paxton

Village of Trenton

In total, the new customers will receive 11,302,438 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy in the summer season (April – September) and 9,106,151 kWh in the winter season (October – March). Each new customer will receive a proportional allocation based on their seasonal demand.

To begin receiving federal hydropower in October 2024, the new customers will need to sign a power contract by Dec. 31. Then, they will need to get transmission arrangements in place by summer 2024.

The opportunity to receive new allocations of hydropower arose from a scheduled resource pool under Loveland Area Projects’ current contract terms. The resource pool, which occurs every 10 years, withdraws up to 1% of the marketable hydropower resource from existing customers and makes it available to new customers through a public process.

Entities eligible to apply for new hydropower allocations must be a municipality, rural electric cooperative, irrigation district, public utility district, Native American Tribe or federal or state agency in the designated project area that does not currently receive a federal hydropower allocation. With the exception of Tribes, all entities must also be able to receive the power from WAPA through the power grid.

The next Loveland Area Projects resource pool is scheduled for 2034. The application process would begin 2-3 years before then and would be advertised in the Federal Register.

To learn more about this resource pool, visit the Loveland Area Projects 2025 Resource Pool webpage

DOE Report Provides Guidance On Energy Storage System Evaluations

August 21, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 21, 2022

A new report from the Department of Energy (DOE) provides guidance on how best to evaluate the potential of energy storage systems based on specific use-cases.

The report, Energy Storage Valuation: A Review of Use Cases and Modeling Tools, draws from publicly available tools developed by the DOE and frames their functions and capabilities in the context of three use-case “families.”

The three use-case families of the DOE’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge are:

The DOE report provides a methodology for stakeholders to determine which DOE modeling tool is best suited to value an energy storage system for a specific use-case.

“In addition to the need for cost and performance improvements for storage technologies, there is a need for robust valuation methods to enable effective policy, investment, business models, and resource planning,” the report’s authors wrote.

With respect to that goal, the report identified the high-level objectives for the report:

Argonne Lab Researchers Hope AI Can Lower Nuclear Plant Operating Costs

August 18, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 18, 2022

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory are midway through a $1 million, three-year project to explore how artificial intelligence could lower the operating costs of nuclear power.

The premise of Argonne’s project to develop smart, computerized systems for nuclear plants is that their costs will have to come down if they are to play a role in the U.S. clean energy economy by providing large amounts of clean electricity.

Nuclear plants are expensive, in part, because they demand constant monitoring and maintenance to ensure consistent power flow and safety, according to the Argonne researchers. The expense of running nuclear plants has made it difficult for them to stay open, they said.

“Operation and maintenance costs are quite relevant for nuclear units, which currently require large site crews and extensive upkeep,” Roberto Ponciroli, a principal nuclear engineer at Argonne, said in a statement. “We think that autonomous operation can help to improve their profitability and also benefit the deployment of advanced reactor concepts.”

The project, funded by the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies program, aims to create a computer architecture that could detect problems early and recommend appropriate actions to human operators.

“In a world where decisions are made according to data, it’s important to know that you can trust your data,” Ponciroli said. “Sensors, like any other component, can degrade. Knowing that your sensors are functioning is crucial.”

A typical nuclear plant has hundreds of sensors. The job of inspecting each sensor — and the performance of system components such as valves, pumps, heat exchangers — currently rests with staff who walk the plant floor. Instead, Argonne is exploring the potential for algorithms that could verify data by learning how a normal sensor functions and looking for anomalies. Once a sensor’s data is validated, an artificial intelligence system would then interpret signals from the sensor and recommend specific actions.

The technology could save the nuclear industry more than $500 million a year, Ponciroli and his colleagues estimate.

An artificial intelligence method called reinforcement learning replicates judgments humans make all the time by teaching the system to make decisions by evaluating potential outcomes.

At a nuclear plant, computers could detect problems and flag them to plant operators as early as possible, helping optimize controls and also avert more expensive repairs, as well as cutting back on maintenance on equipment that doesn’t need it, the Argonne researchers said.

In partnership with industry partners Argonne engineers have built a computer simulation, or “digital twin,” of an advanced nuclear reactor that can also be adapted to existing nuclear plants.

The Argonne team is validating its artificial intelligence concept on the simulated reactor and has completed systems to control and diagnose its virtual parts. The remainder of the project will focus on the system’s decision-making ability — what it does with the diagnostic data.

“The lower-level tasks that people do now can be handed off to algorithms,” Richard Vilim, an Argonne senior nuclear engineer, said in a statement. “We’re trying to elevate humans to a higher degree of situational awareness so that they are observers making decisions.”

SMUD Unveils New Managed Electric Vehicle Charging Pilot With Automakers

August 18, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 18, 2022

California public power utility SMUD on Aug. 15 announced a new managed electric vehicle (EV) charging pilot with BMW of North America, Ford and General Motors, which SMUD said will help EV customers align their charging needs to the time of day when it is most affordable.

Building on earlier EV incentives, SMUD is now working with the three automakers to test how it can help Sacramento-area customers charge their electric vehicles at times of day that promote optimal energy load management. The pilot program supports SMUD’s goal to eliminate carbon emissions from the power supply by 2030 and accelerates the use of renewable energy for more sustainable communities, the utility said.

Customers have already begun receiving communication from SMUD about the pilot and its potential financial, sustainability and grid-supporting benefits.

As part of the agreement, SMUD and participating automakers will allow for secure remote home charging management by conveniently integrating on-board communications and smart phone apps.

Automakers will create customized charge requests for EV owners to provide an ideal charging schedule which can help ensure that a customer’s vehicle is ready when they need it and is charging at optimal times, SMUD said.

Customers with EVs from participating automakers will receive incentives for enrolling, and quarterly incentives for participating in the pilot program.

The pilot program is one of several initiatives that SMUD is working on as part of its sustainability vision to support Sacramento’s goal of getting 75,000 zero emission vehicles on the road by 2025. Smart charging efforts will be an essential element of the state’s executive order to end sales of internal combustion passenger vehicles by 2035, it said.

Colorado Springs Utilities Becomes Active Participant In SPP Energy Imbalance Service Market

August 18, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 18, 2022

Public power utility Colorado Springs Utilities became an active participant in Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) Western Energy Imbalance Service (WEIS) market at midnight on Aug. 1, which took place after more than a year of preparation.

Colorado Springs Utilities joins eight other western utilities already participating in the market, with three others scheduled to join in April 2023: Xcel Energy-Colorado, Platte River Power Authority and Black Hills Colorado Electric LLC.

“Participation in the Western Energy Imbalance Service Market is a significant step in our pursuit of clean energy goals and sends a strong signal that we’re doing everything possible to secure a reliable electric grid and reduce energy-related costs for our customers,” said Colorado Springs Utilities CEO Aram Benyamin in a statement.

Colorado Springs Utilities is also part of an SPP-coordinated effort by several utilities to evaluate membership in the SPP regional transmission organization (RTO).

While SPP administers the WEIS market on a contract basis to nonmembers, it provides RTO members a suite of services including market administration, transmission planning, reliability coordination and more.

A 2021 SPP-Brattle study estimated the WEIS participants’ move to RTO membership would produce $49 million in benefits and those would grow with additional western members. The western utilities’ evaluation of membership is expected to conclude later this year, with the terms and start dates of interested parties’ membership agreements to be announced then.

SPP is also working with numerous interested parties to develop a service offering called Markets, which it said is “a bundle of services that could centralize day-ahead and real-time unit commitment and dispatch, provide hurdle-free transmission service across its footprint and pave the way for the reliable integration of a rapidly growing fleet of renewable generation.”

For utilities that see value in these services but are not ready to pursue full membership in a RTO at this time, Markets+ provides a voluntary, incremental opportunity to realize significant benefits, SPP said.

SPP is finalizing a proposed market design for this service and will publish it for interested parties’ consideration in fall 2022.

APPA Releases Guide For Public Power Utilities Interested In Community Solar

August 17, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 17, 2022

The American Public Power Association (APPA) recently released the Municipal Utility Community Solar Workbook, a free how-to guide for utilities interested in exploring community solar.

The workbook is a culmination of expert advice, resources, and best practices from the Municipal Utility Community Solar Working Group, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

From identifying community interest to selecting an appropriate site, determining budgeting and pricing models, working with vendors, and enrolling customers in the program, this guidebook walks utilities through the processes, materials, and considerations for exploring community solar projects from a public power perspective.

Utilities can also review the additional considerations necessary for establishing community solar programs that reach or support customers with low to moderate incomes and prioritize equity.

The guide is available for download here.

DOE and APPA will be hosting a release webinar for the workbook on September 1 at 2:00 PM EDST. Register for the webinar at this link.

President Biden Signs Bill That Provides Public Power With Direct Access To Energy Tax Credits

August 16, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 16, 2022

President Biden on Aug. 16 signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which will extend and expand various energy tax incentives and give public power utilities direct access to such credits through a refundable direct payment tax credit.

The U.S. House on Aug. 12 passed the IRA after the U.S. Senate passed the bill earlier this month.

The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the value of energy-related tax incentives to be worth $25 billion in 2022 alone. However, because public power utilities are exempt from tax, they have not been able to take advantage of these incentives for projects they own. Rural electric cooperatives face a similar challenge. As a result, using the tax code to incentivize energy investments has excluded utilities serving nearly 30 percent of all retail utility customers in the United States.

Instead, to take advantage of these energy tax incentives, tax-exempt, community-owned utilities have had to enter power purchase agreements with third party developers — who often themselves would enlist a tax equity partner to monetize energy tax credits.

The result has been profound, the American Public Power Association (APPA) recently noted. For example, recent surveys of public power utilities showed they own just two percent of the non-hydropower renewable energy used to serve their customers: the remaining 98 percent had to be secured through power purchase agreements.

The IRA corrects this by allowing tax-exempt entities to claim energy tax credits directly. APPA has long supported this approach, which will lead to lower costs, local jobs, and more equitable energy service for all customers.

DOE Says It Does Not Plan To Issue Waiver Tied To Transformers At This Time

August 16, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 16, 2022

In a recent letter to the American Public Power Association (APPA) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), a Department of Energy (DOE) official said that DOE is “not planning to issue an industry-wide waiver of enforcement with respect to energy conservation standards for distribution transformers at this time.”

The letter from Kelly Speakes-Backman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at DOE, responded to a request made in May by APPA and NRECA. The groups asked for DOE to institute a temporary waiver of DOE’s distribution transformer efficiency standard in an effort to alleviate the acute shortage of distribution transformers.

DOE recognizes “that supply chain impacts will vary by company, by product, and possibly even by model,” wrote Speakes-Backman. “In exercising enforcement discretion, we take into account the full range of these circumstances and their potential impacts.”

She also acknowledged APPA’s participation in the “Tiger Team” formed under the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) to further identify and address supply chain problems.

APPA continues to work through the ESCC and other forums to find solutions to alleviate the supply chain shortages, specifically with regards to distribution transformers. APPA has taken a number of actions to address ongoing supply chain challenges. APPA recently rolled out an additional feature to its eReliability Tracker that is available to all public power utilities and allows for voluntary equipment sharing by matching systems with the same distribution voltages. APPA also recently finalized a new supply chain issue brief. APPA members can download the issue brief here.

In a speech in June at APPA’s National Conference in Nashville, Tenn., APPA President and CEO Joy Ditto urged member utilities to share their supply chain challenges with APPA so that the trade group can relay details on these challenges to federal partners and discuss how critical burdens on the sector can be alleviated.

In May, APPA convened a supply chain summit that included participation from public power utility officials who discussed their supply chain challenges and mitigation strategies.

Solar Power Installations Slow Because Of Supply Chain, Other Issues: EIA

August 15, 2022

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 15, 2022

Solar power installations are running about 20 percent behind schedule due to supply chain and other issues, according to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Developers had planned to install 17.8 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) generating capacity in 2022, according to the EIA’s June 2022 Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. However, over the first six months of the year, only 4.2 GW of capacity came online, less than half of what the industry had planned to install, a 20 percent shortfall.

“Our preliminary data from January through June 2022 show that PV solar installations were delayed by an average of 4.4 GW each month, compared with average monthly delays of 2.6 GW during the same period last year,” according to the EIA. In most cases, the reported delays are for six months or less, the EIA added.

Most of the projects that are due to come online in the next 18 months are already under construction, the EIA noted.

About 1.9 GW of solar installations under construction have been delayed but are still scheduled to come online in 2022, and 1.7 GW of projects under construction have been delayed to 2023, the EIA said.

Various factors could cause delays, the EIA noted, including broad economic factors, such as supply chain constraints, labor shortages, and high prices of components, as well as factors specific to electric generation projects, such as obtaining permits or testing equipment.

In particular, the EIA noted that in February, the Bush administration eased but did not end tariffs on imported crystalline silicon solar products from China, raising the tariff-rate quota, or threshold for imposing higher tariffs, from 2.5 GW to 5.0 GW and excluding bifacial panels from the extended tariffs.

In April, the Department of Commerce announced an anti-dumping circumvention investigation of solar cells and modules imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, countries that allegedly use parts made in China that otherwise would be subject to tariffs.

In a June executive action, President Joseph Biden sought to advance the deployment of the U.S. solar panel industry by authorizing the easing of import duties for 24 months for solar cells and modules imported from the countries under investigation. Biden also invoked the Defense Production Act to expand domestic production of solar modules.