The Southwest Power Pool Inc., the grid operator for 14 states in the central U.S., unveiled a proposal for a Western Energy Imbalance Service market designed to balance generation and load regionally and in real time. The market aims to create opportunities for participants to utilize diverse generating resources, optimize their use of the transmission…
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s 2019 Summer Reliability Assessment warns that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. might not have enough resources available to meet this summer’s projected peak electricity demand. The report, published earlier this month, also highlighted potential ramping issues associated with the growth in solar generation that may affect the California Independent…
The ISO New England Inc. requires wind and intermittent hydropower generators with a capacity supply obligation to offer their power into the grid operator’s day-ahead energy market, starting June 1. The requirement stems from an initiative launched in 2016 to enable these resources to take part in real-time markets and begin taking electronic dispatch instructions.…
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation certified the California Independent System Operator Corporation’s reliability coordinator service, named RC West, according to a June 3 press release. The RC will offer services for 16 balancing authorities and transmission operators in California, including one in northern Mexico from July 1. The grid operator expects RC West to…
Duke Energy plans to decommission its already retired Crystal River Nuclear Plant in Florida by 2027, 50 years before originally scheduled, according to a May 30 press release. The plan for early decommissioning is still subject to the approval of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Florida Public Service Commission. Duke had previously announced its decision to…
The Commission on Catastrophic Wildfire Cost and Recovery published a draft report on May 29 with recommendations on equitable distribution of costs among affected parties of the catastrophic California wildfires. According to the report, the trend of growing fire activity related to increasing global temperatures coupled with population incursions into high fire risk areas means that…
The total wholesale cost of electricity in the ISO New England Inc.’s markets was $12.1 billion in 2018, about 32 percent higher than the previous year, according to the grid operator’s annual market report released on May 23. The report said that the overall performance of the region’s capacity, energy, and ancillary service markets was…
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission released an order identifying specific goals and best suited regulatory performance-based rate mechanisms for each outcome to be addressed in the upcoming Phase 2 of its investigation of performance-based rules, set to begin next month, according to a May 23 order. Building on a staff proposal issued in February 2019, the commission…
The New York State Public Service Commission predicts that the cost for electricity supply this summer will remain near historically-low levels thanks to a decline in the amount of electricity consumed, according to a May 16 press release. Energy price forecasts based on projections from the New York Mercantile Exchange are down between 1 to…
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has determined that Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history, was caused by electrical transmission lines owned and operated by Pacific Gas and Electric, according to a May 15 press release. The Camp Fire started in Butte County on the morning of November 8,…
The United States produced a record amount of energy from various sources in 2018, reaching 96 quadrillion British thermal units, 8 percent higher than in the previous year, according to the Energy Information Administration’s latest Monthly Energy Review. While fossil fuels like crude oil and natural gas saw increases of 17 and 12 percent respectively…
Tucson Electric Power Company entered into an agreement to join the Western Energy Imbalance Market from April 2022, according to a May 8 news release from the California Independent System Operator Corporation. Tucson estimates the participation to result in about $13 million in annual energy cost savings for its customers by expanding real-time access to…