News

The Hill reported: "Groups representing certain energy sources are joining with environmentalists and others to criticize FirstEnergy Corp.’s request that the Trump administration rescue its coal and nuclear power plants.

Reuters reported that today U.S. power company FirstEnergy Corp (FE.N) urged U.S. Dept. of Energy Secretary Rick Perry to employ rarely-used Section 202(c) emergency powers to order PJM Interconnection to negotiate a contract compensating owners of coal and nuclear plants for benefits such as reliability and jobs those units provide. Critics saw this as a move to protect unprofitable power plants.The story noted that PJM rejected the need for an emergency order to help FirstEnergy, and observed that coal and nuclear power plant operators have struggled with competition from low natural gas prices that have spurred utilities to retire dirtier coal plants. A 2:25 p.m. ET version of the piece included segments of AEE's reaction (this was replaced by API, Sierra Club quotes in a 5:20 p.m. update):Advanced Energy Economy, a trade group, called the move a “blatant appeal” by FirstEnergy for a corporate bailout.“This outrageous attempt to evade established market procedures is unprecedented,” said Malcolm Woolf, senior vice president of policy for AEE. See the earlier Reuters story here (w/AEE perspective), the updated Reuters piece here, a related RTO Insider "Update: FES Seeks Bankruptcy, DOE Emergency Order" story here, and AEE's complete statement here.See the earlier Reuters story here (w/AEE perspective), the updated Reuters piece here, a related RTO Insider "Update: FES Seeks Bankruptcy, DOE Emergency Order" story here, and AEE's complete statement here.

The Roanoke Times published an opinion piece urging Va. Governor Northam to seize a unique opportunity to appoint the next SCC commissioner. The piece was authored by Harrison Godfrey Godfrey, Executive Director of Virginia Advanced Energy Economy, a coalition of businesses that seek to make the Commonwealth’s energy more secure, clean, and affordable (and state chapter of AEE). Here is an excerpt — click link to read the entire piece.Gov. Ralph Northam has an opportunity — through a rare vacancy on the State Corporation Commission (SCC) — to unleash innovation and accelerate economic growth in the commonwealth. We urge him to seize it.

CleanTechnica reported on AEE member Microsoft's announcement that it had signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for 315 megawatts (MW) of energy from the 500 MW Pleinmont I and II solar farms in Virginia, calling it the “single largest corporate purchase of solar energy ever in the United States.”The solar energy PPA is being contracted with sPower to secure 315 MW of the energy generated by sPower's Pleinmont I and II solar farms to help power Microsoft's local data centers and office buildings. The Pleinmont I and II deal also marks Microsoft’s second solar deal in Virginia following a March 2016 agreement to secure Renewable Energy Certificates from Dominion Energy’s 20-MW Remington Solar Farm.

Energy Central reported that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission responded to a request by 11 major energy industry groups, including Advanced Energy Economy, asking for a 30-day extension on the April 9 filing deadline in the agency's proceeding on grid resilience.

SmartGrid Today podcast host Sam Spencer interviewed Danny Waggoner, senior manager of regulatory transformation at Advanced Energy Economy, who was also  lead author of a report on regulatory models that AEE believes could help foster the modernization of the electric utility industry. The report, "Utility Earnings in a Service-Oriented World" is available for free download here.

Podcast host Allison Clements interviews AEE's Jeff Dennis and Kiran Kumaraswamy of Fluence (an AEE member) about recent actions by FERC that open up wholesale markets to energy storage and consideration of other advanced energy technologies that provide ancillary services. Good overview of issues plus they dig into technical underpinnings.

Reports Renner: "By the time today’s infants are in their early 30s, gasoline-powered cars that aren’t hybrids could be a rarity in California. That’s the goal of California policy makers who are doing their best to phase those cars out by 2050 and replace them with zero-emissions vehicles like electric cars, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles."Toward that end, Gov. Jerry Brown signed an executive order in January calling for 5 million zero-emissions vehicles on the road by 2030 – a giant increase from the 350,000 on the road today. He also proposed a $2.5 billion initiative that will bring 250,000 vehicle charging stations and 200 hydrogen fueling stations to the state by 2025...She highlights a new Next 10 report produced by Beacon Economics that California shows is on track to meet Brown’s goals. "In about 20 years, (Next 10 founder F. Noel) Perry believes zero-emissions vehicles could be as common as smart phones are today." The report covers leading countries like China, France, the United Kingdom, India and Norway, that have already announced plans to phase out gasoline and diesel cars. Also noted are top challenges like the limited number of charging stations, cost, range, charging time and options in the showroom.But the performance of the cars is steadily improving. “The models that are coming out today, the marquis one being the Chevy Bolt are more moderately priced vehicles in the $30,000 range with the ability to travel over 200 miles a charge,” said Matt Stanberry, vice president of market development for Advanced Energy Economy, an organization of businesses working to make energy secure, clean and affordable. “That is one of the things consumers have been looking for.”California sweetens the pot by providing incentives of $1,500 and $2,500 to those who buy most electric cars and $5,000 to those who buy a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The federal government also offers a tax credit of up to $7,500.Stanberry said California should offer an even higher incentive to increase more purchases. “The prices of vehicles are coming down rapidly but for the next 5-10 years, upfront costs are higher than for an internal combustion engine,” he said. “We need to look at expanding the incentives.”

In its roundup of People in Business, Feb. 23, the Houston Chronicle reported that Jim Steffes, executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs at Direct Energy, has joined the board of directors of Advanced Energy Economy.See the complete Houston Chronicle story here.

Kevin Stark reports that states could encourage investment in smart-grid apps and software by changing rules that reward spending on capital instead of services. Here are excerpts:Smart meters produce an endless stream of data for utilities, but outdated regulations discourage them from investing in apps and software that could make use of the information.A recent report from the Advanced Energy Economy Institute (AEE) urges states to consider reforms that would give utilities more financial incentive to embrace cloud computing and other technology. Illinois is among a handful of states already considering such changes.The problem stems from the way most utilities make money: Companies are generally rewarded for making capital investments — think power plants or computer hardware — but not for operational costs such as salaries or software services.As smart meters become increasingly common, the potential for cloud computing to produce tangible benefits for customers and the electric grid is growing, too. That’s why some want to see a way for utilities to incorporate those investments into a rate base.“The financial incentives — and what they motivate utilities to do — are not always in the best interest of customers,” said Danny Waggoner, an author of the AEE report, Utility Earnings in a Service-Oriented World, which outlines ways that cloud computing and distributed energy could replace capital investment as a major source of revenue for utilities.The report describes five potential regulatory models designed to help utilities invest in services rather than capital “at equal or lower cost to customers, while in many cases providing equivalent or greater earnings to the utility.”See complete Midwest Energy News story here.