Appalachian Voices’ Post

"Texas recently approved a package of energy reforms including a $10 billion “energy insurance program” that aims to shore up grid reliability through development of a fleet of new gas-fired power plants capable of providing 10,000 MW." "Opponents of Proposition 7 say it amounts to a giveaway to fossil fuel power plant developers at a time when Texas should be investing more in energy efficiency." Right when the world needs more clean energy and Texas itself is being adversely affected by extreme heat waves, the state decides to rely even more heavily on fossil fuels. #climateaction #texasenergy #fossilfuels #energyefficiencymovement https://lnkd.in/gP39r4PG

FERC is moving mountains with this regulation. More than people know... Not only is transmission reform needed to accelerate the energy transition, in some cases it's needed to advance the transition at all. A second great article by Canary Media Inc. shows how PJM must continue to operate (at the expense of ratepayers) uncompetitive coal plants because of lapses in grid management. These grids cannot accept new grid-tied batteries and renewable assets potentially totaling close to 20GW of replacement. Second article here: https://lnkd.in/ekjE6Ptt Once the transmissions upgrades are complete, that bottleneck correction should yield instantaneous markets for utility-scale solar, wind and storage. Azimuth Advisory Services www.azimuth-ventures.com #aas #azimuthadvisoryservices #gridmanagement #zombiecoal

☝️This Canary Media Inc. piece details the challenges around federal regulators’ efforts to enact effective nationwide transmission grid reform so that the tremendous bottleneck of renewables projects can be eased. 👀Take the dive on this important issue: https://lnkd.in/euvtTE_3 #Deliveringacleanenergyfuture #solarpv #commercialsolar #communitysolar

Utilities and regulators have a lot of work ahead to enact new federal grid planning reforms — and to overcome political and financial interests. “Utilities are always going to want to do these local reliability projects that are in their control, but this plan is certainly trying to get us away from that.” Learn more: https://bit.ly/3yzxgIe #FERC #utilities #transmission #renewables #FERCorder1920

For better or for worse -- some will always contend for worse -- the Biden Administration is taking a much more hands-on philosophy when it comes to regulating the private sector. I hope to do a lead story on that subject soon for my weekly business newsletter, The Rising Tide. The latest: A little-known but powerful regulator has finalized sweeping new rules designed to expand the construction of big power lines and bring more renewable energy to U.S. homes and businesses. The rules approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees wholesale electricity markets, are expected to make it easier for big regional transmission projects to get approval. FERC approved two rules Monday, one that will require companies that produce and transmit electricity to weigh factors such as supply and demand over at least two decades and another that addresses permitting of critical projects in areas that lack adequate transmission capacity. The rule requiring long-term planning is “the biggest single action by the federal government to advance transmission,” said Rob Gramlich, president of Grid Strategies, a power consulting firm. The long-term plans will need to account for the impact of extreme weather tied to climate change along with the cost of projects. By expanding transmission capacity, regions hit by weather disasters will be more resilient because they can access power from other parts of the country. Most utilities already plan for future demand and other contingencies, but few do so decades in the future. What has resulted is a largely ad-hoc national grid that has at times left utilities behind the curve amid shifting power generation technologies, demand and destructive weather events fueled by climate change. In Georgia, the state’s main utility, Georgia Power, has increased demand projections sixteen-fold and plans to burn more natural gas to meet that demand. Virginia’s largest utility, Dominion Energy, which supplies electricity to most of the state’s data centers, expects their power use to quadruple over the next 15 years, representing 40% of the utility’s demand in the state. “Our country is facing an unprecedented surge in demand for affordable electricity while confronting extreme weather threats to the reliability of our grid and trying to stay one step ahead of the massive technological changes we are seeing in our society,” FERC Chairman Willie Phillips said Monday.   Republican Commissioner Mark Christie voted against the long-term planning rule, which he said is unfair to consumers and oversteps FERC’s authority. Across the U.S., plans for myriad new power projects, largely wind and solar, are languishing due to delays in their ability to connect to the grid. The backlog of new power projects, mostly solar, wind and battery storage, seeking to connect to the grid jumped by 30% in 2023 from the previous year, according to a recent report by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Kicking off 2024 with a new Power Advisory post with my colleagues Brady Yauch and Avi Lipsitz that examines the recently issued OEB Decision for Phase 1 of Enbridge Gas Inc.’s 2024-2028 Rates Proceeding that was followed by an announcement from Ontario's Minister of Energy that he would use his authorities to pause the decision, and introduce legislation to reverse it. #onpoli #energytransition #energyregulation #energypolicy #netzero2050 #energy #naturalgas #climatechange #regulation #publicpolicy #electrification #sustainability #electricity

The results of today’s Senate vote confirming Lindsay See, Judy Chang, and David R. (Rosner) to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are welcomed by the Electric Power Supply Association and come at a key time for energy regulation. Having a full roster of commissioners at #FERC will ensure it can best address the most pressing issues in the industry, such as rising energy #demand, threats to grid #reliability, and the continued need for accurate market signals to aid in much-needed #investment. We look forward to working with all the commissioners to meet the moment of today’s changing energy industry and ensuring a reliable system. Read the press release for more: https://lnkd.in/d7rhZPv2

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) passes new rules to require grid operators to conduct long-term planning on transmission requirements, taking into account reliability and changing resource mix. Sluggish grid investment is both a major bottleneck to adding new renewables to the electricity mix as well as a source of risk to reliability. https://lnkd.in/g4QmgcUn

“Proposing new gas plants to serve growing demand does not occur in isolation. It is a decision that implicitly rejects alternatives as either infeasible, expensive or unconsidered. The choice between expedited gas plants and blackouts is a false dilemma. A portfolio of solutions exist that are lower risk and more compatible with utility and state climate goals and customer preferences, starting with the following strategies: 1. Build renewables and storage where possible 2. Generate closer to demand 3. Work with big customers to flex demand. 4. Better use of existing power infrastructure”.

⚡️ A week ago, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission passed Orders 1920 and 1977, aimed at addressing long-term energy transmission planning, cost allocation, and regulations for permitting + siting decisions for transmission projects. "The queue of projects waiting to connect to the US grid reached 2.6 TW last year, double the size of the existing grid." - Sightline Climate (CTVC) So what was/is holding things up, and how do these new orders aim to help? ⏳ The sheer amount of projects in the pipeline. Per Energy Markets & Policy Group, Berkeley Lab's Queued Up: 2024 Edition noted there are "nearly 11,600 projects ... actively seeking interconnection," and that "solar and battery storage are – by far – the fastest growing resources in the queues. Combined, they account for over 80% of new capacity entering the queues in 2023." ⏳ Rising energy demand continues to grow due to large needs from data centers, manufacturing, EVs, AI, etc. ✅ "One reason the transmission buildout has been so slow to date is that it’s hard to accurately assess and apportion the costs and benefits of a given project." - Canary Media Inc. Order 1920 creates a required list of specific benefits for projects to be evaluated against, which is meant to help with standardization in assessment. ✅ 1920 also requires transmission to update their regional transmission plans (that cover the next 20 years) every 5 years instead of the previously required updates every 10 years. It will be interesting to see how these orders are actioned, what obstacles we still face, and what progress can be made vs the potential pushback from utilities, regional projects, etc. What are your thoughts?