Power & Utilities
The Ohio Public Utilities Commission on Feb. 20 approved rate reductions for Duke Energy’s electric customers to account for the federal tax law, which slashed the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, effective Jan. 1, 2018. Customers will see a $2.13 decrease in their monthly bills. The company will refund $8.1 million…...
New England’s power system is strong, but the changing resource mix, driven by industry trends and state policies, is making operations more complex, according to a Feb. 20 briefing on the state of the region’s grid by Gordon van Welie, president and CEO of ISO New England Inc. Nuclear, oil, and coal-fired power plants that…...
The California Energy Commission on Feb. 20 approved the installation of a battery storage system to the Russell City Energy Center, a 600-megawatt natural-gas fired power plant, to provide black start capability. The project consists of installing 6 to 10 megawatts of lithium-ion batteries, which would be used to start the gas turbines, in order…...
The California Independent System Operator Corporation on Feb. 20 announced that its reliability coordinator service, named RC West, established an oversight committee to “provide guidance and foster consensus on reliability compliance.” RC West has completed 39 service agreements with balancing authorities and transmission operators across the west. The ISO announced last month that it is…...
Policy changes are occurring faster than ever before, confounding efforts by utilities to plan for the future, causing a paralysis in decision making. The task of identifying all possible scenarios over a longer horizon is becoming more demanding as state renewable energy standards are changing more frequently. Utilities are grappling with the influx of distributed energy resources and new renewable generation under various state programs, coupled with the need to maintain fossil generation to manage the intermittency of these sources.
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc. estimates that benefits in the range of $3.2 billion to $3.9 billion were realized in its region last year, according to the results of its annual value proposition study released on Feb. 19. The study, which identifies several factors that drive positive value, found that footprint diversity, wind integration,…...
National Grid plc asked the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission to approve rate adjustments stemming from reconciliations for various costs from January through December 2018, according to a Feb. 15 filing. The company said that the overall impact of the changes would result in a decrease of $3.07, from $118.51 to $115.44, in monthly residential…...
PJM Interconnection LLC’s board of managers on Feb. 13 directed PJM staff to submit a revised version of its energy price formation proposal for approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The move comes after market participants failed to reach an agreement on a compromise proposal to update the energy reserve pricing rules. The board asked PJM…...
The compliance obligations under Ohio’s renewable portfolio standard have been shifting from electric distribution companies to competitive retail suppliers as consumers are exercising their choice of electric service providers, according to a Feb. 11 draft annual report by the Ohio Public Utilities Commission staff. Competitive suppliers were responsible for about 77 percent of Ohio’s overall…...
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities issued an order on Feb. 1 clarifying ownership of capacity and energy rights of facilities under net metering and Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target, or SMART, programs participating in the ISO New England Inc.’s forward capacity market. The order allows owners of storage-paired facilities to retain their energy or capacity…...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission determined that it has concurrent jurisdiction with bankruptcy courts over wholesale power contracts that Pacific Gas & Electric Company may seek to reject through bankruptcy, according to a Jan. 25 order. The ruling comes in response to a request by NextEra Energy Inc. and NextEra Energy Partners L.P seeking commission…...
The New York Independent System Operator Inc. on Jan. 22 released a five-year plan that outlines a path forward to tackle the changing grid dynamics and support the growing role of public policy initiatives in reshaping the grid. The 2019-2023 plan identifies strategic initiatives to guide the development of projects and resource allocations as evolving regulations and…...
