Advanced Energy Perspectives

Over the past several months, our Indiana team has been intervening in a proceeding before the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) to examine Duke Energy Indiana’s coal self-commitment practices. Self-commitment refers to a process by which a utility instructs the regional market within which it operates – in this case, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) – to dispatch the utility’s own resource unit regardless of whether or not it is the cheapest available at the time. Many vertically integrated utilities have been using this mechanism to run their expensive coal plants more frequently than economics would otherwise dictate. They do this because it is not their shareholders who suffer financial losses, but rather their captive ratepayers: When the cost to operate these units exceeds the market clearing price, utilities pass along the difference to customers, in part through fuel adjustment clause proceedings. AEE is working to curb this self-serving utility practice.

Creation of a wholesale energy market in the West got a stamp of approval from Nevada last week when a legislative committee sent a letter to state officials urging them to support western regionalization – and citing AEE’s principles for doing so. “The West may meet its near-term clean energy policy targets” with current arrangements, committee chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno wrote. “However, to achieve long-term clean energy targets, western states and utilities must move towards even more flexible options and coordinated operations.”

Under the Sisolak Administration, Nevada has emerged as one of the states leading this country’s transition to a clean electricity grid. This week, it becomes a leader in the electric transportation transformation as well. That’s because Gov. Sisolak announced a Clean Cars Nevada initiative to give Nevadans more options for low- and zero-emission vehicles when they go shopping for a new car or truck. By initiating the process (pursuant to Section 177 of the federal Clean Air Act) to adopt more stringent emissions standards for vehicles than those in place nationally, Nevada will also set itself up as the next hot market for electric vehicles (EVs) and related charging station development.

While Governor Sisolak and the State Legislature were hard at work passing policy after policy to make Nevada one of the best places in the country to invest in advanced energy, the latest employment figures showed what a strong industry base Nevada has to build on: 33,900 advanced energy jobs in 2018, with employers predicting further growth of 7% for the year now coming to a close. What’s more, advanced energy jobs increased a whopping 31% in Nevada from 2017 to 2018, 10 times the rate of overall job growth in the state and far faster than any other state where AEE has reported employment. That should win the Silver State a Gold Medal!