An Ignoble Experiment

2. CPUC crafts net metering proposal

On the heels of a shareholder resolution filed by As You Sow -- which asked Southern Company to consider the presidential administration's goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050 -- Southern Company has agreed to produce a comprehensive report on the company's renewable energy projects and its future plans to integrate more renewable energy into its operations.

Credit: Ignatus/Wikimedia Commons

"To achieve that goal, utilities need to immediately shift away from coal towards distributed and renewable energy," said Amelia Timbers, energy program manager, As You Sow. "The agreement with Southern shows that a shift in the trajectory of the electric utility industry toward a healthy, low carbon fuel mix is underway. In the last earnings call, investors wanted to know Southern's plans for solar. Now they will have that data."

Southern Company pledged to provide shareholders with information about its existing renewable and distributed generation assets, and to describe new projects that will be brought online by 2015.

As a result of the agreement, the shareholder resolution has been withdrawn.

Southern Company's actions should be a wake-up call to other utilities, public utility commissions, and politicians, As You Sow said.

"As the cost of renewables continues to plummet, and companies are forced to absorb more of coal's high societal costs, you will see more utilities following Southern and FirstEnergy's lead," Timbers predicts. "Electric utilities are beginning to capture the value offered by the low carbon economy."

For more:
- see this filing
- see this resolution

Read more about: As You Sow, Amelia Timbers
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By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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3. Unique NREL facility nets Lab of the Year

Assembly Bill (AB) 327 called for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to create a program that will replace or modify the current practice of net energy metering (NEM) at the full retail price with a new renewable energy tariff, beginning when each utility reaches its cap on NEM participation, or July 1, 2017, whichever comes first. As a result, the CPUC has ruled that customers with rooftop solar systems can continue to receive credit on their utility bill for 20 years from the date of installation for the excess power generated and sent to the grid.

Devereux Lagoon, Santa Barbara County, California. Credit: Nandaro/Wikimedia Commons

Devereaux Lagoon, Santa Barbara, California. Credit: Nandaro/Wikimedia Commons

Because AB 327 allows for large changes in the NEM structure, it would potentially introduce a great deal of uncertainty into the solar market. Until the CPUC issues a final decision on the new renewable energy tariff, and all of the implementation details have been resolved, customers interested in going solar could not determine the value of their investments after July 1, 2017. To mitigate that, AB 327 establishes a transition period during which customer-sited renewables connecting to the grid before the end of the NEM program continue receiving full-retail credits and other benefits provided by NEM rather than being switched immediately to the new tariff, enabling customers to have a better sense of the value of solar photovoltaic systems installed before the new program commences.

"[This] decision ensures that customers with solar will continue to receive the benefits they expected under net energy metering for many years. It also strikes the right balance between reducing cost shifts to customers without solar and ensuring minimal disruption to the solar market resulting from possible revisions to the current net energy metering framework," said CPUC President Michael R. Peevey, the commissioner assigned to the NEM proceeding. "The magnitude of cost shifting can be largely addressed through various options before the CPUC to reform residential rates, and ultimately, the costs are constrained by the cap on net energy metering participation."

For more:
- see the proposal

By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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4. Additional CHP could save the U.S. billions

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) $135 million Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado has been named R&D Magazine's 2014 Laboratory of the Year. Its one-of-a-kind design will assist NREL, and its partners, to shape the energy systems of the future for showcasing new and emerging thinking, and sustainable practices.

ESIF. Credit: Dennis Schroeder/NREL

ESIF is a first-of-its-kind, 182,500 square foot research user facility with a unique merging of three specialized components: an ultra-energy efficient workplace that consumes 74 percent less energy than the national average for office buildings, one of the world's most energy-efficient high-performance computing data centers, and sophisticated high-bay laboratory spaces with outdoor test areas. All of the labs are connected by a research electrical distribution bus (REDB), which functions as a power integration circuit capable of connecting multiple sources of energy with experiments. The facility's unique design advances NREL's mission of integrating clean and sustainable energy technologies into the grid.

A showcase of sustainable design, the ESIF incorporates the best in energy efficiency, environmental performance, and advanced controls using a "whole building" integrated design approach that complies with Energy Star standards, supporting the DOE's goal of developing an energy-efficient building with minimal impact on the environment.

For more:
- see this report

By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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5. New Jersey a solar model for the world?

As electricity prices continue to rise, an increasing number of industries are considering combined heat and power (CHP) as an alternative for power generation, due to the option of using both natural gas and biomass as fuel.

In fact, Europe's CHP installed capacity will increase from an estimated 202 GW in 2014 to 245 GW by 2020, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData, driven by growing electricity demand and increasing environmental awareness.

"With its strict emission and carbon savings targets, coupled with its focus on decentralized energy, Europe is comfortably the biggest market for CHP installations. Russia alone boasts a huge CHP installed capacity and depends on this technology to meet a large share of its heat requirements," said Sowmyavadhana Srinivasan, GlobalData's senior power analyst. "The waste heat collected in CHP plants can also be used for district heating, which will lead to significant long-term cost savings."

CHP is installed in every U.S. state, primarily in areas with high concentrations of industrial and commercial activity, high electricity prices, and favorable CHP policies. By 2020, an additional 50 GW of capacity could be deployed at an annual savings of $77 billion, according to a 2009 study by McKinsey and Company.

CHP reduces the risk of electric grid disruptions and enhances reliability for mission-critical facilities like hospitals, and industrial facilities and research institutions outages can be disruptive and costly. Among its other benefits, CHP consumes essentially zero water resources in generating electricity (a typical coal-fired power plant consumes 0.2 to 0.6 gallons of water per kWh, according to EPRI) and reduces emissions of GHGs and other air pollutants by as much as 40 percent or more. Further, CHP offers a low-cost approach to adding new electricity generation capacity, and defers the need for investments in new central generating plants and new transmission and distribution infrastructure.

For more:
- see this report

Read more about: combined heat and power, GlobalData
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By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

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