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What's Happening in Energy highlights the most interesting findings from public utility commission filings.
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What's Happening in Energy — May 16
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Data centers! Pennsylvania has convened an en banc (read: every commissioner at once) proceeding on large load interconnection (read: data centers) in the state. For anyone following, shaping, or helping decide the future of large loads in the US electric system, here is a great set of questions posed by the PA PUC following the thoughtful en banc hearing that happened 3 weeks ago:
- Docket profile
- Statements from Data Center Coalition, PPL Electric Utilities, First Energy, Duquesne Light Company, PECO Energy Company, Vantage Data Centers, and more.
- Key quotes from the utilities: a single new data center could be 30% of peak load in Duquesne Light’s service territory, and four projects in advanced stages in PECO’s service territory could add 40% to its demand.
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In Wyoming, Black Hills Energy requests a 1.43% rate increase in order to cover its Carbon Capture Compliance surcharge: that’s an additional $4.7 million for 45,753 customers.
Docket profile
Application
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Also in Wyoming: Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. and the Wyoming Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA) are waiting for approval of an average 11.68% rate increase effective August 1. Rates table below - the 15.46% average increase falls heavily on residential ratepayers.
Docket Profile
Stipulation and Agreement
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Also out West: in Utah, the Salt Lake City Corporation is concerned about Rocky Mountain Power’s “unprecedented drop in avoided cost prices,” and that it will impair further development of new power assets. Relatedly: the Corporation is concerned that the new cost structure does not incorporate tariff impacts.
Filing
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An Antora energy storage project in South Dakota has received a state grant for its $200 million+ thermal energy storage project, Big Stone Energy Storage Project LLC (also receiving a grant: an “international cheesemaker”). That’s April news. Here’s what to watch: its 1-of-1 tariff being established with utility Otter Tail.
Docket profile
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In Nevada, NV Energy filed the first amendment to its 2024-26 Joint Natural Disaster Protection Plan, requesting an order accepting this first amendment by June 13. Here’s a cool flow chart of how it de-energizes in the event of a wildfire (note: redactions are within the document itself).
Docket profile
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From the Southwest: Southwestern Public Service Company’s $538 million “Texas Resiliency Plan 2025-2028.” Of that plan: $521 million is capital investment, and $345 million of that is distribution resiliency.
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Kentucky solar development plans have a 250 megawatt hole: AEUG Mason Solar (a subsidiary of Spanish company Acciona) is withdrawing its application to build a merchant solar+storage project in the state.
How do we know this is an Acciona development? This 2021 Notice of Intent to File Application of AEUG Mason Solar, LLC for Certificate of Construction with an Acciona email address for the filer!
Docket profile
Order
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A tidbit in Hawaii: the Public Utility Commission is decreasing oversight of Hawaii Gas’ capital expenditures by increasing the oversight threshold from $500,000 to $2.75 million. That $500k figure “has not increased in 60 years to account for inflation and rising project costs” (!).
Docket profile
Decision and Order
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And lastly in Virginia: this week was the deadline for testimony for an Appalachian Power Company (APCo) shared solar program. An interesting argument by Karl R. Rábago: that “APCo’s excessive and confiscatory proposed interim minimum bill will do irreparable harm and should not be approved.” His suggestion: a monthly minimum bill in the amount of $8.96 per customer including a fixed customer charge and $1 of placeholder administrative cost recovery.
Other perspectives include Staff of the Virginia State Corporation Commission pre-filed testimony Part A and Part B, various Memorandum submitted to the Commission, and the Coalition for Community Solar Access (Coggeshall and Kshemendranath) suggesting the minimum bill should be $0.
Stay tuned for the Evidentiary hearing on June 9th!
Docket profile
What's Happening in Energy — May 9
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In Georgia, intervenors are concerned that Georgia Power's integrated resource plan may be over-stating data center load. Here are not one, but five great exhibits:
First: 2022, 2023, and 2025 base case summer demand
Second: contracted, service-requested and under-reviewed data center demand in gigawatts
Third: Additions and subtractions to the data center queue in Q4 2024
Fourth: Georgia Power says that it will need 9.4 gigawatts of new capacity by 2033…
…while regulatory staff say the figure is only 6 gigawatts.
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In Nevada, a brand-new docket: data center operator Switch is building a new 345kV transmission line to serve its project needs.
Docket profile
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In Colorado, Xcel has received approval for a $2.55 million ‘Thermal Energy Network Pilot Development’ development site.
Filing
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There are rate increases, and then there are rate increases. The California Water Service Company is seeking an additional $140,558,101 or 17.1% in test year 2026. Water, not power, but still.
Docket profile
Transcript
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Puget Sound Energy in Washington has kicked off a new power cost adjustment proceeding. See the table below for new supply contracts ‘requesting prudence,’ as well as PSE’s approved risk policy and management framework for hedging practices to help align with wholesale market conditions.
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Some real inside-baseball stuff in Hawaii: the state commission seems to be moving past performance-based regulation of Hawaii Electric’s target revenues in favor of a full-scale traditional cost-of-service rate case that could result in re-basing its target revenues.
And some…differing perspectives from Hawaiian Electric Company, Ulupono, Blue Planet Foundation, and the Consumer Advocate.
Blue Planet Foundation, for instance, wants to reward the utility for achieved performance along this greenhouse gas emissions path.
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The state of Wisconsin is reviewing Wisconsin Power & Light’s fuel cost and rates plans. A new group of intervenors has just landed, including Walmart. Why does Walmart care?
Walmart is a large commercial retail customer of Wisconsin Power and Light Company ("WPL" or "Company") owning and operating approximately 18 retail stores, two distribution centers, and related facilities within the Company's service territory. WPL delivers over 83 million kWh of electricity annually to Walmart, mostly under the Company's Industrial Power at Primary or Secondary Voltage – Time of Use ("Cp-1") rate. WPL delivers over 1.5 million therms of natural gas annually to Walmart, mostly under the Company's Medium Commercial & Industrial 20,000 – 200,000 therms ("GC-3F/I") rate. Energy costs comprise a large portion of Walmart's operating costs. As a result, Walmart would be directly impacted by: (1) the adoption of the Company's rate increase request, and (2) any rate design and ratemaking changes approved in implementing any approved increase.
Docket profile
Request to intervene
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In Texas, Engie's application for its Antlia 70 megawatt battery energy storage project is also deficient, and the company has until May 22 to cure its deficiencies.
Docket profile
Finding
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Also not a state (rather, an RTO): the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has determined that Southwest Power Pool’s submitted revisions to its Open access Transmission Tariff to establish separate winter and summer planning reserve margins is deficient, and requires more information. Docket profile
Deficiency Letter
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Alabama Power is considering the acquisition of the 1,189 megawatt Lindsay Hill combined cycle gas plant for reliability reasons. One of its latest depositions (highly redacted) points to the main driver of new demand: data centers.
Docket profile
Deposition transcript (data center bit starts on page 9 of 113)
What's Happening in Energy — May 2
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This Colorado docket on its integrated resource plan is full of demand expectations and cost estimates from other US electricity markets (Docket profile). Of note: this February testimony in Kentucky on gas power plant prices (Document) and this presentation from Indiana Michigan Power on its demand growth expectations (Document). Here’s the heart of it:
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In Ohio, FirstEnergy’s current rate case “has produced approximately 370,879 documents consisting of approximately 764,244 pages” of documents since February 21, 2024.
Docket profile
Filing
And incidentally of interest: one issue in the rate case is about the improper use of ratepayer funds to re-name a sports stadium!
Filing
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Also in Ohio, The Williams Companies is planning to build, own, and operate two 200-megawatt gas plants to sell power directly to a [redacted] company. Here’s a useful overview on the project cost ($0.7 billion) and its economic benefits:
Document
Docket profile
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In California, Pacificorp has begun proceedings on its wildfire expense management account. Watch this space: for now it is a lot of data requests and responses, but more meaty stuff will appear later. Docket profile
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This proceeding in Louisiana — about Entergy gas plants built largely to serve the demand from Meta's enormous new data center — is a master class in redaction. Check out this testimony from page 7 and forward.
Filing
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In Virginia, Halcyon favorite Rappahannock Electric Cooperative is kicking off a discussion on large load tariffs (read: data centers), with plans to implement by July 1.
Docket profile
Order for Notice and Comment
(I particularly like this one set of comments, one of which begins with "I used ChatGPT to help me with my comment".)
Document
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Florida power utilities are kicking off their 2026-2035 Storm Protection Plans. Worth checking out (and following!) these dockets as they develop:
- Florida Power & Light (Docket profile)
- Duke Energy Florida (Docket profile)
- Tampa Electric Co (Docket profile)
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In Missouri, we return to Evergy's integrated resource plan and a rebuttal on its gas price forecasts (too low) and its assessment of battery energy storage (too conservative).
Docket profile
Filing
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In South Carolina, Duke Energy Carolinas submitted an ex parte brief on it to the Public Service Commission on its merger with Progress Energy, entitled "One Utility". Here's a chart purporting to show balancing operations, though without any X or Y axis units labeled.
Presentation
Docket profile
Powered by Halcyon Alerts — April 18
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Georgia Power Company’s 2029-31 all-source capacity request for proposals has been underway since July of 2023. Check out Halcyon’s AI-powered Docket profile and also, this new document with seven (!) pages of Georgia Power staff evaluating the RFP.
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In Florida, Duke Energy has calculated the cost savings of four solar projects, as compared to natural gas-fired power. Quote: “These project’s plants will all provide fuel savings…Based on the cost per kWh of natural gas in DEF’s 2025 fuel projection filing.”
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A useful docket in Maryland for monitoring the state’s implementation of FERC Order No. 2222. Lots of detailed filings on what distributed energy resources are being proposed, built, and approved across different utility service territories.
Docket profile
Pepco 2024 Small Generator Interconnection Report
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Also in Maryland, leaky gas pipes! Montgomery County in particular is on track for a record year for gas coupling leaks (by count) in Montgomery and Prince George’s County.
Docket profile
Filing
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Worth watching in Michigan: Consumers Energy has filed an application to add a “data center provision” to its tariff sheets. You can guess how the Data Center Coalition thinks about it. September 16 is the deadline for the fully developed record in the proceeding.
Docket profile
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Also data center-related, in Nevada: Callisto Enterprises LLC (Google) is seeking an energy supply agreement with NV Energy. Fervo’s Corsac project is supplying the project. Of interest at the moment? The utility is revising its pricing model, but its details will be kept confidential for at least five years following the termination of its agreement — so, two decades from now.
Docket profile
Supplemental Direct Testimony
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In Arkansas, Southwest Electric Power Co has applied to set new electricity rates. The case is suspended (in the normal, not-an-issue way) while the commission’s staff reviews for at least 30 days. You can follow this rate case here:
Docket profile
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Not big dollars, but a big % move: in Iowa the city of Johnston wants to apply a 5% surcharge on utility MidAmerican’s gross revenue from the sale of electricity and distribution services within the city’s corporate limits.
Docket profile
Ordinance
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Two more Texas Energy Fund projects have fallen out of the application pile. The latest two? Application 131 (Emberclear Management and Jupiter Island Capital) and Application 122 (Frontier Group) are out because they did not meet the state’s due diligence requirements. Worth reading the entire summary.
Docket profile
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A (gas) rate case in Virginia: Southwestern Virginia Gas Company has requested an overall increase in annual operating revenue of 6.3%. The State Corporation Commission “does not oppose the company’s request to implement its rate increase on an interim basis.” Read the document and docket for more — small overall numbers, but it’s the rate, and the award, that matter.
Docket profile
Filing
Powered by Halcyon Alerts — April 11
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In Missouri (new state!), Evergy has issued a substantial update to its 2024 triennial integrated resource plan. The basics: load growth, a lot of it, for the first time in more than a decade, and most (if not all) of it from a single large customer. It’s noteworthy enough that I made a chart:
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Also in Missouri, and not coincidental, is a new-ish application from Evergy “for Approval of New and Modified Tariffs for Service to Large Load Customers.” Plenty of data center operators are weighing in.
Docket profile
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A rarity (these days) in another newly-covered state, Nevada: a utility (NV Energy) is lowering rates (for natural gas).
Docket profile
Filing
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Another new state! Wisconsin — where proceedings to approve or deny a 1,100 megawatt gas combustion turbine project are underway. Not shown here, but indicated through repeated references to large load customers — another factory- or data center-driven grid expansion.
Docket profile
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In Oregon, Portland General Electric has filed its 2026 annual power cost update tariff. Here is the kickoff document (236 pages).
Docket profile
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Still in the Pacific Northwest: another Washington utility, NW Natural Gas, tackles the accounting required for tariffs on Canadian natural gas imports.
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The Arizona Electric Power Cooperative is raising $94 million in long-term financing. This is a new proceeding, so you can follow it from the start at the Docket profile or jump right into the 352-page Application document.
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Also in Arizona, the Columbia Electric Cooperative has opened a proceeding to revise its net metering tariff to include batteries. Not the world’s biggest electric system, but worth reading to see how much has changed since the tariff was established in 2010.
Docket profile
Filing
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A useful docket in Virginia concerning data center-driven electricity rate increases. Hundreds of comments filed in the past week!
Docket profile
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And lastly in New York State, a transcript worth reading on Consolidated Edison’s contentious rate case.
Filing
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