Author Archives Laura Arnold

IPL files FERC complaint about MISO energy storage rates

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   October 31, 2016  /   Posted in Uncategorized  /   No Comments

ipl-advancion-energy-storage-building

Indiana utility files with FERC for changes to 'outdated' MISO storage tariffs

Dive Brief:

  • Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) has filed a fast track complaint asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to find that the Midcontinent ISO’s rules for energy storage are deficient and should be revised.
  • The focus of the complaint is IPL’s its 20 MW Harding Street battery storage plant that entered service in May. The facility provides MISO with a variety of ancillary services, but IPL says the ISO does not have appropriate tariffs or business practices so IPL cannot dispatch the device without harming the batteries.
  • MISO's current tariffs were designed for flywheels, IPL argues, and should be revised to include all technologies, with a new category for lithium ion batteries to ensure they are "not degraded because of outdated operating parameters."

Dive Insight:

MISO has been reforming its market rules to spur development of energy storage.

There has been some success, at least in terms of getting IPL’s Harding Street project up and running. But while the battery is operational, IPL says MISO’s tariffs and business practices hamper its operation.

IPL is seeking fast track treatment of its request because it says MISO has been engaged in “ongoing, indeterminate stakeholder process on battery energy storage issues,” and the utility asked FERC to place “tight time limits on any required MISO compliance filings.”

Harding Street currently provide frequency control services, automatic grid-scale service, including primary frequency response, and contributes to MISO’s compliance with North American Electric Reliability Corp. standards, but IPL says there are no provisions in the MISO tariff to compensate IPL for “the essential reliability service” that Harding Street provides.

IPL has asked FERC to find that MISO’ tariff is unjust and unreasonable and unduly discriminatory with respect to the compensation of primary frequency response (PFR) and that PFR should be paid under a separate tariff.

IPL also argues that MISO’s tariffs for ancillary services, energy, ramp, and capacity were designed for the operating characteristics of flywheels, which excludes other applicable technologies such as lithium-ion batteries, and that FERC should have MISO lift those restrictions.

"MISO Tariff SER resource type was designed solely for the operating characteristics of flywheels and limits them to providing Regulating Service," the utility said. "The Commission should direct that the Tariff be reformed so that Resources technically capable of providing various products under the Tariff be permitted to provide such products, regardless of resource label or technology."

Additionally, IPL argued MISO should create a new category for lithium ion battery storage that "respects the operating characteristics of this technology and permits the grid to benefit from its unique capabilities."

The utility suggested that FERC make MISO reform its tariff for regulation service to make it closer to the tariffs used by the PJM Interconnection. PJM’s REg D market has been so successful that the ISO has called a moratorium on new Reg D resources.

Recommended Reading:

ipl-ceo-sanchez

IPL CEO Rafael Sanchez at ribbon cutting 7/12/16 for IPL Advancion Energy Storage Array. Photo by Laura Ann Arnold.

Tesla unveils residential solar roof and new Powerwall battery

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   October 29, 2016  /   Posted in solar  /   No Comments

Tesla unveils residential solar roof and new Powerwall battery

AUTHOR  @GavinBade
PUBLISHED Oct. 28, 2016

Dive Brief:

  • Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled an integrated solar roof and battery storage product at an event Oct. 28 in Los Angeles. The new roof is designed to mimic several traditional roof designs and will cost less "than a normal roof plus cost of electricity," according to Musk.
  • The new 7 kW, 14 kWh battery system is being priced at $5,500 and the system will integrate with Tesla's electric vehicle chargers. The offering will come from Tesla Energy, the planned brand name for the combined Tesla and SolarCity, should shareholders approve their proposed merger.
  • The announcement follows Tesla's official release of the second generation of its grid-scale battery on Thursday night. The Powerpack 2.0 uses upgraded power electronics and a new inverter to deliver twice the energy density of its predecessor at a cost competitive with tradition generation, the company announced in a blog post.

Dive Insight:

Tesla's announcement today makes good on Elon Musk's promise to "create a smoothly integrated and beautiful solar-roof-with-battery product," first previewed in Musk's "Master Plan Part Deux" in July.

The solar roof system announced Friday appears to fit the bill: The solar panels resemble traditional roofing tiles, and Musk said they are designed to cost less than a traditional roof plus the cost of electricity and last longer.

The new roof system would integrate with the Powerwall 2.0 battery system, which Musk said could power the refrigerator, sockets and lights of a four-bedroom house for a day — or indefinitely when combined with rooftop solar. Musk touted a future where everyday consumers would have an electric car, a battery and a solar roof on their home.

The new solar-plus-storage offering builds on Tesla's original Powerwall, first released last spring — a product that brought residential energy storage to the consumer mainstream. The battery was a standalone product and struggled at first to integrate with SolarCity's panels.

While clearly different from other solar-plus-storage offerings, the offering is contingent on one big factor — Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity. Musk warned in his Master Plan this summer that the integrated offering would be impossible as two separate companies. In June, Tesla moved to buy the installer, but the deal is not yet done — shareholders are slated to vote on the deal Nov. 17.

How Tesla's move to integrate its batteries and panels will affect the solar and storage markets remains to be seen. Currently, third party developers like AES and Sunrun use Tesla batteries for commercial battery and solar-plus-storage offerings. If Tesla Energy follows a similar model to its vertically-integrated car company, it could cease selling batteries to third parties.

If Tesla follow's Musk's "master plan," the new product will be sold through all-in-one retail stores, supplanting SolarCity's door-to-door sales strategy that propelled the company to become the largest U.S. residential solar installer. The aim of the new sales strategy, Musk wrote, is "one ordering experience, one installation, one service contact, one phone app [to control the systems].

Electric utilities need not fear Tesla's new offering, Musk said in his product announcement. As electric vehicles add demand for the power system, Musk predicted that the utility power will need to increase, eventually reaching an equilibrium with about one-third of power coming from distributed energy and two-thirds from utilities.

The new Tesla Powerwall has a larger capacity and a more rectangular design.
Twitter user Tom Randall

Recommended Reading:

Follow Gavin Bade on Twitter

 

Renewable energy gets backing (again) from some major Ohio manufacturers

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   October 26, 2016  /   Posted in solar, Uncategorized, wind  /   No Comments

tom-henry-toledo-blade

Tom Henry, Ripple Effect, Toledo Blade

Renewable energy gets backing (again) from some major Ohio manufacturers

One of the bigger political stories getting lost in the shuffle during this presidential election is the fate of Ohio's mandates on energy efficiency and renewables.

It's huge because it could not only impact energy markets for solar power and wind power, but also the nation's climate and landscape.

The Ohio General Assembly is trying to decide what to do after the state's two-year freeze on such mandates expires at the end of this year.

Ohio - the nation's fourth-largest energy user - is a pivotal state on this issue.

It remains the only state that went forward with a freeze, a grand experiment that yielded mixed results.

Gov. John Kasich went through with it, despite opposition from many businesses that saw value in promoting renewable energy as a way of generating jobs.

Although the Kasich administration now says the freeze served its purpose and should expire, that has done little to dissuade conservatives who want to do anything from modifying rules to making the freeze permanent.

But on Tuesday, nine business that collectively employ more than 25,000 people in Ohio flexed their muscle in support of renewables, urging state lawmakers to reinstate and strengthen the state mandates.

They include Campbell Soup Company, Cliff Bar & Co., Gap Inc., JLL, Nestle, Owens Corning, Schneider Electric, United Technologies, and Whirlpool Corp.

Lawmakers are expected to vote on proposals days after the election.

"Continuing to undo smart clean energy policies won’t help us build a stronger Ohio for tomorrow," Dave Stangis, Campbell Soup's vice president corporate social responsibility, said, citing the company's solar project in Napoleon that is expected to save Campbell $4 million and keep 250,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere in the next 20 years.

"We believe renewable energy and energy efficiency are good for the environment and good for business,” he said.

Frank O'Brien-Bernini, Owens Corning vice president and sustainability officer, said that company supports lifting the freeze because it is "a market leader in manufacturing energy saving products and materials that enhance wind energy performance."

Owens Corning is proud of its 2.4-megawatt solar parking lot canopy at its Toledo headquarters, the largest canopy of its kind in the Midwest, he said.

Whirlpool has manufacturing plants at four northwest Ohio plants - Clyde, Marion, Findlay, and Ottawa.

Renewable energy mandates "are a foundation for Ohio's continued economic growth," Jeff Noel, Whirlpool vice president of communications and public affairs, said.

A report by Clean Energy Trust and Environmental Entrepreneurs, promoted by advocates, contends Ohio lost more than 1,400 jobs in the wind industry alone in 2015.

Opponents question such claims, asserting Ohio is better off without the mandates.

Solar Power Capacity Tops Coal for the First Time Ever

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   October 25, 2016  /   Posted in solar, Uncategorized, wind  /   No Comments

Solar Power Capacity Tops Coal for the First Time Ever

China alone installed two wind turbines per hour and 500,000 solar panels a day last year.

Solar power now accounts for more installed capacity than any other form of electricity generation, according to new data out Tuesday.

“About half a million solar panels were installed every day around the world last year,” the Paris-based International Energy Agency said in a new report on the renewables sector, as emerging markets in particular bet heavily on green power. China also installed the equivalent of two wind turbines every hour last year.

In total, over half the new power capacity installed last year—153,000 megawatts, or 153 gigawatts—was renewable-sourced. That’s a 15% increase from the previous year, and three-quarters of it came in the shape of wind (66 GW) or solar photo-voltaic (49 GW).

China alone installed two wind turbines per hour and 500,000 solar panels a day last year.

Solar power now accounts for more installed capacity than any other form of electricity generation, according to new data out Tuesday.

“About half a million solar panels were installed every day around the world last year,” the Paris-based International Energy Agency said in a new report on the renewables sector, as emerging markets in particular bet heavily on green power. China also installed the equivalent of two wind turbines every hour last year.

In total, over half the new power capacity installed last year—153,000 megawatts, or 153 gigawatts—was renewable-sourced. That’s a 15% increase from the previous year, and three-quarters of it came in the shape of wind (66 GW) or solar photo-voltaic (49 GW).

Capacity is what a plant can theoretically produce. Actual generation remains much lower, due to the basic unpredictability of resources such as sunlight and wind. But even on levels of actual generation, the IEA said renewables would close the gap rapidly going forward.

http://for.tn/2eNOfK6

“We are witnessing a transformation of global power markets led by renewables and, as is the case with other fields, the center of gravity for renewable growth is moving to emerging markets,” said Dr. Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director.

The IEA said the share of renewables in the generation mix would rise to 28% within six years, from 23% at the end of last year. It raised its forecast for green power output in that timeframe by 13% “due mostly to stronger policy backing in the U.S., China, India and Mexico.”

Another factor expected to help is a continued fall in costs: the IEA reckons the cost of solar PV will fall by a quarter, and the cost of onshore wind will fall by 15%. Lower capital costs mean that an installation can break even with lower load rates.

screen-shot-2016-10-25-at-14-23-48

While climate change policy plays a large role in countries’ policy choices, especially in the wake of the Paris summit last year, the IEA pointed out that cutting air pollution and diversifying energy supplies are just as important some some countries. In China, in particular, renewables are helped by the fact that overall energy demand is growing rapidly, and renewables are the only option for meeting demand in places where pollution is already a hard constraint.

In China and India, where the fastest growth in green power is expected, it will still cover less than half of the overall increase in electricity demand. By contrast, in developed economies, renewables will grow faster than overall generation.

NH consumer advocate floats net metering successor with TOU credits

Posted by Laura Arnold  /   October 25, 2016  /   Posted in Uncategorized  /   No Comments

new-hampshire-state-seal

New Hampshire consumer advocate floats net metering successor with TOU credits

AUTHOR   @klshall
PUBLISHED  Oct. 25, 2016

Dive Brief:

  • A new filing in New Hampshire's quest to find an alternative tariff structure for net metering pushes for three options for residential and commercial residents looking to invest in solar arrays.
  • Those options, filed by the state's consumer advocate, include a time-of-use rate option for residential customers, a new Fixed Solar Credit Rate for residential and commercial customers, and a new community solar program.
  • The filing comes after New Hampshire lawmakers directed the state's Public Utilities Commission to come up with new programs to support distributed solar earlier this year.

Dive Insight:

New Hampshire can now count itself among the states looking at net metering successor tariffs.

A new filing from New Hampshire's Office of Consumer Advocate is pushing a proposal that would end traditional net metering and replace it with three options designed to offer a return on rooftop solar investments while eliminating cost-shifting — an argument from utilities that rooftop solar customers don't pay their fair share for grid upkeep and shift costs to other customers.

According to the filing, customers who chose the TOU rate option will pay higher rates to their utility during peak demand hours, but would also earn more for the power they send back to the grid.

"[A] consumer-generator opting for the Time-of-Use option can expect to pay a higher price, but also obtain a higher price, for power produced during the times of day when the grid is most stressed – 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.," the consumer advocate wrote in a statement.

Touted as the more refined way to send price signals to customers,TOU rates have proven more popular with the solar sector than other utility attempts to recover fixed costs, such as fixed charges or residential demand charges.

Customers who choose the TOU option will also pay a new non-bypassable fee in addition to previous fees under New Hampshire law to prevent additional cost-shifting, according to the filing. The filing also wants to limit the option to customers under a certain MW capacity threshold.

Under this example of the consumer advocate's TOU proposal, both electric rates and solar credits would be higher during peak demand hours. New Hampshire Consumer Advocate

Under the Fixed Solar Credit Rate scheme, residential and commercial customers can lock in a bill credit for distributed energy production for 20 years. But the bill credit, which will initially start at the full retail rate credit for New Hampshire, will eventually step down in tranches to reflect fluctuating market prices.

The option will be capped at a total of 200 MW, with 75 MW set aside for small-scale distributed generation systems (proposed at 100 kW or less) and the rest for larger systems, according to the filing.

Finally, the filing proposes a community solar option that will give residents without a suitable roof or adequate income a chance to purchase renewable energy. Utilities have increasingly turned to shared solar as a more palatable option to give customers some choice over their energy supply. It also solves the conundrum of opening access to solar for renters and low-income customers.

The consumer advocate's proposal was prepared with help from Lon Huber, a consultant for Strategen who has proposed similar ideas in other states.

In Arizona, Huber, on behalf of the state consumer advocate, pushed a similar declining fixed-rate incentive program as a way to give stakeholders an option beyond traditional fixes, like higher charges or reduced remuneration rates. Whether that will be successful remains to be seen, as Arizona remains embroiled in a value-of-solar docket and regulators have pushed off decisions over solar rates until that concludes.

Huber also pushed a declining incentive program in Maine with the consumer advocate, but that plan was derailed after lawmakers failed to override Gov. Paul LePage's veto of the reformed net metering program, kicking the issue back to the PUC.

Recommended Reading:

Follow Krysti Shallenberger on Twitter

Copyright 2013 IndianaDG