Digest (Oct 2014)
Vattenfall awards Siemens Energy contract for wind turbines; Minnesota Power to build solar energy array at Minnesota National Guard Camp Ripley; Echelon agrees to sell grid operations to S&T AG; DTE Energy teams with Ford Motor Company to build Michigan’s largest solar array.
From Coal to Gas
Regulatory and environmental challenges for power plant conversions under the EPA’s Clean Power Plan.
Converting a power plant from coal to natural gas triggers a host of environmental challenges and regulatory issues. Operators could be trading one set of regulatory obligations, liabilities, and costs for another, equally problematic, set of liabilities and costs.
Unleashing Energy Efficiency
The Best Way to Comply with EPA’s Clean Power Plan
A framework for measuring the resource value of energy efficiency – touted as the best way for states to comply with the EPA’s Clean Power Plan.
EPA's Clean Power Plan: An Unequal Burden
The Clean Power Plan's largest obstacle is how its cost is distributed disproportionately among the states.
How the Clean Power Plan introduced in June by the Environmental Protection Agency will produce widely differing compliance obligations among the states, in terms of emissions targets, likely carbon prices, and effects on wholesale power prices.
A Greener Standard Offer
A new model to help restructured states add renewables to the default service portfolio.
By taking the intermittent supply of the renewable generator out of the generator’s compensation, the developer (and lenders) receive the stability they crave while supply customers avoid products they do not need.
Triggering & Tailoring
What the Supreme Court said, and didn’t.
Justice Scalia saw the need for tailoring as proof that EPA’s Triggering Rule was mistaken.
The Politics of Carbon
Supreme Court may ultimately clarify EPA’s authority under Clean Power Plan.
The Supreme Court questions federal agency authority over greenhouse gas emissions in the recent case of Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA.
Transactions (October 2014)
Pioneer Green Energy acquires Logan Gap wind project, agreement reached for Exelon to purchase Integrys Energy Group, AES agrees to purchase equity interest in SYND Holdco Ltd., Canadian Solar Solutions sells solar power plant Goo Light.
Wired Together
For DATC, grid expansion is a team effort.
An interview with key executives of Duke-American Transmission Co.: Phillip Grigsby, president, and Randy Satterfield, executive vice president. Both also sit on DATC's Board of Managers.