Selected 2021 Maine legislation on energy and climate

Here is a round-up of selected energy- and climate-related legislative bills pending before the 130th Maine Legislature and printed as of January 28, 2021:

LD 9 (SP16) An Act To Promote Renewable Energy by Authorizing a Power-to-fuel Pilot Program 

LD 82 (HP48) Resolve, To Provide for Participation of the State in the Planning and Negotiations for the Atlantic Loop Energy Project

LD 87 (HP53) An Act To Implement the State Climate Action Plan, Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Enhance Maine's Economy

LD 99 (HP65) An Act To Require the State To Divest Itself of Assets Invested in the Fossil Fuel Industry

LD 101 (HP67) An Act To Prohibit Offshore Wind Energy Development

LD 143 (HP99) An Act To Make the Arrearage Management Program Permanent

LD 170 (HP123) An Act Pertaining to Transmission Lines Not Needed for Reliability or Local Generation

LD 179 (HP132) An Act To Exclude Energy Efficiency Improvements from Property Tax

LD 201 (SP90) An Act To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Promote Weatherization in the Buildings Sector by Extending the Sunset Date for the Historic Property Rehabilitation Tax Credit

LD 226 (HP161) An Act To Limit the Use of Hydrofluorocarbons To Fight Climate Change

LD 249 (SP111) An Act To Eliminate the Current Net Energy Billing Policy in Maine

LD 251 (HP172) An Act Regarding Public Utility Assessments, Fees and Penalties

Selected Maine PUC 2021 reports and communications

Here's a roundup of selected recent communications from the Maine Public Utilities Commission to the state legislative committee with jurisdiction over energy matters, as of late January 2021. This resource is meant to facilitate finding these documents.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission submitted a report to the Maine State Legislature's Committee, titled, "Report on the Community-Based Renewable Energy Pilot Program", dated January 15, 2021. The report provides information on the status of a "community-based renewable energy pilot program" created by a state law enacted in 2009. That law encouraged the development of small, "community-based" renewable generation by authorizing long-term contracts for the purchase of electricity produced by renewable generators of 10 megawatts or smaller for a term of up to 20 years at a price of up to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. The program required that 51% or more of the facility must be owned by qualifying local owners. The program was limited in scale and duration, with an aggregate cap of 50 MW for all participating projects, and deadlines requiring contracts to be approved by 2015 and projects to begin generating electricity no later than December 31, 2018. In the end, the Commission reports that seven projects totaling 36.8 MW of installed generating capacity achieved commercial operations by the deadline, with contract pricing terms ranging from 8.45 to 10 cents per kWh, and above-market costs of $14,932,920 for the twelve months ending 11/30/2020.

On January 26, 2021, Maine Public Utilities Commission chair Philip Bartlett delivered two presentations to the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology, titled, "Introduction to the Maine PUC" and "Review of the Electric Industry in Maine". The introduction provides an overview of the Commission, its jurisdiction and activities. The electric industry review covers delivery and supply components of electricity service and rates, Maine's retail and wholesale markets, and "recent and emerging issues" related to transmission and distribution utilities and to renewable policies and programs.

The Maine PUC also submitted the Maine Public Utilities Commission 2020 Annual Report, dated February 1, 2021. The Commission's 2020 annual report provides an overview of the agency's work in 2020 administering the laws concerning public utilities in Maine. Highlights noted by the Commission include:

• Reductions in the cost of standard offer energy supply service for residential and small business consumers;
• Completion of work on a proceeding relating to utility Central Maine Power Company's metering and billing;
• A related rate investigation leading to an order reducing the utility's return on common equity (a disallowance which the Commission called "the largest ever imposed by the Commission on a transmission and distribution utility due to poor management" and which the Commission said will likely lead the utility to "have the lowest common equity return of any electric utility in the country"); and
• Approval of 17 renewable energy projects for long-term contracts pursuant to a recently enacted law.

These reports follow two others dated November 10, 2020, in which the Commission reported to the legislative energy committee on two programs established or modified by the enactment of a 2019 law: a Report on the Effectiveness of Net Energy Billing in Achieving State Policy Goals and Providing Benefits to Ratepayers and a Report on Renewable Distributed Generation Solicitation.

FERC inquires re hydro financial assurance

Federal hydropower regulators in the U.S. are considering changes to the way financial assurance measures are incorporated into hydroelectric project approvals, and have requested public comment on whether and how hydro projects should be made to provide financial assurance to cover the costs of compliance with their license terms.

Under the Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has jurisdiction over many hydroelectric developments in the U.S. On January 19, 2021, the Commission issued a Notice of Inquiry seeking public comment on whether and how the Commission "should require financial assurance measures in licenses and other authorizations for hydroelectric projects to ensure that licensees have the capability to carry out license requirements and, particularly, to maintain their projects in safe condition."

In the Notice of Inquiry and a related staff presentation, the Commission notes steps it has taken to protect against the "failure of a licensee's financing planning" such as the inclusion of a "financing plan article" in recently issued licenses which requires licensees to show that they have the necessary funds to complete project construction and to operate and maintain the project. However, most FERC-issued hydro licenses do not include such a clause, because most existing hydropower licenses were issued before the Commission began this practice. Moreover, the Commission has noted that the financing plan requirement focuses on normal project expenses, not unexpected major costs.

The inquiry is prompted in part by dam failures in Michigan in May 2020, events the Commission staff pointed to in observing that "non-operational or non-compliant projects can pose public safety and environmental hazards in the event of a dam failure or breach." Staff noted that while significant dam failures have been rare, "Commission staff is aware of a number of projects that are non-operational or out of compliance with their license conditions and where licensees have stated that they cannot afford to operate or maintain the projects or implement the required environmental or safety measures."

Citing "concern that inadequate financing may result in threats to public safety and environmental resources", the Notice of Inquiry seeks public comment on when the Commission should require financial assurance from licensees -- whether in original licenses, on relicense, or in other authorizations such as transfers -- and whether the Commission should require licensees to reaffirm or recertify that they have adequate financial assurance instruments in place.

The Notice of Inquiry describes three potential options identified by Commission staff:  

(1) requiring licensees to obtain bonds to cover the costs of safety measures and project operation and maintenance; (2) establishing an industry-wide trust or remediation fund or requiring licensees to maintain an individual trust, escrow, or remediation fund; or (3) requiring licensees to obtain insurance policies for unforeseen safety hazards or dam failures. 

Renewables will power most U.S. generation additions in 2021, says EIA

Renewable resources will power over two-thirds of the new electric generating capacity that will be added to the U.S. grid in 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 

EIA tracks planned and operating utility-scale electric power generation in the U.S. The agency reports that developers and power plant owners plan for about 39.7 gigawatts of new utility-scale generation to start commercial operation in 2021.

Solar is planned to account for 15.4 gigawatts of generating capacity additions. Solar represents the largest share of planned capacity additions for 2021, at 39 percent. This would exceed 2020's addition of about gigawatts of solar, to set a new record for U.S. solar capacity additions. According to EIA, over one-quarter of this new solar photovoltaic capacity will be installed in Texas. EIA separately forecasts an additional 4.1 gigawatts of small-scale solar PV capacity to come online this year. Federal tax incentives, state solar policies, and declining cost curves for solar systems contribute to this growth.

Wind is planned to account for 12.2 gigawatts of added capacity in 2021, or about 31 percent of the additions. EIA notes that this represents a reduction relative to the roughly 21 gigawatts of wind capacity that came online in 2020.

According to EIA, about 6.6 gigawatts of new natural gas-fired capacity is planned for 2021, a mix of combined-cycle and combustion-turbine generators. EIA notes that over 70% of planned natural gas additions will be sited in just 3 states: Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

A single nuclear power reactor -- at the Vogtle plant in Georgia -- is slated to come online in 2021, contributing 1.1 gigawatts of new capacity.

EIA also tracks battery plans, projecting that 4.3 gigawatts of battery power capacity additions will come online in 2021. This would more than quadruple the cumulative level of battery capacity installed to date.