Dominion Virginia Power Is Investing $4 Billion in Additional Service Reliability Improvements

Dominion Virginia Power is spending $4 billion over three years to improve and expand its ability to provide reliable electric service to its customers. In a letter to the company's 2.3 million customers, Chief Executive Officer Paul D. Koonce described how the company is focusing on electric circuits and areas where service reliability does not achieve the systemwide average, which reached 99.9 percent in 2009.

“Keeping your lights on safely, efficiently and at a reasonable cost are my highest priorities as Dominion Virginia Power chief executive officer,” Koonce said in his first letter to customers since becoming CEO in June. The letter is being included with bills sent to Virginia customers in January.

Details Here

first published week of:   01/11/2010

DOT to propose plan to improve pipeline safety

The Department of Transportation said September 15 it will propose pipeline safety legislation and strengthen its own rules following recent crude spills and California’s deadly natural gas explosion. “The DOT’s legislative proposal will complement its additional planned regulatory initiatives to continue to improve pipeline safety,” said the Deputy Secretary of Transportation. “The department intends to take significant action to reassess its pipeline safety regulations to expand and strengthen them, as needed,” he said. The calls to improve pipeline safety follow a deadly natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, California last week on a duct owned by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Canada’s Enbridge had two leaks on pipelines bringing crude oil into the U.S. Midwest. Pipeline regulators said they were working to determine when the 670,000 barrel-per-day Illinois pipeline that was shut in due to a leak could restart.

Details Here

first published week of:   09/20/2010

Electric Co-ops Launch Nationwide Smart Grid Demonstration Project

With the final approval of a $33.9 million matching grant to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association from the Department of Energy, nineteen electric cooperatives now embark on a unique, nationwide demonstration project deploying more than 153,000 smart grid components across the country to test the value of the new technologies for cooperative consumer members.

Authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the smart grid research grants, together with the $3.4 billion in smart grid investment grants, are part of a federal initiative to identify and develop new and more effective smart grid technologies.

“Cooperatives lead the industry in the deployment of smart meter infrastructure and can help drive the effort to modernize the nation’s electrical system using new technologies,” said NRECA CEO Glenn English. “Our cooperatives will be evaluating how and whether these technologies can assist them in their mission to provide safe, reliable and affordable electric power to their member-consumers,” English said.

Participating cooperatives:

• Adams Electric Cooperative (IL)
• Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative (WI)
• Clarke Electric Cooperative, Inc. (IA)
• Consumers Energy (IA)
• Corn Belt Power Cooperative (IA)
• Calhoun County Electric Cooperative Association (Corn Belt Power Member, IA)
• Humboldt County Rural Electric Cooperative (Corn Belt Power Member, IA)
• Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative (Corn Belt Power Member, IA)
• Prairie Energy Cooperative (Corn Belt Power Member, IA)
• Delaware County Electric Co-op (NY)
• Flint EMC (GA)
• Kaua’i Island Utility Cooperative (HI)
• Menard Electric Cooperative (IL)
• New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NH)

first published week of:   08/16/2010

Electric Vehicles: Southern California Edison Prepares

Southern California Edison (SCE) has studied the[electric vehicle] situation and believes it will see slow, incremental uptake of EVs in its service territory over the next few years. Due to viral buzz, this uptake is likely to occur in clusters, possibly requiring upgrades to neighborhood transformers. SCE will attempt to track market adoption through an outreach program that uses its website, bill inserts and a relationship with EV manufacturers to connect with EV buyers.

Connecting with EV buyers will allow the utility to communicate its three-step advice: understand charging options, which may require work by a third party at your home; understand your charging rate options from SCE, which will help you analyze them; and have any needed infrastructure installed before you bring a new EV home.

Details Here

first published week of:   07/26/2010

Entergy looks to sell Vermont Yankee

Large U.S. electrical utility Entergy announced that a process is under way to explore the potential sale of Vermont Yankee, its 605-megawatt nuclear plant in Vernon, Vermont. The sale process is being conducted on a confidential basis. While no decision has been made to sell the plant, the company said it expects interest from multiple parties. Vermont Yankee’s operation license runs out in March 2012. Although the company had been negotiating a licence extension, it came under fire for the way it handled a tritium leak on site. The government of the state of Vermont has a strong say in a power plant life extension, and has acted to block the license extension.

Details Here

first published week of:   11/08/2010

EPA subpoenas Jefferson County (AL) data on sewage overflows

Special agents of the Environmental Protection Agency served a subpoena to the Jefferson County, Alabama, Environmental Services Department seeking data on sewage overflows, according to county officials. The department’s director said the subpoena was served June 30 asking for data from Barton Laboratories, a pre-treatment facility. The county commissioner who has responsibility for the environmental services department, said, “We’re cooperating and doing everything we can.”

Details Here

first published week of:   07/05/2010

Volume 31

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