Latitude Media: Electricity markets aren’t ready for long-duration energy storage
Topics: United In The News, Ryan Katofsky
RTO Insider: Advanced Energy United Urges Changes Beyond Order 2023 for ISO-NE
ISO-NE should go beyond the changes required by Order 2023 to address the high costs and long delays associated with interconnection in the region, said a recent white paper commissioned by Advanced Energy United and written by the energy consulting firm Daymark Energy Advisors.
“The costs imposed by inefficiencies in the interconnection process are borne by ratepayers in the region and are one significant factor which threatens the New England states’ decarbonization goals,” Daymark wrote. Advanced Energy United represents clean energy and storage developers, owners, and operators in the region.
The report detailed specific recommendations for the RTO’s compliance filing, along with longer-term actions to take to address issues that will not be addressed in the filing.
“While it is critical that Order 2023 is addressed and that a solid compliance package is submitted to the commission, we stress that this marks the beginning of the region’s interconnection process reform efforts,” Daymark wrote. “Changing technology, policy efforts and expected FERC orders on planning and cost allocation, among others, makes continued attention to comprehensive market reform imperative.”
Regarding ISO-NE’s Order 2023 compliance, Daymark said ISO-NE should work to limit the potential for restudies and keep the cluster study window to the 150-day time frame prescribed by FERC, instead of the RTO’s proposed 270-day cluster window. (See ISO-NE Details Proposed Order 2023 Compliance.) The firm said that reducing interconnection timelines was one of the main goals of the commission’s order, and a longer cluster study window could push back subsequent clusters.
ISO-NE representatives have said it is difficult to guarantee it will be able meet the 150-day timeline, in part because of the undetermined number of projects it may need to consider in any given cluster.
Daymark also recommended that ISO-NE clarify its methodology for studying separate subgroupings of projects within a given cluster. The firm said the RTO should publish the data and assumptions used in each cluster study in conjunction with its results.
“The process the ISO intends to use in each cluster study should be known before the cluster request window opens so that interconnection customers can replicate the process, if they so choose, and make fully informed decisions,” Daymark wrote.
Regarding alternative transmission technologies (ATTs), Daymark said ISO-NE should include dynamic line ratings with the other ATTs to be considered in interconnection studies. Daymark also called on the RTO to provide transparency around how each alternative will be considered in the study process and detail the results of ATT evaluations in study reports.
Looking beyond Order 2023 compliance, Daymark called for more disclosure around expected regional interconnection costs for project developers prior to interconnection studies, saying this could reduce the number of projects that drop out mid-process.
“Hand-in-hand with providing the data is ensuring that each study cycle follows a well-documented study approach,” Daymark added. The firm also said ISO-NE and the region’s transmission owners should work to minimize uncertainty within interconnection cost estimates and advocated for an upper limit to the cost overruns that can be charged to developers.
Finally, Daymark said spreading costs among a cluster of projects is a good first step toward properly allocating costs associated with interconnection upgrades. At the same time, ISO-NE should consider further steps to share the costs of upgrades with all beneficiaries, Daymark wrote.
“The establishment of a cost-allocation structure that is simple to administer, clear to all participants and fair to interconnection customers, the TOs and ratepayers should be a reform priority,” Daymark wrote, adding that interconnection upgrades can benefit state policy goals, enable increased electrification, promote system resilience and increase market competition.
“We recommend that the ISO pursue a cost allocation rule that would recognize the headroom created by a set of network upgrades and charge the projects in the cluster only for the system capability they needed to interconnect,” the report recommended, saying this would be conducive in the long term to “more closely coordinated planning of the system to address the reliable delivery of power to load and the interconnection of projects without distorting incentives.”
Read the full article here .Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News, Transmission
New report reveals the reforms New England needs to more quickly connect clean energy projects to the grid
BOSTON, MA – A new report from energy consulting firm Daymark Energy Advisors details both the immediate and longer-term reforms needed to ISO-NE's antiquated interconnection process, which is threatening to derail the decarbonization goals of New England states. The process by which energy generation projects connect to the region's power grid, known as interconnection, is inefficient and is driving up costs for ratepayers and preventing many clean energy projects from connecting to the grid altogether.
“For many clean energy developers, the interconnection process in New England has been a dense, dangerous fog and these reforms can be the lighthouse that helps us navigate a better path forward,” said Alex Lawton, Senior Principal at Advanced Energy United (United), the national business association working to achieve 100% clean energy in America, which commissioned this analysis.
Topics: Wholesale Markets, Press Releases, Transmission, New England
Businesses Announce Support for Advanced Clean Trucks Rule in Pennsylvania
Topics: Press Releases, Pennsylvania, Nick Bibby
Global clean energy business leader at Enel named Chair of the Board of Advanced Energy United
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 23, 2023 – National business group Advanced Energy United (United) announced that Megan Beauregard, Chief Legal Officer and Head of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Enel North America, was elected Chair of United’sBoard of Directors. A longtime Leader-level member of United, Enel North America is committed to tackling climate change by electrifying the economy and making a net-zero carbon future possible in the United States and Canada.As Chairof the Board of Directors, Beauregard will support United’s mission of expanding the advanced energy industry in the U.S., which grew to nearly $375 billion in 2022, and accelerating America’s transition to a 100% clean energy future.
Topics: Press Releases, AEE Updates, Heather O'Neill
DOE’s new grid-supporting grants will accelerate energy transition and unlock private investment
WASHINGTON – Today, national business group Advanced Energy United (United)celebratesthe awarding of $3.5 billion for 58 grid-improving projectsas part of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Grid Deployment Office. The funding is designed to support technologies and services that improvegrid flexibility, generate at least 30 GW of clean energy,and improve the resilience of the power system against the growing threats of extreme weather and climate change.
Topics: Federal Policy, Press Releases, Transmission
Industry Groups Urge Swift Passage of Clean Energy Legislation in Michigan
LANSING, Mich. – Advanced energy industry groups, including the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council (Michigan EIBC), American Clean Power Association (ACP), Advanced Energy United (United), and Clean Grid Alliance (CGA) today applauded the introduction of legislation to streamline and improve the siting of wind, solar, and energy storage projects. The trade organizations, which collectively represent hundreds of businesses in the clean power industry, urged the legislature to pass this legislation, HB 5120 - HB 5123, along with other key clean energy bills to set a 100% carbon-free energy standard by 2040, enact an energy storage target, increase energy waste reduction, and improve customer access to rooftop and community solar.
Topics: Press Releases, Michigan
Utility Dive: California Governor Signs Bill To Speed Utility Interconnections
SB 410, known as the Powering Up Californians Act, directs the California Public Utilities Commission to set average and target time periods for grid connections and upgrades. It is supported by several clean energy groups while Pacific Gas & Electric has expressed concern about the balance between speed and safety when it comes to grid upgrades
SB 410 is a key initiative to speed adoption of electric vehicles, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.
Topics: United In The News, Emilie Olson, California
California Adopts New Law to Boost Electric School Bus Adoption
Newly signed law mandates new school buses be electric starting in 2035, building on California’s clean transportation leadership
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 579 (AB 579) into law, speeding up the transition to zero-emission school buses. The law sets a statewide goal requiring all new school buses purchased or leased after 2035 to be zero-emission and extends transportation services and leasing contracts for zero emission school buses to ease the transition.
By moving up the timeline for clean school buses, California can bring the benefits of clean air and cost savings to children and schools faster.This action is the latest significant effort to fast-track clean school transportation.
Topics: Press Releases, Ryan Gallentine, Electric school buses, California
Reuters: US states urged to co-plan grids to curb offshore wind costs
From Maine to Virginia, state authorities and grid operators are scrambling to expand transmission grids ahead of a surge in offshore wind deployment.
Power authorities are looking to connect at least 20 offshore wind projects in the U.S. Northeast, many of which aim to start producing power by 2030. The Biden administration aims to complete environmental reviews of at least 16 projects by 2025 and install 30 GW by the end of the decade.
Topics: United In The News, Kat Burnham, New York, Maryland, New England, New Jersey