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States Take Lead with Plans for 100% Carbon-Free Energy

March 7, 2019

Minnesota and Wisconsin recently joined the list of states aiming for a 100% clean-energy future, while some Illinois lawmakers are pushing for not only carbon-free power, but also 100% renewable energy.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) was the latest to announce a set of policy proposals designed to lead his state’s electricity sector to 100% clean energy by 2050. “Climate change is an existential threat,” Walz said in a statement on March 4. “We must take immediate action. If Washington won’t lead, Minnesota will.”

Xcel Energy, Minnesota’s largest utility, has already publicly committed to generate 100% of its electricity from clean energy by 2050. Xcel operates three nuclear reactors in Minnesota—the dual-unit 1,100-MW Prairie Island facility and the single-unit 671-MW Monticello plant. Nuclear power fits the bill as a carbon-free source, but none of the three units is currently licensed to operate beyond 2034.

In neighboring Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers (D) also wants to require his state’s utilities to be carbon-free by 2050.…

Prepare for More Distributed Energy Resources [PODCAST]

February 7, 2019

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Paul DeCotis, senior director in West Monroe Partners’ Energy and Utilities practice, was a guest on The POWER Podcast. West Monroe, in partnership with Greentech Media, conducted a survey of more than 1,700 utility customers, 140 utility executives and managers, and more than two dozen regulators in major markets across North America. Its findings were released in a report titled Planning for a Distributed Energy Future.

Interestingly, 92% of survey respondents said they had distributed energy resources (DERs) on their system, up from 80% when the survey was conducted three years ago. However, DeCotis noted during the podcast that DERs are not yet universally economical throughout the U.S.

“Not all states and regulatory jurisdictions handle DERs the same. It’ll be a few years before we see very significant DER penetrations uniformly across the country,” DeCotis said. “DERs still need substantial backup generation because utilities have the obligation to serve load and be the provider of last resort, so the industry will develop cautiously in some parts of the country until regulations become more certain and incentives become more mature,” he added.…

In Energy Policy Pivot, France Will Shutter 14 Nuclear Reactors

November 30, 2018

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France will shut down 14 of its 58 nuclear reactors by 2035 as well its remaining four coal power plants by 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron said November 27 in a lengthy speech that sought to clarify the country’s future energy direction.

According to the World Nuclear Association, France’s nuclear power share has steadily expanded since 1974, just after the first oil shock. However, France has pondered reducing nuclear’s share of its total generating mix from about 75% since 2012, when former President François Hollande ran on an election pledge to cut the nuclear share to 50% by 2025.

In 2014, the the lower house of France’s parliament passed the so-called “Energy Transition for Green Growth” bill, which set a nuclear cap at 63.2 GWe, which meant reducing nuclear’s share to 50% by 2025. In 2015, the Senate amended the bill to remove the 63.2-GW nuclear cap, but that same year, the National Assembly approved a new bill reinstating the cap.…

Midterms a Mixed Bag for State Energy Ballot Measures

November 10, 2018

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The midterm elections yielded mixed results for power-related matters across the U.S.

Voters in Arizona shot down a measure that would have expanded the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 50% by 2030, but voters in Nevada overwhelmingly backed a similar measure, adding it to a growing list of states that have sought 50% RPS levels.

In Colorado, voters defeated a measure to limit drilling for oil and natural gas on state-owned land. In Washington State, voters thwarted a consequential statewide initiativeto impose a fee on emissions of carbon dioxide. And in California, voters defeated a measure that would have allowed state lawmakers to pass a spending plan for revenue from the state’s cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases (GHGs) from 2024 onward.

Arizona Overwhelmingly Rejects Prop 127

Proposition 127, the “Renewable Energy Standards Initiative” sought approval for a constitutional amendment that required Arizona electric utilities to acquire a certain percentage of power from renewables each year, with that percentage increasing annually—from 12% in 2020 to 50% in 2030.…

Distributed Energy Is Disrupting the Power Industry: Is the Sky Falling?

October 19, 2018

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Utilities are faced with many disruptive changes in the power market. Customers are demanding cleaner energy and turning to distributed generation as a solution. One expert suggested power companies must react and evolve their business models to change with the times.

During a keynote presentation at the Distributed Energy Conference in Golden, Colorado, on October 17, Roy M. Palk, Esq. (Figure 1), president of New Horizons Consulting and former CEO of East Kentucky Power Cooperative, said, “The utility model, in terms of planning, has just been turned upside down. It will stay that way, in my opinion, for years to come.”

1. Roy Palk, Esq., president of New Horizons Consulting, gave a keynote presentation during the Distributed Energy Conference, in Golden, Colorado, on October 17, 2018. Source: POWER

However, Palk was not pessimistic about the future. He encouraged power utilities to “embrace the changes.” The three points that Palk wanted attendees to take away from his presentation were:

Power companies were born and thrive on disruption.

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Power Market Is Changing — Distributed Energy Gaining Ground [PODCAST]

August 27, 2018

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The power market is changing. It’s being driven more and more by the retail side of the business, according to Roy Palk, Esq., president of New Horizons Consulting. Palk will give a presentation titled “The Rise of Distributed Energy — New Challenges Bring New Opportunities” during the Distributed Energy Conference, which will be held at the Denver Marriott West in Golden, Colorado, October 15–17, 2018.

Palk joined The POWER Podcast to give a brief preview of his talk. He said younger, more-sophisticated and environmentally attuned consumers, as well as commercial and industrial companies that are going green—often following edicts from their boards of directors—are forcing utilities to evolve in order to remain the energy provider for these customers.

The rise of solar and wind power, microgrids, and other distributed energy resources means member-owned cooperatives and large utilities must look at their business models in a new light, focusing on the benefits of leveraging the trend toward distributed generation.

To learn more about the Distributed Energy Conference and to register for the event, visit www.distributedenergyconference.com…