Federal funds expected for tribal clean energy projects

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs has announced its intent to make $50 million available this spring for clean energy technology deployment on tribal lands. 

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized the Department of Energy to establish the Office of Indian Energy, which is directed and authorized to provide, direct, foster, coordinate, and implement energy planning, education, management, development, and efficiency. Its mission is to maximize the development and deployment of energy solutions for the benefit of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

On January 26, 2023, the Office of Indian Energy issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to release a $50 million Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) later this year, to support clean energy technology deployment on tribal lands. Through the anticipated FOA, the Office of Indian Energy plans to solicit applications from Indian Tribes, which include Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Village Corporations, Intertribal Organizations, and Tribal Energy Development Organizations to: 

• Install clean energy generating system(s) and/or energy efficiency measure(s) for Tribal Building(s) (Area of Interest 1);
• Deploy community-scale clean energy generating system(s) or energy storage on Tribal Lands (Area of Interest 2);
• Install integrated energy system(s) for autonomous operation (independent of the traditional centralized electric power grid) to power a single or multiple essential tribal buildings during emergency situations or for tribal community resilience (Area of Interest 3); or
• Power unelectrified Tribal Buildings (Area of Interest Area 4).

Except for Area of Interest 4, the NOI indicates that awards are intended for Tribal Buildings that are either (1) grid-connected (connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid), or (2) connected to an integrated energy system(s) that operates autonomously from the grid (not connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid). Area of Interest 4 is intended to deploy integrated energy system(s) or energy infrastructure to provide electricity to Tribal Buildings which otherwise would be unelectrified, where “unelectrified” means Tribal Buildings that are not connected to (1) the traditional centralized electric power grid, or not connected to (2) an integrated energy system(s) operating independent of the traditional centralized electric power grid. 

According to the announcement, awards are anticipated to range from $100,000 to as much as $5 million, depending on its Area of Interest.

The NOI, formally named Clean Energy Technology Deployment on Tribal Lands – 2023 (DE-FOA-0002974), is available on the Office of Indian Energy's funding opportunities website. 

131st Maine Legislature EUT Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee

 As 2023 advances, the 131st Maine Legislature has convened in Augusta to pursue its lawmaking agenda. Under the Legislature's rules, the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology (EUT) plays important roles.

The EUT Committee is one of the 17 joint standing committees of the Maine Legislature, charged with responsibilities pursuant to the Legislature's Joint Rules including considering and reporting to both chambers on legislation; reviewing and making recommendations on budgeting and fiscal policy issues concerning state government; conducting oversight and review of the actions of departments and agencies of state government; reviewing and making recommendations on gubernatorial appointments that require legislative confirmation; and performing other tasks assigned to them, like reviewing specific provisions of law, conducting studies on assigned topics, issuing reports on policy and legal issues of interest to the Legislature, and reporting out specific legislation pursuant to joint order. The EUT Committee exercises jurisdiction in the areas of energy, utilities and technology. Other committees exercise jurisdiction over other areas, such as environment and natural resources.

By rule, each of the joint standing committee consists of 13 members, 3 from the Senate and 10 from the House of Representatives. For the 131st Legislature, the following legislators have been assigned or appointed to the EUT Committee:

• Senator Mark Lawrence of York- Chair D - Senate District 35
• Senator Nicole Grohoski of Hancock D - Senate District 7
• Senator Matthew Harrington of York R - Senate District 33
• Representative Stanley Zeigler of Montville- Chair D - House District 40 
• Representative Mark Babin of Fort Fairfield R - House District 3 
• Representative James Boyle of Gorham D - House District 109 
• Representative Larry Dunphy of Embden U - House District 72 
• Representative Steven Foster of Dexter R - House District 32 
• Representative Valli Geiger of Rockland D - House District 42 
• Representative Christopher Kessler of South Portland D - House District 121 
• Representative Reagan Paul of Winterport R - House District 37 
• Representative Walter Runte of York D - House District 146 
• Representative Sophia Warren of Scarborough D - House District 124

The Committee's page on the legislative website provides information including contact information for Committee members and staff, and scheduling information, among other materials. 

December 24, 2022 capacity deficiency event in New England

New England's wholesale electricity grid experienced a capacity deficiency on December 24, 2022, according to grid operator ISO New England, Inc., but the system operator says its operating procedures successfully balanced supply and demand on the regional power system during evening peak hours, when unexpected generator outages and reductions and lower-than-expected imports led to a shortfall in operating reserves.

According to ISO-NE:

ISO New England did not call for controlled power outages on Christmas Eve, but did declare a capacity deficiency, meaning the region’s supply of electricity was insufficient to meet required operating reserves in addition to satisfying consumer demand, at 4:30 p.m. This action was taken after approximately 2,150 megawatts (MW) of resources scheduled to contribute power during the evening peak became unavailable. The outages and reductions coincided with net imports being approximately 100 MW less than had been expected based on that day’s Morning Report.

While the capacity deficiency was ongoing, at 4:40 PM, ISO-NE declared a "capacity scarcity condition" under its Forward Capacity Market’s Pay-for-Performance rules. This condition remained in effect until 6:05 p.m. Under the Pay-for-Performance rules, any resource that failed to meet its capacity supply obligation is penalized at a rate of $3,500 per megawatt-hour (MWh) for failing to meet its obligation, while resources that over-performed will receive $3,500/MWh of additional revenue. In total, ISO-NE has estimated penalties for the December 24 event to be approximately $39 million. In addition, any energy resources that cleared in the Day-Ahead Energy Market but failed to provide electricity in real-time are charged the real-time price for the missing energy; Real-Time Energy Market prices averaged approximately $484/MWh over the course of the day, peaking over $2,200/MWh during the 5 p.m. hour while the capacity scarcity condition was ongoing.

On January 12, 2023, ISO-NE provided an update on the December 24, 2022, capacity deficiency, "to help correct any confusion, misinformation, and misunderstanding resulting from various news stories and social media posts." According to that update, the incident was "mainly about timing". After noting that it entered the December 24 operating day with sufficient resource commitments to meet demand and required operating reserves, with a surplus of over 950 megawatts of fast-start resources, ISO-NE explains what happened next:

As the day went on, some generators in the region experienced unanticipated issues that caused them to go offline or reduce their output. These outages were caused by cold temperatures or mechanical problems, and not due to inadequate fuel supplies. Expected imported electricity from Canada was also reduced due to transmission system issues and unexpectedly high consumer demand in Québec. Despite these issues, New England was still expected to meet demand and operating reserves over the evening peak as of 3 p.m.

Around 4 p.m., additional unanticipated outages led to a capacity deficiency in the region. This meant that the 950 MW surplus was depleted and supply was insufficient to meet both demand and required operating reserves. In response, ISO New England system operators implemented procedures for dealing with capacity deficiencies. This included calling upon any resource that could respond quickly enough to be online for the evening peak, which usually falls between 5 and 6 p.m. during the winter months. The ISO dispatched all remaining offline resources that were available to provide electricity or operating reserves during this period.

In its update, ISO-NE described pricing and customer impacts from the incident:

Prices in the Real-Time Energy Market averaged more than $2,000 per megawatt-hour (MWh) during the 2.5-hour capacity deficiency. While high, these prices are unlikely to affect most consumers given how retail rates are set in the region. Though practices vary by state and utility coverage area, the rates paid by most retail customers are set for months-long periods and not subject to volatility within the wholesale marketplace. 

Almost all of New England’s wholesale electricity is bought and sold in the Day-Ahead Energy Market, where prices were unaffected by the capacity deficiency. Average day-ahead prices during that time were roughly $285/MWh.

As ISO-NE noted in its January 4 report, other regions of North America were challenged by extreme weather around the long holiday weekend, prompting varied responses outside New England including controlled power outages.

BOEM proposes Renewable Energy Modernization Rule for offshore wind

The U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced a proposed rulemaking to amend its regulations governing offshore wind and other clean energy development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). BOEM describes its proposed rule as "a major modernization of the regulations", reflecting lessons learned from the past 13 years. If finally adopted, BOEM projects that its Renewable Energy Modernization Rule would save the renewable energy industry $1 billion over 20 years, by reshaping the way the U.S. federal government leases sites on the OCS for offshore wind development.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized BOEM's predecessor, the Minerals Management Service (MMS), to issue leases, easements, and rights of way to allow for renewable energy development on the OCS. MMS first promulgated regulations governing renewable energy development on the OCS in 2009. In the ensuing years, the agency was restructured several times; since then, BOEM has conducted 11 auctions and issued 27 active commercial leases under its regulations implementing the OCS Lands Act.

According to BOEM, its accumulated experience and industry feedback have enabled the agency to identify "opportunities to modernize its regulations to facilitate the development of offshore wind energy resources to meet U.S. climate and renewable energy objectives." BOEM's proposed Renewable Energy Modernization Rule, issued on January 12, 2023, contains reforms including proposals for incremental funding of decommissioning accounts; more flexible geophysical and geotechnical survey submission requirements; streamlined approval of meteorological (met) buoys; revised project verification procedures; reform of BOEM’s renewable energy auction process; and greater clarity regarding safety requirements. 

In its notice of proposed rulemaking, BOEM asserts:

This proposed rule would facilitate the development of OCS renewable energy and would promote U.S. climate and renewable energy objectives in a safe and environmentally sound manner while providing a fair return to the U.S. taxpayer. These important goals would be accomplished by modernizing regulations, streamlining overly complex and burdensome processes, clarifying ambiguous provisions, enhancing compliance provisions, and correcting technical errors and inconsistencies. Through these changes, the Department aims to reduce administrative burdens for both developers and the Department’s staff, reduce developer costs and uncertainty, and introduce greater regulatory flexibility in a rapidly changing industry to foster the supply of OCS renewable energy to meet increasing demand, while maintaining environmental safeguards. 

These updates are necessary to ensure a durable and appropriate process is in place to advance renewable energy on the OCS.

BOEM's proposed rule contains eight major components, categorized under the following headings:

1. Eliminating unnecessary requirements for the deployment of met buoys.
2. Increasing survey flexibility.
3. Improving the project design and installation verification process.
4. Establishing a Public Renewable Energy Leasing Schedule.
5. Reforming BOEM's renewable energy auction regulations.
6. Tailoring financial assurance requirements and instruments.
7. Clarifying safety management system regulations.
8. Revising other provisions and making technical corrections.

Comments will be due 60 days after the notice's publication in the Federal Register.