RMEL eNews

Rocky Mountain Electrical League

Alltricity Network Report
Make a Powerful Difference with Commonwealth
Commonwealth Associates, Inc. ®
Commonwealth provides traditional and renewable engineering, consulting, and design services. From IPPs to IOUs, to federal contracts, to city power and light, big or small, Commonwealth has you covered. With offices and experts across the country, Commonwealth is here to make a powerful difference for you. To learn more, visit www.cai-engr.com or call 517.788.3000.
 
Click to learn more
Advertisement
Education and Upcoming Events
Burns & McDonnell
Alltricity Network Member Information
RMEL's trusted network is now accessible on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. These are forums intended for RMEL members only. Working side-by-side in a cooperative manner, RMEL members band together for the common goal of bettering the industry and improving service for utility customers. For more than 100 years, these key principles have proven successful and, more importantly, are tried and true methods for building strong business relationships.

 

RMEL Champions is a prestigious group of RMEL supporters with access to useful and beneficial promotional opportunities. Thank you, 2022 RMEL Champions!

Visit https://www.rmel.org/page/RMELChampions to view the full article online.

The game has changed from the traditional O&M model.
Black & Veatch Corporation®
Big Data helps owners detect issues before they become big problems. Prioritize field responses, balance the costs and benefits of maintenance activities, and generate the greatest ROI with these 4 key methods to optimize DER assets through data-driven O&M.
Download Here
Advertisement
Industry Information
The Department of the Interior said it hopes to increase the economic certainty of renewables projects sited on public land by reducing costs for developers, and pass along savings to ratepayers.

Visit https://www.utilitydive.com/news/public-land-regulations-renewables-fees-wind-solar/653185/ to view the full article online.

 
Generation outages surpassed transmission as the leading cause of major load loss events last year, according to analysis from the North American Electric Reliability Corp.

Visit https://www.utilitydive.com/news/conventional-generation-outages-set-a-record-in-2022-nerc/653755/ to view the full article online.

  

The energy storage market added 2,145 MWh of new capacity in the first three months of this year. 

It marks a 33% drop in energy storage market growth compared to the first quarter of 2022, and a 26% drop compared to last year’s fourth quarter, according to Wood MacKenzie’s and ACP’s latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report.

Visit https://www.utilitydive.com/news/energy-storage-growth-stalled-in-early-2023-projected-to-bounce-back-repo/653369/ to view the full article online.

Oil, natural gas and coal continued to dominate global primary energy consumption in 2022 despite focused efforts by western governments to subsidize a largely debt-funded transition to renewables and electric vehicles (EVs). The Statistical Review of World Energy, conducted by the Energy Institute, finds that fossil fuels provided 82% of primary energy consumption during 2022, the same percentage it provided in 2021, as surging energy demand offset growth in renewables and EVs.

Visit https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2023/06/26/statistical-review-finds-fossil-fuels-still-dominate-the-global-energy-mix/?ss=energy&sh=7d0b17d4488c to view the full article online.

  
“Congestion is rising, delays and costs for interconnecting new projects are increasing, and very little new high-capacity transmission is being built,” the report said.

Visit https://www.utilitydive.com/news/aseg-transmission-planning-development-report/654253/ to view the full article online.

Long-duration energy storage is becoming increasingly important as more renewable energy sources are added to the grid. LDES systems can store and discharge a significant amount of energy, from hours to days or even weeks. Different conventional and novel technologies are being explored and developed, including compressed air energy storage, flow batteries, pumped hydro and thermal energy storage.

Visit https://www.power-eng.com/energy-storage/doe-partners-sign-agreement-to-accelerate-long-duration-energy-storage-technologies/ to view the full article online.

  

A solar farm in Nebraska suffered significant hail damage during an extreme weather event that swept through the Great Plains. The 4.375 MWac solar farm in Scottsbluff was damaged by the same storm cell that injured eight people at a Wyoming coal mine.

Visit https://www.power-eng.com/news/solar-farm-pelted-by-giant-hail-as-severe-storm-ripped-through-nebraska/ to view the full article online.

Member Announcements

Carbon dioxide emissions from Tucson Electric Power’s generating portfolio dropped 32 percent from 2019 to 2022 – powerful progress toward clean energy goals. The reductions reflect replacement of retiring coal resources with cleaner energy as part of the plan to reduce carbon emissions 80 percent by 2035. Emissions decreased by 3.5 million metric tons over that period.

Visit https://www.tep.com/news/new-clean-energy-resources-help-trim-carbon-dioxide-emissions-30-percent/ to view the full article online.

 
  
Austin Energy welcomes Bob Kahn as its new General Manager, effective Monday, July 3, 2023. With his extensive experience and proven track record in the electric utility industry, Kahn brings a wealth of knowledge and strategic vision to this role. Since December 2012, Kahn has served as General Manager for Texas Municipal Power Agency. He is also a board member with the Texas Public Power Association, which represents 72 municipal utilities in the state.

Visit https://austinenergy.com/about/news/news-releases/2023/interim-austin-city-manager-appoints-bob-kahn-as-austin-energy-general-manager to view the full article online.


Increased load and continued growth in Basin Electric’s service area has led to the need for additional generation and transmission resources to meet the needs of the membership. In addition to current and planned construction of generation resources, Basin Electric is on track to energize nearly 350 miles of high-voltage transmission line by the end of 2027.

Visit https://www.basinelectric.com/News-Center/news-briefs/Basin-Electric-board-approves-nearly-50-million-to-continue-moving-forward-with-transmission-buildout to view the full article online.

  
The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) approved an amended Certificate of Environmental Compatibility (CEC) for the Coolidge Expansion Project, a flexible, fast-ramping natural gas plant that will help SRP cost-effectively and reliably meet the region’s growing energy needs as the utility works to add more solar, wind and storage resources.

Visit https://media.srpnet.com/srp-coolidge-expansion-project-approved-by-the-acc/ to view the full article online.

Sunflower Electric Power Corp. will develop, own and operate a 20-megawatt solar energy project near Russell, Kan. In January 2022, Sunflower announced its plans to add a second solar facility to its generation portfolio and has since selected a developer and project structure for the Sunflower Electric Solar @ Russell project.

Visit https://sunflower.net/sunflower-electric-power-corporation-announces-second-solar-project/ to view the full article online.

White Paper
Scientists develop positive electrode material using an organic redox polymer based on phenothiazine. Aluminium-ion batteries containing this material stored an unprecedented 167 milliampere hours per gram, outperforming batteries using graphite as electrode material. Aluminium-ion batteries are considered a promising alternative to conventional batteries that use scarce raw materials such as lithium.

Visit https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230613190817.htm to view the full article online.

Perovskite solar cells have now attained the extremely high efficiency rate of 24.35% with an active area of 1 cm2. This ground-breaking achievement in maximizing power generation from next-generation renewable energy sources will be crucial to securing the world's energy future.

Visit https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230622120852.htm to view the full article online.

Scientists have developed a fluoride-containing electrolyte for lithium metal batteries that could boost the electric vehicle industry. The usefulness of this electrolyte extends to other types of advanced battery systems beyond lithium ion.

Visit https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230628130317.htm to view the full article online.