Wind power accounts for vast majority of progress

Update courtesy of Utility Regulatory News #4063: In its second annual report on the status of the state’s renewable energy programs, the Michigan Public Service Commission related that Michigan’s investor-owned electric utilities (IOUs), electric cooperatives, and municipal utilities were all making steady progress in their efforts to comply with legislative mandates requiring that at least 10% of all electricity in the state be generated from renewable resources by the end of 2015. The commission said that reliance on renewables by IOUs, co-ops, and municipal utilities increased from 3.6% to 3.9% from 2009 to 2010. Given the number of renewable energy projects expected to come online within the next two years, the commission asserted that total electric supply from renewables would approach 5% by the end of 2012 and 8.4% by the end of 2013, positioning the IOUs and co-ops well for full satisfaction of the 10% goal for 2015. However, the commission acknowledged, alternative electric suppliers (AESs) were not as far along as the IOUs and co-ops in procuring their supplies from renewable resources. Nevertheless, the commission expressed confidence that as growing numbers of renewable energy projects commence commercial operation, the AESs will procure appropriate amounts of capacity from those sources. The commission noted that wind power remains the overwhelming green technology of choice in Michigan. According to the commission, wind power accounts for 94% of all renewable energy in the state, far outpacing the 2% each attributed to solar, landfill, and  anaerobic/biomass facilities. For the full story, subscribe to URN.

Posted: March 26th, 2012 under green energy, renewables, wind power.
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Dismisses fears about blade shear

Update courtesy of Utility Regulatory News #4062: Although sharply divided, the Ohio Supreme Court has sustained a decision from the state’s Power Siting Board (PSB) that had awarded a permit for the development of a large-scale wind power facility in Champaign County. The proposed wind project, sponsored by Buckeye Wind, L.L.C., will be one of the first wind farms in the state and is envisioned as a 70-turbine facility located on a 9,000-acre parcel of land. Neighboring landowners and county officials alike had challenged the PSB’s approval process, claiming that the board had wrongfully delegated to lower-level staff responsibility for reviewing the developer’s plans in terms of both siting and plant design. They argued that issuance of the permit had been premature in that Buckeye had not yet settled on a definitive turbine model to use, such that data on associated blade shear were not available for examination prior to the PSB’s grant of the permit. In a close 4-3 vote, however, the majority of the justices deemed such worries misplaced, pointing out the PSB had carefully reviewed its staff’s recommendations before approving the permit. Moreover, the majority noted, the PSB order covered more than 100 pages and listed 70 explicit conditions for approval, including siting modifications in some instances. Given the project’s status as a first for Ohio, the majority said it was to be expected that turbine design matters would be refined as the project moved along. By contrast, the three dissenting justices expressed alarm that the PSB would issue a permit without having hard data before it as to model-specific blade shear risks. They opined that because some of the wind units are proposed to be constructed fairly close to residential premises, a more complete evidentiary record should have been established prior to the letting of the permit. For the full story, subscribe to URN.

Posted: March 20th, 2012 under green energy, renewables, wind power.
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But close vote shows ongoing rift among Montana commissioners

Update courtesy of Utility Regulatory News #4061: Albeit by the narrowest of margins, the Montana Public Service Commission has authorized an electric utility, NorthWestern Energy (NWE), to proceed with its proposed purchase of a new wind farm complex. Known as the Spion Kop project, the wind facility is expected to produce 40 megawatts of capacity from its 25 turbines. Despite a price tag of almost $78 million, the commission noted that no party had formally challenged NWE’s purchase plan, while several had affirmatively supported the purchase, attesting that acquisition would be more cost-effective in the long run than executing a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the project’s output. Further, the commission said it was undisputed that the wind farm would be instrumental in helping NWE meet its obligations under the state’s renewable portfolio standard program. The lack of opposition notwithstanding, the commission itself was sharply divided as to the overall merits of the purchase plan, with two of the five commissioners voting no. Given the intermittent nature of wind production, and the risks inherent in ownership of generating facilities vis-à-vis PPAs, the dissenting commissioners viewed NWE’s outright purchase of the wind farm as unnecessarily and unreasonably costly for ratepayers. For the full story, subscribe to URN.

Posted: March 13th, 2012 under green energy, renewables, wind power.
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Invokes use of a wind proxy

Update courtesy of Utility Regulatory News #4054: Reviewing the methodology used by Rocky Mountain Power for its purchases of energy and capacity from wind-based qualifying small power production facilities (QFs), the Wyoming Public Service Commission has adopted a permanent avoided-cost pricing method for the utility. Referring to it as a “partial displacement differential revenue requirement” approach, the commission said that the new method involves two primary changes from previous avoided-cost rate formulas. First, capacity deferrals for all wind QFs will be premised on a wind proxy and will no longer be limited to 50 megawatts per year. Second, the timing and amount of such deferrals will depend on the need for and the costs of a wind unit or a combined-cycle combustion turbine, as reflected in the utility’s most recent integrated resource plan. In rejecting a counter-proposal for “front-loaded” capacity payments to wind QFs, the commission said that such treatment would be tantamount to rate basing of the facilities, a measure that is reserved solely for utility-owned generating resources and thus would be inapt for wind QFs. According to the commission, use of a wind proxy should produce QF rates sufficient to promote growth in the wind power industry in the state. For the full story, subscribe to URN.

Posted: January 27th, 2012 under ratemaking, renewables, wind power.
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