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Department of Energy Offers $50 Million in Grant Funding for Rural and Remote Areas

May 23, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 23, 2023

The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced $50 million in new grant funding for community-based energy projects located in rural and remote areas across the country.

“Designed to recognize and address the distinct energy challenges faced by rural communities, this funding aims to increase energy affordability and promote climate resilience in areas with fewer than 10,000 people by supporting projects with a dollar amount of $500,000 to $5 million,” DOE said.

This funding opportunity is managed by DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations.

Applicants are required to submit Community Benefits Plans to ensure benefits spread equitably across affected communities. These plans, now included across most DOE funding opportunities, are based on a set of four core policy priorities: investing in America’s workforce; engaging communities and labor; advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; and implementing the Justice40 Initiative.

Read the full funding opportunity announcement for the ERA program here. The submission deadline for pre-applications is July 13, 2023, and full applications are due by October 12, 2023.

California May Need to Invest Up to $50 Bil to Meet Climate, Electrification Goals: Study

May 16, 2023

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
May 16, 2023

California may need to invest up to $50 billion in grid improvements over the next 12 years to meet its electrification and decarbonization targets, according to a report commissioned by the California Public Utilities Commission.

The study, Electrification Impacts Study Part 1: Bottom-Up Load Forecasting and System-Level Electrification Impacts Cost Estimates, is the first part of a multi-year project with the Public Utilities Commission to help California integrate its increasing array of distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar, energy storage, electric vehicles, and other energy efficiency technologies.

The authors noted that the results of the study are preliminary and assume that no measures are taken to reduce costs and manage load.

The study did not take into account alternative strategies or future mitigation approaches to minimize costs, such as alternative time-variant or dynamic rates and flexible load management strategies.

The study was conducted by data and analytics company Kevala and covers the Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric service territories.

To conduct this study, Kevala analyzed over 100 terabytes of data from over 12 million premises in California, including three years of automated metering infrastructure data, geographic information system data, and customer rate information. Kevala identified the specific locations and timing for necessary electric distribution grid upgrades to support significant increases in electric vehicle charging.

“California is at a turning point in its efforts to decarbonize at scale,” Aram Shumavon, founder and chief executive officer of Kevala, said in a statement. “After decades of minimal load growth on the electric grid, we are shifting into an era of capacity expansion to enable decarbonization. This report shows us that electrification is likely to require significant investments to meet climate goals while delivering carbon-free energy in an affordable, reliable, and equitable manner.”

Kevala said it anticipates that the estimates presented in the study will undergo further refinement in subsequent phases, including the incorporation of building electrification and medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicle adoption scenarios.

The company has also proposed conducting case studies specific to communities to evaluate potential distributed energy resource alternatives that can fulfill location-specific requirements, reduce costs for customers, and establish metrics for quantifying environmental impacts on disadvantaged communities.

Permitting Reforms Urgently Needed to Meet Growing Demand for Electricity, Ensure Reliability: APPA

May 15, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 15, 2023

The American Public Power Association supports efforts in Congress to streamline the federal permitting and siting process, eliminate excessive regulatory barriers, and ensure more predictable and timely decisions from relevant federal agencies, it said in a Statement for the Record submitted to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“These reforms are urgently needed to meet the growing demand for electricity, and to ensure reliability as more intermittent resources are added to the grid,” APPA said.

The Statement for the Record was submitted for a May 11 hearing held by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to examine opportunities for Congress to reform the permitting process for energy and mineral projects.

APPA noted that it has long sought clarity and certainty from environmental review and permitting regulations and laws. “Despite an abundance of resources and potential projects to meet the rapidly growing demand for electricity, permitting red tape, needlessly burdensome regulations, and conflicts between state and federal priorities have slowed energy infrastructure development to a crawl.”

APPA believes common-sense reforms to the federal permitting process are not an “either or” proposition, “but instead that they can be done in a way that protects the environment while ensuring energy infrastructure can be built in a timely manner, allowing public power utilities to continue providing affordable, reliable power to their customers.”

Broadly, Congress should provide sustained funding and support training to ensure agencies have sufficient resources to accelerate coordinated reviews and permits, APPA said.

“Congress should also create a secure interagency information sharing portal to allow for ease of file sharing, coordination, and notification to all agencies simultaneously when new documents are uploaded.”

Electric Transmission

APPA said it supports prudent investment in the nation’s electric transmission infrastructure. However, it is concerned by proposals that would significantly expand Department of Energy or Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authority over the siting or permitting of individual transmission facilities, which are primarily within the jurisdiction of state and local governments.

“APPA prefers that permitting reform not include cost allocation principles or measures, particularly any that could lead to unreasonable increases in transmission costs for public power utilities and their customers, many of which have already seen significant increases in transmission costs in recent years.”

Instead, APPA believes that Congress should recognize that current proposals on permitting reform, “including necessary changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, reasonable deadlines for federal agencies, and proposals that will provide industry with more clarity and certainty will also make it easier to permit electric transmission projects.”

Further, Congress must allow appropriate time for expanded authorities, including backstop siting authority under section 216 of the Federal Power Act, and transmission-specific funding, totaling over $5 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, to be fully implemented before considering fundamental changes to transmission cost allocation and siting, the trade group said.

Congress should also recognize that FERC has active notices of proposed rulemaking on transmission planning and cost allocation and backstop siting authority, APPA said.

“Congress should consider requiring DOE to prioritize transmission projects that include joint ownership opportunities for public power and other load-serving entities when selecting new transmission projects for federal funding and support. Doing so can promote more collaborative and effective planning processes, reduce project costs and simplify cost allocation, and help bolster local support for transmission projects.”

National Environmental Policy Act

Congress should also support environmental reviews that harmonize processes across the federal government and promote one lead federal agency, concurrent reviews, tiering, and other mechanisms that would streamline the review process, APPA went on to say.

Congress should codify definitive timelines for environmental impact statements and environmental assessments, with a transparent process for extension, it argued.

“Importantly, the ‘clock’ for a timeline should start after a permit application is submitted or upon the execution of a project memorandum of understanding.”

Additionally, Congress should maximize the use of categorical exclusions for all energy infrastructure projects that meet certain standards to maximize efficiency. “Expanding the use of CEs will conserve agency resources for actions that are otherwise more complex and require further environmental review.”

APPA also argued that Congress should support programmatic reviews where an agency is approving several similar actions or projects in a region or nationwide, a large-scale utility corridor project, for example, or a suite of ongoing, proposed, or reasonably foreseeable actions that share a common geography or timing, such as multiple activities within a defined boundary, like federal land or a specific facility.

“This will reduce delays caused by insufficient federal staffing and reduce the need to prepare and review redundant documents.”

Congress should also direct agencies to use existing studies and analyses of projects impacts by other federal agencies, states, or local governments rather than recreate them for use in environmental reviews, the trade group said.

During the scoping process, agencies should be required to review and determine if prior analyses address the issue under review and how such information should be utilized and incorporated, APPA said.

Details on Hearing

At the hearing, there was strong agreement on the need for congressional action on permitting reform. Committee Chairman Joe Manchin (D-WV) voiced optimism that the committee will get a bill to the Senate floor before August recess.

Specifically, there was agreement amongst senators and witnesses on imposing deadlines on federal agency activities, putting in place time limits by which litigation must be filed, and strengthening the authority of lead federal agencies in the permitting process.

Manchin said that he believes that only entities that benefit from transmission lines should pay for them and that he thinks his recently released bill, which proposes to provide strengthened backstop authority to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and lets FERC allocate costs, accomplishes that.

Senators Steve Daines (R-MT) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) both discussed their recently introduced hydropower relicensing bill, S. 1521, the Community & Hydropower Improvement Act, which they hope to include in any permitting reform package.

JEA Becomes 33rd Public Power Utility to Join Florida Municipal Power Agency

May 11, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 11, 2023

Florida public power utility JEA has joined the Florida Municipal Power Agency, making it the 33rd municipal electric utility to become a member of the Orlando-based wholesale power.

“The partnership will enable the utilities to maximize its efforts in providing customers affordable, reliable and clean power. This includes bringing cost-effective solar power to the sunshine state, something the utilities are doing through the Florida Municipal Solar Project,” FMPA said in a news release.

The Florida Municipal Solar Project is a partnership between the Florida Municipal Power Agency and 16 public power utilities. The first two solar sites came online in June 2020. Two additional solar farms are scheduled to come online by the end of 2024. When complete, the project will be one of the largest municipal-backed solar projects in the country, providing nearly 300 megawatts of energy.

“JEA is committed to providing energy that balances reliability, affordability and sustainability to serve our Northeast Florida customers, said JEA Managing Director & CEO Jay Stowe. “We look forward to working with FMPA to achieve those goals.”

JEA is the largest municipal electric utility in Florida and among the largest in the U.S., serving more than 500,000 electric customers across four Northeast Florida counties.

“Municipal utilities work together through FMPA to enhance their operations for the benefit of their customers,” said FMPA General Manager and CEO Jacob Williams. “JEA is a well-run utility with great resources, so we look forward to the many ways we can collaborate.”

Legislation Would Set Up Board to Govern Florida Public Power Utility Gainesville Regional Utilities

May 9, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 9, 2023

The Florida Senate recently passed legislation that would set up a board to govern Florida public power utility Gainesville Regional Utilities. The bill was sent to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis for him to either sign or veto.

At issue is H.B. 1645, which would amend the Gainesville City charter to establish the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority to govern GRU. The bill details the Authority’s governance and leadership structure, as well as duties and powers.

Among other things, the bill provides that the Authority will consist of five members appointed by the governor, to include at least one member from outside the city boundaries, serving four-year terms. It also sets qualification requirements for Authority members and provides for a citizen nomination solicitation process.

It would also limit transfers from the utility fund to the city “to the aggregate of utility system net revenues less the flow of funds and requires any remaining funds after the transfer to be dedicated to additional debt service or used as equity for future capital projects,” according to an analysis of the bill provided by Florida House staff.

The bill’s language mirrors a referendum rejected by Gainesville voters in November 2018 by more than 59 percent of the vote, the City of Gainesville said in March.

“Political appointees would deny Gainesville voters the right to elect members of GRU’s governing body. This move would disenfranchise Gainesville voters,” said Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward in March.

“Right now, our neighbors can serve on the Utility Advisory Board, or can come to city commission meetings or can talk to commissioners in the aisles of the grocery store or the hardware store. They have direct access to their decision-makers. This move would silence the voices of an engaged citizenry,” he said.

Voters in El Paso, Texas, Reject Climate Proposal That Included Plan to Explore Public Power Utility

May 7, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 7, 2023

Voters in El Paso, Texas, on May 6 rejected a proposal that included exploring the creation of a public power utility.

Residents in the city rejected Proposition K, the “Climate Change and Climate Justice” Charter Amendment, which, among other things, called for the city to “employ all available efforts to convert El Paso Electric to municipal ownership.” El Paso Electric in March said it opposed the municipalization proposal included in Proposition K.

The ballot proposal also called for the City of El Paso to employ all available methods to require that energy used within the city is generated by clean renewable energy, with the goals of requiring 80% clean renewable energy by 2030 and 100% clean renewable energy by 2045.

New England Grid Operator Sees Demand on Grid Increasing by About 23% Over Next Decade

May 2, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 2, 2023

ISO New England projects demand on the region’s power grid will increase by about 23% over the next decade due to accelerating electrification of the heating and transportation sectors.

The findings were published in the 2023–2032 Forecast Report of Capacity, Energy, Loads, and Transmission (CELT Report), a primary source for assumptions used in the ISO’s system planning and reliability studies.

The report provides a snapshot of the New England power system, including:

ISO New England said that gross annual electricity use is expected to grow by 2.4% annually over the 10-year period, while net annual use is expected to grow by 2.3% annually.

Energy efficiency is projected to reduce grid demand by 11,582 GWh this year and 12,810 GWh in 2032, while behind the meter PV is projected to reduce grid demand by 4,442 GWh this year, rising to 8,168 GWh in 2032.

EVs are expected to account for 13,961 GWh of grid demand in 2032, while heating electrification is expected to account for 7,334 GWh of demand that year.

Under typical summer weather conditions, gross peak demand is expected to rise annually at a rate of 1.2%. Net peak demand is expected to rise at an annual rate of 1.1%. For weather that is hotter than average, the gross peak is expected to rise 1.1% annually and the net peak 1.0%.

The net forecast includes summer peak demand reductions from behind the meter PV of 981 MW this year, rising to 1,117 MW in summer 2032.

Energy efficiency is expected to reduce summer peak demand by 1,969 MW this year, and by 2,436 MW in 2032, while transportation electrification is expected to contribute 2,346 MW to summer peak demand in 2032.

Legislation Would Shift the Southwestern Power Administration to a Self-Financing Model

May 2, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 2, 2023

Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) on April 28 introduced a bill that would move the Southwestern Power Administration to a self-financing model.

The bill, S. 1324, the Southwestern Power Administration Fund Establishment Act, would address the long-term shortfall SWPA faces in receiving funding authority for purchase power and wheeling needs used to plan for and respond to drought, as well as to support long term capital investments for hydropower assets.

The bill Southwestern Power Administration Fund Establishment Act would give the SWPA the authority to operate on a self-funding, revolving Treasury fund to help provide long-term stability to SWPA.

“This would give the SWPA more stable funding in order to lower customer rates, which can be highly volatile due to market demand and weather,” the lawmakers said in a news release.

“Furthermore, this legislation would provide SWPA more clarity to help plan long-term infrastructure improvements and power replacement. This bill will also allow SWPA to avoid drastic and unnecessary spikes in power rates charged to its wholesale customers in an extreme or multi-year regional drought situation,” they said.

The SWPA customer group, Southwestern Power Resources Association, supports this legislation, as does the American Public Power Association.

SWPA is one of four Power Marketing Administrations in the U.S. Its service territory includes Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

Rising Costs for Projects Withdrawn from SPP Interconnection Queue: Report

May 1, 2023

by Peter Maloney
APPA News
May 1, 2023

Average interconnection costs for the Southwest Power Pool are stable for projects that complete all interconnection studies but have escalated sharply for projects that withdraw from the queue, according to a report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The report, Generator Interconnection Cost Analysis in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) Territory, found that the interconnection costs for projects completed in the 2020-2022 timeframe were largely unchanged at $57 per kilowatt, from completed projects in the 2002-2009 timeframe at $54 per kilowatt.

Projects that withdrew from the interconnection queue, however, saw large cost escalations in the 2010s, from $22 per kilowatt in the 2000s to $247 per kilowatt in the 2010s and $304 per kilowatt in the early 2020s.

Projects still moving through the queue had an average cost of $106 per kilowatt in 2020-2023.

Average costs for withdrawn projects are now five times the costs of completed projects, likely a key driver for those withdrawals, the Berkeley Lab researchers said in the report. They also noted that project-specific interconnection costs in the Southwest Power Pool differ widely due to many factors and do not have the shape of a normal distribution.

The Southwest Power Pool’s queue has ballooned over the past decade, the Berkeley researchers said, noting that the cumulative active queue is now more than five times larger than in 2013, with 2022 additions being nearly three times the size of 2021 requests.

At year-end 2022, the Southwest Power Pool had 109 gigawatts of generation and storage capacity actively seeking grid interconnection, a level of capacity more than twice as large as the power pool’s roughly 51-gigawatt peak load in recent years.

Almost all, more than 96 percent, of the capacity in the Southwest Power Pool’s queue is clean energy, including solar and solar hybrids at 51 gigawatts, wind at 35 gigawatts, and standalone storage at 13 gigawatts.

Broader network upgrade costs are the primary driver of recent cost increases, especially for withdrawn projects, the Berkeley researchers found. No costs for upgrades beyond the interconnecting substation were reported in the 2000s, but they have recently increased on average to $23 per kilowatt in the 2020s. For withdrawn projects, network costs grew sharply in the 2010s to $180 per kilowatt and continued to climb for some projects in the 2020s, to $230 per kilowatt.

The report also found that a very small subset of generators seeking interconnection in the Southwest Power Pool face lower network upgrade costs by choosing interconnection services as an energy instead of a capacity resource. However, those project owners of energy resources forfeit preferential treatment during high load hours, cannot participate in the Southwest Power Pool’s resource adequacy market, and may face increased curtailment, the researchers said.

SPP initiated interconnection process reforms in 2009, transitioning to a clustered, “first-ready, first-served” approach and increasing project deposits and readiness criteria; despite these and other reforms, some of which are ongoing, SPP’s active queue interconnection wait times have increased steadily, with the typical project taking nearly six years to reach commercial operations in 2022, the report found.

Another recent report from Lawrence Berkeley said requests to connect clean energy projects to the grid have soared in recent years, leading to longer wait times and backlogs for project developers.

The Southwest Power Pool report is the fourth in a series analyzing interconnection costs in wholesale electricity markets, with prior studies analyzing the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the PJM Interconnection, and the New York Independent System Operator.

Berkeley Lab is working on a forthcoming study that will analyze ISO New England’s interconnection queue.

N.Y. Legislative Commission Delivers Draft Report on Transitioning LIPA to Owner, Operator of Grid

April 26, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 26, 2023

The New York State Legislative Commission on the Future of the Long Island Power Authority on April 18 approved a draft report for submission to the New York Legislature detailing its preliminary findings and plan for transitioning LIPA into a public power provider that would both own and operate the electric grid on Long Island and in the Rockaways.

The Commission will now conduct another round of public hearings and consult with its fifteen member advisory committee before delivering a final report to the legislature in time for its recommendations to be acted upon this legislative session.

The draft report lays out the operational, legal, and legislative steps necessary to achieve full public power at the expiration of PSEG Long Island’s contract on December 31, 2025.

The draft report’s key financial finding is that LIPA can save between nearly $50 million and $80 million a year by operating its electric grid itself without hiring an outside, for-profit utility – PSEG Long Island – to operate it for them, after one-time transition costs of between $16 million and $59 million.

In late 2021, LIPA announced a revised management services contract and settlement with PSEG Long Island that included reforms designed to drive performance and accountability, while providing an unprecedented level of oversight of PSEG Long Island’s operations.