Purchasing credits to support renewable energy goals

Federal agencies continue to strive toward generating 80 percent of their electricity from clean energy sources by 2035. Supporting this effort are the sale and purchase transactions of Renewable Energy Certificates, or RECs.

Currently, Western’s Upper Great Plains Region is looking to purchase RECs, also known as “green tags,” for several Federal agencies through two different requests for proposals, including:

• A joint request for 315,000 megawatt-hours of RECs over six years for DOE’s Richland Operations and Berkeley Site offices, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund Program. Bids due by July 1.
• A request for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to provide 3,000 MWhs of RECs per year to its Golden Field Office Research Support facility and 629 MWhs of RECs per year to replace solar energy NREL sold to Xcel Energy. Bids due by July 8.

All offers must be for firm, fixed, per-MWh unit prices for each year of the contract term. Once bids have been received, Upper Great Plains will select proposals based on best value.

For more information about the request for proposals, visit Upper Great Plains Power Marketing for RECs website.

Desert Southwest proposes energy credit program for customers

Western’s Desert Southwest Region is seeking comments on its proposed program to make Federal renewable energy credits, or RECs, available to its customers.

DSW released details about the proposed program in a letter delivered to customers and through a new DSW REC website.

States across Western’s service territory are implementing Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements for “green” energy products.  While many of Western’s customers are not yet affected, such requirements continue to evolve and expand to affect more entities.  Federal agencies are already affected by the Federal RPS.  Greenhouse gas requirements are also becoming hot topics in legislatures across the country.

What are RECs?
RECs represent the environmental benefits of renewable energy, sold separately from power generation. This request on behalf of Federal agencies will help meet the government’s renewable energy goals.

Learn more about the proposed program, provide comments and find valuable links at the DSW REC website.

Sacramento sees more transmission line added, upgrades made

Western energized two new transmission line segments of the Sacramento Area Voltage Support Project, May 21, readying the line just in time for California’s summer season operations.

The 230-kilovolt line from O’Banion Substation in Sutter County to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s Elverta Substation in Sacramento County came online at about 11 a.m., followed by the 230-kV line from O’Banion Substation to SMUD’s Natomas Substation in Sacramento County at about 2 p.m.

See full news release for photos and more information about the project.

Western joined DOE’s tribal summit, May 4 & 5

Western Administrator Tim Meeks joined several other Department of Energy leaders for the May 4 and 5, 2011 DOE Tribal Summit.

The summit builds on the Department’s continued commitment to partner with Native Americans to support the development of clean energy projects on tribal lands that will help reduce energy use, limit carbon pollution, and create new jobs for tribal communities across the country.

Participants—whether live at the event or joining through the streamed video—had the chance to learn about energy jobs, development of clean energy projects on tribal lands and how to limit carbon pollution in support of tribal communities across the country.

As Western’s service territory covers 15 states and many tribal customers, we have the potential for partnership on energy projects. The event provided an opportunity to talk and share about those prospective energy projects and opportunities. In addition to sitting on a discussion panel, Meeks was able to hear the different tribe’s needs and concerns.

Learn more about the event and see some video on DOE’s Energy Blog post, “Tribal Summit Live.”

Update: DOE has posted a recap of the Tribal Summit and photos from the event.

Minnkota wins 2011 Wind Cooperative award

For the last nine years, Western’s Renewable Energy Program Manager Randy Manion—on behalf of DOE’s Wind Powering America initiative—has sought to recognize cooperatives that lead the pack in wind development.

At the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s annual Tech Advantage Conference in Orlando, Fla., March 8 to 11, Manion presented Karen Thingelstad of Minnkota Power Cooperative with the 2011 Wind Cooperative of the Year Award.

Minnkota was recognized for developing North Dakota’s first utility-owned wind turbine and for investing in wind energy through power purchase agreements with several wind projects. Wind energy now represents more than 30 percent of the generation and transmission cooperative’s total member energy requirements, collectively contributing an average of nearly 1,300 gigawatt-hours per year at an average annual capacity factor of 41 percent.

Read the whole story on the Department of Energy’s EnergyBlog.

Get a Congressional perspective of Western

As a Federal agency, Western is responsible for submitting a budget request to Congress (after its budget is reviewed and approved by the Department of Energy and the Office of Business Management).

Western Administrator Tim Meeks joined the administrators of Bonneville, Southeastern and Southwestern power administrations in testifying about the proposed fiscal year 2012 budget before the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the House Natural Resources Committee on March 15. In addition to submitting written testimony (61kb pdf), Meeks briefed the committee members on Western’s accomplishments and responded to questions from the committee. Watch a recording of the hearing.

While Congressional appropriations accounts for only about 10 percent of Western’s overall funding needs, it is an important piece to keeping the lights on throughout the West. These appropriations, coupled with customer funding, revolving funds and power sale receipts ensure Western can fund the operation, maintenance and on-going rehabilitation needed to ensure our Federal transmission system is reliably delivering power to customers throughout the West.

Upcoming rates meetings and updates for Desert Southwest area

Operating and maintaining an extensive, integrated and complex high-voltage power transmission system and delivering electric power to Western’s customers and the market through that system takes a lot of “behind-the-scenes” work. To continue meeting the mission of marketing and delivering cost-based Federal hydropower and related services, while meeting our obligation to repay U.S. Treasury, Western analyzes and updates power rates through public processes. Some of which are coming up in Western’s Desert Southwest region.

Boulder Canyon project—informal meeting scheduled

Customers and other interested parties can learn more about the annual Boulder Canyon Project adjustment of the Base Charge and rates at this informal meeting, March 10, at Western’s Desert Southwest Regional Office in Phoenix.

Learn more about the upcoming formal process in the Federal Register notice (pdf).

Ancillary, transmission services rates meeting

On March 10, Western will also host a public information forum for Desert Southwest Region customers and interested parties at the Phoenix office. The purpose of the forum is to provide information on proposed rate methodologies and new rates for Western Area Lower Colorado ancillary services and Network Integration Transmission Service on the Parker-Davis and Intertie projects. The proposed new rates will go into effect Oct. 1, 2011.

Learn more about the rate process in the Federal Register notice (pdf).

Government connecting with small businesses

Last year, the Department of Energy spent over $25 billion in contracts, and Western’s share of that was more than $80 million in appropriated funds.

This can lead small contractors and vendors to wonder how they can land those Federal contracts that agencies post. Here at Western, we work with the regional Small Business Administration to educate small businesses about the Federal contracting process and how to get involved.

As part of Western’s program, staff hosted a Business Outreach Session at its Corporate Services Office in Lakewood, Colo., Jan. 26. It gave interested businesses an opportunity to connect with Federal acquisition and program managers. This free event provided breakout sessions and networking opportunities.

Yet, if you weren’t able to attend, don’t worry. You can always catch an upcoming DOE small business event or get some free marketing tips from Western’s Small Business Program.

Upcoming events?

If you’re looking for another opportunity to connect with the Department of Energy, check out the upcoming 12th Annual DOE Small Business Conference & Expo, in Kansas City,May 10 to 12, 2011. The event will feature educational workshops, an Exhibit Hall with more than 200 exhibitors/sponsors, as well as business matchmaking sessions.

Study: Transmission feasible for southwestern renewable energy

Development of about 9,500 to 12,500 megawatts of transmission capacity is technically feasible according to the November 2010 Sonoran-Mojave Renewable Transmission Project,  or SMRT, Preliminary Feasibility Study, released Dec. 8.

The study looked at a number of potential new transmission lines and upgrades to existing lines that would, if constructed, provide new transmission capacity in Arizona, California and Nevada primarily to support additional renewable resources, provide wholesale and retail markets with access to those resources and provide a more robust transmission grid.

The study was jointly developed and funded by a diverse group of energy interests that voluntarily band together to determine the technical feasibility of the lines and explore potential business arrangements to develop SMRT. With the preliminary study complete, the next steps will include soliciting interest in transmission service from renewable developers and other customers to assess SMRT’s economic viability.

The study report is also available on Western’s Recovery webpage at http://www.wapa.gov/recovery/planning.htm.

‘Watts up’ with your holiday lights?

The weather outside may be frightful, but your energy bill doesn’t have to be, if you use energy efficient holiday lights.

Whether you deck the halls inside or out, whether you use light strands to trim the tree or your house, here are some tidbits from Western’s Energy Services staff about the energy you’re using, as well as the safety aspect of decorating your home.

The following chart provides a breakdown of how much eary is consumed by different types of light bulbs. You can adjust the assumed energy price per kWh to more accurately reflect your local energy costs.

Did you know?

• An extension cord that is too small can overheat and start a fire, without tripping the breaker.
• A florescent flood light won’t work well when it’s below 30 degrees Fahrenheit and it may not work at all when the temperature dips below zero.
• A string of 70 holiday lights can use as much as 350 watts, or the equivalent of two-and-a-half, three-way lamps.

Reduce holiday lighting energy use

Take safety and energy-efficient precautions when putting your lights up. “And if you’ve already put your lights up, take a look to make sure you put them up safely, so you don’t start a fire,” said Energy Services RepresentativeGary Hoffmann.

For starters, check the size of your extension cords and make sure they’re labeled with the amount of current they can carry. “When you get a new extension cord, use an indelible marker to label it with the capacity,” suggested Hoffmann. “That way if the label falls off, you still know what the capacity is.”

Also, remember not to string more than three light strands together outside because it could overload your extension cord or light strand and start a fire. “Generally, three 35-bulb cords of regular holiday lights may be connected on one extension cord,” explained Hoffmann. “But if you use light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, you may use 12 strings of 70 bulbs per string and still be O.K.”

While LED lights may cost more initially, the energy costs they will save add up. “A string of LED lights use as little as two watts, where as a night light uses four watts,” added Hoffmann. “So they cost only about three cents to operate when used about five hours a day during the holiday season.

Energy Services shared these additional facts about LED holiday lighting options:

Safety—no chance of combustion, since the bulbs are cool to the touch, regardless of how long they are left on.

Sturdy bulbs—the epoxy lenses are virtually indestructible. These lights have a different appearance from familiar incandescent models, appearing to shimmer with movement as the light passes through the faceted bulbs.

LED bulbs don’t emit the same amount of light as incandescent lamps, although some new models on the market are closer to the brightness of incandescent. “Even so, LED lights can be used for beautiful and affordable holiday decorating,” said Hoffmann.

For more information, download Energy Services’ Holiday Lighting fact sheet.