MEEA Policy Insider - July 2018

MEEA's Policy Team is actively tracking policy developments within our 13-state footprint, and the Policy Insider summarizes the latest state policy activity and provides our newest resources to aid members in their outreach, education and advocacy initiatives.

NEW Advocacy Toolkit: We’ve made it easier to find and use our most helpful advocacy resources. Check out our new EE Messaging fact sheet and Fact vs. Fiction document.

Ready to get involved? There are advocacy opportunities in Illinois, Indiana,  Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio.

In this issue:

Regulatory

Work on the Illinois Commerce Commission’s (ICC) utility of the future study, NextGrid, continues. All working groups have selected their members and have either concluded their meetings or are continuing to develop work products. The full NextGrid Stakeholder Advisory Committee met on May 14 at MEEA. Information on NextGrid is available at https://nextgrid.illinois.gov/index.html.

The Future Energy Jobs Act required the development of stakeholder groups to support the low-income portfolio that was transitioning from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to the individual utilities. The second meetings of the Income Qualified EE Advisory Committees were held on May 22 for the North region and June 12 for the South.

MEEA Activities

MEEA was selected for the ratemaking, regulatory and environmental policy issues and electricity markets working groups and is also serving on the ICC’s NextGrid Stakeholder Advisory Committee.

MEEA is a member of the both the North and South Income Qualified EE Advisory Committees.

How to Get Involved

The Stakeholder Advisory Group and the Income Qualified EE Advisory Committees are open to all interested stakeholders. Information on these groups is available on the IL SAG website.

If you have any questions about Illinois or want to get involved, contact Leah Scull.

Regulatory

Integrated resource plan (IRP) stakeholder processes are underway for Duke Energy Indiana, Indiana Michigan Power and NIPSCO. Meetings will continue through the spring and summer before the November/December filing dates. NIPSCO’s next meeting is on July 24 (register here) and IMP’s next meeting is on August 1 (register here). Updates from the commission on IRPs in Indiana will be posted to the IURC’s IRP page.

How to Get Involved

The utility IRP meetings are open to anyone interested in attending.

If you have any questions about Indiana or want to get involved, contact Greg Ehrendreich. 

Legislative

On May 4, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 2311 (SF 2311) into law. Read our new blog post for information about the bill and its potential consequences.  

Regulatory

Alliant Energy, MidAmerican Energy and Black Hills Energy recalled their 2019- 2023 plans in light of the passage of SF 2311. Revised proposed utility plans are due no later than July 9, 2018.

How to Get Involved

If you have questions about Iowa or want to get more involved, contact Leah Scull.

Regulatory

The Westar and Great Plains Energy merger was approved by the Kansas Corporation Commission on May 24 and finalized on June 4. The new entity will be named Evergy and will serve about 1 million customers in Kansas and 600,000 customers in Missouri. Evergy will own, operate and maintain more than 51,000 miles of distributed lines and 163,000 megawatts of generation.

How to Get Involved

If you have questions about Iowa or want to get more involved, contact Nick Hromalik.

Regulatory

As of April 6, 2018, the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) has a sub-group to their energy waste reduction (EWR) collaborative focused on low-income EWR programs. This comes as a direct result of conversations between the MPSC and MEEA and Energy Efficiency for All (EEFA) partners. The first meeting was held on April 6, 2018, the second on May 18 and the third on June 14. The next meeting is scheduled for July 26.

On June 15, 2018 Consumers Energy filed its Integrated Resource Plan (beginning on page 91 of the linked PDF) as required by PA 437 Section 6t. Among the numerous ambitious components contained therein, Consumers Energy’s analysis relies upon an increase in annual energy waste reduction (EWR) from 1.5% to 2.25% by 2040. MEEA will be following the Commission’s review of the proposal and will provide updates to our members as they become available.

graph showing cumulative mwh savings in michigan
Consumers Energy IRP EWR Targets 2018-2040

MEEA Activities

MEEA is working with in-state EEFA partners and the MPSC to develop agendas for a recurring Low Income Energy Waste Reduction stakeholder collaborative meeting. At both the April 6 and May 18 meetings, MEEA Senior Policy Manager Nick Dreher assisted the MPSC with facilitation.

How to Get Involved

The EWR meetings (IRP and Low Income) are open to the public for anyone interested. The next MPSC Low Income EWR meeting is on July 26. Contact Nick Dreher if you are interested in attending.

Details of and updates regarding the recent IRP process can be found at www.michigan.gov/energylegislation.

For more information about Michigan or to get more involved, contact Nick Dreher.

Regulatory 

Xcel Energy submitted an informational letter to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on the stakeholder process for their 2020-2034 Upper Midwest IRP.  Their key priorities include leading the clean energy transition, enhancing the customer experience and keeping customers’ bills low.

How to Get Involved 

Xcel will host several public stakeholder forums, the first of which was held Tuesday June 26 in St. Paul. There is a tentative month schedule for the rest of the meetings, with the next two occurring in August.

For more information about Minnesota or to get more involved, contact Sophia Markowska.

Legislative

The senate continues to consider its substitute version of HB 114. The senate version adjusts annual energy savings to 1.5% compared to the 1% freeze in the House version (current law has a 2% benchmark); however, both versions have the net effect of reducing the cumulative energy efficiency standard to 17.2% from 22.2% by 2026.

Both versions expand the eligibility to additional customers to opt out of paying the energy efficiency rider. At present, only those customers with an annual electric usage at 4.5GWh are eligible, but HB 114 expands that to mercantile customers (700 MWh annual usage), allowing aggregation by national accounts such as gas stations, convenience stores and other medium commercial entities. The provisions in the senate substitute bill pared down both the RPS and EERS, adds additional reporting requirements for those using the mercantile opt out, and adds language addressing the sighting of wind turbines. HB 114 is currently still in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Regulatory

On June 18, a Stipulation and Recommendation was filed with the PUCO in the rate case involving Dayton Power & Light. Of note, the filing includes a commitment to develop a pilot collaborative for the purposes of creating “non-wires alternatives” that could potentially facilitate investment in energy efficiency, demand response, distributed generation, or other resources to manage load instead of upgrading the distribution system. Final approval is still pending by the PUCO, likely later in 2018.

MEEA Activities

MEEA has submitted written interested party testimony on the senate substitute version of HB 114.

How to Get Involved

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee website has agenda items and information from the June hearings on the substitute to HB 114.

For more information about Ohio or if you want to get more involved, contact Nick Hromalik.

Regulatory

In May, the commission announced that the budget for Focus on Energy (Focus) will be maintained at approximately $100 million annually for the years 2019-2022. This decision came after the commission had opened Docket Number 5-FE-101 in March for the Quadrennial Planning Process III. The commission is obligated to evaluate and set goals for Focus programs and ensure that customers throughout the state have an equal opportunity to receive the benefit of the programs as a part of the Quadrennial Planning Process. An RFP for the Program Administrator for Focus was issued on June 7, and proposals are due July 20. The commission is expected to make a decision regarding the program administrator in the late summer or early fall.

MEEA Activities 

MEEA will continue to monitor the proceeding.

For more information on Wisconsin or if you want to get more involved, contact Sophia Markowksa.