RMEL eNews

Industry Information

Chevron's Massive Carbon Capture Project Launches Safely

Chevron Australia and the Gorgon Joint Venture participants have announced the safe start-up and operation of the carbon dioxide injection system at the Chevron-led Gorgon natural gas facility on Barrow Island, off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

Visit https://www.elp.com/articles/2019/08/chevron-s-massive-carbon-capture-project-launches-safely.html to view the full article online.

Ameren Missouri to Bring Customers Solar Energy at Night

Ameren Missouri, a unit of Ameren Corp., filed plans with the Missouri Public Service Commission to build three solar storage facilities across Missouri.

Visit https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2019/09/ameren-missouri-to-bring-customers-solar-energy-at-night.html to view the full article online.

Florida Utility Completes Restoration of Dorian Outages

Florida Power & Light reported Thursday that it has restored power to all of the more than 160,000 customers impacted by Hurricane Dorian, which is now barreling north along the Atlantic Coast to the Georgia and Carolina coasts.

Visit http://www.power-eng.com/2019/09/05/florida-utility-completes-restoration-of-dorian-outages/ to view the full article online.

Permian Basin Natural Gas Prices Up as a New Pipeline Nears Completion

Natural gas spot prices at the Waha hub in western Texas, located near Permian Basin production, settled at $1.55/million British thermal units (MMBtu) on August 15, the highest price since March 2019.

Visit https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=41213 to view the full article online.

Nebraska Lineworkers Compete in Seventh Annual Rodeo

Since 2012, lineworkers across the state of Nebraska have showcased their skills at an annual Rodeo competition. This year, the event took place on Aug. 24 on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds.

Visit https://www.tdworld.com/electric-utility-operations/nebraska-lineworkers-compete-seventh-annual-rodeo to view the full article online.

Energy Department Announces Congressionally Mandated Notice of Sale of Crude Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) announced a congressionally mandated Notice of Sale of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Visit https://www.energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-congressionally-mandated-notice-sale-crude-oil-strategic to view the full article online.

FERC Chairman to Congress: 'Make Energy Policy Boring Again'

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Neil Chatterjee wants Congress to take up a large energy-focused legislative attempt, he told an industry crowd at the nonprofit Resources For the Future on Wednesday.

Visit https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-chairman-to-congress-make-energy-policy-boring-again/562288/ to view the full article online.

11 Reasons Why DOE is All in on New Nuclear

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is all in on new nuclear energy. More than 50 U.S. companies are developing advanced technologies that will make nuclear energy more efficient and affordable to build and operate.

Visit https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/11-reasons-why-doe-all-new-nuclear to view the full article online.

Let There Be Lighting Choices, Energy Department Tells Environmental Groups

The Department of Energy has decided to preserve choice in half the U.S. lighting market, not restrict Americans to light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Visit https://www.forbes.com/sites/dipkabhambhani/2019/09/05/let-there-be-lighting-choices-energy-department-tells-environmental-groups/#7c42ff843bcc to view the full article online.

Advanced Transmission Technology Growth is Strong Globally

This is the second in a four-part series based on the Advanced Energy Now 2019 Market Report, produced by Navigant Research for Advanced Energy Economy, a national business association. For the Market Report, Navigant tracks global and U.S. advanced energy revenue in seven market segments, including advanced electricity generation, electricity delivery and management, and advanced transportation, using strict definitions that distinguish advanced energy from conventional energy products.

Visit https://www.tdworld.com/overhead-transmission/advanced-transmission-technology-growth-strong-globally to view the full article online.

Member Announcements

Austin Energy’s New Wind Contract Increases the Utility’s Renewable Energy Sources to 61 Percent

Austin Energy, the City's community-owned electric utility, will receive up to an additional 200 megawatts (MW) of Texas wind power from an agreement with E.ON Climate & Renewables.

Visit https://austinenergy.com/ae/about/news/press-releases/2019/new-wind-contract-increases-austin-energy-renewable-energy-to-61-percent to view the full article online.

Pinnacle West Chairman Don Brandt to Retire in November

The Pinnacle West Capital Corp. Board of Directors announced that after 16 years with the Company, Pinnacle West Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Don Brandt will retire effective November 15, 2019.

Visit https://www.aps.com/en/ourcompany/news/latestnews/Pages/pinnacle-west-chairman-Don-Brandt-to-retire-in-november.aspx to view the full article online.

2020-2029 Long-Range Engineering Plan Approved

Basin Electric Board of Directors approved the 2020-2029 long-range engineering plan, as presented by Matt Ehrman, Basin Electric Manager of Mechanical Engineering.

Visit https://www.basinelectric.com/news-center/news-briefs/2020-2029-long-range-engineering-plan-approved to view the full article online.

CPS Energy Ranked in Top Quartile in Energy Utility IVR Benchmark Report

CPS Energy is ranked in the Top Quartile in the 15th Annual Energy Utility Benchmark Report by IVR Doctors on Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems.

Visit https://newsroom.cpsenergy.com/cps-energy-ranked-in-top-quartile-in-energy-utility-ivr-benchmark-report/ to view the full article online.

El Paso Electric Customers Set a New Peak Demand for Electricity

On Monday, August 26, 2019, El Paso Electric Company (EPE) customers set a new peak demand of approximately 1,986 megawatts (MW), 2.9% or 57 MW higher than the peak established on June 26, 2017. This preliminary indication is still subject to final verification.

Visit https://www.epelectric.com/about-el-paso-electric/article/el-paso-electric-customers-set-a-new-peak-demand-for-electricity-1 to view the full article online.

Local Utility Debuts Evergy Brand With Community Focus

KCP&L and Westar Energy will launch a customer education campaign to introduce the companies’ new brand name, Evergy. The campaign highlights the utility’s continued focus on communities it serves.

Visit http://www.evergyinc.com/news-releases/news-release-details/local-utility-debuts-evergy-brand-community-focus to view the full article online.

Nebraska Public Power Utilities Provided Activities, Lineworker Rodeo at State Fair

The Nebraska Power Association (NPA), consisting of Nebraska public power utilities from across the state, provided hands-on activities at its Public Power booth at the 2019 Nebraska State Fair as well as hosted the annual Nebraska Lineworkers’ Rodeo to showcase the skill and expertise of the state’s electric lineworkers.

Visit https://www.nppd.com/press-releases/nebraska-public-power-utilities-to-provide-activities-lineworker-rodeo-at-state-fair to view the full article online.

Targa Resources, NextEra Energy Resources, WhiteWater Midstream and MPLX LP Execute Agreements to Jointly Develop the Whistler Pipeline Project

Targa Resources Corp.; NextEra Energy Pipeline Holdings, LLC, an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC; WhiteWater Midstream, LLC, a portfolio company of Denham Capital Management and Ridgemont Energy Partners; and MPLX LP, announced the execution of a letter of intent (and associated term sheets) for the joint development of the proposed Whistler Pipeline Project, which will provide an outlet for increased natural gas production from the Permian Basin to growing markets along the Texas Gulf Coast.

Visit http://newsroom.nexteraenergy.com/news-releases?item=123629 to view the full article online.

OPPD Initiative will Lay Groundwork for Modernized Electric Grid

Omaha Public Power District is mapping out its 10-year strategic plan. Five new strategic initiatives will lead the way, while maintaining a strong focus on OPPD’s mission of providing affordable, reliable, environmentally sensitive energy services.

Visit https://www.oppd.com/news-resources/news-releases/2019/august/oppd-initiative-will-lay-groundwork-for-modernized-electric-grid/ to view the full article online.

PacifiCorp Acquires Full Ownership of Foote Creek Wind Project to Pave the Way for Repowering

PacifiCorp has acquired sole ownership of the Foote Creek I wind generation facility, a 41.4-megawatt renewable energy project in Carbon County, Wyoming, and is proceeding to repower the project with new turbine technology that will increase energy output of the entire facility by 60 percent.

Visit https://www.pacificorp.com/about/newsroom/news-releases/foote-creek-wind.html to view the full article online.

Rawhide Project Earns Award

The innovative coal ash management system, installed at Platte River’s Rawhide Energy Station (Unit 1) in 2018, recently earned the Best Project Winner in the Energy/Industrial category from Engineering News-Record (ENR) Mountain States.

Visit https://www.prpa.org/news/rawhide-project-earns-award/ to view the full article online.

From Coal to Computers: SRP Apprenti Program Trains Former NGS Employees for Careers in Technology

As Navajo Generating Station owners prepare to close the coal-fired power plant later this year, former NGS employees such as Skyler June are making the transition from an industrial to office setting, and getting accustomed to city life.

Visit https://media.srpnet.com/from-coal-to-computers-srp-apprenti-program-trains-former-ngs-employees-for-careers-in-technology/ to view the full article online.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Filing Supports Tri-State Clean Energy Initiatives

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association has made tariff application filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Tri-State expects the FERC to accept the filing in 60 days. When the filing is accepted, Tri-State will be fully rate regulated by the federal commission.

Visit https://www.tristate.coop/federal-energy-regulatory-commission-filing-supports-tri-state-clean-energy-initiatives to view the full article online.

United Power Ranked in Top 10 List for Energy Storage

United Power has been named as one of a select group of utilities that connected the most energy storage capacity to the grid in 2018, earning it a spot on the annual Top 10 utility industry list compiled by the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA).

Visit https://www.unitedpower.com/SEPA-ranking to view the full article online.

TEP Commercial Team Ready to Help Businesses

A team of Tucson Electric Power employees is available to provide business customers with specialized, proactive service on a wide variety of issues – from energy-efficiency programs and new projects to advice about pricing plans and regulations.

Visit https://www.tep.com/news/tep-commercial-team-ready-to-help-businesses/ to view the full article online.

New Transformer Supports Reliability

On June 4 Sierra Nevada celebrated the successful energization of the new Folsom transformer, on time and under budget. The new transformer supports the reliability of the grid and Folsom Dam in northern California and also helps avoid future maintenance costs associated with the old transformer.

Visit https://www.wapa.gov/newsroom/NewsFeatures/2019/Pages/new-folsom-transformer.aspx to view the full article online.

Rocky Mountain Electrical League