Recently in Electric Category

PPL Electric Utilities has conducted the first in a series of scheduled purchases for 2011 electricity supply. The results were approved Thursday (8/13) by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

In this first procurement, PPL Electric Utilities obtained 16.875 percent of the load-following electricity supply it will need to serve residential and small- and mid-size business customers in the five-month period from Jan. 1, 2011, to May 31, 2011.

"We are continuing with the strategy of obtaining electricity supply in stages over time to minimize the price risk for our customers," said David G. DeCampli, president of PPL Electric Utilities.

These purchases are the first under a plan approved in June by the PUC for obtaining electricity supply for 2011, 2012 and the first five months of 2013.

State law requires PPL Electric Utilities, which does not own power plants and does not generate electricity, to buy default electricity supply from the competitive market for its customers who do not select an alternative supplier.

The company must obtain electricity supply through a combination of short-term, long-term and spot-market purchases, and pass the costs through to customers without profit. The initial purchases made this week represent the beginning of PPL Electric Utilities' efforts to assemble a supply structure that meets those requirements.

"Continuing the experience we have had with obtaining electricity supply for 2010, this first procurement for 2011 was a highly competitive process," DeCampli said. "We had 14 suppliers participate, ensuring competitive prices for our customers."

The purchase of five-month full-requirements contracts resulted in a price of $88.60 per megawatt-hour for residential customers and $90.31 per megawatt-hour for small- and mid-sized business customers.

"Because the amount of supply we purchased in this auction is only a small portion of what we need and does not cover the entire year, it is premature based on these prices to estimate the effect on customer bills in 2011," DeCampli said.

In addition, PPL Electric Utilities purchased for residential customers a five-month block of 50 megawatts of round-the-clock electricity supply for January through May 2011 at a price of $57.15 per megawatt-hour, as well as renewable energy credits for January through May 2011 to comply with Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard.

The price for the 50-megawatt energy block is for energy only, and does not include capacity and other charges, which the company will purchase separately from the regional PJM Interconnection.

These purchases are separate from the electricity supply that PPL Electric Utilities has obtained for 2010, and are not comparable to the 2010 purchases due to the five-month time period and different product mix. The sixth and final purchase for 2010 will occur in October.

PPL Electric Utilities, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), provides electric delivery service to 1.4 million customers in 29 counties of eastern and central Pennsylvania and has consistently ranked among the best companies for customer service in the United States. More information is available at www.pplelectric.com.

Source: PPL Electric Utilities

The United States government today announced $2.4 billion in grants to accelerate the manufacturing and deployment of the next generation of U.S. batteries and electric vehicles. Remy International, Inc. was among the grant winners and will receive $60.2 million to establish a standardized platform of hybrid electric motors and controls.

"This is outstanding news as it accelerates our growth strategy," said John Weber, President and CEO of Remy International, lnc. "This reconfirms Remy's technology in hybrid electric motors and will accelerate our leadership position in the market."

The DOE grant awarded to Remy and its co-applicant, Phoenix International (a John Deere company), will allow for critical capital and human resource investments to produce a full line of standard electric motors and power electronics. This investment will create or protect nearly 1,000 highly skilled jobs in the United States for Remy, its partners, and its supply base. It will also establish a strong domestic manufacturing base for electric drive motor technology and accelerate the use of electric drive vehicles with higher fuel efficiency.

Remy is the largest North American hybrid electric motor manufacturer with industry leading technology and intellectual property. Its hybrid electric motor platform can be used in passenger vehicles, trucks and heavy equipment vehicles.

SOURCE Remy International, Inc.

PPL Electric Utilities on Wednesday (7/1) requested Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approval of an energy efficiency and conservation plan to help its customers use electricity more wisely.

The submittal is part of Pennsylvania Act 129 of 2008, which was passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor last fall as a way to reduce electricity use, expand the use of advanced metering technology and set requirements for electricity supply purchases by utilities.

The plan includes more than a dozen energy efficiency and conservation programs, ranging from energy-efficient equipment rebates to expanded home weatherization services for eligible customers.

"As electricity users, we all have the potential to save energy," said David G. DeCampli, president of PPL Electric Utilities. "Sometimes it just takes knowing where to start and getting a little help."

DeCampli said the company's plan offers opportunities for every customer group, from large commercial customers and institutions to small businesses, homeowners and renters. The plan aims to reduce customers' electric use by more than 1.3 billion kilowatt-hours a year by mid-2013.

"The plan we've proposed lays out programs that will dramatically expand our existing e-power campaign to promote wise energy use and help our customers save money, conserve resources and contribute to protecting the environment," he said.

In the last 50 years, customer electric use has surged nearly 500 percent - PPL Electric Utilities delivered 38 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2008 compared with just 6 billion kilowatt-hours in 1960.

"With bigger homes, more air conditioning, and more appliances, gadgets and home electronics, customers are using far more electricity than they did decades ago, and they're spending more as a result," DeCampli said.

"That's why it's important that electricity users make the best decisions they can, from purchasing energy-efficient appliances to taking actions that reduce their electric use," he said.

Among measures PPL Electric Utilities has proposed are:

• Rebates to customers who install energy-efficient equipment, including lighting, appliances, programmable thermostats, and heating and cooling systems.
• Nearly doubling the company's funding of home weatherization and conservation services for low-income customers.
• Financial incentives for customers to weatherize their home or get a home energy audit.
• A compact fluorescent lighting campaign to distribute more than 7 million energy-efficient light bulbs through a combination of giveaways and discount programs.
• A program to promote construction of energy-efficient homes, and grants to help offset higher construction costs.
• Rebates to encourage recycling of old, inefficient refrigerators and freezers.
• Energy efficiency education and take-home kits.
• Rebates for commercial customers who have their heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems tuned up and improved to increase energy efficiency.
• A time-of-use pricing option that would allow residential customers and some businesses to save money by shifting their electricity use from periods when demand is high.
• Financial incentives for customers to reduce use during peak hours or install remote-controlled devices on certain appliances so that the company can scale back electric use when summer demand is highest.
• Financial incentives for customers to install solar energy systems or geothermal heat pumps.

The plan proposed by PPL Electric Utilities will help the company meet the energy efficiency mandates of Act 129, which requires electric utilities to reduce customers' annual energy use 1 percent by mid-2011 and 3 percent by mid-2013. It also requires utilities to reduce customers' peak demand, or peak hourly use, by 4.5 percent by mid-2013.

PPL Electric Utilities held several daylong meetings to gather input on its draft energy efficiency plan from representatives of economic development organizations, state agencies, consumer advocates, environmental groups and operators of energy efficiency programs. The company plans to partner with community agencies, equipment manufacturers, appliance retailers, contractors and others to carry out some of the proposed initiatives.

The PUC is expected to act on the plan by Nov. 1, and the company hopes to begin offering some of the new programs by the end of the year and most by early 2010.

DeCampli said the company already has taken steps to raise awareness about energy efficiency in recent years. For example, today PPL Electric Utilities is able to provide all of its 1.4 million customers access to detailed usage information like few, if any, utilities can in the country.

The company's online Energy Analyzer at www.pplelectric.com allows customers to view daily and hourly usage information. Customers can experiment with changes, like adjusting their thermostat, to see the difference it makes. They can complete a home profile on the Energy Analyzer to see where their energy dollars are being spent and get personalized tips to save.

The company's e-power team is visiting thousands of customers each year to share energy-saving tips. In addition, the company shares monthly tips in a newsletter that accompanies customer bills. PPL Electric Utilities also funds rebates to small businesses that upgrade to energy-efficient lighting and rebates to residential customers who have their home's energy use evaluated by a certified energy auditor.

SOURCE PPL Electric Utilities

Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) today announced it will join forces with Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest network communications company, to fast-track development of Duke Energy's state-of-the-art electric "smart grid."

"Our goal is to rapidly transform the way electricity is delivered to, and used by, the 11 million people we serve in five states," said Todd Arnold, senior vice president for smart grid and customer systems at Duke Energy, America's third-largest electric utility.

The three-year partnership is the latest development in Duke Energy's effort to rapidly convert its existing electricity delivery infrastructure into an advanced smart grid that uses two-way digital communication to reduce energy usage, improve efficiency, bolster system reliability, detect power outages, and integrate solar and other renewable energy sources into the electric grid.

Cisco, working closely with Duke Energy, will develop a highly refined, end-to-end, smart grid communications architecture - one that both companies believe will be among the most comprehensive and interoperable in the electric utility industry.

The newly created architecture will be based on what the industry calls "internet protocol-based open standards" - an approach that permits easy accommodation of new and emerging communications technology as it becomes available in future years.

"Internet protocol-based open standards are key to creating a smart, highly-secure backbone for the nation's modern electrical grid," said Marthin De Beer, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's Emerging Technologies Group.

The two companies will jointly evaluate a variety of smart grid communications hardware and software, and oversee installation and testing of selected equipment and software throughout Duke Energy's electric grid.

In addition, Cisco will work with Duke Energy to develop and install home energy management devices to help customers control and reduce their electricity consumption.

The two companies also will test a new generation of durable, weather-proof communications equipment designed for use at Duke Energy's electric substations.

"Replacing our analog electric grid with advanced digital technology to create a 21st century electricity delivery system largely involves data, networks and communications - all of it Cisco's expertise," Arnold said.

"Partnering with Cisco is central to Duke Energy's plan to build an 'energy internet' that will improve electricity delivery, strengthen grid security, lessen our company's environmental impact, and help customers reduce their electricity usage," he said.

In Ohio, Duke Energy later this year will launch a five-year mass deployment of smart grid technology, including more than 700,000 electric smart meters and 450,000 natural gas smart meters.

In Indiana, Duke Energy is seeking approval from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to install extensive smart grid technology, including approximately 800,000 smart meters.

Duke Energy yesterday announced it had reached a settlement agreement with the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor and key consumer and business groups regarding the company's Indiana smart grid proposal.

In addition to smart meters, Duke Energy plans to install a large amount of distribution automation - both hardware and software - to improve system efficiency and reliability on its electric grid in both Indiana and Ohio.

The company also is laying the groundwork to bring large-scale smart grid technology to three other states it serves - North Carolina, South Carolina and Kentucky.

"Working with innovative industry leaders like Duke Energy, Cisco will deliver an end-to-end network infrastructure from power plant to customer in order to manage electricity supply and consumption both efficiently and in an environmentally responsible manner," said Cisco's De Beer.

SOURCE Duke Energy

Southern Company today announced plans to demonstrate carbon capture and sequestration on a coal-fired power generation plant to support the development of technologies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Along with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI), the Electric Power Research Institute and other partners, Southern Company will build a demonstration facility to capture carbon dioxide emissions from an existing unit of subsidiary Alabama Power's Plant Barry near Mobile, Ala.

Beginning in 2011, between 100,000 and 150,000 tons of CO2 per year - the equivalent of emissions from 25 megawatts of the plant's generating capacity - would be captured for permanent underground storage in a deep saline geologic formation.

The CO2 will be supplied to the DOE's Southeast Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (SECARB), which will transport it by pipeline from the plant and store it underground at a site within the area of the Citronelle Oil Field, about 10 miles from the plant, operated by Denbury Resources. The Southern States Energy Board is leading the SECARB effort.

"This project will help increase our knowledge of carbon capture and sequestration, technology we must demonstrate at a commercial level in the effort to reliably generate electricity using coal with reduced greenhouse gas emissions," said David Ratcliffe, Southern Company chairman, president and CEO.

"The main challenge facing deployment of carbon capture and sequestration technology is demonstrating its effectiveness at a large scale," Ratcliffe added. "Our involvement in this and other related projects is part of our commitment to be a leader in finding solutions that make technological, economic and environmental sense."

With carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), CO2 released during the combustion of coal would be separated from the flue gas, compressed, and then permanently sequestered - or stored - deep underground.

The CO2 capture technology to be used in this project, called KM-CDR(TM), was jointly developed by MHI and the Kansai Electric Power Company Inc. It deploys an advanced amine-based solvent that reacts readily with CO2 in flue gas before being separated and compressed so that it is ready for pipeline transport.

The MHI process offers improved performance and lower cost than other existing capture technologies. The process has been demonstrated at smaller scale at a coal-fired generating station in Japan, and is currently being deployed commercially on natural gas-fired systems around the world. This project represents the largest coal-fired demonstration of the technology.

"We are excited to be a partner in this important project that will help further the global goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions for the benefit of everyone," said Shunichi Miyanaga, executive vice president and representative director general manager of MHI's Machinery & Steel Structures Headquarters. "The confidence our partners have shown in the MHI CO2 capture technology is a testament to the research and development efforts we have undertaken during the past 20 years. Together with our partners, we are ready to deploy and demonstrate to the world the safety and viability of commercial-scale CCS."

An important part of any CO2 sequestration project is site selection through geologic characterization and a robust program to monitor the injected CO2. Therefore, a thorough monitoring process will be deployed to map the movement of the sequestered CO2.

Through this project and others, Southern Company and its partners seek to support the goal of better understanding the impacts of reducing CO2 emissions from electricity generation. The project in Alabama is designed to demonstrate start-to-finish CCS technology, an important step toward commercialization.

Plant Barry, located in Bucks, Ala., has a total capacity of 2,525 megawatts and includes seven generating units -- five coal-fired units and two natural gas-fired combined-cycle units.

SOURCE Southern Company

FirstEnergy Solutions (FES), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), will provide discounted generation prices to residential and small commercial customers in 24 Ohio communities through governmental aggregation contracts.

Under the contracts, approximately 195,000 residential customers and 21,000 commercial customers will receive discounts off the generation component of their bills. The communities are Alliance, Aurora, Barberton, Boardman Township, Burton Township, Canal Fulton, Cortland, Defiance, Doylestown, Euclid, Green, Marion, Munroe Falls, Navarre, Ottawa Hills, Parma, Ravenna, Sandusky, Seven Hills, Silver Lake, Stow, Tallmadge, Troy Township and Trumbull County.

The governmental aggregator may choose between two agreements - a graduated or a flat percentage discount. The graduated discount plan offers savings of 10 percent in 2009, 6 percent in 2010, 5 percent in 2011 and 4 percent in 2012. The flat-rate percentage contract offers a 6 percent discount on generation prices through the end of the contract. Small commercial customers in these communities will enjoy a smaller graduated or flat-rate discount, as well, depending on the contract.

"We are pleased to provide these customers with competitively priced electric generation service from a local company," said Donald R. Schneider, president of FirstEnergy Solutions. "We are continuing to meet with communities, consistent with our retail strategy, and have additional agreements pending. Communities interested in providing similar discounts to their residents and small businesses should contact us before May 12, our deadline for current aggregation contracts."

Discounts will be based on the generation price customers would have been charged if they purchased electric generation service from their electric utility and did not switch to service from an alternate supplier. The electric utility prices will be established based on the outcome of a competitive bidding process (CBP) that will be conducted for Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison and The Illuminating Company. The CBP will secure generation supply and determine pricing for the period of June 1, 2009, through May 31, 2011. Generation discounts beyond that period will be based on the yet-to-be established generation price.

Under Ohio law, communities are able to form governmental aggregation buying groups to arrange for electricity, natural gas, or both on behalf of their citizens. The governmental aggregator chooses a supplier for all of the members in its group. Customers may opt out of the aggregation program and shop for a supplier or accept the standard rate offered by their utility.

Discounts under the contracts will be effective beginning in late summer or early fall, depending on when customers' meters are read. Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison or The Illuminating Company will continue to deliver the electricity, read meters, send monthly billing statements and maintain service for residents covered by the governmental aggregation contracts. Residents should continue to contact their utility company with questions about their service or to report a power outage.

Source: FirstEngery Corp.