Electricity Policy

Too much rooftop solar in sunny Oz

Australia’s love affair with rooftop solar panels is undermining the quality of electricity supplies, say utilities. Rooftop solar output on occasions feeds so much power back into the network that it is stressing the system and causing voltage rises that could damage household devices such as computers and televisions.

One of Australia’s biggest electricity network providers, Ausgrid, last week warned that there was a “significant likelihood” that costs would have to rise because of the impact of the solar photovoltaic cells. In a letter to the New South Wales pricing regulator, obtained by The Australian, Ausgrid warns that in areas with a high concentration of solar cells, voltage levels can rise and this can have “consequences for appliances and equipment in customers’ homes.” It can also cause solar systems to switch off.

Utilities balk at Cape Wind cramdown

NStar and Northeast Utilities on Wednesday said Massachusetts regulators can’t force them to buy power from the Cape Wind offshore wind farm to win approval for a deal that combines their operations, adding that such a requirement could be unconstitutional.

The arguments were part of a joint filing with the state Department of Public Utilities in which the companies made a case for approving the merger, which would create New England’s largest utility.

In the filing, they responded to Cape Wind, which has said the combined utility should have to buy half its power to get the deal approved.

“The Department has no authority under (state law), or any other statutory provision to impose a requirement to enter into a long-term contract for renewable power,” the utilities argued.

But the companies didn’t rule out buying from Cape Wind, saying in a footnote that the constitutional concern “would not exist if NSTAR Electric were to decide to enter into a contract with Cape Wind.”

Fracking firm guilty of Water Act violation

A Houston-based oil and gas drilling contractor, Integrated Production Services, has pleaded guilty to a negligent violation of the Clean Water Act and has agreed to pay penalties totaling $162,000 to federal and state agencies.

The case stemmed from the spilling of 400 to 700 gallons of hydrochloric acid — a chemical used in the controversial drilling practice of “fracking”  — into a creek in eastern Oklahoma in 2007.

In a news release, the U.S. Justice Department said a tank at the natural gas drilling site in Atoka County, Okla., leaked the acid at the well, which was flooded due to heavy rain. Authorities said Gabriel Henson, a company supervisor, first failed to clean up the spill and then drove a pickup truck through the well’s earthen berm, causing the acid to flow into the creek.

Henson previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act and is awaiting sentencing. He faces up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. His company, in addition to paying the $162,000 in penalties, will serve two years of probation and will be required to train its employees in hazardous waste handling and in spill response procedures.  17 Oct. 2011.

http://www.fairwarning.org/fracking-contractor-pleads-guilty

DOE yields, won’t cede its transmission corridor designation power to FERC

The Department of Energy has withdrawn a proposal that would have transferred its authority to designate National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The DOE says retaining this authority will allow it to handle its designation duties under Section 216 of the Federal Power Act more effectively and efficiently.

The proposal had drawn support from some utility groups but stirred sharp opposition from some state regulators and consumer advocates.