Big Wind in the Big Oil State

ERCOT readies for renewable market integration.

ERCOT readies to integrate a large future influx of wind generation and finds need for new, more flexible resources to provide ancillary services – preferably a zero-to-five-minute ramping resource which, unfortunately, does not correspond to any currently existing technology or market product.

People (May 2014)

PSEG names Tamara Linde as executive v.p. and general counsel upon Lon Bouknight’s retirement; NYISO elects Daniel B. More, formerly of Morgan Stanley, to its board of directors; Edison International announces board member France Cordova to resign in order to accept appointment by President Obama to serve as director of National Science Foundation.

Performance is What Counts

ISO New England’s capacity market proposal will bring reliability benefits to the region.

ISO New England CEO Gordon van Welie rebuts implications in a Fortnightly column about the ISO’s “Pay for Performance” capacity market proposal.

Unwinding the Death Spiral

Rooftop solar, net metering, and the perils of utilityspeak.

The Sierra Club accuses utilities of trying to snuff out rooftop solar. Attorney Donald Sipe recommends RTO/ISO markets for natural gas.

Ontario Power Generation and Westinghouse Sign Agreement to Service Global Nuclear Markets

Ontario Power Generation (OPG), through its subsidiary, Canadian Nuclear Partners (CNP), and Westinghouse Electric have established an agreement that will enable the companies to consider a diversity of nuclear projects including refurbishment, maintenance and outage services, decommissioning and remediation of existing nuclear power plants, and new nuclear power plants. Westinghouse and OPG have collaborated recently on several key projects.

Emerson Wins Contract to Replace Turbine Controls at Union Power Station

Union Power Partners, a subsidiary of Entegra Power Group, awarded Emerson Process Management a contract to replace turbine controls at Union Power Station. The plant, located in southern Arkansas, is one of the largest combined-cycle facilities in the U.S. with a generating capacity of 2,200 MW and comprises four individual 2x1 combined-cycle power blocks.

NV Energy Files for Approval to Participate in the California ISO Energy Imbalance Market

NV Energy filed a request with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) seeking approval to participate in the California Independent System Operator Corporation's (ISO) energy imbalance market (EIM). Meanwhile, the California grid operator separately is asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve the implementation agreement with NV Energy.

Hydro-Quebec and Sony Form Joint Venture for Large-Scale Energy Storage Systems

Hydro-Québec and Sony Corporation (Sony) established a joint venture to research and develop a large-scale energy storage system for power grids. The new company will utilize Hydro-Québec's operation and control technologies for electric power supplies as well as its lithium-ion battery material technology, together with Sony's control technologies for reliable, olivine-type lithium-ion iron phosphate rechargeable batteries and highly scalable module systems. 

Canadian Solar and NCC Complete Diesel Hybrid PV Installation Serving First Nation Community

Canadian Solar completed the first diesel hybrid PV system in the remote microgrids in northern Ontario, Canada. The 152kW rooftop solar array on the Deer Lake First Nation Elementary School is the first project under the strategic partnership with NCC Development (NCC), a First Nation renewable energy management company. NCC uses renewable energy (RE) microgrid solutions to assist the energy needs of off-grid First Nations and remote communities.