FERC Office of Public Participation’s Post

#GETs are essential technologies, making it easier for utilities to implement them is paramount! Shout out to the WATT Coalition, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Allison Clements, and all others who are continuing the conversations in support of these technologies. You can also read more about our perspective here https://lnkd.in/gaynEZjA #GridEnhancingTechnologies #GridOfTheFuture #GridInnovation #GridTransformation #SustainableFuture #EnergyInnovation

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) held its first collaborative meeting with state commissioners yesterday. While more potential solutions are emerging on the transmission side, state and federal regulators collaborated to address key topics, including: ➡️Reliability ➡️Resource Adequacy ➡️Natural Gas-Electric Coordination ➡️Wholesale and Retail Markets ➡️New Technologies and Innovation Ten state commissioners were nominated by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). Link -> https://lnkd.in/g4x7Tafw Further discussions are expected in upcoming meetings to address and regulate statewide natural gas policies. #ferc #nerc #reliability #planning #transmission

A few highlights from this interesting #FERC Commissioner Clement’s letter: “GETs can be deployed more quickly than traditional transmission upgrades or greenfield transmission developments and at a much lower cost” "They can squeeze more juice out of the existing system while transmission is built, provide data to inform where transmission dollars should be spent, and can enhance new transmission lines by making them more efficient from the start"   Commissioner Clement asks the obvious question “So why aren’t #GridEnhancingTechnologies more widely deployed?” and points to several leads, such as requiring the deployment of #DLR, revisiting transmission incentives and promoting “best practices” among utilities in deploying #GETs or #AdvancedConductors   ➡ Link to the full letter below in the original post from WATT Coalition ➡ More information about advanced conductors: https://lnkd.in/eRkpHuEV   #HTLS #reconductoring #sustainability Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

So, how is it possible that the U.S. transmission system, which is generally considered to be underbuilt, has constructed a lot of unnecessary and non-cost-effective transmission? The complaint by "Consumers for Independent Regional Transmission Planning for All FERC-Jurisdictional Transmission Facilities at 100kV and Above" offers an answer by walking through the door that FERC opened in Order 1920: existing transmission tariffs allow individual transmission owners to sidestep regional transmission planning processes by using local transmission processes instead. According to the complaint, unnecessary and inefficient local transmission is being built instead of regional transmission. The root cause is the governance and regulation of the processes themselves, given the principal-agent problem between transmission customers (the principal) and transmission owners (the agent). The complaint is available at: https://lnkd.in/d5QXaAvF In Athawale, Rasika, and Frank A. Felder. "Overbuilding transmission: A case study and policy analysis of the Indian power sector" in Energy Policy (2023), we found a similar situation, although the overbuilding occurred at the regional level at the expense of local transmission and distribution. But again, poor governance, given the principal-agent problem, was the culprit. A similar claim has been made concerning capacity markets: too much capacity is being procured, but it is providing too little resource adequacy because only the generator owner knows the real availability of its units, and generation owners collectively shape resource adequacy rules accordingly. See Aagaard and Kleit's book Electricity Capacity Markets, 2022. It may also be worth considering if and to what extent this general analysis applies to large-scale transmission and generation expansion planning used in integrated resource planning and deep decarbonization studies. Are the analytical methods capturing the principal-agent problem and any governance shortcomings, and if not, how should this limitation be addressed through improved analyses and policies? In contrast, the case for pricing GHGs is partly motivated by improving the alignment between costs and investment and operation decisions, i.e., by internalizing the costs of GHG emissions in those decisions. Of course, there are many more issues to consider, including the challenge of aligning incentives, market power, tradeoffs between inefficient markets and inefficient regulation/governance, etc., given the power system's highly non-linear, large-scale, long-lived, and stochastic nature. But understanding and including economic incentives and regulatory and governance limitations is critical. Although it does not roll off the tongue, perhaps the mantra should be "No efficient transition without better aligned incentives and governance!"

Open access to U.S. electricity markets is ending. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved CAISO's proposal (Docket ER24-2671) to ration #interconnection entry by relying on scoring criteria and procurement preferences from load-serving entities. This compromise goes too far and opens the door to other RTOs/ISOs to choose criteria of their own liking to ration interconnection process entry. What comes next should make IPPs and clean energy advocates worry. #IPP #CleanEnergy #OpenAccess #RTO #electricitymarkets

Across America, the demand for clean, affordable electricity is booming. To power our economy and keep the grid reliable, grid planners and operators must plan for and interconnect new generation resources faster than ever before.   We commend Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for convening experts—including Clearway's Christopher Barker, P.E.—on September 10-11th to discuss urgent reforms needed to the interconnection process to meet the moment. Among other topics, Chris’ testimony highlights how an ”entry fee” model for interconnection could bring new generation online faster and at lower cost to consumers. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eaYDhY85

Some extra thoughts on the Kaxakhstani NPP discussion

We are thrilled to announce the official launch of Lydian Energy, an independent power producer dedicated to the development, construction, and operation of utility-scale solar and battery energy storage projects across North America! Backed by the capital and expertise of Excelsior Energy Capital, we are committed to driving significant economic and environmental benefits through our unique approach to delivering renewable energy at scale.   “We are excited to announce the official launch of Lydian Energy as we embark on our mission of ‘Connecting People + Power’ through impactful renewable energy projects,” said Lydian Energy CEO Emre Ersenkal. “As highly credible partners and engaged neighbors, our aim is to lead meaningful economic and environmental opportunities by developing and operating renewable energy assets that serve the needs of all stakeholders – landowners, communities, utilities, customers, and investors.”   Our growing pipeline of strategically located projects caters to a diverse range of commercial, industrial, and utility customers. Currently, Lydian owns nine projects representing 1.75 GW of solar and battery storage capacity in Texas and New Mexico.   For more information about Lydian Energy and our current projects, visit www.lydianenergy.com and read today’s full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/eyX8hh43 Follow us on LinkedIn to stay updated on our latest news and developments! #RenewableEnergy #SolarPower #BatteryStorage #Sustainability 

I am so very excited to announce that Lydian Energy is officially launching. I've worked with solar array projects from two solar modules on my first install in 2015, to now at Lydian with the scale of 500,000+ modules. I started in solar with the hopes of offering lower cost power than the local coal burning power plant in my hometown. In March of 2023, the Merrimack Station lost its forward capacity auction funding after 2026, and this year announced it will convert to battery and solar in 2028. Solar and batteries are the cheapest form of generation, and at scale we are watching the grid move from coal, to gas, to solar, even while the grid expands to the needs of electrification and data centers. What is truly transformational though is that with modular solar, from 2 solar panels to hundreds of thousands of solar panels, is that everyone in front of and behind the meter can participate in the generation of power, and with batteries can use or sell that power whenever it makes financial sense to do so. Over the past 7 years I have been tracking my personal utility bills, and I have seen the direct impact of my work, my industry's work, and adjacent industries work on lowering wholesale electricity prices. What has gone up is the cost to transport power as the grid ages, and becomes more susceptible to disruption with increased storm energy (polar vortex, fires, hurricanes). Storm energy from warmer weather of climate change. But I have hope, because I have crunched the numbers. To run the current US economy we only need 50kWDC of solar per person (even with the current inefficient fossil fuel thermal wastes), and by building solar we would be paid back by 2029 in fuel savings if we built it TODAY. So I am building part of the solution of what the US needs with the Lydian Energy Team with massive scale solar and battery solutions. The other part of the solution starts at home. From direct electrification and efficiency upgrades appliance by appliance (LEDs, induction stove, heat pumps, water heaters, micro e-mobility, electric vehicles, building integrated solar, remote work), to turning traditional electricity markets into peer to peer commodity and currency exchange with bring your own device demand response, and dispatchable generation of vehicle to grid, home batteries, and solar. Every person has a part to play, whether it is 2000 hours a year at your job, or 1 hour a week around your own home. I am just so lucky to be able to contribute in so many different ways. We are all turning the fuel paradigm upside down, as the US passed peak fossil fuel consumption in 2008 (before I even got involved), due to the aggregate work of every person in the US. And now economics is on the fuelless side, accelerating the change. All that is left is getting solar power to the people. Whether that is through the traditional wired grid, through mobile battery vehicles, through synthetic fuels, or distributed generation.

Energy Transition in action