Maryland to consider numerous issues related to contracts and SB1 in hearing. Following the filing of a petition for clarification by RESA, NRG, and CleanChoice Energy on November 10, seeking the Maryland PSC’s determination on two outstanding issues the suppliers said are not being addressed in existing proceedings and working groups ahead of the January 1, 2025 implementation of SB1. The issues raised by the suppliers are: (1) “the treatment of existing customers served via contracts that include variable monthly pricing but do not renew monthly. The Supplier Coalition submits that these contracts fall within the grandfathering provisions of SB1 and may continue, according to their terms, until cancelled by either the customer or the supplier;” and (2) “commercial customers that, according to the respective utility, have residential meters. The Supplier Coalition submits that these are commercial customers and, therefore, the provisions of SB1 do not apply to them.” The Maryland Energy Advocates Coalition (the group led by perennial anti-supplier crusader Laurel Peltier) filed purported comments on the suppliers’ petition for clarification, which actually seem to raise additional questions for clarification (12/4/24), namely: (1) will month-to-month contracts that were enrolled before December 31, 2024 be subject to SB1 rate rules after January 1, 2025 when those month-to-month contracts come up for renewal each month; and (2) whether “old contracts” will be dual billed or will the MDPSC extend UCB/POR for some indefinite period of time.
Texas will require crypto miners to register. Last month, the PUCT approved a rule that will require data centers, including cryptocurrency miners, to register their facilities. Facilities that require a total load of more than 75 MW and have an interruptible load that equals 10% or more of its actual or anticipated peak demand will be subject to this new regulation. Of note for suppliers, the rule does not require suppliers to inform customers about the compliance obligation and, similarly, the rule does not require suppliers to be informed when one of their customers completes this registration process.
Gas default service plan in Ohio approved, but utility PTC language rejected. On December 4, the PUCO issued an order adopting the settlement agreement filed over a year ago in the Duke Energy Ohio default service proceeding, and decided on the remaining issue that was not settled by the parties. In a win for suppliers, the PUCO declined to approve the price-to-compare messaging as proposed in Duke’s application. The PUCO said in part that was “OCC argues, price may be an important comparison for customers when deciding to choose between a CRNGS provider or default service; however, the issue with presenting the price comparison as presented in the proposed language, as effectively demonstrated by [supplier witness] Mr. Lacey, is that the SSO rate is month-to-month. Consequently, to put it generally, the SSO rate on the bill is, in effect, an historical/backward looking snapshot of the price and may vary the following month; this means that by the time a customer reviews the PTC message on the bill, requests to switch its generation supplier to the SSO rate, and such switch is executed, the price may very well be different….instead [the PUCO] direct[s] Duke to include a PTC message on its residential and small commercial customers’ natural gas bills that is the same as, or substantially similar to, the language in Ohio Adm. Code 4901:1-13-11(B)(13).”
New York announces settlement with retail supplier. On December 4, the New York PSC announced a court settlement among the regulator, several municipalities, a municipal aggregator, and a retail supplier had been approved in state court. Under the terms of the agreement, Columbia Utilities Power, which formerly served a number of aggregations in the Central Hudson territory, will pay $1.5 million to customers for an alleged failure “to provide low-cost renewable energy to customers, as promised.” The supplier has stated it experienced significant billing issues in Central Hudson’s territory in 2021 and 2022 which culminated in aggregation customers returning to default service in July 2022.
Connecticut approves changes to energy storage solutions program. PURA issued a final decision on December 4, in its annual review of the Energy Storage Solutions program. The regulator noted the disparity between deployment in the residential and commercial sectors, saying, “…residential incentive levels should remain unchanged at this time due to insufficient residential enrollment data” but “The Program’s substantial commercial enrollment exceeding its targets well ahead of schedule indicates that the upfront incentives for commercial projects can be reduced without hindering the Program’s ability to meet its commercial enrollment goals.” The order also approved the utilities’ proposed revisions to the Interconnection Guidelines to accommodate energy storage systems and greenlit a recommendation to shorten the passive dispatch window from 3:00–8:00 p.m. to 5:00–8:00 p.m. for all participants.
Pennsylvania considers resource adequacy. The Pennsylvania PUC held a technical conference on November 25 (see archived webcast) on resource adequacy. The PJM market has been roiled by issues with capacity prices and resource adequacy in recent months, and the prospect of a significant increase in retail electricity prices starting next summer (2025) is starting to put pressure on policymakers to address the issues. Comments on issues raised during the technical conference are due by January 9, 2025.
In Brief: The New England Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners has a working group meeting monthly to consider retail demand response issues. the December 6 meeting was focused on “the desirabilty and/or need for consistency in demand response/load management program design, across the region.”…the Maine Governor’s Energy Office will hold a webinar on December 12 on its draft energy plan to reach 100% clean electricity in the Pine Tree State by 2040…the Pennsylvania PUC issued a press release on December 2, warning consumers “about the rise of look-alike websites mimicking the state’s official energy shopping platforms – PAPowerSwitch.com and PAGasSwitch.com.”…the provincial government in Ontario announced on November 27 it has asked generator OPG to begin stakeholder discussions on community support for new generation, including nuclear. The press release said “the province’s demand for electricity is forecast to increase by 75 per cent by 2050, the equivalent of adding four and a half cities the size of Toronto to the grid.”…The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) held two public listening sessions to share information about and gather feedback on proposals for a future Building Decarbonization Clearinghouse “that would create a centralized hub for various programs, technologies, and services related to energy efficiency, electrification, renewable energy, and decarbonization”…on November 25, the ArizonaPublic Service (APS), Salt River Project (SRP), Tucson Electric Power (TEP) and UniSource Electric (UNSE) utilities announcedthat they plan to join Southwest Power Pool’s Markets+ day-ahead and real-time energy market when it launches in 2027…Rhode Island Commerce’s Renewable Energy Fund and the state Office of Energy Resources have opened Phase 1 of the Resilient Microgrids for Critical Services program, are currently accepting applications for microgrid feasibility studies…
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