Happy Friday! The EnerKnol Week Ahead brings you another handpicked list of energy policy events and deadlines, via the EnerKnol Platform. Coming up, the Energy Department solicits input on the coal plant of the future, Massachusetts mulls net metering for energy storage, while MISO reviews the impacts of renewables on the grid. We welcome your feedback at research@enerknol.com.
CAISO
D.C. PSC
DoE
EIA
FERC
Georgia PSC
Massachusetts DPU
Michigan PSC
MISO
Pennsylvania PUC
The Energy Information Administration to hold its annual energy conference, including panel discussions on electric grid reliability, energy efficiency, and advances in U.S. shale oil production.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation will hold a joint meeting, discussing nuclear plant retirements, grid reliability, cyber attacks, and advanced reactor designs.
The U.S. Energy Department to take comments on the development of modular coal plants, which the agency sees as holding the promise of providing cleaner, cheaper, flexible, more efficient coal-fired electricity compared to standard-size generators. The Trump administration has been exploring ways to aid the coal industry, which has seen its fortunes dim with the advent of cheap, abundant natural gas.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities will continue to investigate the eligibility of energy storage systems to net meter and participate in the forward capacity market. State and federal regulators are reassessing how energy storage should be compensated amid complaints that existing rules leave batteries undervalued in the marketplace. (17-146)
The District of Columbia Public Service Commission will consider a settlement for Potomac Electric Power Company to cut its electric rates by $24.1 million, and a request by Washington Gas Light Company to trim its natural gas rates by $6.2 million, to reflect the lower federal taxes by the Trump administration. Pepco is a subsidiary of Exelon Corp. (FC1150, et al.)
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission will review PECO Energy Company’s request to boost annual revenues by $82 million, or 2.2 percent, hiking the average monthly residential electric bill by 3.2 percent to $105.93. (R-2018-3000164)
The Georgia Public Service Commission will accept staff testimonies for its review of Georgia Power Company’s troubled Vogtle nuclear power plant expansion project. Delays and cost overruns have pushed the price tag of the project to an estimated $23 billion and led to the bankruptcy of the developer, Westinghouse Inc., a unit of Toshiba Corp. Georgia Power is a subsidiary of Southern Co. (29849)
The California Independent System Operator Corp. is scheduled to take comments on a plan to enhance the ability of distributed generation, like rooftop solar, demand response and electric vehicles, to participate in the wholesale market. The grid is relying more heavily on customer-sited power supplies and power curtailment measures as the state looks to achieve massive cuts in carbon emissions.
The Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc. will discuss its Renewable Integration Impact Assessment, which evaluates the effect of higher levels of renewable generation on the grid. The multi-year evaluation seeks to identify critical turning points when the growth of renewables and the retirement of baseload units will require changes in the operation of the system.
The Michigan Public Service Commission will consider complaints by solar developers Greenwood Solar LLC and Cypress Creek Renewables against DTE Electric Company over delays in advancing power purchase contracts. The contracts, which are required under a decades-old federal statute, have drawn the ire of utilities, which face eroding profits from a proliferation of renewable projects and slumping power demand. Greenwood Solar is a subsidiary of Geronimo Energy LLC. (U-20156)
The California Independent System Operator Corp. to take comments on an initiative to allow energy storage that’s paid for transmission services to also be eligible to sell into the energy and ancillary services markets. The grid manager’s move to allow energy storage to sell into multiple markets is the latest in its ongoing efforts to remove market barriers for the emerging technology.
