WPPI Energy Celebrates Commissioning of 100-Megawatt Solar Project

September 24, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 24, 2021

State and local leaders recently joined executives from NextEra Energy Resources LLC and WPPI Energy to celebrate the commissioning of the Point Beach Solar Energy Center, Wisconsin’s newest large-scale solar energy project.

The Point Beach Solar Energy Center spans 465 acres in the town of Two Creeks, Wis., and is adjacent to the Point Beach Nuclear Plant, which is also owned by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources.

The Point Beach Solar Energy Center features more than 315,000 photovoltaic solar panels and has a capacity to generate 100 megawatts.

A subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources built, owns and will operate the project.

The energy will serve WPPI Energy member communities under a 20-year power purchase agreement.

“Not only will Point Beach Solar provide affordable energy to our member communities, but it will also further diversify our portfolio and help us continue to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions associated with supplying power,” said Mike Peters, president and CEO of WPPI Energy.

With the addition of Point Beach Solar Energy Center, the WPPI Energy membership is on track for approximately a 45% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2025 when compared to 2005.

Over the next 20 years, the Point Beach Solar Energy Center is expected to generate nearly $8 million in additional revenue for Manitowoc County, Wis., WPPI noted.

Member-owned, not-for-profit WPPI Energy serves 51 locally owned electric utilities.

NextEra Energy Resources is one of the largest wholesale generators of electric power in the U.S., with approximately 21,900 MW of net generating capacity, primarily in 37 states and Canada as of year-end 2019. NextEra Energy Resources is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc., an investor-owned utility.

Heartland Consumers Power District Helps New Ulm Public Utilities Reap REC Windfall

September 22, 2021

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
September 22, 2021

New Ulm Public Utilities in Minnesota has been able to reap the benefits of renewable energy while boosting its revenues by about $300,000 with the help of its wholesale power supplier, South Dakota-based Heartland Consumers Power District.

New Ulm Public Utilities, like other utilities in the state, is required to generate or procure 25 percent of their total retail electric sales from renewable sources by 2025.

Aside from building a wind farm or solar power facility to generate renewable energy, one way to meet that requirement, especially for utilities that do not produce their own electricity, is to buy renewable energy credits (RECs).

Each REC is unique and represents 1 megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity. A REC can be bought or sold, or the regulatory value of the REC can be claimed by retiring it.

The validity and status of RECs is verified through the Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System (M-RETs), which tracks renewable energy generation and assists in with renewable portfolio standard compliance and is used to manage and trade RECs.

To meet its renewable requirement, New Ulm Public Utilities acquires RECs through Heartland, whose resource mix includes wind energy from the Wessington Springs Wind Energy Center, a 51-megawatt (MW) wind farm in Jerauld County, South Dakota.

New Ulm currently receives 5.5 MW of wind energy around the clock from Heartland. Of the 167,000 MWh of energy New Ulm purchases from Heartland, about 29 percent, or 48,000 MWh is from wind energy, meaning that New Ulm acquires 48,000 RECs each year. New Ulm’s renewable energy purchases give the public power utility more wind energy than it needs to meet the state’s requirement.

In addition to providing wind energy to New Ulm Public Utilities, Heartland helps administer New Ulm’s RECs through M-RETs by maintaining a separate New Ulm holding account under Heartland’s M-RETS account.

As demand for RECs rose over the past year, pushing prices higher, Heartland approached New Ulm about selling its excess RECs. Heartland marketed New Ulm’s surplus RECs and sold them for a net price of $5.04 each, totaling over $317,000.

“Heartland continuously monitors the REC market,” Nate Jones, Heartland’s chief operations officer, said in a statement. “Like any market, the recent increase in demand for RECs has driven the price up. That proved beneficial as New Ulm had excess certificates to sell. We are happy to provide this service on their behalf.”

Heartland provides wholesale electric energy to 29 cities and municipal electric systems in South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. It also provides energy solutions to six public institutions in South Dakota and has a unit contingent contract with North Iowa Municipal Electric Cooperative Association.

Vermont Public Power Supply Authority Solar Array Located At Former Auto Salvage Yard

September 9, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 9, 2021

Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (VPPSA) and Encore Renewable Energy on Sept. 9 announced the commissioning of a new 2.1-megawatt (MW) community solar array located at a former auto salvage yard.

The project was developed as part of a partnership between Encore Renewable Energy and the VPPSA to develop, finance, and construct approximately 10 MW of solar capacity on behalf of VPPSA’s municipal utility members.

The project is expected to produce approximately 3,200,000 kilowatt hours per year. “The landowners will remain on the land that has been in their family for generations, as the operational solar project affords both an annual lease payment as well as the means to complete the environmental remediation required to address the regulatory approval for operation of a solar array on the former auto salvage facility which served the local community for decades,” VPPSA said.

This is the third solar array to be energized and the second project under a VPPSA and Encore Renewable Energy public-private partnership.

All generation from Salvage Yard solar will be sold to Vermont electric utilities that are not already 100% renewable.

VPPSA and Encore have arranged to build a 10 MW solar portfolio together with projects sited across multiple VPPSA member utility territories. Under the partnership, Encore performs all design, development, financing, and construction of solar projects, while  VPPSA manages the resulting electric generation and maximizes its value for its member utilities’ communities.

The ground beneath the solar array is being planted with pollinator-friendly ground cover to support vital habitat for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, moths, and other insects critical to future food security. In addition, pollinator friendly ground cover increases carbon sequestration, improves soil quality, reduces stormwater runoff, and channels storm water back into underlying aquifers, while addressing the social importance of supporting healthy food systems. 

VPPSA provides municipal electric utility members with a broad spectrum of services and solutions, including regulatory assistance, financial planning, and power supply.

VPPSA members include Barton Village, Village of Enosburg Falls, Hardwick Electric Department, Village of Jacksonville Electric Company, Village of Johnson Electric Department, Ludlow Electric Light Department, Lyndonville Electric Department, Morrisville Water & Light Department, Town of Northfield Electric Department, Village of Orleans, and Swanton Village Electric Department.

Department of Energy Study Maps Out Path For Solar Energy Expansion on U.S. Grid

September 8, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 8, 2021

With aggressive cost reductions, supportive policies and large-scale electrification, solar energy could account for as much as 40% of the nation’s electricity supply by 2035 and 45% by 2050, according to a study released on Sept. 8 by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

To reach these levels, solar deployment will need to grow by an average of 30 gigawatts alternating current (GWac) each year between now and 2025 and ramp up to 60 GW per year between 2025 and 2030 — four times its current deployment rate — to total 1,000 GWac of solar deployed by 2035. By 2050, solar capacity would need to reach 1,600 GWac to achieve a zero-carbon grid with enhanced electrification of end uses, such as motor vehicles and building space and water heating.

Preliminary modeling shows that decarbonizing the entire U.S. energy system could result in as much as 3,200 GWac of solar due to increased electrification of buildings, transportation, and industrial energy and production of clean fuels.

Study Used Three Core Scenarios

The Solar Futures Study uses a suite of detailed power-sector models to develop and evaluate three core scenarios. The “Reference” scenario outlines a business-as-usual future, which includes existing state and federal clean energy policies but lacks a comprehensive effort to decarbonize the grid.

The “Decarbonization” (Decarb) scenario assumes policies drive a 95% reduction — from 2005 levels — in the grid’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2035 and a 100% reduction by 2050. This scenario assumes more aggressive cost-reduction projections than the Reference scenario for solar as well as other renewable and energy storage technologies, but it uses standard future projections for electricity demand.

And the “Decarbonization with Electrification” (Decarb+E) scenario goes further by including large-scale electrification of end uses.

The study also analyzes the potential for solar to contribute to a future with more complete decarbonization of the U.S. energy system by 2050, although this analysis is simplified in comparison to the grid-decarbonization analysis and thus entails greater uncertainty, DOE noted.

Even under the Reference scenario, installed solar capacity increases by nearly a factor of seven by 2050, and grid emissions decline by 45% by 2035 and 61% by 2050, relative to 2005 levels, DOE said. “That is, even without a concerted policy effort, market forces and technology advances will drive significant deployment of solar and other clean energy technologies as well as substantial decarbonization,” the study said.

The study said that the target-driven deep decarbonization of the grid modeled in the Decarb and Decarb+E scenarios yields more extensive solar deployment, similarly extensive deployment of wind and energy storage, and significant expansions of the U.S. transmission system.

In 2020, about 80 gigawatts (GW) of solar, on an alternating-current basis, satisfied around 3% of U.S. electricity demand. By 2035, the decarbonization scenarios show cumulative solar deployment of 760–1,000 GW, serving 37%–42% of electricity demand, with the remainder met largely by other zero-carbon resources, including wind (36%), nuclear (11%–13%), hydroelectric (5%–6%), and biopower/geothermal (1%).

By 2050, the Decarb and Decarb+E scenarios envision cumulative solar deployment of 1,050–1,570 GW, serving 44%–45% of electricity demand, with the remainder met by wind (40%–44%), nuclear (4%–5%), hydropower (3%–5%), combustion turbines run on zero-carbon synthetic fuels such as hydrogen (2%–4%), and biopower/geothermal (1%). Sensitivity analyses show that decarbonization can also be achieved via different technology mixes at similar costs, the DOE noted.

Although the study emphasizes decarbonizing the grid, the Decarb+E scenario envisions decarbonization of the broader U.S. energy system through large-scale electrification of buildings, transportation, and industry. In this scenario, electricity demand grows by about 30% from 2020 to 2035, owing to electrification of fuel-based building demands (e.g., heating), vehicles, and industrial processes. Electricity demand increases by an additional 34% from 2035 to 2050. By 2050, all these electrified sectors are powered by zero-carbon electricity. In this scenario, the combination of grid decarbonization and electrification abates more than 100% of grid CO2 emissions relative to 2005 levels.

With respect to the broader U.S. energy system, the Decarb+E scenario reduces CO2 emissions by 62% in 2050, compared with 24% in the Reference scenario and 40% in the Decarb scenario. The 38% residual in the Decarb+E scenario reflects emissions from direct carbon-emitting fossil fuel use, primarily for transportation and industry.

“We do not model elimination of these remaining emissions in detail, but a simplified analysis of 100% decarbonization of the U.S. energy system by 2050 shows solar capacity doubling from the Decarb+E scenario — equating to about 3,200 GW of solar deployed by 2050 — to produce electricity for even greater direct electrification and for production of clean fuels such as hydrogen produced via electrolysis.”

Additional Key Findings

Additional key findings of the study include, among others, the following:

• Achieving the decarbonization scenarios requires significant acceleration of clean energy deployment;
• Continued technological progress in solar—as well as wind, energy storage, and other technologies—is critical to achieving cost-effective grid decarbonization and greater economy-wide decarbonization;
• Solar can facilitate deep decarbonization of the U.S. electric grid by 2035 without increasing projected 2035 electricity prices if targeted technological advances are achieved;
• For the 2020–2050 study period, the benefits of achieving the decarbonization scenarios far outweigh additional costs incurred;
• Maintaining reliability in a grid powered primarily by renewable energy requires careful power system planning; and
• Although land acquisition poses challenges, land availability does not constrain solar deployment in the decarbonization scenarios

In addition, the study said that challenges must be addressed so that solar costs and benefits are distributed equitably. “Low- and medium-income communities and communities of color have been disproportionately harmed by the fossil-fuel-based energy system, and the clean energy transition presents opportunities to mitigate these energy justice problems by implementing measures focused on equity,” the study said. The study “explores measures related to the distribution of public and private benefits, the distribution of costs, procedural justice in energy-related decision making, the need for a just workforce transition, and potential negative externalities related to solar project siting and disposal of solar materials.”

Solar Futures Study Is Third In A Series Of Studies

 The Solar Futures Study is the third in a series of vision studies from SETO and NREL, preceded by the SunShot Vision Study (2012) and On the Path to SunShot (2016).

While the previous studies focused on the impacts of low-cost solar technologies on the economy, this study dives into solar energy’s role in a decarbonized grid and provides analysis of future solar technologies, the solar workforce, and how solar energy might interact with other technologies like storage.

Peninsula Clean Energy Will Receive 35 MW Of Geothermal Power Under PPA

September 7, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 7, 2021

Starting in July 2022, California community choice aggregator (CCA) Peninsula Clean Energy will receive 35 megawatts (MW) of geothermal power from The Geysers, a 725-MW complex run by Calpine Corporation and located 70 miles north of San Francisco.

The power purchase agreement is Peninsula Clean Energy’s first to involve geothermal.

The 15 geothermal power plants at The Geysers stretch across 45 acres in Sonoma and Lake Counties and are responsible for providing nearly one-tenth of the renewable power produced annually in California.

The geothermal power from The Geysers will bring Peninsula Clean Energy another step toward the CCA’s ultimate goal of providing 24/7 renewable power to its customers, it noted.

Peninsula Clean Energy is on track to deliver electricity that is 100 percent renewable by 2025 and has earned investment grade credit ratings from Moody’s and Fitch.

Peninsula Clean Energy is the official electricity provider for San Mateo County, Calif., and, beginning in 2022, for the City of Los Banos, Calif.

The American Public Power Association has initiated a new category of membership for CCA programs.

City Council Vote Marks Next Step in LADWP’s Transition To 100 Percent Carbon-Free Energy

September 7, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
September 7, 2021

The Los Angeles City Council on Sept. 1 directed the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to take the steps necessary for the city to achieve 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2035.

“This is truly a great day for Los Angeles that puts our city firmly in a leadership position among world cities working to decarbonize the planet,” said Marty Adams, LADWP’s General Manager and Chief Engineer, in a statement. “Our city has set a goal of 100% carbon-free energy by 2035 and we’re here to tackle the challenge and say, LADWP is all in.”

Councilmembers voted on a motion introduced by Councilmembers Paul Krekorian and Mitch O’Farrell. The motion noted that LADWP is going to prepare a strategic long-term resource plan, which will determine the optimal pathway to achieve the 100 percent clean energy goal. It will align with LADWP’s priorities for ensuring power reliability, sustainability, affordability and equity for LADWP’s customers.  

The council also approved a related motion from O’Farrell and Krekorian that will create a strategic plan for equitable workforce hiring, which is aimed at ensuring a just transition to thousands of green new jobs.

Results Of NREL Study Released Earlier This Year

Earlier this year, results of a years-long analysis were released by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which found that meeting Los Angeles’ goal of reliable, 100% renewable electricity by 2045, or even 2035, is achievable with rapid deployment of wind, solar, storage, and other renewable energy technologies this decade.

The results of the study were released by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, United States Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, LADWP Board of Water and Power Commissioners President Cynthia McClain-Hill, Adams, a number of Los Angeles City Council members and Dr. Martin Keller, Executive Director, NREL. They participated in a virtual press event to release the Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study, known as LA100.

More recently, in June, LADWP said it would launch a comprehensive and inclusive, community-driven effort to achieve a just and equitable 100% carbon-free future for all communities of Los Angeles. LADWP’s Board of Water and Power Commissioners on June 23 authorized the public power utility to move forward with LA100 Equity Strategies, which aims to incorporate community-driven and equitable outcomes into the goals of the LA100 study completed by NREL.

LADWP Officials Appear Before Council

Prior to the council’s vote, Adams and Reiko Kerr, LADWP Senior Assistant General Manager-Power System Engineering, Planning, and Technical Services, offered remarks on LA100 and took questions from councilmembers.

“When you talk to anybody in the Department of Energy, they will tell you the only thing they’re talking about in D.C. is the City of Los Angeles and the LA100 study,” Adams told councilmembers. “This is a huge win for the city,” Adams said.

There is also a LA100 next steps plan. “This is the parts and pieces. This is where we’re looking at exactly what we have to complete in the next ten years to reach that clean energy future goal.”

LADWP’s strategic long-term resource plan is a 25-year plan that is examining what LADWP’s staffing and human resources plan needs to be because there will be a “tremendous need for expanding our workforce to get this work done,” he said. The plan is also looking at “how these projects have to dovetail together to make sure we don’t have outages or instability in the system in the meantime.” Operation and maintenance are another component of this plan “to make sure that the power reliability that the city of L.A. has enjoyed not only continues but improves all through the process,” Adams said.

“I promise you that we’re going to take this very seriously and make this happen,” Adams told councilmembers prior to the vote.

 Adams discussed LA100 in an American Public Power Association Public Power Now podcast earlier this year.

“This vote is a vote that will be transformative to the future of the City of Los Angeles,” Councilmember Krekorian said. “This is a vote that will help shape the future of the economy of Southern California. This is a vote that will create thousands and thousands of new, good jobs. It’s a really big deal.”

In a news release related to the vote, Krekorian noted that LADWP has already taken significant steps toward achieving its 100 percent clean energy goal, laying the groundwork to accommodate 580,000 electric vehicles and adding over 1,000 megawatts of energy storage by 2030.    

At the council meeting on Sept. 1, Krekorian asked Adams and Kerr to talk about how LADWP is poised to take advantage of federal and state government infrastructure investment funding opportunities “to be able to begin building the things that we need to build” to get to 100 percent carbon-free energy, to upgrade the transmission and distribution infrastructure “and otherwise take advantage of that funding that’s available.”

Kerr said that green hydrogen has received a lot of attention at both the federal and state level “and so we’ve been in discussions for funding for that. At the state level, there is potential opportunity for green hydrogen and that has multiple benefits.”

She noted that green hydrogen allows firm dispatchable generation that has carbon-free emissions “for those times where you either have an emergency or you lose import capability or there’s no wind and no solar to ensure that we have reliability.” (A recent APPA report on hydrogen notes that green hydrogen or renewable hydrogen is made from renewable energy via electrolysis).

Green hydrogen also provides long duration storage, Kerr noted. She said that this is very important “because when you look at the over generation of renewables in the springtime” there is a large amount of over generation because that time of year is when loads are low, “but you’re really building your generation profile for those peak periods during the summer, so you have all that excess. If we can use that to create the green hydrogen in the spring, you can use that hydrogen to store it” over multiple months until needed in the summer. “We’ll be looking for state funding,” she said.

Kerr noted that LADWP has issued a request for information for green hydrogen in-basin, so there are state opportunities for local green hydrogen.        

In May 2021, LADWP joined a coalition that aims to bring down the cost of green hydrogen. LADWP, along with the Green Hydrogen Coalition and other partners, launched HyDeal LA, a collaboration of developers, green hydrogen off-takers, integrators, equipment manufacturers, investors, and advisors. The group aims to work together to bring the cost of green hydrogen down to $1.50 per kilogram in the Los Angeles Basin by 2030 by creating a commercial green hydrogen cluster at scale.

Joining HyDeal LA marks another significant initiative around green hydrogen for LADWP, which is leading the conversion of the Intermountain Power Project in Delta, Utah to the world’s first turbine intentionally designed and built to operate with a blend of 30% green hydrogen and 70% natural gas when the plant goes into operation in mid-2025. It will be designed to scaleup to 100% carbon free green hydrogen by 2035.

LADWP has some projects that could be considered shovel ready, noted Adams, who went on to say that the utility is working to try to streamline environmental processes because a lot of the costs for the projects relate to “just getting them off the ground, getting them engineered and getting them approved to be constructed.”

Adams said that “We will continue to seek all avenues for resources,” adding that there is “a lot of federal money out there for construction, particularly infrastructure construction and so we are very much focused on getting whatever funds are available because all those funds then decrease the costs that ultimately go to our ratepayers.”

Facebook Will Be Salt River Project’s Largest Off Taker For New Solar Energy Plants

August 16, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 16, 2021

Following its recent announcement to expand utility-scale solar resources to 2,025 megawatts (MW) by 2025, Arizona’s Salt River Project (SRP), based in Tempe, on August 12 announced three new solar energy plants that will deliver a total of 500 megawatts (MW).

Facebook announced that it will be SRP’s largest off taker of these new resources, utilizing 450 MW of the combined solar capacity to support Facebook’s newly announced data center in Mesa, Ariz., and help meet the company’s 100 percent renewable energy commitments.

The three projects include two 200-MW solar plants and one 100-MW solar plant. SRP is contracting with subsidiaries of solar developers AES, EDP and NextEra Energy Resources to construct and operate the three new plants. The first project is expected to come online in fall 2022 and the start of construction for all the new solar plants, which will all be located in Pinal County, Ariz., will begin at different points in time throughout 2022.

“Doubling our solar resources to over 2,000 MW and having one of the largest storage commitments in the West is among the strategic ways SRP is enhancing access to sustainable solutions for customers,” said SRP’s CEO and General Manager Mike Hummel in a statement. “Facebook’s approach aligns well with SRP’s carbon reduction commitments and working together on this project helped accelerate SRP’s plans to add more solar generation to our energy mix,” he said.

The Facebook data center in Mesa will receive water credits for its operations from an agreement with Gila River Water Storage, LLC (GRWS), SRP’s joint venture with the Gila River Indian Community which provides renewable water in the form of long term storage credits to entities seeking additional supplies. The data center will procure these credits from GRWS water storage, which means that it will not use any water rights from Mesa’s municipal supply for operations.

Adding 500 MW of solar energy to SRP’s power grid to support the energy needs of Facebook’s data center in Mesa, as well as SRP small business customers, will save hundreds of millions of gallons of water per year than if the same amount of energy were generated by fossil fuel-burning resources, SRP said.

Here are additional details on the new projects:

West Line Solar

The first of the new solar plants scheduled to be commercially operational is “West Line Solar.” The 100 MW plant will come online in October 2022. SRP is partnering with AES Corporation to develop this solar resource, which will be located in the city of Eloy, part of Pinal County, Ariz.

West Line Solar will be 650 acres in size and construction is set to begin in spring of 2022. Facebook will receive 50 MW of solar energy from this solar plant, leaving 50 MW of available renewable energy that SRP will offer to residential and small business customers as part of its new solar offerings available later this year.

SRP and AES have worked together to bring online another 100-MW solar system, East Line Solar, as well as a 10 MW, 40 megawatt-hours (MWh) standalone battery-based energy storage system that helps inject power into the grid during times of high customer demand.

Randolph Solar Park

The next new solar plant to become commercially operational will be Randolph Solar Park, which is slated to come online in 2023. SRP is partnering with EDP Renewables to develop and operate this 200 MW solar park located in the city of Coolidge, Ariz., part of Pinal County, adjacent to SRP’s Randolph 230-kilovolt substation. Randolph Solar will span across 1,346 acres, and construction is anticipated to begin in the fall of 2022. Facebook will receive the full 200 MW of energy from this solar plant.

Valley Farms Solar

The third project, Valley Farms Solar, is expected to become commercially operational by December 2023. SRP has contracted with a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources to develop this 200 MW solar plant located in Coolidge, Ariz.

The two companies previously worked together to develop and contract a 20 MW solar generation facility and battery storage system, the Pinal Central Solar Energy Center, and a 100 MW solar plant, Saint Solar, which began operations in 2018 and 2020, respectively. Additionally, SRP and NextEra have plans to develop two solar-charged battery projects totaling nearly 350 MW, Sonoran Energy Center and Storey Energy Center.

Valley Farms Solar will be 1,900 acres in size and construction will begin in the winter of 2022. Facebook will receive the full 200 MW of solar energy from this solar plant.

The remaining 50 MW of solar energy will be dedicated to small business and residential SRP customers, SRP spokesperson Erica Sturwold told Public Power Current.

Renewables Were the Number Two Generation Source in 2020: EIA

August 11, 2021

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
August 11, 2021

Renewable energy surpassed coal and nuclear generation, becoming the number two generation source in 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Electric power generated by wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass, and geothermal sources reached a record 834 billion kilowatt hours (kWh), or about 21 percent of the electricity generated in the United States last year, according to the EIA.

Renewable energy’s record level of generation surpassed nuclear energy, which generated 790 billion kWh, and coal-fired power, which generated 774 billion kWh, for the first time on record, according to EIA data. The top generation source in 2020 was natural gas-fired power, which produced 1,617 billion kWh.

The changes in the 2020 generation profile were due mostly to significantly less coal use in the U.S. and the steady increase of wind and solar power, the EIA said.

Coal generation last year declined 20 percent from 2019, while renewables, including small-scale solar, increased 9 percent. Power generated from wind, currently the most prevalent source of renewable energy in the United States, grew 14 percent in 2020 from 2019. Utility-scale solar generation (projects greater than 1 megawatt) increased 26 percent, and small-scale solar, such as grid-connected rooftop solar panels, increased 19 percent.

Nuclear power declined 2 percent from 2019 to 2020 because several nuclear power plants retired and other nuclear plants experienced slightly more maintenance-related outages, the EIA said.

U.S. coal-fired generation peaked at 2,016 billion kWh in 2007. Much of that capacity has been replaced by or converted to natural gas-fired generation since then, the EIA said. Until 2016, coal-fired generation was the largest source of electricity in the United States, Last year was the first year that more electricity was generated by renewables and by nuclear power than by coal, according to EIA’s data, which dates to 1949.

Despite coal’s decline relative to natural gas and other sources of energy, the EIA expects the share of electrical output from coal-fired generation to rise this year because rising natural gas prices will make coal more economically attractive.

The EIA sees natural gas prices rising because consumption and exports of the fuel are outpacing production and imports. The agency forecasts the 2021 Henry Hub natural gas spot price to average $3.07 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), an increase of $1.04/MMBtu from the record lows of 2020.

EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) forecasts an 18 percent increase in coal-fired generation in 2021, compared with 2020. The agency then sees coal-fired generation falling again, by 2 percent, in 2022.

Meanwhile, the EIA is forecasting a 7 percent rise in renewable generation in 2021 and a 10 percent increase in 2022 and sees nuclear power declining 2 percent in 2021 and 3 percent in 2022 as nuclear plant retirements continue.

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management To Conduct Review Of N.C. Offshore Wind Project

August 10, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
August 10, 2021

The Department of the Interior recently announced that its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will conduct an environmental review of a proposed wind energy project offshore North Carolina.

BOEM published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in the Federal Register on July 29, which opens a 30-day public comment period.

BOEM will review a construction and operations plan submitted by Kitty Hawk Wind LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Avangrid Renewables, for a commercial-scale, offshore wind energy project consisting of up to 69 total wind turbine generators, one offshore substation, inter-array cables, and up to two transmission cables that will make landfall in Virginia Beach. 

This is the first project within the Kitty Hawk Wind Energy Area (WEA) of Avangrid Renewables. The project consists of nearly 50,000 acres located over 27 miles off the coast of the Outer Banks, due East of Corolla, N.C., with a capacity of at least 800 megawatts (MW). When the entire 122,405-acre Kitty Hawk WEA is developed, it is expected to support a total generation capacity of up to 2,500 MW.

North Carolina has set goals to develop 2.8 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy off of the state’s coast by 2030 and 8 GW by 2040. Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s governor, recently issued an executive order highlighting the state’s commitment to offshore wind power and setting a target to procure 8 GW of offshore wind energy by 2040.

Virginia enacted the Virginia Clean Economy Act in 2020, which sets a target of to produce its electricity from 100% renewable sources by 2045, with 5.2 GW of offshore wind energy by 2034. 

If approved, the Kitty Hawk project will contribute towards each of the state’s offshore wind goals. 

As part of BOEM’s environmental review, the agency must first identify what should be considered in the EIS, such as important resources and issues, potential impacts to the environment, reasonable alternatives, and mitigation measures.

During the 30-day public comment period, BOEM will hold three virtual public meetings in August.

Biden Administration approves first major offshore wind project in U.S. waters

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on May 11 announced the approval of the construction and operation of the Vineyard Wind project, the first large-scale, offshore wind project in the U.S.

The 800-MW Vineyard Wind energy project will be located approximately 12 nautical miles offshore Martha’s Vineyard and 12 nautical miles offshore Nantucket in the northern portion of Vineyard Wind’s lease area.  

 Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid Renewables, a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc., and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

The Departments of Interior, Energy and Commerce on March 29 announced a shared goal to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind in the U.S. by 2030.

Bipartisan Bills In Congress Allow For Energy Tax Credit Transfer To Public Power Owners

July 29, 2021

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
July 29, 2021

Bipartisan legislation in Congress calls for a technology-inclusive, flexible investment tax credit (ITC) or production tax credit (PTC) designed to promote innovation across a range of clean energy technologies, including generation, storage, carbon capture, and hydrogen production. The American Public Power Association (APPA) supports the legislation.

The Energy Sector Innovation Credit Act was reintroduced on July 27 by Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Finance Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), along with House Ways and Means Committee members Tom Reed (R-NY) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA).

The legislation would allow qualifying facility owners to transfer any credits that accrue to project partners, including someone who has an ownership interest in the property, provided equipment for or services in the construction of the property, provides electric transmission or distribution services for such property, purchases electricity from the property pursuant to a contract, or provides financing for the property.

While APPA is primarily pursuing the direct payment of energy tax credits, Crapo and Reed have been leaders in the efforts to obtain comparable incentives for public power and APPA is supportive of their efforts.

In a letter to Crapo and Reed, APPA President and CEO Joy Ditto noted that allowing the transfer of energy-related tax credits to other project partners “would be an important step to removing the financial disincentive for public power utilities to own such facilities, which are needed to transition to cleaner generating technologies.”

Along with APPA, the legislation is supported by a number of other groups and entities including Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS).

Established in 1980, UAMPS is an energy services interlocal agency of the state of Utah. As a project-based consortium, UAMPS provides a variety of power supply, transmission and other services to its 47 members, which include public power utilities in six western states: Utah, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming.