grid
Bonds and Financing
Fitch Ratings has affirmed both the Issuer Default Rating and the rating on Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority’s outstanding $459.9 million of outstanding power supply system revenue bonds at “A.” The Rating Outlook is Stable.
hydro
Generation
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has released an open-source pumped storage hydropower cost model tool that estimates how much new PSH projects might cost based on specific site specifications like geography, terrain, construction materials, and more.
meter
Bills and Rates
City of Edmond, Okla., utility customers will have at their disposal a versatile tool that will help them better track and manage their utility usage as well as allow the city’s utilities to provide enhanced services and programs, the city said on April 22.
plant
Generation
A siting certificate for a 2,060-megawatt natural gas-fired combined cycle gas turbine power generating facility was approved on April 29 by the Public Service Commission of West Virginia.
drone
Reliability
As operational challenges multiply, some utilities have found drones to be an effective tool to optimize limited resources and maintain safe and reliable service. Many utilities have either hired drone service providers that use professional pilots or started dedicated aviation units with their utility. In contrast, Skydio uses artificial intelligence to interpret the visual data coming from the fisheye cameras that serve as a drone’s “eyes.”
plant
Generation
California investor-owned energy company PG&E Corporation on April 30 announced that it has entered exclusive negotiations to sell a minority interest in Pacific Generation LLC to KKR’s Infrastructure Strategy.
storage
Energy Storage
The U.S. Department of Energy is seeking feedback on a proposed Blue Sky Training Program to train first responders, law enforcement agencies, local communities, utilities, authorities having jurisdictions, and others on how to respond to unanticipated failures of energy storage systems.
plant
Generation
CPS Energy on May 1 announced the closing on the acquisition of Talen Energy Corporation’s approximately 1,710-megawatt generation portfolio located in the South Zone of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas market for $785 million, subject to customary net working capital adjustments.
plant
Generation
The G7 countries on April 30 announced that the group has agreed to “phase out existing unabated coal power generation in our energy systems during the first half of 2030s or in a timeline consistent with keeping a limit of 1.5°C temperature rise within reach, in line with countries’ net-zero pathways.” The G7 countries are Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Japan.
batt
Energy Storage
The Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company has chosen Lightshift Energy as its exclusive partner to deploy the state’s first jointly implemented fleet of grid-scale battery energy storage systems.