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Northeast Power Coordinating Council Sees Adequate Summer Power Supply

May 5, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 5, 2023

The Northeast Power Coordinating Council’s annual reliability assessment forecasts the NPCC region will have an adequate supply of electricity this summer, NPCC said on May 3.

The overall NPCC coincident electricity summer peak demand is forecasted to be around 105,200 megawatts, which is slightly higher than last summer. A total capacity of about 163,300 MW is projected to be in place to meet electricity demand in the region.

Forecasts also indicate sufficient transmission capability and adequate capacity margins to meet peak demand and required operating reserves. NPCC’s spare operable capacity (over and above reserve requirements) this summer is estimated to range from approximately 7,200 MW to over 17,000 MW.

“Over 6,000 MW of estimated peak load reduction is reflected in the NPCC demand forecast due to expected behind-the-meter generation, such as rooftop solar, energy efficiency and other initiatives,” said Charles Dickerson, President and CEO of the NPCC. “In addition, planned area transmission improvements will provide for increased power system flexibility and reliability, as they are completed.”

New England, the state of New York and the Canadian Provinces of Ontario, Québec and the Maritimes are forecasted to have adequate supplies of electricity this summer.

Due to its winter peaking nature, Québec is expected to meet forecast electricity demand by a wide margin enabling transfers of surplus electricity supplies to other areas of the region, if needed.

The assessment considered a wide range of conditions including forecast demand uncertainty; unexpected generator plant outages; transmission constraints both between neighboring regions and within NPCC; the implementation of operating procedures; estimated impact of demand response programs; and additional capacity unavailability coupled with reduced transfer capabilities.

“Approximately 1,400 MW of new renewables resources is expected to be in-service over the course of the summer period, including both land-based and offshore wind generation,” said Phil Fedora, NPCC’s Chief Engineer and Vice President Reliability Services. “Noteworthy is the expected commercial operation of the first major offshore windfarm, connecting to Long Island.”

Throughout the summer, NPCC will continue to monitor the operating conditions on the bulk power system.

As part of these efforts, NPCC conducts daily and week-ahead calls between NPCC system operators and neighboring regions to communicate current operating conditions, coordinate planned maintenance, and facilitate the procurement of assistance under emergency conditions.

In addition, NPCC supports industry-wide reliability and security coordination efforts to promote communications, awareness, and information sharing.

Florida’s Lakeland Electric Taps Burns & McDonnell to Design and Build New Substation

May 4, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 4, 2023

Florida public power utility Lakeland Electric has selected Burns & McDonnell to design and build a new greenfield substation in Lakeland.

The firm will implement a design-build approach to keep project deliverables on budget and on time, the utility said.

Construction design-build will allow Burns & McDonnell and Lakeland to collaborate on everything from planning and design through construction and commissioning. Construction is expected to begin this October and be completed in spring 2024.

The substation will feature a six-breaker ring bus with three transmission lines, two transformers and two 13-kV bays, as well as a new control house.

Along with other projects, the region’s expanded manufacturing presence includes Amazon Air announcing a recent expansion of runway/airplane parking to increase capacity within the company’s existing facility. Such new ventures will be powered by the new substation.

Lawmakers Ask FERC Commissioners to Respond to Questions on Grid Reliability

May 3, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
May 3, 2023

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Energy, Climate and Grid Security Subcommittee Chair Jeff Duncan (R-SC) recently sent a letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Commissioners asking the agency to respond to a series of questions related to grid reliability.

The lawmakers asked FERC Commissioners to comment on whether they believe the current Regional Transmission Organizations or Independent System Operators are the best mechanism to provide reliable electricity.

The Commissioners were also asked whether they think current market rules allow dispatchable, on-demand generation resources the opportunity to recover sufficient revenues to continue to operate in the RTOs/ISOs? “If so, which rules? If not, would you recommend FERC direct RTOs/ISOs to implement such rules?”

The letter also included the following questions:

The chairmen asked that FERC respond by May 10, 2023.

Public Power Utilities Earn Reliable Public Power Provider Designation from APPA

May 1, 2023

by APPA News
May 1, 2023

One hundred nine of the nation’s more than 2,000 public power utilities earned the Reliable Public Power Provider designation from the American Public Power Association for providing reliable and safe electric service.

The RP3 designation, which lasts for three years, recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key disciplines: reliability, safety, workforce development, and system improvement. Criteria include sound business practices and a utility-wide commitment to safe and reliable delivery of electricity.

This year, 109 utilities earned the designation, and a total of 271 public power utilities nationwide hold the RP3 designation. 

“Receiving an RP3 designation is a great honor signifying a utility has demonstrated commitment to industry best practices,” said Troy Adams, Chair of APPA’s RP3 Review Panel and General Manager at Manitowoc Public Utilities, Wisconsin. “And ultimately, the culture developed from this pursuit of excellence and continued improvement through the RP3 program results in measurable value delivered to the local community.”  

This is the eighteenth year that RP3 recognition has been offered. A full list of designees is available on the APPA website.

Wilson Energy’s John Maclaga Details Supply Chain Challenges in Meeting With Lawmakers

April 28, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 28, 2023

In a recent meeting with House members, John Maclaga, Assistant Director for North Carolina public power utility Wilson Energy, detailed the current supply chain challenges facing the electric power sector and offered potential solutions to alleviate those challenges.

Maclaga participated in an April 19 roundtable in Washington, D.C., convened by the bipartisan Supply Chain Caucus led by Reps. David Rouzer (R-NC), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Colin Allred (D-TX), and Angie Craig (D-MN).

In an interview with Public Power Current, Maclaga praised the caucus members for “being a truly bipartisan group” of lawmakers who are “taking leadership on this, showing an interest in this” and seeking tangible solutions.

“The reliability and security of the electric grid is at stake if we don’t take action to address the supply chain crisis we’re seeing today,” Maclaga said in a statement related to the roundtable. “Lead times and prices for transformers, utility poles, bucket trucks, and other critical equipment have increased exponentially since the start of the pandemic, with lead times for trucks, for example, jumping from 12 to 60 months and prices increasing four-to-five fold.”

He said that Congress and regulators should make sure the federal government is supporting the development of more robust supply chains and onshoring of manufacturing of critical infrastructure components.

Specifically, Maclaga said that the Department of Energy should be encouraged to halt a proposed rule on transformer efficiency standards. In December, DOE announced it was proposing new energy efficiency standards for distribution transformers.

The proposed rule discourages the remaining U.S. grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) steel producers and traditional transformer manufacturers from adding any GOES capacity or continuing existing capacity, he argued. 

At the meeting, Maclaga noted that DOE has plans to expand electrification, promote electric vehicle use, add additional solar energy and create more energy efficient buildings. “I can’t bring these things online if I can’t connect them,” he said.

He also proposed appropriating $1 billion through the Defense Production Act to increase all forms of distribution and substation transformer manufacturing in the U.S. and directing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to invest in a national stockpile of distribution transformers when/if demand for distribution transformers falls below 2019 levels.

In late 2022, APPA, the Edison Electric Institute, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association submitted comments in which they said that DOE should use Defense Production Act authorities to prioritize distribution transformers, large power transformers, and other critical grid components ahead of other technologies, and it should act quickly to alleviate the most acute supply chain challenge with distribution transformers.

Maclaga said in the interview that he urged the lawmakers to “appropriate money in orders of magnitude of billions of dollars to give manufacturers a chance.”

Elaborating on the stockpile idea, he said that “another way to incentivize manufacturers to make more stuff including transformers” would be to start stockpiling equipment. “Don’t buy anything now. Find out what you want to buy, get your specs right, make the announcement. Tell manufacturers we’ve got $20 billion in a FEMA fund to go buy these transformers and when your demand and your production loads gets back to a 2019 lead time again, we’ll start buying them to build the FEMA stockpile. So then if you’re a manufacturer and you’re on the edge of buying a new production facility – maybe you can get a grant to build it – and then go ahead and wear out your three-year backlog as fast as you can and then at the other end of it, FEMA’s going to be there. If you’re first to the trough, knowing that you’ve got your demand levels down, you can be first to the FEMA transformer sale and beat your competitors to the punch.”

What Wilson Energy is Doing to Address Supply Chain Challenges

Maclaga also detailed what Wilson Energy has done to address supply chain challenges.

He said that the utility has been working with ElectriCities of North Carolina to do more joint purchasing.

The utility has been making a push for more standardization when it comes to buying transformers, making the analogy to ordering a pizza.

When a manufacturer asks “what do you want on your transformer? I want it plain with cheese…because I really just want a transformer at this point and I don’t care whether it has taps, or special locks on it or my company’s sticker. I don’t care about that stuff anymore. I just want a transformer.”

Noting that Wilson Energy is an AMI and GIS system, “we have some talented people on staff that have been using those two systems to go look at where do we have transformers that are underused or overused. In other words, transformer right sizing.”

Maclaga said that pre-pandemic, it was not economical to keep old transformers. “In other words, we got them off from some old piece of line we were rebuilding, take those fifty-year-old transformers down, we’ll take them to a scrapper and sell them.”  But now, “we’re not scrapping anything unless it can’t be safely turned on.”

House Members Urge DOE to Withdraw Proposed Rule for Distribution Transformers

More than 60 House members on April 3 urged Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to withdraw the proposed rule to increase conservation standards for distribution transformers.

The efficiency standards for distribution transformers proposed by DOE would worsen current distribution transformer supply shortages and, to the extent that they are even feasible, would impose significant costs on consumers, the American Public Power Association said in March.

The electric industry is currently experiencing a critical shortage of distribution transformers, “and the efficiency standards included in the NOPR would likely exacerbate a supply shortfall that has already reached crisis levels, threatening electric reliability, economic development, and the ongoing transition to lower-emitting generating resources,” APPA argued in its  March 27 comments to DOE regarding the NOPR.

City Utilities of Springfield, Mo., Awarded $10 Million for Natural Gas Infrastructure Projects

April 24, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 24, 2023

City Utilities of Springfield, Mo., has been awarded $10 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to partially fund a pipeline replacement project.

City Utilities is one of 37 utilities, in almost 20 states, that will receive a portion of the nearly $200 million in grant funding through the PHMSA program.

“This funding will allow CU to more rapidly replace aging natural gas infrastructure in the Zone 1 area of Springfield where older natural gas mains are scheduled for replacement,” said Gary Gibson, President and CEO of City Utilities of Springfield. “The safety and reliability of the natural gas system is critical, and the ability to replace mains without additional costs for our customers is an economical benefit for the entire community.”

PHMSA grant funding will allow CU to replace approximately 11 miles of legacy gas main and associated services in the Zone 1 area of the service territory.

CU will apply for additional funding to continue the replacement project in several Zone 1 locations of Springfield. Work on the project is expected to begin during the last quarter of 2023.

Report Shows Omaha Public Power District is Maintaining High Levels of Reliability

April 21, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 21, 2023

An annual monitoring report recently shared with the Board of Directors of Omaha Public Power District shows that OPPD earned high marks for minimizing the number of service disruptions its customers experience.

Troy Via, OPPD’s COO and Vice President of Utility Operations, presented details on the monitoring report on April 18.

The Nebraska public power utility tracks power outage frequency and the latest data puts it in the top quartile compared with similar-sized utilities.

OPPD also ranks in the top quartile for outage duration. The utility has continued to reduce the amount of time customers are without power for the past five years to half of what it was in 2018.

Via said steadily increasing tree-trimming budgets have made a big impact in reducing both outage frequency and duration. OPPD’s Forestry Department works with new neighborhood and business developments, as well as residential customers, providing education on planting the “right tree in the right place” in order to avoid interference with power lines.

In addition, he said, underground cable replacements and “critter guards” to help prevent animal interference, have helped.

Interim Generation Needs

During the board committee meetings, OPPD leaders also shared information about near-term power generation needs within the utility’s service territory, which is experiencing unprecedented growth across all customer classes.

OPPD must maintain enough accredited power generation to cover what is needed within its service territory at peak usage, plus 15% more load to meet regulatory requirements. This not only maintains local reliability, but also reliability of the larger grid, the utility noted.

The district’s Power with Purpose project will provide critical accredited capacity and electricity to support reliability and resiliency and provide generation diversity for customers. This power is expected to meet the district’s immediate needs.

However, more load growth is projected. OPPD identified the need for additional generation within its Pathways to Decarbonization study and as a part of ongoing resource planning work.

OPPD is analyzing several resource options to power this growing load, and leaders told board members they are confident the utility can meet the challenge.

Solutions must be feasible to engineer, procure, construct and interconnect to the regional electric system in the time frame needed to reliably serve customers, the utility noted.

NERC Files Report with FERC Analyzing Effectiveness of Existing Physical Security Reliability Standard

April 15, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 15, 2023

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation on April 14 filed a report with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that analyzed the effectiveness of the existing NERC reliability standard addressing physical security of the bulk power system, Critical Infrastructure Protection reliability standard CIP-014. 

The report, which was directed by FERC in a December 15, 2022 order, called for NERC to study the applicability criteria of the standard and the adequacy of the risk assessment and to assess whether a minimum level of physical security protections should be established for all bulk power system transmission stations, substations, and primary control centers.

“This evaluation was important given the heightened physical security threat environment and the high profile attacks which occurred in the fourth quarter of 2022. Our study outlines actions to strengthen the physical security standard and foster robust stakeholder engagement to consider additional risk-based enhancements,” said Jim Robb, NERC president and CEO, in a statement.

“Following recent events, industry and the E-ISAC developed and shared a physical security resource guide that detailed broader considerations in developing a physical security approach for all assets beyond those identified as critical by CIP-014. The actions outlined in our report will help further secure critical bulk power system assets and ensure the foundational protections of CIP-014 are keeping pace with a dynamic risk environment.”

Among the findings and follow-up actions outlined in the report is that ​NERC does not recommend expansion of the CIP-014 applicability criteria.

NERC said it will work with FERC staff to hold a technical conference to evaluate whether additional substation configurations should be included in the existing criteria. 

Based on available data, NERC found no evidence that expansion of the criteria would identify additional substations as critical. Our review does suggest that additional data and analysis is needed on whether additional substations configurations warrant assessment under CIP-014.

A technical conference will identify which substations should be studied and establish data needs on a periodic basis to determine whether they should be included in the applicability criteria, NERC said.

The report found that the objective of the CIP-014 risk assessment requirement is appropriate, but should be refined to help ensure the assessment are performed using consistently and with the appropriate technical rigor. To promote consistency, NERC will initiate a standards development project to clarify risk assessment expectations, including for dynamic studies.

While NERC is not recommending a common minimum level of physical security protections, NERC finds that, given the increase in physical security attacks on bulk power system substations, there is a need to evaluate additional reliability, resiliency, and security measures designed to mitigate the risks associated with those physical security attacks.

NERC said it will work with FERC staff to hold a technical conference to further study appropriate levels of physical protections. 

NERC said it advocates taking a risk-based approach to determine what level of investment would be appropriate based on local risk factors, regional system configuration, and the asset’​s mean time to recover.

The technical conference will gather additional data on protection, response, and resiliency measures and discuss whether and how they could be appropriately incorporated into reliability standards or guidelines.

California Regulators Grant Request to Dismiss Proposal for Community Microgrids

April 13, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 13, 2023

The California Public Utilities Commission recently granted a request to dismission Sunnova Energy’s plans to build community microgrids in California.

In September Sunnova Community Microgrids California, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sunnova Energy, applied to the CPUC for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for authorization to build and operate public utility microgrids and to set electric service rates for the microgrid customers.

In the application (22-09-002), SCMC laid out plans for the microgrids that would be built as part of new master planned residential communities of between 500 to 2,000 homes, as well as and select non-residential facilities that would be co-located in or an essential part of each community.

SCMC also requested the CPUC’s approval to provide bundled retail service under Section 2780 of the Public Utilities Code and requested authority to establish market-based rates for service and requested exemption from several CPUC general orders and rules, including its general order regarding advice letters and customer notice requirements and affiliate transaction rules.

In October, the Public Advocates Office (Cal Advocates), an independent unit of the CPUC, filed a motion to dismiss SCMC’s application. In the petition, Cal Advocates argued that SCMC’s requests are based on “unsubstantiated claims and lack the basic information” required for a CPCN. Cal Advocates also said SCMC did not demonstrate that its proposals would ensure rates are just, reasonable, and necessary.

In a February 2023 proposed decision, a CPUC administrative law judge recommended granting the challenge.

In an April 6 decision, the CPUC said that the exemptions sought by SCMC are unauthorized.

The Commission said that SCMC is seeking to be exempt from the Commission’s statutorily required function of conducting oversight of electricity rates to ensure that they are just and reasonable. To grant the authority being sought by SCMC, the CPUC said it would have to “abdicate its responsibility to ensure just and reasonable rates.”

The Commission also said that SCMC failed to provide the information required for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.

PUC Approves Rules for New Microgrid Incentive Program

Meanwhile, the CPUC on April 6 approved rules for a new Microgrid Incentive Program for Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E).

The decision approves the program rules for the MIP, a $200 million program previously authorized by the CPUC to support the development of community microgrids in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities, as well as tribal communities, who have experienced and are likely to experience power outages. 

It allocates $79.2 million for PG&E, $83.3 million for SCE, and $17.5 million for SDG&E to build complex projects that can operate independently for extended periods and serve multiple customers in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. Projects selected under the MIP can receive up to $15 million in award funding.

The decision “aims to advance microgrid resiliency technology, distribute the benefits of microgrids equitably across these vulnerable communities, and provide insights for future actions that can enhance the resilience of the power system to benefit all customers,” the Commission said.

Department of Energy Seeks Feedback on Transformers Through RFI

April 11, 2023

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
April 11, 2023

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity recently announced a request for information seeking feedback from transformer manufacturers, utilities, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other applicable stakeholders regarding distribution and power transformers.

DOE said it is looking “to obtain public input regarding a potential future funding opportunity announcement seeking the research, development, and demonstration of innovative advanced transformers that can be readily utilized across a range of distribution to transmission scale applications.”

DOE is inviting stakeholders to provide feedback on these categories:

Submit responses to the RFI (DE-FOA-0003021) to RFI-3021@NETL.DOE.GOV no later than 5:00 pm on May 5, 2023.

Click here for the RFI.

DOE Urged to Withdraw Proposed Conservation Standards Rule for Distribution Transformers

More than 60 House members on April 3 urged Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm to withdraw the Department of Energy’s proposed rule to increase conservation standards for distribution transformers.

In December, DOE announced it was proposing new energy efficiency standards for distribution transformers.

Since 2021, electric utilities have been communicating their troubles with procurement of distribution transformers to DOE, the letter noted.

“The lead time for procurement of a distribution transformer can take 16 months or longer. This lead time is a significant problem for electric utilities seeking to bolster the reliability and resilience of the grid and other critical infrastructure, particularly against severe storms and other hazardous weather events,” the House members said in the letter.