EIA data on electricity generator costs

What does it cost to build a new power plant?  The answer depends on the technology used and other factors - but the U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes a useful reference presenting its analysis of the so-called "overnight cost" of building new centralized electricity generation stations using a variety of technologies.

Each year, the EIA publishes an Annual Energy Outlook containing projections for the upcoming year.  This outlook considers a variety of potential future outcomes based on factors like changes in the demand for electricity or variations in fuel pricing.

Underlying the outlook is a series of assumptions about factors including the demand for electricity.  A document released last week by EIA looks at a variety of new central station electricity generating technologies, and provides cost and performance characteristics for each.

One section of the data focuses on the total overnight cost of new projects initiated in 2011, defined as the overnight capital cost including contingency factors, excluding regional multipliers, learning effects, and interest.  According to EIA, advanced combustion turbines have the lowest overnight cost: $666 per kilowatt (in 2010 dollars).  By contrast, municipal solid waste - landfill gas facilities have the highest overnight cost: $8,233 per kW.  Other technologies fall between these two extremes.

Capital cost is only one piece of the puzzle; variable and fixed operations and maintenance costs also play a major role in the economics of electric generation.  According to EIA, variable O&M costs range from zero per megawatt-hour (for onshore and offshore wind, and solar thermal and photovoltaic) to $14.70 per MWh for a conventional combustion turbine.  Fixed O&M costs range from as low as $6.70 per kilowatt for advanced combustion turbines to as high as $378.76 per kW for MSW - landfill gas facilities.

Not every technology is appropriate for any given site, and economic considerations must be matched with environmental, siting, and other factors in choosing power plant technologies needed to meet consumer demand.  EIA's data is also aggregated and analytically-derived, meaning individual projects will likely have capital or O&M costs that deviate from these averages.  Nevertheless the EIA data illustrates some of the dynamics underlying our future energy mix - will we build facilities with low capital costs but higher O&M costs, more expensive facilities with lower O&M costs -- or can we find technologies that perform well in all categories?

Solar-powered highway in Colorado

Facilities along a 17-mile segment of a Colorado toll highway are now powered by solar-generated electricity.  The project, which involved the construction of 22 solar installation sites along the route, was financed through a long-term power purchase agreement that allows the highway authority to avoid direct exposure to the capital costs of construction.

Solar photovoltaic panels at Goblin Valley State Park, Utah.

Colorado E-470 is a beltway that loops around the east side of the Denver metropolitan area.  The road is administered by the E-470 Public Highway Authority, a political subdivision of the State of Colorado.  Much of the authority's expenses center on road maintenance, but electricity costs are one component of its operational budget.  For example, electricity is used to power streetlights, signs, toll collection equipment, toll plazas, maintenance facilities and the authority's administrative headquarters.

Looking to reduce its operational costs, the highway authority focused on the development of solar photovoltaic facilities.  Rather than developing the project itself, or purchasing a turnkey project, the authority entered into a deal with Adamas Energy Investments to develop the project.  Under that deal, Adamas and solar developer Martifer Solar USA constructed solar PV electric generation facilities along part of E-470 at no direct cost to the authority.  Instead, the authority entered into a 20-year solar power purchase agreement with Adamas to purchase the project's output. 

According to EVStudio, the designer of the piers for the installations, the project is anticipated to produce 975,436 kWh in its first year of operation.  The exact pricing terms of the deal are not readily available to the public, but the authority has stated that it anticipates paying Adamas less per kilowatt-hour than it would to incumbent utility Xcel Energy.  According to the authority, the first six years' pricing is fixed, followed by a fixed annual increase for the 14 remaining years of the PPA.

California building energy efficiency rules

California regulators have issued strong new building energy efficiency standards.  Yesterday the California Energy Commission issued its so-called 2013 Building Energy Efficiency Standards, which require new buildings to meet significantly higher energy efficiency targets than under the previous rules issued in 2008.

According to the Commission, the 2013 Building Energy Efficiency Standards are 25 percent more efficient than the 2008 standards for residential construction and 30 percent better for nonresidential construction.  These standards apply to all new buildings other than hospitals, nursing homes, correctional centers, jails, and prisons.

New requirements for residential construction include insulating hot water pipes, tighter window performance standards, whole house fans to reduce evening air condition demand, and "solar ready roof" requirements to facilitate the installation of solar photovoltaic or solar thermal panels at a future date.  Commercial and other nonresidential standards are similar, including high-performance windows, efficient process equipment for grocery stores, advanced lighting controls, and cool roof technologies.

Designing and constructing buildings to these standards will increase the capital cost of development, but the Commission projects that the energy savings will outweigh these costs.  According to the Commission, the standards will increase the average cost of constructing a new home by $2,290 but will return more than $6,200 in energy savings over 30 years.

California's 2013 standards were supported by a broad coalition of interests, including construction trade associations, environmental activist groups, and gas and electric utilities.  While state-mandated building energy codes face opposition in some parts of the country, California is no stranger to mandatory building energy efficiency standards.  California first issued standards in 1977, following the 1976 enactment of the Warren-Alquist Act.  The California Energy Commission notes that since 1978, it has saved Californians $66 billion in electricity and natural gas costs through energy efficient building and appliance standards.

The new standards take effect on January 1, 2014.

Net metering and utility charges

As more electricity customers are installing solar panels and other distributed generation, many are participating in net metering programs under which they can run their utility meter backwards -- but utilities are complaining that net metering customers don't pay their share of the grid's operating costs.

In states and utility territories where net metering is allowed, customers can use eligible distributed generation (typically renewable generation like solar photovoltaic or small-scale wind, or micro combined heat and power) to offset their consumption of electricity from the grid.  Even if the customer draws power from the grid at some times and injects power back onto the grid at other times, net metering or net energy billing allows the customer to offset distributed generation against purchases. 

While many states embrace net metering as a policy, some utilities complain that net metering customers can be free riders.  If a customer's solar panels produce as much power in a month as the customer consumed, net metering could credit that customer with a zero utility bill - even though at various times times, the customer relied on the grid for imports and exports.  As a result, some utilities are seeking to impose new charges on customers for net metering.  For example, last fall Virginia regulators approved part of utility Dominion's request to impose "standby" charges on certain net metering customers.  Solar advocates and other distributed generation interests typically oppose such charges as roadblocks to achieving the societal benefits of net metering.

The issue continues to simmer around the country.  California utility San Diego Gas & Electric Co. recently proposed adding a "network use charge" onto customers' bills.  SDG&E's concept was that the charge -- about $22 per month for the average net metering customer with a solar PV system -- would properly allocate the cost of maintaining the grid to these customers.  The utility argued that without the charge, net energy metering customers were being subsidized by all other customers.  Earlier this year, California regulators rejected the idea (see the 16-page order at the California Public Utilities Commission website), noting concerns that the proposed charge "may be inconsistent with current law, regardless of whether it is justified by cost causation principles or an analysis of the crosssubsidies inherent in current policies."  As a result, SDG&E refiled its rate application without the charge.

Virginia considers net metering and utility standby charges

Virginia, like many states, allows grid-connected electricity customers to use customer-sited generation to offset its electric bill.  This practice is called net metering.

Virginia regulators are now considering a proposal by utility Dominion Virginia Power to impose two “standby” charges on net-metered solar photovoltaic systems larger than 10 kW.  The policy questions raised by this case appear in other contexts where incentives for clean, distributed generation run up against utility ratemaking considerations.  Utilities typically argue that they need to allocate costs fairly among their customers, while customer-sited generation advocates point to both the value of distributed generation and the array of incentives promoting customer-sited generation.

In June 2011, the Virginia legislature enacted House Bill 1983, directing Dominion to allow residential customers to net meter solar photovoltaicsystems between 10 kW and 20 kW.  Dominion responded by petitioning the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) for approval of tariff changes that it argued are necessary to reflect its actual costs in supporting these customers’ peak loads.  The utility proposed to add monthly standby charges for transmission and distribution service based on each net-metered customer’s highest 30-minute demand.

Utilities often argue that their fixed costs in serving net-metering customers – maintaining wires, transformers, and other infrastructure – are the same as if the customers had no generation.  If a customer can be self-sufficient most of the time, the utility grid must still be of a sufficient size to deliver the customers’ peak demand when it is needed, such as when customer-sited generation fails.  Dominion requested approval of its standby charges to ensure fair cost allocation among customers.

Distributed generation advocates, on the other hand, argue that the standby charges would result in overcharging net-metered customers.  In Dominion's case, a witness for the Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia Solar Energy Industries Association testified the standby charge would result in higher charges for a net-metered customer than a regular customer consuming the same amount of grid-purchased electricity.  The witness also testified that net-metering customers should receive credits for generating cost-effective energy, and for reducing the utility’s transmission line losses.  Diverse distributed generation may also reduce utilities’ distribution costs.  The solar association argued that Dominion's standby charges ignored these benefits, and would chill distributed solar development in spite of Virginia's net-metering policy.

The Virginia State Corporation Commission held a hearing on Dominion's request last week, and is expected to issue an order resolving the matter.

Blythe shifts from concentrating solar to PV

One of the world's largest solar projects may partially shift from concentrating solar thermal to photovoltaic technology.  If it happens, this technological shift demonstrates how different technologies compete for market share even within a given project.

Over the past year, I've written several times about the Blythe solar energy project under development in California.  Proposed by Solar Trust of America, a joint venture between German developers Solar Millenium AG and Ferrostaal AG, the full-scale project could add about 1,000 megawatts of new solar capacity to the regional grid -- about as much capacity as a nuclear plant, although less capable of producing that full value around the clock.  As originally proposed, the Blythe project would rely on mirrors to concentrate the sun's rays to heat water, making steam to run turbine generators.

Solar Millenium has now announced plans to convert the first 500 MW phase of the Blythe project to solar photovoltaics.  With this decision, the Blythe project is now on track to follow nearly 1,850 MW more California solar capacity changing from solar thermal to solar PV in just the last year.  Observers note that this shift is spurred in part by lower photovoltaic costs as a result of greater market penetration, with solar panel elements falling nearly 50% in cost in recent months.

The Blythe developers have not yet selected a PV panel manufacturer, nor have they specified the technology for a second 500 MW phase of the project.

August 15, 2011 - Canadian utility versus distributed solar

State and provincial governments are implementing programs designed to promote the growth of small-scale distributed renewable energy projects like solar photovoltaic installations.  For these programs to succeed, new distributed energy projects need to be able to interconnect into the existing utility grid on a fair and predictable timeline.  For this reason, feed-in tariff and other distributed generation programs must work hand-in-hand with utility tariffs requiring fair interconnection access – but some solar and renewable industry groups are concerned that utilities may not be honoring these obligations.

A small solar array serving the Utah Communications Agency Network radio system atop Beaver Mountain, UT.

Consider the example of the Canadian province of Ontario.  The Ontario Power Authority – the entity charged with ensuring an adequate, long-term supply of electricity in Ontario – offers feed-in tariff programs for qualified generation.  Ontario’s “micro-FIT” program gives developers of small renewable power projects – 10 kW or less – long-term contracts to sell the projects’ output at a fixed price.  For rooftop solar projects, these contracts pay 80.2 ¢ per kWh for a 20-year term – about ten times the most recent regulated retail electricity price in Ontario.

As anticipated, this program has drawn interest from thousands of developers of small generating units – perhaps as many as 25,000 by earlier this year.  Each of these projects is entitled to interconnect to the electric grid in a timely fashion, but doing so requires the local utility to evaluate the technical and engineering aspects of the interconnection to ensure safety and system reliability.  For example, a utility must formally offer to interconnect with a project within 15 days if it is at an existing interconnection point, with actual interconnection to be completed within 5 days after the utility receives its customer’s payment and signed agreement.

Some utilities are having trouble complying with this schedule.  In a case currently pending before Ontario’s energy regulator, one utility has asked for a waiver of the interconnection timeline.  Hydro One Networks Inc.’s April 2011 petition to the Ontario Energy Board, docketed as case EB-2011-118, notes that it was in non-compliance on an estimated 442 interconnection applications based on the utility’s failure to meet tariffed deadlines.  As a result, the utility asked to be relieved of its scheduling commitments for six months.

Businesses, homeowners, and the solar installation industry have objected to this request, pointing out that they have already suffered great harm as a result of the utility’s failure to meet its interconnection timing deadlines.  Evidence submitted in the case suggests millions of dollars in lost revenue, layoffs, and business closures as a direct result of the utility’s missed deadlines.

The Ontario Energy Board conducted hearings on the utility’s waiver request, but has not yet issued a ruling.  When it does, it may affect not only people interested in solar energy development but moreover the balance between traditional centralized utility organization and Ontario’s pro-distributed generation feed-in tariff policy.

July 28, 2011 - Vermont's largest solar array compared to California's

Solar energy projects come in a variety of shapes and sizes: photovoltaic (PV) or thermal, large or small.  A look at Vermont's new largest solar project, and how it compares to the largest solar project in the US under development in California, highlights the range of solar power projects.

Yesterday, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin officially activated a 2.2-megawatt solar photovoltaic system in South Burlington, Vermont.  Located on a 25 acre site amidst farmland on the fringes of Burlington's metro area, the $12 million project owned by Chittenden County Solar Partners is projected to produce 2.91 million kWh annually.  This output will be sold to Vermont's Sustainably Priced Energy Development (SPEED) Program under a 25-year power purchase agreement.  This PPA, made possible by Vermont's standard offer law, lets sell the solar project sell its output to Vermont utilities at a guaranteed price set by state regulators: in this case, 30 cents per kilowatt-hour.  This is about twice the average retail price for all electricity sold to residential users in Vermont.  Developers note that long-term contracts with guaranteed pricing are often necessary in order to finance projects.  While the Vermont Public Service Board has since lowered the standard offer to 24 cents, the South Burlington project's contract guarantees it the contract price.

Meanwhile, the largest solar project under construction may be the Blythe Solar Power Project in Southern California.  When the project is complete at 968 MW, this solar thermal power station will dward the scale of a distributed photovoltaic project like AllEarth's in Vermont.

What these two projects have in common is that they will both operate by capturing usable energy from the sun.  Both are new, meaning there are jobs involved in designing, constructing, and operating them.  Both can be expected to displace fossil fuel-fired generation, and qualify as renewable under federal and state policy.

The differences are perhaps more striking.  The Blythe project is a massive centralized project, while one of the key features of the Vermont project is its distributed nature.  Not only can distributed generation projects avoid the need to build new large transmission lines just to get the project's power to market -- a significant issue for centralized projects like those in California -- but distributed generation can even enhance the strength of the existing grid by shoring up voltages and reducing line losses.  Combined with the different technologies involved and the different overall project scales, these two solar energy projects illustrate the broad range of projects falling under the solar power umbrella.

April 26, 2011 - Ivanpah solar deals with tortoise impacts

Two weeks ago, I noted Google's investment in the 392 MW Ivanpah solar project in California's Mojave Desert, and how it benefited from $1.6 billion in Department of Energy loan guarantees.  Developer BrightSource Energy started construction on Phase I of the Ivanpah project in October 2010, with two subsequent phases slated for development shortly thereafter.  BrightSource's business plan also includes an initial public offering, which led the company to file an S-1 securities registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Solar photovoltaic panels above Beaver Mountain ski area near Logan, Utah.

The Ivanpah project has now hit a speedbump in the form of a tortoise.  The desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) lives in the Mojave desert, including in the area where the Ivanpah project is proposed.  As a result, BrightSource has apparently stopped work on the construction of Ivanpah's second and third phases.

BrightSource noted in its S-1 filing that "in April 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, advised us that it will require the issuance of a revised biological opinion by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, or FWS, prior to providing permission to proceed with the construction of Ivanpah’s second and third phases".

The Fish and Wildlife Service is reportedly developing that opinion now, which should be finalized over the summer.

April 19, 2011 - 400 MW solar project proposed in California

Last week I noted Google's investment in the 392 megawatt Ivanpah solar project in California.  That project, which is currently under construction in the Mojave Desert, is on track to be the world's largest solar thermal project.  Ivanpah uses heliostat mirrors to focus sunlight on centrally located solar power towers.  The towers use the solar energy to generate steam.  The steam runs through steam turbines and a generator to produce electricity.

"Turn your grocery bags into green energy" - seen at a Vermont market

Now an even larger solar project has been proposed for California -- this time solar photovoltaic.   Developer Pegasus Energy has proposed a 400 MW solar PV power plant on about 2,000 acres in Alameda County California.  The Mountain House Solar Farm would sell power to local utility PG&E, and might break ground in early 2013.

As we often see, the twin challenges of financing and regulatory uncertainty team up to add a wrinkle to these plans.  The developer has built a financing model based on using an incentive authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: a cash grant in lieu of the federal 30% business energy investment tax credit (ITC).  That incentive program, known as the 1603 grant program, is currently slated to end this year.  The developer is reportedly hopeful that grant funds will be extended until January 1, 2013, and would be available to help finance the project.  This may be a realistic hope, as the 1603 program has already been extended once (by Section 707 of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010), so renewal is possible.  On the other hand, recent struggles over the federal budget do call into question the continued survival of any given clean energy incentive programs.  Will Congress renew the 1603 energy grant program?

March 1, 2011 - solar ships

For millennia, humans have used renewable energy to propel ships over the oceans.  The winds that have filled the sails of hundreds of generations' most technologically advanced vessels gained their power from the Sun's radiation shining on land and sea, creating temperature differentials that in turn caused the winds to blow.  Archaeological evidence suggests that the first sailboats may have been used by the Egyptians over 6,000 years ago.  Sail technology may have arisen in multiple separate regions of the world over time, but whoever was responsible for the first sailboats clearly started something big: harnessing renewable energy to move people and cargo over the water.

Photo: winter in Northeast Harbor, Mount Desert Island, Maine.

 Sailcraft still ply the world's waters of course, though the development of commercially-viable steam engines in the 18th century significantly changed the course of ship design and technology.  Naval engineers and marine architects continue to make advances in sailcraft design, using new materials and new design tools to create faster and more efficient vessels.  At the same time, a new kind of renewable propulsion system is arising: solar-powered ships.

As you read this, the 100-foot MS Turanor PlanetSolar has crossed the Atlantic, traversed the Panama Canal, and is well under way across the Pacific in its bid to be the first solar-powered vessel to circumnavigate the globe.  Constructed by Knierim Yacht Club, in Kiel, Germany, the PlanetSolar uses 537 m² of solar PV panels to generate up to 93.5 kW of power - about 125 hp.  The solar PV panels have an efficiency of 18.8%, and are linked to six 388-volt lithium ion batteries with an aggregate storage capacity of 2910 amp-hours (Ah).  (Compare the current Toyota Prius hybrid drive battery, which has a nominal capacity of 6 Ah.)

October 6, 2010 - solar panels on the White House

While in Portland yesterday, I walked past the 41000 square foot Evie Cianchette building on Commercial Street, where I saw this plaque.



Not bad!


Speaking of building energy sustainability: whether through the efforts of Bill McKibben or otherwise, President Obama has decided to install solar panels on the White House after all.  We can expect a competitive solicitation in the coming months to select a vendor to provide and install somewhere between 20 and 50 solar panels.

August 30, 2010 - Cape Wind; German solar to beat wind?

The dome at the Maine State House - currently netted for construction.

The Boston Globe editorial team has come out in qualified support of utility National Grid's proposed long-term contract with Cape Wind.  The editors note that consumers are correct to consider whether it is appropriate for them to be required pay more than 25% more for energy from renewable sources than for energy as a commodity.  They do note that because the Cape Wind contract represents about 3.5% of National Grid's load, the impact on ratepayers will be diluted -- about $1.24 per month for the average residential consumer.  After a close examination, should the Department of Public Utilities approve the deal?  The editors' answer: "no if the goal is simply to keep utility costs as low as possible in 2010 — but yes if Massachusetts wants to be a future leader in renewable technology."

Meanwhile, Germany has announced that its solar PV capacity may exceed its wind capacity by 2020.  A state energy adviser has projected that Germany will have 42 GW of installed capacity from solar photovoltaics by 2020 -- just enough to topple wind power, which is projected to reach 41.9 GW installed capacity.  Germany produces more electricity than any other nation in Europe.

August 16, 2010 - renewable energy standards and goals

NPR has an interesting set of graphics today illustrating the diversity of U.S. states' policies on renewable energy.  As we saw last month, the U.S. does not have a federal-level renewable energy standard, or even a specific goal for renewable development defined in terms of capacity (megawatts, or more realistically gigawatts).

The first factory built-to-order solar-powered integrated electric-vehicle charging station has been unveiled in Korea: the SunPods SP-300.  The unit, also known as the "EV Plug-N-Go", was first displayed at International Green Energy Expo Korea 2010 in Deagu, South Korea.

June 24, 2010 - FPL's De Soto Next Generation Solar facility; Patriot Renewables and Maine wind

In past entries, I've looked at FPL's Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center, which will combine solar thermal energy with existing steam boilers to power combined-cycle turbines.  As it turns out, FPL and its NextEra siblings already operate the largest solar photovoltaic power plant in the United States: the 25-megawatt DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center. At DeSoto, over 90,500 PV panels are projected to generate about 42,000 megawatt-hours annually, enough power to serve about 3,000 homes.  Over 30 years, the DeSoto facility's generation will decrease fossil-fuel usage by approximately 7 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 277,000 barrels of oil.  This shift will displace more than 575,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent of removing more than 4,500 cars from the road every year for the entire life of the project.

How about costs?  The DeSoto facility cost $150 million to construct (and was $22 million under budget).  This translates roughly into a capital cost of 12 cents per kWh over the 30-year lifetime of the plant.

In Maine renewable news, the Lewiston Sun Journal reports that a petition is circulating in Dixfield that asks to leave wind siting decisions to a vote of the townspeople.  The second of two successive six-month moratorium periods will end this fall.  Dixfield wind energy isn't just a hypothetical situation; Massachusetts-based Patriot Renewables LLC has proposed developing the wind energy potential on Colonel Holman Mountain and its surrounding ridges.  Patriot Renewables also has a project proposed in nearby Carthage and Woodstock. (Woodstock and Carthage have both rejected moratoria recently.)  The area is also home to proposed projects by First Wind and Independence Wind in Rumford and Roxbury.  (Thanks to Mike Novello for straightening me out on the projects in this area of Maine.)

May 28, 2010 - National Grid unveils 1 MW rooftop solar in MA

National Grid now operates the largest solar site in Massachusetts, having completed its 1 MW solar generation facility in Whitinsville. Conveniently, National Grid already owned a suitable location: the flat roof of its own New England Distribution Center warehouse.

The development was made possible in part by the 2008 Massachusetts Green Communities Act, which allows utilities to own up to 50 megawatts of solar generation. The National Grid project is the first utility-owned solar project under this new law. National Grid plans several more projects in the coming year, totaling about 5 MW. The cost? Less than $6.5 million, says National Grid; the utility projects that the Whitinsville project will cost an average residential Massachusetts customer approximately one cent per month over the 20-year life of the project.

How about economic development through renewable power? The utility says the project created more than 50 green jobs in Massachusetts. For example, the solar panels themselves were manufactured by Evergreen Solar of Marlborough, and other local vendors and contractors were used where possible.

4/6/10

With the tragic explosion and collapse of the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia, operator Massey Energy's stock is tumbling. Coal mining has always been dangerous. Will the Big Branch disaster influence policymakers away from coal as a fuel source for electric generation? At least some financiers believe not, at least not enough to deviate from their "buy" rating. It will be interesting to see how the big coal lobby responds to the certain calls for greater government oversight of mine safety regulations.

Google and 46 other companies have asked the President for better real-time information on electricity usage. The group, including AT&T, Comcast, Hewlett-Packard, Verizon and Best Buy, wants better executive-branch support for technologies and devices that will help consumers measure their energy use in real time, and thereby to make better decisions -- the Prius effect. Beyond the social good that this would empower, no doubt Google wants to sell you the technology and interfaces to make this happen.

Premier Power Renewable Energy, Inc. has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with REgeneration Finance, LLC to fund solar PV projects ranging in size from 250kW to 2MW, in California, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

In offshore ocean energy news, a University of Delaware study concludes that it has figured out how to link offshore wind arrays to avoid the need for onshore backup power.

Maryland is pushing for a more rapid ramp-up of its solar RPS. Maryland law now requires utilities to source 2 percent of their power from solar sources by 2022, but there is a proposal afoot to accelerate deployment and increase penalties. 15-year projections suggest residential consumers might pay $2 more per month, beyond the current average monthly bill of $150 -- which some say will add to $1 billion over 15 years. Interestingly, there isn't enough solar PV in Maryland today: utility companies paid $1.2 million in penalties in 2008, and if penalties increase further, that number will rise. If the policy objective is to increase renewable deployment, you have to wonder if increasing penalties is the most effective way to get there.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has signed several green energy bills passed by the General Assembly this session. Key features include: a $500 tax credit to employers per green job created; increased funding and organizational support for clean energy research; the creation of the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority; and bonuses for investor-owned electric utilities who use wind energy.

4/5/10

Wind power stocks are up, particularly those companies that are "purely" focused on wind -- meaning not the broader utilities like FPL.

Meanwhile, some people are disappointed in small-scale residential and commercial wind projects. Apparently some Skystream turbines aren't generating the kWh that purchasers were expecting. This is something that many observers have been pointing out for years; in fact, Maine's community wind task force noted that the true value of community- or residential-scale wind projects is in promoting awareness and engendering a "clean green" feeling, as opposed to providing substantial economic relief to the homeowner or project owner.

Due to the economic downturn, water utilities are seeing less commercial and industrial use, meaning water rates will rise.

Los Angeles continues to struggle with what to do about increasing rates to fund energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction.

The world's tallest tower, the Dubai's Burj Khalifa, will use solar energy to heat its hot water.

Based on rosy economic projections, oil has hit an 18-month high.

Colorado-based Ascent Solar is developing a new thin-film solar PV technology based on copper, indium and gallium selenide — known as CIGS — on a plastic base.

3/31/10

It's a record: 11 inches of rain in Portland, Maine this March. The Portland Press Herald has some nice pictures of the effects of the Colcord Pond dam breach I mentioned yesterday. In Rhode Island, the flooding is bad enough -- 12 feet over the banks of the Pawtuxet River -- to greatly constrain the capacity of the Warwick wastewater treatment plant.

President Obama will announce more offshore oil drilling off the East Coast. Meanwhile oil prices are on the rise.

On Monday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $37.5 million in funding for the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center, a virtual campus located at existing research sites in both countries. The Center will focus on energy efficiency, clean vehicles and carbon capture from coal-fueled power plants -- something China has a lot of.

A panel of British lawmakers investigating the "climategate" leaked email scandal have labeled British climate change research as "damaged" by the incident. The 59-page report by the Commons Science and Technology Committee says that climate change research must become more transparent.

In California, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center will start generating 10% of its power needs through 15 MW of solar photovoltaic arrays. Kaiser has entered into power purchase agreements with Recurrent Energy, who will own and operate the solar panels and sell the power to Kaiser, while Kaiser will retain the rights to the renewable energy credits. Meanwhile other projects in California are in a permitting backlog, jeopardizing their chances at earning the 30% cash grant in lieu of investment tax credit, which requires ground to be broken this year.

The Los Angeles City Council has backed a much smaller rate hike than proposed by Mayor Villaraigosa: 0.1-cent increase per kilowatt-hour in the rates paid by residential and commercial customers of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, with the initial money to go toward establishing a trust fund for renewable-energy production and energy efficiency.

Wisconsin wants in on the manufacturing associated with renewable deployment.

3/22/10

A small fire broke out inside a trash shredder at the Biddeford, Maine waste-to-energy plant Maine Energy Recovery Company (MERC). Perhaps the energy content of the fuel was just bursting to be set free.

Remember the battle over whether the Fort Halifax dam and its associated hydroelectric generating capacity on the Sebasticook River in Winslow, Maine should be removed? The 100-year-old dam was breached in July 2008 after lengthy debate and legal proceedings. , In essence, dam owner FPL Energy Maine Hydro (formerly Florida Power & Light, now NextEra) found itself burdened by a fish passage requirement imposed during the Edwards Dam removal proceedings. Under the Kennebec Hydro Developers Group Agreement (or the KHDG Agreement), FPL found itself either required to breach the dam or install a particular fish passage technology. FPL elected to breach the dam. Many people, including state representative Ken Fletcher of Winslow, opposed this decision, arguing that FPL's choice would have dire environmental and cost consequences, and that it was bad policy in light of the overall push for more renewable capacity. Representative Fletcher has now filed a document with the Maine DEP demonstrating costs to taxpayers of between $950,000 and $1.6 million. Key cost components include: $114,997 for the town's share of replacing a sewer line exposed after breach, $30,375 in costs for title and survey work over and above the value the town recovered by selling formerly submerged lands, $800,000 more than previously estimated to replace the Mile Brook Bridge on Garland Road due to erosion, , and $725,396 to demolish six homes on an unstable riverside slope on Dallaire Street.

The "energy corridor" bill in Maine was voted Ought to Pass as Amended by the Joint Standing Committee on Utilities and Energy. Among the issues are how Maine should regulate high-impact transmission lines connecting the massive hydroelectric capacity of Hydro-Quebec to southern New England markets, given that these lines will affect Maine's costs and strategic energy position.

The AP is covering a story about a California water district's proposed use of 47 square miles of poorly-managed farmland -- land that due to bad water use is now very salty -- for a solar photovoltaic farm of up to one gigawatt.

Who wants free money? $1.3 million in energy grants through Efficiency Maine to Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle, Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor, Kennebec Community College in Augusta and Southern Maine Community College in South Portland. $2 million in grants for water projects too.

Wind siting: Thorndike voters approved the siting ordinance. Fort Kent votes tonight.