NSTAR established a new hotline to provide customers with a source of information about electric vehicles and EV technology.

Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, chose 3M’s ACCR overhead conductor to double transmission capacity on a set of lines that cross wetlands near Savannah, Ga. The upgrade is on a 16.7-mile line linking the Kraft generating plant in Savannah with the McIntosh plant north of the city.

Piedmont Municipal Power Agency (PMPA) selected Tantalus to provide the communications network for its smart grid system. PMPA is a joint agency formed by 10 municipal utilities in northwestern South Carolina.

Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) contracted Open Systems International (OSI) to supply a new SCADA and generation management system (GMS) based on OSI’s monarch (Multi-platform Open Network ARCHitecture) platform.

Abengoa and BrightSource Energy signed an agreement to jointly develop, build, and operate what the companies say will be the world’s two largest solar power towers at a site in California. The companies expect jointly to permit and finance the 500-MW Palen Solar Electric Generating System. Abengoa will build the plants as the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor, and will lead the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the plants once online. BrightSource will provide the solar field technology and plant design.

In a rate case largely resolved by settlement, the Washington Utilities & Transportation Commission authorized Avista Utilities to increase its electric revenues by $13.65 million and its natural gas revenues by $5.3 million for 2013. The utility had petitioned for an electric rate hike of $41 million and a natural gas rate increase of $10.1 million.

In an electric rate proceeding, the South Carolina Public Service Commission accepted a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under which South Carolina Electric & Gas was awarded a net increase in electric rates of $97 million and a ROE of 10.25 percent. The lower ROE value negotiated in the MOU also had a substantial impact on the utility’s authorized revenue requirement, reducing its rate request by a significant amount.

Pursuant to a partial stipulation, the Oregon Public Utility Commission granted PacifiCorp dba Pacific Power a mere 0.5-percent increase in its base rates, or $20.7 million. The utility had asked for $41.2 million in rate relief, an increase of 3.5 percent. The parties to the settlement had been unable to agree on specific values for the company’s cost-of-capital components, but listed in the stipulation a “notational value” of 9.8 percent for ROE.

Upon review of Dominion North Carolina Power’s petition for $63.66 million in additional revenues, the North Carolina Utilities Commission authorized the utility to increase its nonfuel base rates by $36.44 million. The commission rejected the company’s recommended ROE of 11.25 percent in favor of a 10.2-percent ROE instead. For the full story and more analysis, subscribe to Utility Regulatory News. http://www.fortnightly.com/utility-regulatory-news-free-trial

In awarding an electric utility more than $260 million in rate relief, Missouri Public Service Commission explained that the utility, Union Electric dba Ameren Missouri, had demonstrated that its earnings had been deteriorating and that absent additional revenues it would be unable to maintain its system or invest in badly needed facility expansions and improvements. It approved a rate of return on equity of 9.8 percent as opposed to the 10.50-percent level suggested by the company.