Commenting on Carbon
State PUCs take on EPA and its Clean Power Plan.
Everything about the Clean Power Plan seems surreal. States complain of unfair treatment. Regulators read the proposed rule and sound warnings of a coming apocalypse.
Florida
Florida Power & Light Partners with DIS for Solar Installations at DAYTONA Project
Submitted by aburr on Sat, 2015-02-28 17:37Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) and Daytona International Speedway (DIS) plan to install commercial-scale distributed solar power at the "World Center of Racing," complementing the ongoing $400 million DAYTONA Rising redevelopment project. The electricity generated will help power the Speedway's operations and FPL's 4.7 million customers via the grid. The project's total generating capacity is expected to be approximately 1.7 MW, making it one of the largest distributed solar installations in Florida.
Risk Holds Sway
Interest rates not always controlling for return on equity.
(November 2014) Our annual survey of rates of return on common equity authorized by state public utility commissions in recent rate cases for electric and gas retail distribution utilities.
New Mexico Regulators Approve TECO Energy’s Acquisition of Gas Company
Submitted by aburr on Wed, 2014-08-20 17:05The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) decided unanimously that TECO Energy's pending stock acquisition of New Mexico Gas Intermediate (NMGI), the parent company of New Mexico Gas Co. (NMGC), is in the public interest and can proceed. The parties in the case reached a settlement on the acquisition, and the PRC staff did not oppose it. NMGC serves more than 513,000 gas customers throughout New Mexico.
Digest (August 2014)
Florida Power & Light Company partners with PetroQuest Energy to develop natural gas production wells in southeastern Oklahoma; First Solar receives financing approval to build a 141-MW solar power plant in Chile; DTE Energy will deploy Tollgrade’s LightHouse MV smart grid sensors and predictive grid analytics platform within its distribution network in Detroit; US DOE chooses Abengoa, together with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Colorado School of Mines, to develop a new solar storage technology for thermoelectric plants.
Utility System Hardening
Taking Resiliency One Step Further
An independent system operator for the distribution network could allow utilities to invest in rooftop solar behind the meter and within territory.
People (November 2013)
Southern Power names Chris Cummiskey chief commercial officer; Northeast Utilities appoints new executives at operating utilities; Kevin Bethel replaces Jonathan Halkyard as CFO at NV Energy; Georgia Power creates new position, v.p. of renewable development; plus personnel announcements at PG&E, Sempra, FirstEnergy, Edison International, IDACORP, and others.
Sound and Fury
How NIPSCO feels leaned on.
Northern Indiana Public Service, the MISO member sandwiched between PJM’s Ohio territory and its noncontiguous Chicago outpost, feels particularly aggrieved by the failure of the MISO-PJM Joint Operating Agreement, approved by FERC in 2004, to facilitate cross-border grid projects to relieve constraints along the ragged and interlaced seam that separates the two regions.
Cross-Border Bargaining
Interregional grid planning under FERC Order 1000.
Territorial fights emerge in the interregional transmission plans proposed for compliance with FERC Order 1000.
Cost-Recovery for Pre-Approved Projects
Uncertainties remain, but recent cases provide guidance.
Levelized rates can serve customers’ interests, while also accelerating capital investment and providing an economic stimulus to the economy.