Davis Besse's long-term future still uncertain

The operating license for the Davis Besse nuclear power plant expires in 2017. The NRC is considering extending that license for an additional 20 years but a handful of citizens' groups do not want that to happen. “This plant has one of the worst records in terms of safety and in terms of reliability -it’s down way down at 70 percent reliable. So when they ask to extend their license an extra 20 years, they're putting all of us at risk of a major catastrophe,” said a Green Party member. Safety and the environment are the two major reasons four citizens groups petitioned the NRC to deny the license extension for Davis Besse. But this pre-hearing is not even about reasons just yet. “They’re trying to determine whether to allow these groups to intervene. So that's the first part,” said an NRC spokeswoman. So if an independent panel of judges finds this petition fit, another hearing will debate the reasoning. “It is pretty much a process that allows citizens to intervene in a license renewal application for a nuclear power plant,” said the NRC spokeswoman.

Details Here

first published week of:   03/07/2011

DTE Energy Announces New Chief Information Officer

DTE Energy named Steven B. Ambrose as its vice president and chief information officer, effective June 1, 2011. He replaces Lynne Ellyn, who has announced her retirement.

Ambrose will be responsible for securing, operating, and applying the company's information technology assets toward achieving the company's strategic objectives.

Ambrose has been with DTE Energy for 13 years, most recently as director for enterprise performance management. He also has served as director of information technology for the company’s non-utility businesses. In addition, Ambrose has served as the Chief-of-Staff to President and CEO Gerry Anderson, providing support for key enterprise initiatives.

Ambrose earned an MBA with high distinction from the University of Michigan, a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, a master's certificate in management information systems from the University of Southern California, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bellevue College.

Ellyn has served as CIO since 1998, and has led DTE Energy’s IT organization to outstanding levels of performance. She was instrumental in successfully integrating the Detroit Edison and Michigan Consolidated Gas Co. IT organizations following the merger of the two companies in 2001. She also has been a utility industry leader in the areas of emerging technology and cyber security.

Details Here

first published week of:   05/23/2011

Duke Energy Renewables Acquires Two Arizona Solar Farms

Duke Energy Renewables, a commercial business unit of Duke Energy, purchased the Ajo Solar Project and Bagdad Solar Project from Recurrent Energy in August. Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) will buy all of the output from both solar farms from Duke Energy Renewables under the terms of two 25–year power purchase agreements. (APS originally signed these agreements with Recurrent Energy.)

The Ajo Solar Project, located in Pima County (near the community of Ajo), uses nearly 21,000 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels that can collectively generate almost 5 megawatts (MW) of electricity. The project achieved commercial operation in late September.

The Bagdad Solar Project, located in Yavapai County (near the town of Bagdad), will use about 72,000 solar panels that can collectively generate 15 MW of electricity. The project is expected to achieve commercial operation by the end of this year.

“This acquisition puts Duke Energy in a position to help Arizona's largest and longest–serving energy service provider deliver even more affordable, zero–emission renewable power to its customers,” said Duke Energy Renewables President Greg Wolf. “For Duke Energy, this landmark deal doubles our portfolio of commercial solar projects in operation and instantly expands our footprint to the western United States.”

“These projects represent an important step in realizing our mission to establish solar as a mainstream source of electricity,” said Arno Harris, CEO of Recurrent Energy. “We’re thrilled to have a partner of Duke Energy's caliber step into the ownership role for these innovative solar projects.” Financial terms were not disclosed.

International engineering and project management company AMEC designed and built the Ajo and Bagdad projects. AMEC will be responsible for operating and maintaining the sites under the terms of five–year service agreements with Duke Energy Renewables.

Duke Energy Renewables already owns seven PV facilities in operation: a 14–MW solar farm in San Antonio, Texas, a 6–MW project in Orlando, Fla., and five 1–MW sites in North Carolina. The company is building a 5–MW facility in Murfreesboro, N.C. In addition, Duke Energy Renewables owns more than 1,000 MW of electric–generating capacity at 10 U.S. wind farms. Since 2007, Duke Energy has invested more than $1.75 billion to grow its commercial wind and solar business lines.

Details Here

first published week of:   12/12/2011

Electric vehicle impacts on the utility
Rates, stakeholders, staffing, customer experience
Phil Carson

For those of you who didn’t catch our successful webinar on Jan. 6 on the nascent electric vehicle industry, you can replay the audio here and/or download the slides. If you’re still pressed for time and would like highlights, please read the column I initially wrote afterwards, “Electric Vehicles and Smart Grid Integration: Insights from San Diego, Detroit and Houston.”

When I listened back to the question-and-answer portion of the webinar, however, it was clear to me that readers might benefit from a synopsis of some of the utility impacts being discussed. That’s particularly true with rate design, stakeholder outreach and supporting the customer experience, thus the following column.

Intelligent Utility Daily: San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E’s) “experimental” rates will run one year before review. NRG EV Services’ eVgo brand’s rates are locked in for three years. What metrics will you watch to judge success? What are the risks in these two pricing models?

“The major metric we’ll look at is the percentage of on-peak versus off-peak charging across our  three different rates,” answered SDG&E’s Chris Chen, who focuses primarily on developing the EV business case. “We’re not really looking at the value of the business model at this point. We’re looking at the impact of varying rates on charging behavior. We’ll keep the ones that drive charging off-peak.”

Details Here

first published week of:   01/24/2011

Energy Department Announces $1.2 Billion Loan Guarantee to Support California Concentrating Solar Power Plant

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the Energy Department finalized a $1.2 billion loan guarantee to Mojave Solar LLC for the development of the Mojave Solar Project (MSP). When complete, the 250MW solar generation project located in San Bernardino County, California will increase the nation’s currently installed concentrating solar power (CSP) capacity by approximately 50 percent. Abengoa Solar Inc., the project sponsor, estimates it will fund more than 900 construction and permanent operations jobs.

“Investments in solar generation facilities like the Mojave Solar Project are critical to our effort to create good, clean energy jobs in America and compete with countries like China in the global clean energy race,” said Secretary Chu. “This project will supply local utilities with energy, help drive down the cost of solar power, and fund more than 900 American jobs, all at minimal risk to the taxpayer.”

MSP will be the nation’s first utility–scale deployment of Abengoa’s latest Solar Collector Assembly (SCA), a significant improvement over the prior generation of solar concentrating technology installed in the United States in the 1980s and 90s. The SCA, which was originally developed in connection with an award from the Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, has a number of advanced features, including a lighter, stronger frame designed to hold parabolic mirrors that are easier and less expensive to build and install. The new heat collection element increases thermal efficiency by up to 30 percent over first generation CSP plants.

Details Here

first published week of:   09/19/2011

Energy Dept. says copper thefts on rise

With copper prices at a near record, thieves across the country have been stealing copper wiring from power lines, construction sites, and warehouses. Now federal officials said thieves are targeting power substations and even a locked recycling yard at a nuclear lab. The Energy Department’s (DOE) inspector general (IG) reports a “troubling increase” in copper thefts from federal sites, including national research labs, generating stations, and a plant where nuclear weapons are dismantled and stored. An estimated total of $500,000 to $750,000 worth of copper has been stolen from DOE sites in the past 3 years, the IG said. Thefts have ranged from small amounts to about 30,000 pounds of copper stolen from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. In Texas, hundreds of pounds of copper were stolen from the Pantex plant near Amarillo, where nuclear weapons are stored and dismantled. The IG said DOE officials must improve security, especially at recycling facilities and remote substations. In many cases, stolen copper “had not been secured in any way,” the IG wrote in a 3 page letter August 18. Some DOE sites had only minimal access controls to areas where copper is stored, he said. In the Los Alamos case, about 30,000 pounds of copper — worth an estimated $120,000 — was stolen from a fenced facility that is locked after hours. Four contractor employees were convicted in the case. Copper was selling for nearly $4 a pound August 17, more than double the price in early 2009.

Details Here

first published week of:   09/05/2011

Volume 31

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