Advanced Energy Perspectives

With so much of the advanced energy industry’s focus on issues before FERC directed at the expanded Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) in PJM over the past few years, there has been relatively little attention placed on similar tension brewing in ISO New England (ISO-NE). But that tension was on full display at a FERC technical conference earlier this summer, and in comments filed in July. The list of big-ticket items up for debate in ISO-NE is long: reforming ISO-NE’s version of the MOPR, revising how capacity value is determined, pursuing long-term market reform and transmission planning reform, developing a plan for Order No. 2222 compliance, and exploring potential governance reforms are all top of mind for ISO-NE, the New England states, and stakeholders. For those who haven’t been following along at home, there’s a lot to catch up on, and the stakes are high: New England is poised to model what an RTO should look like in a 100% advanced energy future, but the decisions made in the next few years will determine whether that vision is realized.

Record-breaking heat waves and drought in the western U.S. are threatening the reliability of electric power, as electricity use is up and hydropower and energy imports from neighboring states are down. In California, Flex Alerts – asking consumers to conserve energy to relieve grid stress – are becoming a regular occurrence. And these weather patterns are no longer unusual: “This is really the new normal,” AEE policy director Leah Rubin Shen recently told Fox 40 of Sacramento. “These weather events are becoming more and more common and more and more frequent.” The energy crisis that results points to the need for a regional transmission organization (RTO) in the west, connected with a more expansive transmission network, to move power – especially renewable energy – where it’s needed, when it’s needed, at lowest cost.

Left to right: Josh Cohen, Greenlots; Oscar Rodriguez, NOVAcharge; Ebo Entsuah, AEE; and Linda Ferrone, Orlando Utility Commission/City of Orlando. 

Nicknamed “The City Beautiful,” Orlando is already known for tourism, hospitality, and dining, but another feature is growing in popularity: Electric Vehicles. The city currently has 1,689 alternative fuel vehicles in its fleet, and plans to increase that number to nearly 2,400 by 2030. Over the last 15 years, the city has deployed various/several public-private partnerships to accelerate a positive environment for EV drivers, ratepayers, and the community. Now adding EVs to its municipal fleet and investing in hundreds of charging stations, Orlando is set to become the EV leader of the Southeast.

To highlight the city’s leading role, AEE gathered business owners, elected officials, and the public to learn more about electric vehicles and the regional economic benefits affiliated with Orlando’s ongoing charging infrastructure investments. Hosted in conjunction with the City of Orlando and Greenlots, a leader in EV charging stations and software, the event also highlighted policies the state could adopt to foster continued EV market expansion.

The saga of the expanded Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) in PJM Interconnection continues. Put in place by previous FERC leadership in December 2019, the expanded MOPR threatened to exclude advanced energy technologies supported by state and local policies from the PJM capacity market, artificially increasing capacity prices in the market, increasing costs to consumers, and derailing progress in meeting the clean energy goals of state and local governments and consumers. Responding to unambiguous signals from the new FERC leadership appointed by the Biden Administration that the expanded MOPR policy must go, PJM stakeholders and its Board of Managers voted this month to send FERC a proposal that will roll back the expanded MOPR. That could mean the beginning of the end for MOPR – and the start of broader market reform to support the transition to 100% advanced energy.

This post originally appeared in the Michigan EIBC blog.

This year has seen some of the most significant moves yet to realize cleaner energy in Michigan. Now, customers of Michigan’s largest utility, DTE Energy, will find it easier to “go green” due to a settlement between DTE and groups including the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council (Michigan EIBC) and Advanced Energy Economy (AEE). The settlement improves DTE’s voluntary green pricing program — in which companies from GM to the Detroit Zoo, as well as residential customers, can subscribe directly to wind and solar projects — by making it more affordable and more competitive.