Brookland residents ask for underground utility lines

Tesla Energy Ventures Texas enters the deregulated market as a retail electricity provider, leveraging ERCOT, battery storage, solar, and grid software to enable virtual power plants and customer energy trading with Powerwall and Megapack assets.

Key Points

Tesla Energy Ventures Texas is Tesla's retail power unit selling grid and battery energy and enabling solar exports.

✅ ERCOT retail provider; sells grid and battery-stored power

✅ Uses Powerwall/Megapack; supports virtual power plants

✅ Targets Tesla owners; enables solar export and trading

Last week, Tesla Energy Ventures, a new subsidiary of electric car maker Tesla Inc. (TSLA), filed an application to become a retail electricity provider in the state of Texas. According to reports, the company plans to sell electricity drawn from the grid to customers and from its battery storage products. Its grid transaction software may also enable customers for its solar panels to sell excess electricity back to the smart grid in Texas.1

For those who have been following Tesla's fortunes in the electric car industry, the Palo Alto, California-based company's filing may seem baffling. But the move dovetails with Tesla's overall ambitions for its renewable energy business, as utilities face federal scrutiny of climate goals and electricity rates.

Why Does Tesla Want to Become an Electricity Provider?
The simple answer to that question is that Tesla already manufactures devices that produce and store power. Examples of such devices are its electric cars, which come equipped with lithium ion batteries, and its suite of battery storage products for homes and enterprises. Selling power generated from these devices to consumers or to the grid is a logical next step.

Tesla's move will benefit its operations. The filing states that it plans to build a massive battery storage plant near its manufacturing facility in Austin. The plant will provide the company with a ready and cheap source of power to make its cars.

Tesla's filing should also be analyzed in the context of the Texas grid. The state's electricity market is fully deregulated, unlike regions debating grid privatization approaches, and generated about a quarter of its overall power from wind and solar in 2020.2 The Biden administration's aggressive push toward clean energy is only expected to increase that share.

After a February fiasco in the state grid resulted in a shutdown of renewable energy sources and skyrocketing natural gas prices, Texas committed to boosting the role of battery storage in its grid. The Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state's grid operator, has said it plans to install 3,008 MW of battery storage by the end of 2022, a steep increase from the 225 MW generated at the end of 2020.3 ERCOT's proposed increase in installation represents a massive market for Tesla's battery unit.

Tesla already has considerable experience in this arena. It has built battery storage plants in California and Australia and is building a massive battery storage unit in Houston, according to a June Bloomberg report.4 The unit is expected to service wholesale power producers. Besides this, the company plans to "drum up" business among existing customers for its batteries through an app and a website that will allow them to buy and sell power among themselves, a model also being explored by Octopus Energy in international talks.

Tesla Energy Ventures: A Future Profit Center?
Tesla's foray into becoming a retail electricity provider could boost the top line for its energy services business, even as issues like power theft in India highlight retail market challenges. In its last reported quarter, the company stated that its energy generation and storage business brought in $810 million in revenues.

Analysts have forecast a positive future for its battery storage business. Alex Potter from research firm Piper Sandler wrote last year that battery storage could bring in more than $200 billion per year in revenue and grow up to a third of the company's overall business.5

Immediately after the news was released, Morningstar analyst Travis Miller wrote that Tesla does not represent an immediate threat to other major players in Texas's retail market, where providers face strict notice obligations illustrated when NT Power was penalized for delayed disconnection notices, such as NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) and Vistra Corp. (VST). According to him, the company will initially target its own customers to "complement" its offerings in electric cars, battery, charging, and solar panels.6

Further down the line, however, Tesla's brand name and resources may work to its advantage. "Tesla's brand name recognition gives it an advantage in a hypercompetitive market," Miller wrote, adding that the car company's entry confirmed the firm's view that consumer technology or telecom companies will try to enter retail energy markets, where policy shifts like Ontario rate reductions can shape customer expectations.

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IAEA OSART Cernavoda highlights strengthened operational safety at Romania’s Cernavoda NPP, citing improved maintenance practices, simulator training, and deficiency reporting, with ongoing actions on spare parts procurement, procedure updates, and chemical control for nuclear compliance.

Key Points

An IAEA follow-up mission confirming improved operational safety at Cernavoda NPP, with remaining actions tracked.

✅ Enhanced simulator training and crew performance

✅ Improved field deficiency identification and reporting

✅ Ongoing upgrades to procedures, spares, and chemical control

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said yesterday that the operator of Romania’s Cernavoda nuclear power plant had demonstrated "strengthened operational safety" by addressing the findings of an initial IAEA review in 2016. The Operational Safety Review Team (OSART) concluded a five-day follow-up mission on 8 March to the Cernavoda plant, which is on the Danube-Black Sea Canal, about 160 km from Bucharest.

The plant's two 706 MWe CANDU pressurised heavy water reactors, reflecting Canadian nuclear projects, came online in 1996 and 2007, respectively.

The OSART team was led by Fuming Jiang, a senior nuclear safety officer at the IAEA, which recently commended China's nuclear security in separate assessments.

"We saw improvements in key areas, such as the procurement of important spare parts, the identification and reporting of some deficiencies, and some maintenance work practices, as evidenced by relevant performance indicators," Jiang said, noting milestones at nuclear projects worldwide this year.

The team observed that several findings from the 2016 review had been fully addressed, including: enhanced operator crew performance during simulator training; better identification and reporting of deficiencies in the field; and improvement in maintenance work practices.

More time is required, it said, to fully implement some actions, including: further improvements in the procurement of important spare parts with relevance to safety; further enhancement in the revision and update of some operating procedures, drawing on lessons from Pickering NGS life extensions undertaken in Ontario; and control and labelling of some plant chemicals.

Dan Bigu, site vice president of Cernavoda NPP, said the 2016 mission had "proven to be very beneficial", adding that the current follow-up mission would "provide further catalyst support to our journey to nuclear excellence".

The team provided a draft report of the mission to the plant's management and a final report will be submitted to the Romanian government, which recently moved to terminate talks with a Chinese partner on a separate nuclear project, within three months.

OSART missions aim to improve operational safety by objectively assessing safety performance, even as the agency reports mines at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia plant amid ongoing risks, using the IAEA's safety standards and proposing recommendations and suggestions for improvement where appropriate. The follow-up missions are standard components of the OSART programme and, as the IAEA has warned of risks from attacks on Ukraine's power grids, are typically conducted within two years of the initial mission.

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Hydro-Québec $185-Billion Clean Energy Plan accelerates hydroelectric upgrades, wind power expansion, solar and battery storage, pumped storage, and 5,000 km transmission lines to decarbonize Quebec, boost grid resilience, and attract bond financing and Indigenous partnerships.

Key Points

Plan to grow renewables, harden the grid, and fund Quebec's decarbonization with major investments.

✅ $110B new generation, $50B grid resilience by 2035

✅ Triple wind, add solar, batteries, and pumped storage

✅ 5,000 km lines, bond financing, Indigenous partnerships

Hydro-Québec is in the preliminary stages of dialogue with various financiers and potential collaborators to strategize the implementation of a $185-billion initiative aimed at transitioning Quebec away from fossil fuel dependency.

As the leading hydroelectric power producer in Canada, Hydro-Québec is set to allocate up to $110 billion by 2035 towards the development of new clean energy facilities, building on its hydropower capacity expansion in recent years, with an additional $50 billion dedicated to enhancing the resilience of its power grid, as revealed in a strategy announced last November. The remainder of the projected expenditure will cover operational costs.

This ambitious initiative has garnered significant interest from the financial sector, with the province's recent electricity for industrial projects also drawing attention, as noted by CEO Michael Sabia during a conference call with journalists where the utility's annual financial outcomes were discussed. Sabia reported receiving various proposals to fund the initiative, though specific partners were not disclosed. He expressed confidence in securing the necessary capital for the project's success.

Sabia highlighted three immediate strategies to increase power output: identifying new sites for hydroelectric projects while upgrading turbines at existing facilities, such as the Carillon Generating Station upgrade now underway for enhanced efficiency, expanding wind energy production threefold, and promoting energy conservation among consumers to optimize current power usage.

Additionally, Hydro-Québec aims to augment its solar and battery energy production and is planning to establish a pumped-storage hydroelectric plant to support peak demand periods. The utility also intends to construct 5,000 kilometers of new transmission lines, address Quebec-to-U.S. transmission constraints where feasible, and is set to double its capital expenditure to $16 billion annually, a significant increase from the investment levels during the James Bay hydropower project construction in the 1970s and 1980s.

To fund part of this expansive plan, Hydro-Québec will continue to access the bond market, having issued $3.7 billion in notes to investors last year despite facing several operational hurdles due to adverse weather conditions.

For the year 2023, Hydro-Québec reported a net income of $3.3 billion, marking a 28% decrease from the previous year's record of $4.56 billion. Factors such as insufficient snow cover, reduced spring runoff, and higher temperatures resulted in lower water levels in reservoirs, leading to a reduction in power exports and a $547-million decrease in external market sales compared to the previous year.

The utility experienced its lowest export volume in a decade but managed to leverage hedging strategies to secure 10.3 cents per kWh for exported power to markets including New Brunswick via recent NB Power agreements that expand interprovincial deliveries, nearly twice the average market rate, through forward contracts that cover up to half of its export volume for about a year in advance.

The success of Sabia's plan will partly depend on the cooperation of First Nations communities, as the proposed infrastructure developments are likely to traverse their ancestral territories. Relationships with some communities are currently tense, exemplified by the Innu of Labrador's $4-billion lawsuit against Hydro-Québec for damages related to land flooding for reservoir construction, and broader regional tensions in Newfoundland and Labrador that persist in the power sector.

Sabia has committed to involving First Nations and Inuit communities as partners in clean energy ventures, offering them ongoing financial benefits rather than one-off settlements, a principle he refers to as "economic reconciliation."

Recently, the Quebec government reached an agreement with the Innu of Pessamit, pledging $45 million to support local community development. This agreement outlines solutions for managing a nearby hydropower reservoir, such as the La Romaine complex in the region, and includes commitments for wind energy development.

Sabia is optimistic about building stronger, more positive relationships with various Indigenous communities, anticipating significant progress in the coming months and viewing this year as a potential milestone in transforming these relationships for the better.

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BC Ferries Electrification accelerates zero-emission vessels, Canada Infrastructure Bank financing, and fast charging infrastructure to cut greenhouse gas emissions, lower operating costs, and reduce noise across British Columbia's Island-class routes.

Key Points

BC Ferries Electrification is the plan to deploy zero-emission ferries and charging, funded by CIB, to reduce emissions.

✅ $75M CIB loan funds four electric ferries and chargers

✅ Cuts 9,000 tonnes CO2e annually on short Island-class routes

✅ Quieter service, lower operating costs, and redeployed hybrids

British Columbia is taking a significant step towards a cleaner transportation future with the electrification of its ferry fleet. BC Ferries, the province's ferry operator, has secured a $75 million loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) to fund the purchase of four zero-emission ferries and the necessary charging infrastructure to support them.

This marks a turning point for BC Ferries, which currently operates a fleet reliant on diesel fuel. The new Island-class electric ferries will be deployed on shorter routes, replacing existing hybrid ships on those routes. These hybrid ferries will then be redeployed on routes that haven't yet been converted to electric, maximizing their lifespan and efficiency.

Environmental Benefits

The transition to electric ferries is expected to deliver significant environmental benefits. The new vessels are projected to eliminate an estimated 9,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually, and electric ships on the B.C. coast already demonstrate similar gains, contributing to British Columbia's ambitious climate goals. Additionally, the quieter operation of electric ferries will create a more pleasant experience for passengers and reduce noise pollution for nearby communities.

Economic Considerations

The CIB loan plays a crucial role in making this project financially viable. The low-interest rate offered by the CIB will help to keep ferry fares more affordable for passengers. Additionally, the long-term operational costs of electric ferries are expected to be lower than those of diesel-powered vessels, providing economic benefits in the long run.

Challenges and Opportunities

While the electrification of BC Ferries is a positive development, there are some challenges to consider. The upfront costs of electric ferries and charging infrastructure are typically higher than those of traditional options, though projects such as the Kootenay Lake ferry show growing readiness. However, advancements in battery technology are constantly lowering costs, making electric ferries a more cost-effective choice over time.

Moreover, the transition presents opportunities for job creation in the clean energy sector, with complementary initiatives like the hydrogen project broadening demand. The development, construction, and maintenance of electric ferries and charging infrastructure will require skilled workers, potentially creating a new avenue for economic growth in British Columbia.

A Pioneering Example

BC Ferries' electrification initiative sets a strong precedent for other ferry operators worldwide, including Washington State Ferries pursuing hybrid-electric upgrades. This project demonstrates the feasibility and economic viability of transitioning to cleaner marine transportation solutions. As battery technology and charging infrastructure continue to develop, we can expect to see more widespread adoption of electric ferries across the globe.

The collaboration between BC Ferries and the CIB paves the way for a greener future for BC's transportation sector, where efforts like Harbour Air's electric aircraft complement marine electrification. With cleaner air, quieter operation, and a positive impact on climate change, this project is a win for the environment, the economy, and British Columbia as a whole.

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UK Energy Price Cap Cut 2024 signals relief as wholesale gas prices fall; Ofgem price cap drops per Cornwall Insight, aided by LNG supply, mild winter, despite Red Sea tensions and Ukraine conflict impacts.

Key Points

A forecast cut to Great Britain's Ofgem price cap as wholesale gas falls, easing typical annual household bills in 2024.

✅ Cap falls from £1,928 to £1,620 in April 2024

✅ Forecast £1,497 in July, then about £1,541 from October

✅ Drivers: lower wholesale gas, LNG supply, mild winter

Households in Great Britain are set to experience a significant reduction in energy costs this spring, with bills projected to drop by over £300 annually. This decrease is primarily due to a decline in wholesale gas prices, offering some respite to those grappling with the cost of living crisis.

Cornwall Insight, a well-regarded industry analyst, predicts a 16% reduction in average bills from the previous quarter, potentially reaching the lowest levels since the onset of the Ukraine conflict.

The industry’s price cap, indicative of the average annual bill for a typical household, is expected to decrease from the current £1,928, set earlier this month, to £1,620 in April – a reduction of £308 and £40 less than previously forecasted in December, as ministers consider ending the gas-electricity price link to improve market resilience.

Concerns about escalating tensions in the Red Sea, where Houthi rebels have disrupted global shipping, initially led analysts to fear an increase in wholesale oil prices and subsequent impact on household energy costs.

Contrary to these concerns, oil prices have remained relatively stable, and European gas reserves have been higher than anticipated during a mild winter, with European gas prices returning to pre-Ukraine war levels since November.

Cornwall Insight anticipates that energy prices will continue to be comparatively low through 2024. They predict a further decline to £1,497 for a typical annual bill from July, followed by a slight increase to £1,541 starting in October.

This forecast is a welcome development for Britons who have been dealing with increased expenses across various sectors, from food to utilities, amidst persistently high inflation rates, with energy-driven EU inflation hitting lower-income households hardest across member states.

Energy bills saw a steep rise in 2021, which escalated further due to the Ukraine conflict in 2022, driving up wholesale gas prices. This surge prompted government intervention to subsidize bills, with the UK price cap estimated to cost around £89bn to the public purse, capping costs to a typical household at £2,500.

Cornwall Insight noted that the supply of liquified natural gas to Europe had not been as adversely affected by the Red Sea disruptions as initially feared. Moreover, the UK has been well-supplied with gas from the US, which has become a more significant supplier since the Ukraine war, even as US electricity prices have risen to multi-decade highs. Contributing factors also include lower gas prices in Asia, mild weather, and robust gas availability.

Craig Lowrey, a principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, remarked that concerns about Red Sea events driving up energy prices have not materialized, allowing households to expect a reduction in prices.

On Monday, the next-month wholesale gas price dropped by 4% to 65p a therm.

However, Lowrey cautioned that a complete return to pre-crisis energy bill levels remains unlikely due to ongoing market impacts from shifting away from Russian energy sources and persistent geopolitical tensions, as well as policy changes such as Britain’s Energy Security Bill shaping market reforms.

Richard Neudegg, director of regulation at Uswitch, welcomed the potential further reduction of the price cap in April. However, he pointed out that this offers little solace to households currently struggling with high winter energy costs during the winter. Neudegg urged Ofgem, the energy regulator, to prompt suppliers to reintroduce more competitive and affordable fixed-price deals.

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FPL Power Restoration mobilizes Florida linemen and mutual-aid utility crews to repair the grid, track outages with smart meters, prioritize hospitals and essential services, and accelerate hurricane recovery across the state.

Key Points

FPL Power Restoration is the utility's hurricane effort to rebuild the grid and quickly restore service across Florida.

✅ 18,000 mutual-aid utility workers deployed from 28 states

✅ Smart meters pinpoint outages and accelerate repairs

✅ Critical facilities prioritized before neighborhood restorations

Teams of Florida Power & Light linemen, assisted by thousands of out-of-state utility workers and 200 Ontario workers who joined the effort, scrambled across Florida Monday to tackle the Herculean task of turning the lights back on in the Sunshine State.

The job is quite simply mind-boggling as Irma caused extensive damages to the power grid and the outages have broken previous records, and in other storms Louisiana's grid needed a complete rebuild after Hurricane Laura to restore service.

By 3 p.m. Monday, some 3.47 million of the company's 4.9 million customers in Florida were without power. This breaks the record of 3.24 million knocked off the grid during Hurricane Wilma in 2005, according to FPL spokesman Bill Orlove.

Prepared to face massive outages, FPL brought some 18,000 utility workers from 28 states here to join FPL crews, including Canadian power crews arriving to help restore service, to enable them to act more quickly.

“That’s the thing about the utility industry,” said  Alys Daly, an FPL spokeswoman. “It’s truly a family.”

Even with what is believed to be the largest assembly of utility workers ever assembled for a single storm in the United States, power restoration is expected to take weeks, not days in some areas.

FPL vowed to work as quickly as possible as they assess the damage and send out crews to restore power.

"We understand that people need to have power right away to get their lives back to normal," Daly said.

The priority, she said, were medical and emergency management facilities and then essential service providers like gas stations and grocery stores.

After that, FPL will endeavor to repair the problems that will restore power to the maximum number of people possible. Then it's individual neighborhoods.

As of 3 p.m. Monday, 219,040 of FPL's 307,600 customers on the Space Coast had no power. That's an improvement over the 260,600 earlier in the day.

Daly was unable to say Monday how many crews FPL had working in Brevard County. In some areas, power came back relatively swiftly, much quicker than expected.

" I was definitely surprised at how quickly they got our power back on here in NE Palm Bay," said Kelli Coats. "We lost power last night around 9 p.m Sunday and regained power around 8:30 a.m. today."

Others, many of them beachside, were looking at a full 24 hours without power and it's possible it could extend into Tuesday or longer.

One reason for improved response times since 2005, Daly said, is the installation of nearly 5 million "Smart Meters" at residences. These new devices, which replaced older analog models, allows FPL crews to track a neighborhood's power status via handheld computers, pinpointing the cause of an outage so it can be repaired.

Quick restoration is key as stores and restaurants struggle to re-open, and Gulf Power crews restored power in the early push. Without electricity many of them just can't re-start operations and get goods and services to consumers.

At the Atlanta-based Waffle House, which Federal Emergency Management Administration use to gauge the severity of damage and service to an area, restaurant executives are reviewing its operations in Florida and should have a better handle Monday afternoon how quickly restaurants will re-open.

"Right now, we're in an assessment phase," said Pat Warner, spokesman for Waffle House. "We're looking at which stores have power and which ones have damage."

FEMA's color-coded Waffle House Index started after the hurricanes in the early 2000s. It works like this: When an official phones a Waffle House to see if it is open,  the next stop is to assess it's level of service. If it's open and serving a full menu, the index is green. When the restaurant is open but serving a limited menu, it's yellow. When it's closed, it's red.

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