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Recently in Public Power Current
MN8 Energy on Dec. 17 announced it will own and operate the 135MWac Prairie Solar project in Champaign County, Illinois, which includes 50MWac of capacity dedicated to a City of Cambridge, Mass., virtual power purchase agreement. The project will support the largest virtual PPA ever undertaken by a U.S. city, according to MN8 Energy.
Commonwealth Fusion Systems on Dec. 17 announced that it will build the world’s first grid-scale commercial fusion power plant at the James River Industrial Park in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
NorthWestern Energy on Dec. 17 announced that it has signed a letter of intent to provide energy services for a developer planning new data centers in Montana.
Dawson Public Power District’s Board of Directors has chosen Alyssa Clemsen Roberts as the District’s next General Manager of the Nebraska public power utility. She will begin her duties in April 2025.
The PJM Interconnection Board of Managers has informed stakeholders of its support for undertaking immediate actions to provide for resource adequacy in light of the continuing and rapid tightening of grid power supplies versus growing demand for electricity, PJM said on Dec. 10.
Oregon’s Eugene Water and Electric Board has been awarded $1 million for wildfire resiliency projects in partnership with the Oregon Department of Forestry, McKenzie Fire and Rescue, and Eugene Springfield Fire, EWEB said on Dec. 17.
The text of a government funding agreement released on Dec. 17 does not include S. 4753, the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, legislation that would have expanded the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over public power utilities, electric cooperatives, and federal Power Marketing Administrations -- all three of which are defined as non-jurisdictional entities under Section 201(f) of the Federal Power Act.
Trends identified in the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s 2024 Long-Term Reliability Assessment highlight critical reliability challenges that industry is facing over the next 10 years: satisfying escalating energy growth, managing generator retirements and removing barriers to resource and transmission development, NERC said on Dec. 17.