The California Public Utilities Commission has approved a plan for Pacific Gas & Electric to bury some 1,230 miles of high-voltage electric transmission lines and use covered conductors on another 778 miles over the next four years at a cost of $4.78 billion. The San Francisco-based utility had proposed to bury 2,000 miles of transmission lines at a cost of $6 billion. As part of its response to devastating wildfires, PG&E had buried 197 miles of lines by the end of October.
The burial plan was part of a PG&E 2023-2026 general rate case that won CPUC approval. The case will hike rates for the average customer by 13% next year. California already has among the highest electric rates of any U.S. utility, driven in part by many social policy adders the California legislature has mandated to include in rates, which has prompted some recent criticism as biasing customers against more climate friendly electricity in favor of natural gas (which PG&E also sells).
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In Michigan, Jackson-based Consumers Energy says it has now buried 15% of its formerly overhead transmission lines in Genesse County, and plans to expand undergrounding to improve reliability. The undergrounding is part of a pilot program partly funded by the Department of Energy. Garrick Rochow, Consumers CEO, told local TV station NewsChannel 3, “We recognize the amount of outages clearly not acceptable and we are working to improve the system.”
Rochow added, “Three weeks ago we introduced the reliability road map which is a significant investment to improve the future of the grid. We are moving forward with several projects in the county to bury under ground. It’s a 10-mile underground pilot we want to go up to 400 miles a year by 2027, we are ramping up to that, so those two projects will start in 2024 in the county.”
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The New York Independent System Operator is postponing the shutdown of four natural gas power plants for two years to protect reliability in New York City. The four plants, owned by Astoria Generating Co., were set to shut down in 2025. They generate 508 MW of power distributed by Consolidated Edison. If the plants were to shut down, NYISO says the city would face a shortage of 446 MW.
“The reliability deficiency is being driven by increased demand for electricity, economic activity, and recent generator retirements per emissions requirements set forth by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC),” the NYISO said. The DEC’s “peaker rule,” which would have shut the four plants, has resulted in the retirement of 950 MW of generation in “environmental justice” areas. The rule has a provision for keeping plants running temporarily in order to protect reliability
The NYISO hold a two-month procedure to try to find alternative supply to the Astoria units, but found no alternatives. The state-wide system operator said the current tight supply would ease when the HVDC Champlain Hudson Power Express starts delivering 1,250 MW of Canadian power to the city in 2026.
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Ohio-based utility giant American Electric Power is moving back to the future, continuing to spin off a variety of assets in order to concentrate on its historic regulated utility business. The Columbus company outlined its new vision at a Nov. 10 quarterly earnings report. A company news release said AEP “will continue to actively manage its portfolio and invest in its regulated operations to generate value for customers, communities and investors…. AEP will invest nearly all capital in its regulated businesses as it simplifies and de-risks operations. The company’s five-year, $43 billion capital investment plan allocates more than $27 billion to transmission and distribution.”
Julie Sloat, AEP CEO, said, “The sales and strategic review of our non-core and competitive businesses will be key in streamlining the company, shifting capital to our regulated operations and strengthening our balance sheet.”
Last August, AEP sold its portfolio of unregulated renewable energy generation, netting some $1.2 billion. Utility Dive reported that AEP is looking to sell its solar interests in New Mexico, which it owns with PNM Resources “this quarter,” and continue the unloading of its “AEP Energy and AEP Onsite Partners in the first half of next year.” During the earnings conference call, Sloat said the company will soon begin the process of selling its share of two transmission companies, Pioneer Transmission and Prairie Wind Transmission.
AEP is not abandoning renewables but keeping the investments in the regulated utilities. “In our vertically integrated states, our current integrated resource plans identify a significant need for new generation over the next decade as electrification and economic development contribute to increased load. We’re investing $9.4 billion in regulated renewables over the next five years to support the needs of our customers with fuel-free power,” Sloat said.
–Kennedy Maize