APPA Grant Helps Rock Hill, S.C., Integrate SCADA Fault Data
July 28, 2022
by Peter Maloney
APPA News
July 28, 2022
The City of Rock Hill in South Carolina has used a grant from American Public Power Association’s Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) program to help make fault detection more visible to repair crews and thereby improve reliability and reduce the duration of electrical outages for customers.
The project aimed to improve outage restoration times using smart overhead and underground fault indicators to communicate and integrate with the utility’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Outage Management (OMS) systems.
Fault data was already being sent to the SCADA system, but Rock Hill’s dispatchers and field technicians did not have a visual representation of the faults. The City applied for and was awarded a DEED grant to develop an OMS integration module.
The module allows the SCADA integration of the fault indicators to be displayed on the OMS map viewer whenever the server has indicated a fault has been detected by a device in the power network.
The project was designed to address two problems. First, service personnel would spend the first part of a call trying to pinpoint the location of a fault, draining financial resources and dragging out restoration times.
The second problem was a lack of real-time mapping of system strengths and weaknesses that could be used to identify areas where there are repeated outages and faults. That information can be used to target resources for improvement. Without real-time data, the utility said it is not able to make as many preventative decisions that benefit the long-term success of its electrical system.
Under the Fault & Load Indicator Technology Integration Project, Rock Hill was able to develop a software module through dataVoice, its OMS vendor, to integrate the information provided from smart fault indicators on the V3 outage map.
System status indicators was delivered from the SCADA to the OMS system with location and unique identifiers imported via GIS Publisher and is made available in the dataVoice’s mobile application.
The original termination date of the grant award was July 1, 2021, but the original fault indicators failed to perform to expectations, delaying progress for one year.
New technologies were explored, tested, and one was selected for implementation during the last two quarters of 2021. The equipment was installed during the first quarter of 2022.
A contract was signed with dataVoice in January 2022 and a kick-off meeting was held in March 2022 to initiate the software integration. During software testing, Rock Hill discovered malfunctions that dataVoice corrected, and the project was implemented and completed in June.
The completed project enables data from field sensors to communicate with a SCADA system which relays the information to an OMS system in a way that provides users with a visual representation of faults and outages.
The completed application reduces the complexity of information from the OMS by giving a direct visual representation of what kind of fault is occurring and the approximate location on the line based on the locations of the sensors. Rock Hill said.
The overall cost of the project was $154,401 of which the City of Rock Hill contributed about $129,066 and the DEED grant provided $25,335.
The project is applicable to all utilities as we share the same goal, to improve customer satisfaction by reducing the duration of outages by adapting the latest technology, Rock Hill said in its final DEED report.
As a next step, the City of Rock Hill said it plans to train its dispatchers and field technicians to use of the software. The utility also intends to budget a reoccurring $40,000 each year for the purchase of additional sets of smart overhead and underground smart fault sensors.
The City of Rock Hill offers electric, water, and wastewater utilities to its customers. It distributes electric power to approximately 32,000 residential and 8,000 commercial and industrial customers in the greater Rock Hill area.
CPUC Seeks Comment On Study About Adding Hydrogen To Natural Gas Stream
July 28, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 28, 2022
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is seeking comment on a study about the feasibility and safety of injecting hydrogen into the natural gas system as a means of helping the state meet its decarbonization goals.
The CPUC commissioned the Hydrogen Blending Impacts Study in compliance with Senate Bill 1369 and as part of its ongoing Renewable Gas Rulemaking.
The Rulemaking examines expanding renewable hydrogen by establishing standards and interconnection protocols for injecting renewable hydrogen into natural gas pipelines.
The study was done by the University of California at Riverside.
The study found that hydrogen blends of up to 5 percent in the natural gas stream are generally safe but going beyond 5 percent results in a greater chance of pipeline leaks and the embrittlement of steel pipelines. In addition, hydrogen blended into the natural gas stream at levels above 5 percent could require modifications of appliances such as stoves and water heaters to avoid leaks and equipment malfunction.
Hydrogen blended at levels above 20 percent present a higher likelihood of permeating plastic pipes, which can increase the risk of gas ignition outside the pipeline. And because hydrogen has a lower energy content than natural gas, more hydrogen-blended gas would be needed to deliver the same amount of energy to users.
The researchers concluded that more study on the effects of blending hydrogen into the gas system is needed to ensure the safety of the practice. The researchers also said it is critical to conduct real world demonstrations of hydrogen blending under safe and controlled conditions to determine “the appropriate blend percentage suitable to mitigate operational risks such as ignition.”
In March 2020, the Northern California Power Agency said it was preparing to install equipment at a 304-megawatt (MW) power plant so it could burn hydrogen mixed with natural gas.
In December 2019, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said it planned to phase out the 1,800-MW, coal-fired Intermountain Power Project (IPP), which it participates in with electric power cooperatives and other public power utilities in California, Nevada and Utah, and replace it with natural gas-fueled generation that would eventually be fueled entirely by hydrogen.
“This Study provides additional insight into the possibilities and limits of California’s pipeline infrastructure as we explore options for supplying zero-carbon energy to hard to decarbonize applications,” Clifford Rechtschaffen, the CPUC commissioner assigned to the Renewable Gas Rulemaking, said in a statement. “I look forward to party comments on hydrogen-methane blending and its role in decarbonization strategies.”
The ruling seeking comments is available on the CPUC website, and members of the public can comment on the study and access related documents here.
Midwest Grid Operator’s Board Approves $10.3 Billion In Transmission Projects
July 27, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 27, 2022
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s (MISO) Board of Directors on July 25 unanimously approved a portfolio of long-range transmission projects, which represent a $10.3 billion investment.
This Tranche 1 portfolio is the first of four planned tranches in MISO’s Long-Range Transmission Planning (LRTP) process. The projects are needed to begin to integrate new generation resources outlined in MISO member and states plans and increase resiliency in the face of severe weather events, MISO said.
Analyses conducted as part of the LRTP initiative indicate the Tranche 1 benefits are conservatively well in excess of costs, with a benefit-to-cost ratio of at least 2.2 for all resource zones in the MISO Midwest Subregion, MISO said.
Benefit metrics include congestion and fuel savings, avoided capital costs of local resource investment, avoided transmission investment, resource adequacy savings, avoided risk of load shed and decarbonization.
The cost allocation approach for this portfolio has been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“While Tranche 1 represents an important start, further work is needed to ensure reliability,” said Aubrey Johnson, MISO’s vice president of system planning. “Tranche 2 will focus on the MISO Midwest Subregion, Tranche 3 in MISO South, and Tranche 4 will address the limitations on power exchange between the MISO Midwest and South Subregions.”
OPPD Uses DEED Funds To Expand Low-Income Energy Efficiency Program
July 27, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 27, 2022
The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) in Nebraska, with financial support from American Public Power Association’s Demonstration of Energy & Efficiency Developments (DEED) program, has completed a pilot project aimed at enhancing the utility’s ability to provide lower income customers with energy savings.
The goal of the DEED project was to help OPPD expand or modify a future program for an income-qualified energy efficiency program by making customers aware of how energy efficiency measures can reduce their energy burden and cut their costs.
The DEED pilot program is a redesign of OPPD’s Smart Steps Low-Income Energy Efficiency Program.
The redesign included a more efficient, less duplicative application process under which eligibility is determined by partner agencies, not by OPPD. The redesign also expanded the definition of low-income by opening the pilot program to households with income of up to double the federal poverty level, an increase from previous 150 percent threshold.
OPPD said a major challenge for its low-income energy-efficiency program had been reaching the different segments within the low-income population such as people living in rural areas.
By partnering with Program Partner Agencies, OPPD intends to reach segments of the low-income population, particularly rural areas, that have not been reached before.
For the pilot project, OPPD established partnerships with non-profit agencies in its service territory, which covers 13 urban and rural counties, mainly in eastern Nebraska.
The partners included Habitat for Humanity Omaha, Douglas County Housing Authority, Family Housing Advisory Services, Christian Outreach Partnership of Elkhorn, Project Houseworks, Credit Advisors Foundation, Southeast Nebraska Community Action Partnership, Northeast Nebraska Community Action Partnership, and Community Action Partnership of Lancaster and Saunders County.
Habitat for Humanity Omaha and Southeast Nebraska Community Action Partnership were selected as the contractors to perform the energy efficiency measures. Both are weatherization agencies in Nebraska leveraging Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Department of Energy funds.
The DEED project began in January 2020 but was paused in March by measures taken to slow the advance of the COVID-19 pandemic and then resumed in June 2020.
OPPD was granted an extension to July 15, 2022 to complete work on the DEED project because of limited resources as a result of several natural disasters that occurred during the project period, including a Polar Vortex that resulted in rolling blackouts for the first time in OPPD’s history and a windstorm that caused over 50 percent of the utility’s customers to lose power.
The DEED pilot project enabled OPPD will provide eligible customers with an energy efficiency kit, a home energy audit and, depending on the audit results, up to $2,000 for energy efficiency upgrades, $1,000 from OPPD and $1,000 from DEED funding.
In its final DEED report, OPPD found the average energy savings prior to the APPA investment was $102.68. With the APPA grant funds, OPPD said it was able to double the investment, with $2,000 towards energy efficiency improvements, and the average energy savings rose to $219.71. A total of 134 households were served by the pilot program.
“The compelling data proved the benefits of investing in an in-home energy assessment along with energy efficiency upgrades for income-qualified customers,” OPPD said in its final DEED report.
As a result of the pilot project OPPD also revamped and rebranded its Smart Steps to Saving Energy program, creating the Energy Efficiency Assistance Program (EEAP).
Heartland Consumers Power District Changes Name To Heartland Energy
July 26, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 26, 2022
Heartland Consumers Power District unveiled a new company name and logo at its annual summer conference on July 26. It will now be known as Heartland Energy.
The change came as Heartland Energy looked to update their branding, which led to a desire to simplify its name.
“While we remain a consumers power district in function, the name itself doesn’t resonate with people,” said Heartland Energy CEO Russell Olson in a statement. “Energy is an all-encompassing term that better reflects who we are as a company.”
Heartland Energy engaged the services of Lawrence & Schiller (L&S) to assist with the re-branding process. L&S conducted focus groups with employees, board members and customers to collect input on the new name and brand identity. Varying name options were presented to the groups with consensus that Heartland Energy was the most forward looking and focused option.
A common theme, particularly from customers, during the focus groups, was that Heartland Energy was more than a power provider. It serves as a partner to customers to help communities grow and thrive. They go above and beyond to provide the best service possible.
“Providing reliable, affordable electricity is at the core of our operations, but we’re doing that with a greater purpose in mind,” said Heartland Energy Chief Communications Officer Ann Hyland.
The tagline Power with Purpose encompasses all the extra things Heartland Energy does for their communities, it noted.
“Re-branding was a necessary step to show as a company we are moving forward,” added Hyland. “The electric utility industry is constantly changing, and we are staying on top of those changes.”
Special guest speakers at this year’s conference included Joy Ditto, President and CEO of American Public Power Association. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem also spoke at the conference, touting Heartland Energy’s partnership with the state of South Dakota to promote development.
With the change, the company’s new website can now be found at www.heartlandenergy.com. Company email addresses will also change to a similar format.
Heartland Energy provides wholesale power to public power communities across South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska.
Based in Madison, SD, Heartland Energy also provides a suite of customer service programs including economic development, energy efficiency, cybersecurity and more.
Jim Brooks Elected To Serve As Chair Of APPA’s Policy Makers Council
July 25, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 25, 2022
Jim Brooks, chair of the Evansville, Wis., Municipal Services Committee and president of the City Council, was elected this month to chair the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Policy Makers Council (PMC).
“The PMC brings together about 40 elected officials from across the country whose main task is to call on Congress and policy writers in Washington to present the concerns of public power communities with a single voice,” Brooks said in a Q&A with Public Power Current published earlier this year.
Members of the PMC meet twice a year in Washington, D.C., and at least once a month by Zoom. The group advocates on issues such as climate policy, grid security, energy infrastructure investments, and preserving local control for public power communities.
Evansville Water & Light is a public power utility and member of the APPA. The utility is also a member-owner of WPPI Energy, a not-for-profit, wholesale power supplier located in Sun Prairie, Wis.
In addition to his other duties, Brooks serves as the chair of WPPI Energy’s Policy & Communications Leadership Council, the committee responsible for counseling staff and the organization’s executive committee on the best means of increasing policy-making influence and strengthening grassroots capacity for legislative, regulatory and policy initiatives.
Brooks is the second public power leader associated with WPPI Energy to serve as chair of the APPA’s Policy Makers Council. Paul Fisk, previously the mayor of Lodi, Wis., was also active with the joint action agency and was elected to chair the Policy Makers Council in 2016.
As chair, Brooks also serves on the national APPA Board of Directors.
His chairmanship will last until July 2023.
DOE To Provide Funds To States, Local Governments For Building Energy Code Modernization
July 25, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 25, 2022
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on July 21 announced a Notice of Intent (NOI) to provide $225 million for states and local governments to expand the implementation of the latest building energy codes and support the development of buildings that use less energy.
Funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Building Energy Codes: Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation Program will help to expand building energy codes through state and local implementation and lower electricity costs for families and businesses by as much as $138 billion over the next 30 years, according to DOE.
The announcement supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Initiative to Advance Building Codes, launched in June 2022 by the National Climate Task Force to accelerate adoption of modern building codes.
Modern building energy codes “are critical for states and local governments because they allow for significant improvements in building energy performance and set the criteria for buildings and homes to become more durable, resilient, and better protected against extreme weather events. Building energy codes work in concert with other code provisions, such as fire, mechanical, and plumbing, and establish minimum acceptable energy efficiency for residential and commercial buildings,” DOE said.
The Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation Program will provide competitive grants to applicants who demonstrate through partnerships innovative approaches that allow states and local governments to further their broader energy, climate and resilience goals, expand opportunities for workforce development, ensure implementation and compliance, and advance equity, energy and environmental justice.
To prepare for the release of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), prospective applicants are encouraged to read the full Notice of Intent on EERE Exchange, which describes the intended FOA more fully, including more details about its motivation, how to prepare for its release, eligible entities and activities, and award instruments. DOE expects to issue the FOA in Fall 2022.
Lawmakers From Alabama Raise Utility Supply Chain Concerns With FEMA
July 25, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 25, 2022
A group of House Representatives from Alabama recently sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in which they voiced concerns over “the dangerous supply chain shortages affecting Alabama’ s electricity sector.”
In a news release, U.S. Representative Jerry Carl (R-AL) noted that the letter was sent to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell regarding supply chain shortages affecting Alabama’s electric cooperatives and public power utilities.
Labor shortages and competition from other industries for steel have made equipment procurement difficult, and as a result, critical electric grid equipment delivery times have increased 20-fold in the past two years, the July 14 letter said.
The lawmakers noted that in 2018, transformers took only three months to be delivered. But delivery delays for transformers are now averaging 18 to 25 months in Alabama, and some manufacturers are not even taking orders, the letter noted.
This is troubling because this year’s Atlantic hurricane season is forecasted to produce hurricanes and tropical storms of above-average strength, and several communities along the Alabama coast have not recovered from Hurricane Sally, the lawmakers told FEMA.
As the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season gets underway, “we urge FEMA to mitigate this issue before a severe hurricane, tropical storm, or other natural disaster impacts communities in Alabama,” the lawmakers said.
The House members said that FEMA must employ mitigation efforts with the local Alabama electric community to ensure critical electric equipment such as transformers, bare wire, meters, and other electric grid equipment will be available “ahead of the first disaster.”
The letter was cosigned by all seven members of Alabama’s House delegation.
A group of federal lawmakers from Florida sent a similar letter to FEMA in June.
APPA Moves To Address Supply Chain Challenges
The American Public Power Association (APPA) is taking 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.
In a speech in June at APPA’s National Conference in Nashville, Tenn., 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.
APPA also recently finalized a new supply chain issue brief. APPA members can download the issue brief here.
FEMA Announces $2.3 Billion In Funding For Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program
July 25, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 25, 2022
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently announced $2.3 billion in funding for its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program for Fiscal Year 2022 as part of a series of new executive actions unveiled by President Biden on July 20.
This funding will help communities increase resilience to heat waves, drought, wildfires, flood, hurricanes, and other hazards by preparing before disaster strikes, a White House fact sheet on the executive actions said.
In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services on July 20 issued guidance that for the first time expands how the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) can promote the delivery of efficient air conditioning equipment, community cooling centers, and more.
In April, the White House released $385 million through LIHEAP to help families with their household energy costs, including summer cooling—part of a record $8 billion that the Administration has provided, boosted by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The White House also announced that the Department of the Interior proposed the first Wind Energy Areas in the Gulf of Mexico.
Biden previously directed the Secretary of the Interior to advance wind energy development in the waters off the mid- and southern Atlantic Coast and Florida’s Gulf Coast.
These actions follow the President’s launch of a new Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership.
Biden made the announcements at a former coal-fired power plant in Brayton Point, Massachusetts that will host a cable manufacturing facility to support the offshore wind industry.
Repowered Wind Project Providing Energy To California CCAs Comes Online
July 23, 2022
by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 23, 2022
California community choice aggregators Central Coast Community Energy (CCCE) and Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) on July 21 announced the start of commercial operation for the Mountain View Wind Repowering Project, developed by the AES Corporation.
The facility will provide 33.33 megawatts (MW) to CCCE and 33.33 MW to SVCE under a 20- year power purchase agreement (PPA).
The PPA is the result of the third joint SVCE-CCCE solicitation issued in 2020. The PPA was board-approved and executed in April 2021.
Wind repowering is the combined activity of dismantling or refurbishing existing wind turbines and commissioning new ones.
AES removed more than 100 old turbines and replaced them with 16 new Vestas turbines. The repowered 67-MW facility will deliver 257 gigawatt hours per year.
CCCE is a public agency that serves 436,000 customers throughout the Central Coast, including residential, commercial, and agricultural customers in communities located within Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz counties.
SVCE provides electricity from renewable and carbon-free sources to more than 270,000 residential and commercial customers in 13 Santa Clara County jurisdictions.