An Ignoble Experiment

2. DVP recognized for utility best practices

South Carolina Electric & Gas' V.C. Summer reactor project is coming under fire as a "nuclear debacle," with claims of half a billion dollar cost overruns, pushed-back end dates for project completion and significant construction challenges. The ire comes from Friends of the Earth.

V.C. Summer Project. Credit: High Flyer

"As construction becomes more complex and schedule delays mount, V.C. Summer is emerging as an epic mistake at least as big as Vogtle. We have already seen six pay-in-advance rate increases in the state attributed to the V.C. Summer project, and we estimate it already accounts for a whopping 11 percent of the total utility bill -- the charges in which are only for financing costs," said Tom Clements, Friends of the Earth representative. "State regulators refuse to require the nuclear utility to detail in monthly utility bills how much ratepayer money is being wasted on the nuclear project. We expect rates to skyrocket when capital costs start coming into the bill, which will place the utility in a precarious position with customers. The hidden rip-off of construction work in progress payments situation in South Carolina, which is the only reason the project is proceeding, is even worse than in Georgia."

Friends of the Earth contends that in January 2014, the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff quietly released its "Review of South Carolina Electric & Gas Company's 2013 3rd Quarter Report" on V. C. Summer Units 2 and 3.

According to an analysis of the state review by Friends of the Earth, the report shows a $478 million cost overrun at the V.C. Summer reactor construction site, as well as a significant pushback in the delivery date for the new reactor.

According to the state report, "SCE&G's Milestone Schedule reflects a delay in the Unit 2 substantial completion date from March 15, 2017 to December 15, 2017, and a delay from May 15, 2018 to December 15, 2018 in the Unit 3 substantial completion date."

Further, the state found that 16 key milestones for the new V.C. Summer reactor have already been delayed by 10 months or more months. Continuing problems with module construction could mean overall delays of 18 months or longer, which must be approved by the South Carolina Public Service Commission.

South Carolina Public Service Authority, Santee Cooper, a 45 percent partner in the project that is not regulated by the PSC, wants to divest all or part of its share. The board of Santee Cooper is likely to vote at the board meeting on January 27 to sell a portion of the project to Duke Energy.

To date, approximately $4.5 billion has already been spent on V.C. Summer, according to Friends of the Earth.

For more:
- see this report

Related Article:
Vogtle loan sparks review of DOE program

Read more about: South Carolina Electric & Gas
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By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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3. 200 ideas to move the nation toward a clean energy economy

Dominion Virginia Power (DVP) is being recognized for "best practices" in the utility industry. Garnering this recognition is enhancements to the utility's eBill and other eBusiness offerings, as well as its interactive website, which have resulted in higher customer satisfaction scores.

Richmond, capital of Virginia. Credit: Morgan Riley/Wikimedia Commons

Chartwell featured Dominion's enhanced eBusiness offerings in its January "Best Practices" guide.

"We are extremely gratified to see our eBill and other eBusiness programs featured in a best practices guide for our industry," said Gianna Clark, vice president of Customer Service Operations, DVP. "Our goal is to serve our customers 24/7 in a quick and easy manner. eBill and online access to customer bills is a major part of the way we work to accomplish that."

A cross-functional Dominion Virginia Power customer service team has been working to improve the company's eBusiness offerings for 18 months and has seen a 30-point improvement in its J.D. Power overall customer satisfaction surveys during this period.

A major component of the company initiative is eBill, where customers receive their bills electronically rather than through the mail. More than 837,000 customers have signed up for the program and the company hopes to reach 1 million by the end of 2014.

The team is meeting its goal of delivering quick, easy and accessible electronic transactions while providing services valued by customers, according to Chartwell.

For more:
- see this report

Read more about: Dominion Virginia Power
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By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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4. Water utilities will see disruptive new technologies

Former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, founder and director of the Center for the New Energy Economy (CNEE) at Colorado State University, has released a report that was delivered to the White House recently, outlining at least 200 ideas on how the nation can move closer to a clean energy economy and reduce America's carbon emissions over the next three years.

Credit: Oarabile Mudongo/Wikimedia Commons.

Ritter calls the report a "comprehensive menu of options" and was developed over eight months with the help of more than 100 CEOs, energy experts, academicians and thought leaders who participated in a series of roundtables last year. Not all of the participants agreed with all of the ideas, but the report reflects the recommendations that received the strongest support.

"The president has led the nation on clean energy and climate change since he took office, including the initiatives in the climate action plan he announced last June," Ritter said. "In the face of congressional inaction, the new recommendations are intended to help the administration continue to lead."

Ritter briefed members of the president's Cabinet and senior policy staff at the White House last week, including Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, Deputy EPA Administrator Robert Perciasepe, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology John Holdren, Administrator of the General Services Administration Dan Tangherlini; Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley and Dan Utech, the President's top climate advisor.

"The climate action plan President Obama issued last June shows that the President is willing to act when Congress fails to do its job," said Heather Zichal, the former Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change. "The Powering Forward report provides key recommendations for the White House to navigate America's crucial and inevitable transition to clean energy. And it's going to take all the tools we have available if we are to avoid the worst consequences of climate change."

Among the recommendations is to carefully compare the full life-cycle benefits and costs of each energy resource as his national energy policy is implemented, as additional opportunities to distinguish carbon-rich and low-carbon resources exist and are consistent with the president's goals for minimizing the greenhouse gas emissions most responsible for climate change.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) should review and improve how it counts "green jobs" and resume reporting the number of those jobs in the economy, according to the report. The BLS suspended its reporting on green jobs last year after it was criticized for its methodology.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue clear preliminary guidance to states as early as possible in the regulatory process to encourage early adoption of new energy efficiency and renewable energy measures, and explain how they will be credited in state implementation plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing fossil fuel power plants, the report suggests.

The report urges the Energy Information Administration (EIA) should review and, if necessary, improve its methods for projecting the growth of renewable energy technologies in years ahead. EIA has been criticized for underestimating renewable energy's contribution to the nation's energy mix and has not responded to FierceEnergy's request for comments.

Further, the report says that federal agencies should work with electric utilities and utility regulators to update regulations that are getting in the way of clean energy technologies.

Utility executives told CNEE that outdated regulations are making it difficult to accommodate new energy resources and technologies such as wind energy and rooftop solar systems.

"As one utility executive put it, today's new energy technologies are 10 years ahead of utilities in the United States, and utilities are 10 years ahead of regulations," Ritter said.

Changes in the electric industry and pressure to modernize the grid, add renewable energy, reduce pollution and invest in energy saving technology require investments but also reduce revenue. Industry leaders raise 'death spiral' concerns and utility executives say they need new business and regulatory models, but no one wants to be first.

The report suggests ways the federal government can lead in this area:

First, request that the IRS use its existing authorities to issue rulings and interpretations of the tax code that increase incentives for private investors to capitalize clean energy technologies.

"The idea is not to make the tax system more complex," Ritter said. "It's to make it more fair by offering clean energy the same investment tools and tax benefits now given to fossil fuels."

Second, issue even more aggressive goals for the government's use of third-party financing for energy-efficiency and renewable energy improvements in federal operations, allowing the government to have guaranteed savings on its energy bills at no cost to taxpayers.

Third, clearly define the President's criteria for "responsible" natural gas production and require that oil and gas companies use best available production practices on federal lands.

For more:
- see this report

By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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5. AEP, AltaLink partner to form Athabasca Transmission

Despite pessimism, new entrants into the $600 billion water industry are bringing emerging technologies that will disrupt the industry and create new opportunities, according to Lux Research.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

"To read recent headlines in the water industry, one might think the sector is impossible to navigate, but that couldn't be further from the truth," said Brent Giles, Lux Research senior analyst. "By targeting worthwhile market sectors and keeping in mind some key sector-specific principles, a company can build a successful business."

These new entrants, including many startups, are bringing improved and innovative technology to the market.

Two areas dominate innovative company activity, according to Lux, where a quarter of the start-ups focus on monitoring, forecast and control -- an area that includes advanced sensors and process control. Nearly another quarter focuses on basic wastewater treatment.

Advanced sensors are a top technology within monitoring. Advanced sensors read key analytics in real time and use robust techniques, allowing for uses like monitoring of municipal water systems to reduce leakage and non-revenue water, Lux Research found.

An important development poised to go mainstream is low-energy, low-sludge wastewater treatment, Lux said, and start-ups have developed simpler systems that do away with traditional energy-hungry blowers and significantly reduce the sludge resulting from treatment.

For more:
- see this report

Read more about: Brent Giles, Lux Research
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By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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