Holyoke utility imposes moratorium on new gas service, citing pipeline constraints

The municipal utility serving the town that hosts the headquarters for the operator of the regional electric grid has informed its customers that the utility “is unable to accommodate new natural gas service requests due to the lack of natural gas availability in the region.” Holyoke Gas & Electric adds, “Recent proposals that would increase natural gas capacity in the region have been met with opposition, and the current pipeline constraints are causing significant adverse environmental and economic impacts on the region's ratepayers."

Holyoke Gas & Electric is a consumer-owned municipal utility established in 1902 through the purchase of a gas and electric plant from the Holyoke Water Power Company. According to the utility, the town saw ownership of a municipal utility "as a way to stabilize rates and keep local control over their energy services." As a municipal utility, Holyoke Gas & Electric is operated as a not-for-profit concern, and is owned by the community it serves. The utility cites public power advantages from this structure including operating in the local public interest, with local control over rates and services, local ownership, and reliance on local employees. In 1999, the utility acquired the Holyoke Dam, the city's canal system, and the remainder of the Holyoke Water Power Company's assets. The utility touts its ability to produce over 65% of its electricity needs from these renewable hydropower resources and cites "some of the lowest utility rates in New England."

Holyoke's Gas Division provides natural gas service through about 9,900 meters in Holyoke and Southampton. But on January 28, 2019, the utility gave its customers notice that it had placed a moratorium on most new natural gas service installations. According to that notice, the utility's natural gas customers are served by an interstate pipeline "which has become severely constrained due to a dramatic increase in demand over the last two decades," with "no corresponding increase in pipeline capacity to deliver additional supply to the region." As a result of significant growth in demand for natural gas by Holyoke's customers, HG&E said it is "forced to impose a moratorium on new natural gas connections until the capacity issue is addressed."

The utility further explained, "While inexpensive natural gas has never been more plentiful in the United States, there is insufficient pipeline capacity in our region to deliver additional load. Recent proposals that would increase natural gas capacity in the region have been met with opposition, and the current pipeline constraints are causing significant adverse environmental and economic impacts on the region's ratepayers." In its notice, the utility noted that due to the lack of natural gas during peak demand periods, "more electric generators are forced to switch to oil, while coal generators are called upon to operate, causing significant spikes in greenhouse gas emissions." Regional electric grid operator ISO New England, which is headquartered in Holyoke, reported that during a 15-day cold spell in January 2018, over two million barrels of oil were burned to generate electricity due to the lack of natural gas, more than the total amount of oil burned in 2017.

Beyond increased emissions, the utility also used ISO-NE data to show how "the lack of natural gas has a significant impact on energy costs throughout New England." Citing data from ISO-NE, the utility observed that during the two-week period from December 26, 2017 to January 8, 2018, electricity prices experienced an "approximately $700 million increase in energy costs for New England ratepayers compared to the prior year."

Holyoke Gas & Electric says it is working with gas utility Columbia Gas of Massachusetts to explore a solution involving system upgrades in other communities to "address local capacity issues, which will help reduce regional carbon emissions, improve reliability, and support local economic development." In the meantime, HG&E says its moratorium on new natural gas connections will remain in place "until the capacity issue is addressed."

Tide Mill Institute 2018 symposium

Tide Mill Institute holds its 14th annual conference on November 10, 2018, in Beverly, Massachusetts. The symposium -- "Creating Tide Mills -- Then and Now", features educators, historians, environmentalists, archeologists and others interested in tidal power and its history.

Tide Mill Institute exists to advance the appreciation of tide mill history and technology by encouraging research, by promoting appropriate re-uses of former tide mill sites, and by fostering communication among tide mill enthusiasts. Since 2005, the Institute has held an annual symposium on the past, present, and future uses of tidal energy.

This year's conference topics focus on how humans historically extracted power from the tides, as well as on efforts to use this power again in the current era. Speakers and discussions will address topics including:

• Medieval vertical and horizontal millwheels and their diffusion from mainland Europe.
• Fresh-water tidal rice mills in South Carolina.
• An in-stream tidal device in New York’s East River supplying power to the grid.
• Proposed perpetual tidal power system for Salem Massachusetts.
• A tide mill at the heart of the 1775 Battle of Brooklyn.
• Winter storm surges damage historic tide mills in Massachusetts and New York.
• Recreating gearing features of two early North Shore tide mills.
• A new tidal energy canal for Boston?
• The structure of tide mill dams.

Tide Mill Institute's 2018 symposium will be held on Saturday, November 10, 2018, from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, at the Cummings Center in Beverly, Massachusetts. Registration materials are available on Tide Mill Institute's website. Lunch is included; attendees are encouraged to register by November 1.

FERC staff recommends against Bear River dam

Staff of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have recommended against licensing a dam, reservoir, and hydropower project proposed for the Bear River near Preston, Idaho.

The case involves a 2013 application by Twin Lakes Canal Company to the FERC for a license to construct, operate, and maintain the Bear River Narrows Project.  The project would be located on the main stem of the Bear River in Franklin County, Idaho, about 9 miles northeast of the city of Preston. It would feature a 109-foot-high dam impounding a 362-acre reservoir, and a powerhouse with an installed capacity of 10 megawatts and estimated average annual generation of of 48,531 megawatt-hours of electricity.  The reservoir would also be used to provide up to 5,000 acre-feet of water to Twin Lakes’ irrigation system during dry years.

Under the Federal Power Act, the FERC is charged with processing licenses for most hydropower projects in the U.S.  Federal law guides the FERC in this duty.  Sections 4(e) and 10(a)(1) of that act require the Commission to give equal consideration to the power development purposes and to the purposes of energy conservation; the protection of, mitigation of damage to, and enhancement of fish and wildlife; the protection of recreational opportunities; and the preservation of other aspects of environmental quality.  The Commission can only issue licenses that in its judgment are best adapted to a comprehensive plan for improving or developing a waterway or waterways for all beneficial public uses.  Additionally, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 requires the agency to analyze and document the environmental effects of proposed federal actions such as granting Twin Lakes' application.

Commission staff released its final environmental impact statement on Twin Lakes' license application on April 27, 2016.  That document, called an EIS, analyzes the effects of proposed project construction and operation, and recommends conditions for any license that may be issued for the project.

In the Bear River Narrows Project EIS, FERC staff considered Twin Lakes’ proposal for licensing, as well as three alternatives: (1) no-action (i.e. not licensing the project, so it can't be constructed); (2) the applicant’s proposal with staff modifications (staff licensing alternative); and (3) the staff licensing alternative with an additional condition requested by the Bureau of Land Management.

The EIS notes the existence of four Commission-licensed hydroelectric facilities located on the Bear River in Idaho with a combined installed capacity of more than 78 MW, including the Oneida development directly upstream.  It also notes uses of the "Oneida Narrows" section of the Bear River that would be flooded by the Bear River Narrows Project impoundment, including a recreational trout fishery and boating opportunities, and habitat for sensitive wildlife species.

Based on a review of the anticipated environmental and economic effects of the proposed project and its alternatives, as well as the agency and public comments filed on this project, staff recommends no action (license denial) as the preferred alternative.  In staff's words, "The overall, unavoidable adverse environmental effects of both action alternatives would outweigh the power and water storage benefits of the project."

For these reasons, FERC staff concluded that "any license issued for the proposed project could not be best adapted to a comprehensive plan for improving or developing the Bear River for all of its beneficial public uses, especially its substantial public recreation use at the proposed project site. We, therefore, recommend license denial."

Twin Lakes Canal Company's application to the Commission for a license to construct the project remains pending.

spring-fed small hydro in Idaho?

Small-scale hydroelectric projects are receiving renewed interest as society looks for cost-effective ways to produce electricity using local, renewable resources.  Depending on available sites and on what alterntative resources might be available, microhydro or small-scale hydroelectric projects can fit the bill.  Even if you own a first-class site for a microhydro project, before you can build or operate your project, you need to understand what federal and state regulations may apply.  Some small hydro projects are treated much like full-scale dam-based hydropower projects, while others (like small projects using existing conduits, pipes or canals) can get an easier regulatory path to approval.

A small hydro project proposed near Grace, Idaho illustrates some of these regulatory considerations, and the importance of understanding how regulators apply the rules.  Grace is a town of about 1,000 people located in Idaho's Gem Valley.  The Bear River runs through the valley on its course flowing out of Bear Lake, around the Bear River Range by Soda Springs, and then south through Grace into Utah's Cache Valley.  In the early twentieth century, recognizing the area's water resources and topographic variation, a series of dams, diversion pipes and powerhouses were built along the Bear River to produce hydroelectricity.  One side effect was that a stretch of river known as Black Canyon was largely dewatered, as an aqueduct carried the water around the canyon to a downstream powerhouse.  Ultimately, Utah Power and Light (and then PacifiCorp) came to operate these assets, and chose to remove one of the dams, an aqueduct and one powerhouse in 2006 and 2007, and to provide some increased flows through the Black Canyon section.

There may be ways to generate hydroelectricity in Grace without diverting water away from the Bear River. Last month, a local farmer with interests in canals and hydro development proposed a new hydro project near Grace.  The Gilbert Hydropower Project proposed to capture the flows of several natural springs and pipe this water about 700 feet to a turbine/generator unit.  Currently, the water is partially used for pasture irrigation with the unused portion flowing into the Bear River; the developer proposes to install a 24‐inch diameter above-ground pipeline to send the water to a Pelton turbine attached to a 75 kW generator.

In its application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (docketed by FERC as Project No. 14367-000), the project developer requested an exemption from the licensing requirements of the Federal Power Act under the so-called "5 megawatt exemption" rule.  That rule allows the Commission to exempt small hydroelectric projects with an installed capacity of 5 megawatts or less that: (1) are located at the site of any dam in existence on or before July 22, 2005, and that use the water power potential of such dam for the generation of electricity; or (2) use a “natural water feature” to generate electricity, without the need for any dam or impoundment.

FERC dismissed the Gilbert project's request for an exemption, noting, "Because [the] project would utilize the flows of a natural spring that travel through 700 feet of pipe to reach the proposed turbine/generator unit, it would neither be at the site of an existing dam nor use the flows from a natural water feature", and thus was ineligible for an exemption.  However, FERC did invite the Gilbert developers to convert their exemption application to a license application, which the developers did earlier this month.  The developers now have until June 18, 2012, to submit the additional information needed for a complete license application.

What's in the future for Grace, Idaho?  What role could using nontraditional water resources such as springs play there or elsewhere in our energy future?

New hydropower from old canals

Innovative approaches could enable a significant increase in the production of hydroelectricity from water flowing through existing canals, conduits and major pipes owned by the U.S. federal government.  According to a recent report prepared by the federal Bureau of Reclamation, the 2012 Site Inventory and Hydropower Energy Assessment of Reclamation Owned Conduits, manmade water control structures managed by the Bureau of Reclamation have the potential to produce an additional 1.565 million MWh of electricity annually.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is a federal water management agency within the Department of the Interior, already experienced at both water management and hydroelectric generation. The Bureau has built over 600 dams and reservoirs in 17 Western states, and is the largest wholesaler of water in the country as well as the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western United States. The Bureau's 58 powerplants produce over 40 billion kilowatt hours annually, generating nearly a billion dollars in revenue for the federal government.

Last year the Bureau of Reclamation performed a reconnaissance level assessment of the hydropower potential at 530 sites throughout Reclamation including dams, diversion dams, and some canals and tunnels. In its 2011 report, the Bureau found that 191 sites out of the 530 had some level of hydropower potential, with 70 of those sites (representing a total of 225 MW of generation capacity, or 1.2 million MWh annually) also showing some economic potential for hydropower development.

This year's report found 373 existing Bureau of Reclamation canals and conduits could be used to produce hydropower; together, they could generate an additional 365,219 megawatt-hours of hydropower annually.  Because these canals and conduits are both manmade and already existing, the development of hydroelectric generation facilities using their water may have relatively fewer adverse environmental impacts compared to building a new, traditional dam.  Congress is considering legislation to further enable the development of hydropower from these nontraditional resources, including H.R. 2842, the Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act of 2011.

"Small hydro" bill before Congress

Today the full U.S. House of Representatives considers a bill to create jobs and expand production of clean and renewable energy by eliminating red tape on hydropower projects in some small canals and pipelines.  Sponsored by Rep. Scott Tipton of Colorado, H.R. 2842 is better known as the Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act of 2011.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is a federal water management agency within the Department of the Interior.  The Bureau has built over 600 dams and reservoirs in 17 Western states, and is the largest wholesaler of water in the country as well as the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western United States. The Bureau's 58 powerplants produce over 40 billion kilowatt hours annually, generating nearly a billion dollars in revenue for the federal government.

Beyond these traditional hydroelectric plants, the Bureau of Reclamation's infrastructure systems include canals and pipes holding water capable of producing hydroelectricity but which are not currently doing so.  H.R. 2842 would streamline the regulatory process and reduce administrative costs for small hydropower development at existing Bureau of Reclamation canals and pipes.  It would allow the Bureau to contract with water utilities or other small hydro developers to install up to 1.5 MW of electric generation equipment into an existing canal or conduit without triggering environmental review requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  It would also direct the Bureau to offer preference to water user organizations for the development of such projects under a federal lease of power privilege.

Some environmentalists have criticized the bill for relaxing environmental protections, although the House Natural Resources Committee found that the environmental impact of adding hydropower to these assets would be minimal to none because they existing man-made facilities  on disturbed ground.  If the bill passes, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that it could generate $5 million in additional federal revenues through increased hydropower production over the next decade.

Additionally, the bill could be seen as empowering small hydro projects, although its current scope is limited to projects using existing Bureau of Reclamation canals and conduits.  Nevertheless, if the bill is enacted following today's House action, it could represent a tip toward renewed small hydro development in the U.S.