California

Digest (April 2015)

PG&E asked state regulators for permission to build ~ 25,000 EV chargers across its service area in Northern and Central California - if approved, it would mark the largest deployment of EV charging stations in the country; Lockheed Martin and Dominion Resources have co-developed a new smart grid technology called VirtuGrid to enable remote detection of power outages for faster mapping and response; Panda Power Funds and Sunbury Generation LP will develop, finance, construct and operate a 1,000-MW gas-fired, combined-cycle power project in Pennsylvania; Siemens secured an order of 157 wind turbines in South Africa from Mainstream Renewable Power; PSE&G recently put two new landfill solar farms in service as part of its Solar 4 All program; Exelon Generation will add 195-MW of electric generation capacity at the Medway (Mass.) facility; ABB won a $35 million order for gas-insulated switchgear and shunt reactors from Belgian electricity transmission system operator Elia; Iberdrola USA agreed to acquire UIL Holdings and create a newly listed publicly traded company; Chesapeake Utilities agreed to merge Gatherco into Aspire Energy of Ohio, a wholly-owned subsidiary; and others...

Energy Storage: Out of the Lab and Onto the Grid

As deployments take hold, real-world challenges abound.

Energy storage has advanced rapidly, leaving the lab and entering a phase of deployment on the grid. Storage's advancements are a result of its promise as well as the tireless support of industry stakeholders who modeled, tested, evaluated and demonstrated the technology.

People (April 2015)

FirstEnergy elected Samuel L. Belcher as president and chief nuclear officer; Dayton Power and Light named Tom Raga president and CEO; PSEG announced the retirement of Thomas P. Joyce, president and chief nuclear officer; Turkish economist Dr. Fatih Birol to be executive director of the International Energy Agency; Plus board of directors appointments at Next­Era Energy, Ameren, IDACORP, PG&E and Entergy, and changes at Southern Company, Avista, PSEG Power, The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and California Public Utilities Commission.

RET Capital Secures Over $200 Million in Financing for Four Solar Projects

Renewable Energy Trust Capital (RET Capital) closed on over $200 million in financing for four solar projects in the U.S. and Canada. The independent renewable finance platform closed a CAD $115 million non-recourse debt to support the acquisition of two solar facilities in Ontario, Canada.

California Will Soon Be Home To The Country’s Largest Floating Solar Array

Sonoma Clean Power will build the largest floating solar array in the U.S., a project that’s scheduled to be completed in 2016 and will create enough energy to power 3,000 houses. The array will span six wastewater ponds filled with treated sewage. Floating solar, which typically involves installing solar panels on pontoons that rest on the surface of a body of water and is also called “floatovoltaics”, has been installed in California before.

Digest (March 2015)

Pacific Gas and Electric and automaker BMW are teaming up to test the ability of EV batteries to provide services to the electric grid; MidAmerican Energy completed work on four of five wind farms across Iowa that make up its Wind VIII project; GE received an order from the Tennessee Valley Authority to supply two high-efficiency 7HA.02 gas turbine generators for the new combined-cycle Allen plant; Appalachian Power plans to rebuild the existing South Bluefield-Wythe 69-kV transmission line; Bechtel partnered with Westinghouse Electric to provide decontamination and decommissioning services for nuclear power plants throughout the U.S.; SunEdison and Omnigrid Micropower signed a framework agreement to develop 5,000 rural projects, representing 250 MW of electricity, throughout India; The Tennessee Valley Authority and DuPont partnered to generate power and steam at TVA's Johnsonville site in Tennessee; and others.

People (March 2015)

Exelon Generation named Michael J. Pacilio executive v.p. and COO; FirstEnergy made a series of leadership changes involving David J. Karafa, Steven E. Strah, Linda L. Moss, Richard S. Sweeney and Edward L. Shuttleworth; CenterPoint Energy appointed William D. Rogers, executive v.p. of finance and accounting; leadership changes at Black Hills Corporation, Consumers Energy and Duke Energy; California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) named Timothy Sullivan as interim executive director; and others; and others.

PG&E Proposes Major Build-Out of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) asked state regulators for permission to build an estimated 25,000 EV chargers at sites across its service area in Northern and Central California. If approved, this program would be the largest deployment of EV charging stations in the country. The chargers would be located at commercial and public locations, including multi-family dwellings, retail centers, and workplaces. PG&E proposes to own all of the infrastructure, but contract with third parties to build, install and maintain the chargers and manage customer billing.

sPower Purchases Nearly 162MW Beacon Solar Projects from Hecate Energy

sPower, developed an agreement with Hecate Energy, a leading power developer, to develop and own/operate solar PV projects. The first joint initiative is the sale to sPower of a 162-MW portfolio comprised of three projects named Beacon 1, Beacon 3 and Beacon 4. The utility scale projects, near Mojave, Calif., in Kern County, will be designed and built by Hecate, then jointly owned and operated by sPower and Hecate. Groundbreaking is scheduled for Q3 2015, with COD from March to July 2016.

Digest (February 2015)

Europe’s largest battery-storage project was officially opened in England; CODA Energy announced operation of the largest behind the meter lithium-ion energy storage system in the Los Angeles basin; FERC approved construction of Constitution Pipeline’s natural gas pipeline to New York and New England markets; FERC approved a facilities construction agreement for Minnesota Power’s Great Northern Transmission Line; General Electric received an order from the Tennessee Valley Authority for two high-efficiency 7HA.02 gas-fired turbine generators; A Renewable Energy Southern Company subsidiary plans to develop a 131- MW PV solar project in Georgia; GE Global Research and others partnered on a research project to improve reliability and resiliency of electricity delivery in northern New York; Duke Energy Renewables acquired the Halifax Solar Power Project from Geenex and ET Solar Energy;  Dominion Resources agreed to purchase Carolina Gas Transmission from SCANA Corp.; and others...