Salt River Project Using Inflation Reduction Act to Build and Own Solar Plant
Arizona public power utility Salt River Project (SRP) is building a solar power project that will take advantage of recent changes in federal law that allows public power utilities to use tax benefits that were previously out of reach.
Puerto Rico Substation Modernization Initiative Gets Underway
LUMA Energy recently announced the launch of Puerto Rico’s federally funded Substation Modernization Initiative (SMI) with the modernization and reconstruction of the Manatí Substation in the municipality of Manatí.
Lansing Board of Water & Light Retires Last Coal-Fired Plant
The Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) has retired its last coal-fired power plant, which the public power utility said makes it the largest utility in Michigan to generate coal-free power by 2022.
Officials with Iowa’s Denison Municipal Utilities Detail Utility’s Response to Transformer Shortages
In a recent interview with Public Power Current, Rory Weis, General Manager of Iowa public power utility Denison Municipal Utilities (DMU), and Electric Manager Mike Wight, detailed how the utility is responding to delays for acquiring transformers due to ongoing supply chain challenges.
Groups Urge DOE to Move Quickly to Alleviate Supply Chain Challenges With Transformers
The Department of Energy (DOE) should use Defense Production Act (DPA) authorities to prioritize distribution transformers, large power transformers, and other critical grid components ahead of other technologies, and it should act quickly to alleviate the most acute supply chain challenge with distribution transformers, the American Public Power Association (APPA), the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), said in joint comments submitted to DOE on Nov. 30.
APPA Says FERC Communications Proposal is Overly Broad, Should be Withdrawn
A proposal by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to add a new provision to its regulations that would impose a “duty of candor” on any entity communicating with the Commission, its staff, or certain other entities is overly broad and would likely chill communications while presenting significant enforcement challenges for the Commission, the American Public Power Association (APPA) said in urging FERC to withdraw the proposal.
Duke Energy Responds to Outages Caused by Substation Vandalism
Duke Energy over the weekend said that it was responding to power outages caused by vandalism against utility equipment in North Carolina.
Reliability, Resiliency, Safety and Affordability Flows from Small Modular Reactor Technology
New nuclear technologies, such as small modular reactors (SMR), have reached a point where they are able to help utilities address growing concerns about fulfilling their core mission: delivering safe, affordable, and reliable electric power.
BPA Reports Strong Financial Results, Proposes Holding Power and Transmission Rates Flat
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) recently announced financial results that exceeded expectations for fiscal year 2022 that ended Sept. 30 and proposed to hold power and transmission rates flat overall.
President Biden Signs Legislation to Avert Railroad Strike
President Biden on Dec. 2 signed into law legislation that will avert a strike by railroad workers. In a recent letter to President Biden, Joy Ditto, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association (APPA), said that a work stoppage would “seriously threaten” the reliability of electric grids in public power communities.