Today's Quote
"We are definitely looking at expanding the solar footprint in South Carolina."
-Duke Energy spokesperson Ryan Mosier, responding to calls by environmental groups for the state public service commission to require that Duke expand its solar power production capacity in South Carolina.
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e-blast is a weekly electronic newsletter created to provide the latest work of your state association, news from our member cooperatives and progress on issues important to us all.
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S.C. utilities challenged by extreme cold 
Record-breaking cold and near record demand pushed South Carolina utilities to the limit, with SCE&G forced to conduct rolling blackouts on Tuesday after it lost part of its capacity from weather-related mechanical problems. At the peak of outages, more than 51,000 SCE&G customers were without power. The Santee Cooper system reported near record demand Tuesday morning and about 100 customers in the Myrtle Beach area without electricity. By Tuesday afternoon, nearly all of those customers had their power restored.
Electric utilities across the U.S. have prepared for extreme cold, adding extra capacity and repair crews, asking customers to limit power use and warning of high heating bills. SCE&G issued a request for its customers to monitor power use Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, hoping to avoid having to cut power again.
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Duke Energy grapples with cost of solar  | | Renewable Generation VP Rob Caldwell at a Duke Energy-owned solar array. Photo by Nancy Pierce |
Duke Energy's struggle to accommodate the rapid expansion of solar is detailed in a story by the Charlotte Business Journal. Among the questions debated are whether Duke should own its renewable power generation or contract with other producers. Elsewhere, utilities have chosen to leave generation to other companies and focus on transmission. Duke Energy Carolinas, at present, owns about 98 percent of the generation capacity, the article reported.
Duke also plans to ask regulators for changes to North Carolina's net metering rates. Duke says the 30-year-old rules for power-purchase agreements between utilities and independent producers are too generous and don't take into account costs shouldered by power companies and their other customers.
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Managing cost of solar: Harvard Review 
Solar power's popularity continues to rise in South Carolina and across the U.S. as technological advancements, state and federal policies and regulatory practices such as net metering have made solar generation and other distributed energy resources more economically attractive. While the financial impact of the potential benefits and costs of solar power remains a subject of heavy analysis and debate among stakeholders, an indisputable challenge has risen to the forefront of efforts to implement policies and regulatory practices intended to allow for the increased use of solar and other distributed energy resources: how should electricity rate structures be modified to ensure that both the owners of distributed energy resources and their host-utility are fairly compensated for the services they provide to one another?
According to an article recently published in the Harvard Business Law Review, "the current dispute over [regulatory practices such as] net metering is about managing the growth of distributed generation during the period when growth is being fueled by subsidies." When distributed energy resources eventually become more affordable and thus less reliant on subsidies to be economically competitive, utilization is expected to proliferate while "the demand for service from the grid declines and utilities need to recover the cost of the grid from a smaller customer base," likely leading to further "inappropriate re-allocation of the costs of the grid to remaining (and disproportionately lower income) customers."
Related Story: The regulatory challenge of distributed energy
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Electric utilities and Obama's climate agenda 
The Obama administration reconfirmed its commitment to regulating existing power plants with the Friday release of the State Department's Climate Action Report. The report claims that such a plan could permit the United States to reach international greenhouse gas reduction goals. That plan is part of President Obama's overarching agenda to make climate policy the focus of his second term, writes New York magazine.
That article discusses how Obama's appointments--from Secretary of State John Kerry to judges for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals--are indications of the high priority the president is placing on climate issues.
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Marlboro Electric names new CEO | William Fleming
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William L. Fleming Jr. has been named president and CEO of Marlboro Electric Cooperative. He begins work at Marlboro on February 10 in a transition period and will assume full duties as CEO when Bill Fleming, the current CEO and William's father, retires in August.
"William's enthusiasm for economic development and his dedication to member-owned electric cooperatives will serve us well," said MEC Board Chairman Bo McInnis. "William grew up knowing about co-ops through his father's career, and that, combined with his experience at Pee Dee Electric, will be an asset to our co-op."
Fleming currently is vice president of marketing at Pee Dee Electric Cooperative. The Darlington native earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and management at the University of South Carolina and completed the Harvard Business School's executive education program in management. He and his wife, Leah, have one son.
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