An Ignoble Experiment

2. Georgia Power customers save more at Walmart

As Pepco continues to improve its service reliability for customers, the utility -- and its customers -- is beginning to see results.

For example, from 2010 through 2012, customers in D.C. saw a 17 percent reduction in the number of outages that occurred and a 21 percent reduction in the duration of those outages.

Pepco's service reliability improvement initiative began in September 2010. However, some of the improvements have been accelerated since Maryland regulators approved Order 85385, in part as a response to the June 2012 Derecho, to improve the state's system reliability. The Order sets May and August 2013 deadlines for the utility to submit reliability plans, evaluate staffing levels and identify long-term reliability upgrades.

Since the end of 2010, Pepco has:

• Trimmed more than 4,850 miles of trees along power lines in Maryland and 850 miles in D.C., and will trim another 1,225 miles in Maryland and D.C. by the end of 2013.

• Renewed or replaced more than 650 miles of underground electric cable in Maryland and 58 miles in D.C, and will do the same for 200 more miles by the end of this year.

• Improved service feeder lines in the least reliable neighborhoods by upgrading more than 115 distribution feeders in Maryland and 66 feeders in D.C. Pepco will complete work on 100 more by the end of the year.

• Enhanced the Customer Care Center where the number of phone lines more than doubled (from 300 to 644) and representatives answering those phones also doubled (from 40 to 80). During major outages, outsourcing provides additional assistance to the call center. All of the representatives, including those from outside the utility, have been retrained.

Pepco has asked the District of Columbia Public Service Commission (PSC) to authorize a $52.1 million increase in base distribution rates to help pay for the reliability investments it has made in D.C., which, if approved, would mean a $5.89 -- or 6.23 percent -- increase per month for a residential customer using an average of 750 kilowatt hours per month. A decision should be made within the next nine months.

Pepco anticipates a $1.47 billion five-year transmission and distribution construction budget in D.C. for 2013 improvements and beyond. The filing includes recovery for infrastructure investments, depreciation expenses, increased operations and maintenance costs.

For more:
- see this article

Read more about: Service Reliability, Pepco
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By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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3. Xcel CEO: Give Customer Renewable Credit a chance

Georgia Power customers can shop Walmart for low prices on more than just groceries, clothing, toys, toiletries, home goods, and their daily vitamins. In addition to these products, the utility is teaming up with the big box retailer to offer energy- and money-saving incentives on retail lighting.

At Walmart stores throughout the state, customers will receive a 30 to 60 percent discount immediately at the register on the purchase of select Energy Star-certified compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL), which provide bright warm light while using 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent lighting.

"We see tremendous value in helping our customers use energy more efficiently," said Michele Wagner, Georgia Power's energy-efficiency director. "Offering this incentive at Walmart stores will enable a larger number of our customers to receive savings at the point of purchase in addition to receiving on-going energy cost reductions when lighting their homes."

The incentive is also offered at other retailers, including Costco, The Home Depot, Lowe's and Sam's Club, through the utility's EarthCents initiative, which offers a portfolio of energy-efficiency programs.

For more:
- visit Georgia Power's EarthCents

Read more about: Georgia Power, Walmart
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By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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4. Duke files for help incentivizing customers' energy use management

Addressing the U.S. House and and Subcommittee on Energy and Power last week, Xcel Chairman, President and CEO Ben Fowke emphasized the critical role fuel diversity and federal incentives play in ensuring Americans have clean, reliable energy at a competitive price.

Xcel Energy itself boasts a 17,000 megawatt generation fleet -- a diverse mix of fuel sources, including coal, natural gas, nuclear, wind, hydro, and solar. In fact, Xcel Energy is the number one wind energy provider in the nation (with 4,900 MW of wind on the system) and considering adding more wind in Minnesota and Colorado because of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) extension.

"Although Xcel Energy is well ahead of meeting our state's renewable energy requirements, we are open to adding cost-effective wind projects that could provide long-term value to our customers," Judy Poferl, president and CEO, of Xcel Energy's Northern States Power Company - Minnesota, said in a statement. "The extension of the federal renewable electricity Production Tax Credit may make cost-effective projects available to serve our customers."

Although the PTC has been a positive force in wind development for Xcel, Fowke advocates a federal customer renewable credit (CRC) as an alternative to the PTC in the drive toward a clean, reliable energy supply.

The CRC -- a tax credit to utilities that integrate wind energy on their systems -- would help reduce customer costs while encouraging higher levels of renewable integration at a fraction of the cost of the PTC.

"Customers in many states already are paying for clean energy programs and should be rewarded, not punished," Fowke said.

In his statements to the House, Fowke also emphasized the importance of allowing individual states to develop strategies that include energy efficiency, renewable energy and emission reduction programs, such as Colorado's Clean Air Clean Jobs. Equally important, he said, is giving credit to states and energy companies that have acted early to address carbon issues.

"The topic of the hearing, fuel diversity in the power sector, could not be more important at this critical juncture in the energy sector," Fowke said in his remarks. "Our strategy has put us on track to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2020. At the same time, we have been able to maintain power prices at or below the national average."

For more:
- read the transcript

Read more about: renewable energy
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By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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5. PJM facing unprecedented generating retirements

Duke Energy Carolinas has filed requests to adjust the fuel and energy-efficiency components of customer bills, including increased investments for programs and incentives to help customers manage their energy use.

Residents could see an increase of $2.86 per 1000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) effective January 1, 2014, for energy efficiency and demand side management programs, which are separate from the proposed base rate increase of $14.27 per 1000 kWh currently under consideration by the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC).

If approved by the NCUC, the filings of late last week would increase the bill for residential customers by 0.2857 cents per kWh and 0.0387 cents per kWh for non-residential customers. For a typical residential customer using 1000 kWh per month, bills would increase from the current $102.72 to $105.58.

Fuel costs will remain unchanged because of reduced costs due to greater availability of gas generation and the benefits of jointly dispatching the combined generation portfolio of Duke Energy Carolinas and Progress Energy Carolinas, offset by higher commodity prices and an increase in projected sales. The proposed fuel factors also incorporate the return of $47 million of over-collected fuel costs for the calendar year 2012, compared to $19 million of under-collected fuel costs that are included in existing fuel rates.

The proposed increase to energy efficiency rates includes amounts related to Duke Energy Carolinas' Save-a-Watt pilot program, which ends in December 2013. The rates also include amounts for the company's proposed energy efficiency programs and cost recovery mechanism that will go into effect January 1, 2014.

This week, Duke Energy Carolinas will make a separate filing regarding the portion of customer rates that pays for renewable energy investments required to comply with state law, but no significant change to customers' bills is expected

For more:
- see this article

By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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