ACSF has established a biannual workshop for industry professionals and environmental advocates to develop new regulatory options for promoting a cleaner, low carbon electricity sector. The 4th workshop in this series was held on November 8-9, 2012, near the headquarters of the PJM Interconnection in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Presentations

M. Gary Helm, PJM Interconnection, Coal Plant Retirements: Potential Impacts of Reduced Energy Demand, Low Natural Gas Prices and the Mercury & Air Toxics Standards Rule

Susan Covino, PJM Interconnection, Resource Adequacy Planning

Paul McGlynn, PJM Interconnection, PJM’s Compliance With FERC Order 1000

Allison Clements, The Sustainable FERC Project, Natural Resources Defense Council, FERC Priorities

Michael Goggin, American Wind Energy Association, Wind Integration and FERC

Ken Schuyler, PJM Interconnection, Paying for System Flexibility: Status of New Ancillary Services

Shucheng Liu, California ISO, System Flexibility for Integrating 33% Renewable Generation in California ISO

Nivad Navid, Midwest ISO, Managing Flexibility in MISO Markets

James T. Gallagher, New York ISO, Integrating Renewable and Variable Energy Resources in the New York Electricity Market

Jonathan Lowell, ISO New England, Paying for System Flexibility

Paul McGlynn, PJM Interconnection, Incorporating State Energy Policy Goals into Regional Electricity Market

Synopsis of Workshop Agenda

November 8, 2012:

1:00 – 2:00pm – Tour of PJM Facilities

2:15 – 5:00pm – Presentations from PJM Staff

• Coal Retirements – Gary Helm
• Resource Adequacy Planning – Susan Covino
• FERC Order 1000 – Paul McGlynn

6:00pm – Welcome Reception and Dinner

November 9, 2012:

8:30am – Welcome and Opening Remarks – Greg Staple, American Clean Skies Foundation

8:45am – Review of FERC Variable Energy Resources (VER) Rules and Update on FERC Proceedings. Panelists include:

• Glen Boshart, Industry Editor/Analyst, SNL Energy (moderator)
• Allison Clements, Director, The Sustainable FERC Project, NRDC
• Michael Goggin, Manager of Transmission Policy, American Wind Energy Association

10:15am – Networking break

10:30am – Paying for System Flexibility: Status of New Ancillary Services to Accommodate Intermittent Resources. Panelists include:

• Rich Sedano, Principal and Director of US Programs, Regulatory Assistance Project (moderator)
• Ken Schuyler, Manager, Renewable Services, PJM
• Shucheng Liu, Principal, Market Development, CAISO
• Nivad Navid, Market Development and Analysis, MISO
• James Gallagher, Senior Manager for Strategic and Business Planning, NYISO
• Jonathan Lowell, Principal Analyst, ISO-NE

12:30pm – Lunch

1:15pm – Incorporating State Energy Policy Goals Into Regional Electricity Markets. Panelists include:

• Greg Staple, CEO, American Clean Skies Foundation (moderator)
• Paul McGlynn, Director, System Planning, PJM
• Malcolm Woolf, Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), and former Director, Maryland Energy Administration
• Robert Powelson, Chairman, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

3:30pm – Networking break

3:45pm – Group discussion about potential federal, state, and ISO mechanisms and policies for improving system flexibility.

5:00pm – Adjourn

Whether on land or sea, wind turbines harness the kinetic energy of moving air. This new Energy 101 explains how that wind energy creates electricity.

ACSF has established a biannual workshop for industry professionals and environmental advocates to develop new regulatory options for promoting a cleaner, low carbon electricity sector. The 3rd workshop in this series, held on April 19-20, 2012, was co-hosted at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado with the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis.

Presentations

Paul Denholm, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, How PV and CSP with Thermal Storage Can Work Together

Craig Turchi, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, CSP and Natural Gas Hybrids

Easan Drury, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. PV Market Landscape

Russell Young, GE Energy, Concentrated Solar Power

Cara Libby, Electric Power Research Institute, Utility Perspective: Solar Thermal Hybrid Projects

Greg Brinkman, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Impacts of Renewable Generation on Fossil Fuel Unit Cycling: Costs and Emissions

Paul Hibbard, Analysis Group, Variable Resources in Capacity Markets, Market Rule Adjustments and Balancing Resource Options

Christopher Carr, C2E2 Strategies, EPA Power Plant Regulations and Clean Energy: A New Paradigm?

Ron Binz, Public Policy Consulting, Progress Under the Clean Air Clean Jobs Act

Austin Whitman, M.J. Bradley & Associates, Energy Sector Modeling and Fuel Price Assumptions

Patrick Bean, American Clean Skies Foundation, Locking In the Benefits to Fuel Switching

David Hart, Center for Science and Technology Policy at George Mason University, Unlocking Energy Innovation

Synopsis of Workshop Agenda

April 19^th: Updates, new analysis and background presentations

8:00 – 8:30am – Workshop introduction – Greg Staple, Chief Executive Officer, American Clean Skies Foundation; and Doug Arent, Executive Director, Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis

8:30 – 12:15pm – Moving Towards a Cleaner Power Paradigm

• Utility Scale Solar and Gas: Options for Thermal Solar and PV(120 minutes)
• Solar, Storage, and Natural Gas Hybrids: Paul Denholm, Craig Turchi, and Easan Drury, NREL
• Facilitated Discussion on Developer and Utility Perspectives: Udi Helman (BrightSource), Russell Young (GE Energy), Cara Libby (EPRI), and Mark Marion (juwi solar, Inc.)
• Impacts of Renewable Generation on Fossil Fuel Unit Cycling: Costs and Emissions (Greg Brinkman, NREL) (45 minutes)
• Variable Resources in Capacity Markets, Market Rule Adjustments and Balancing Resource Options (Paul Hibbard, Analysis Group) (45 minutes)

12:15 – 1:45pm – Lunch

• Survey of Ongoing Projects: Update from NREL/JISEA
• Renewable Energy Futures Study, Trieu Mai
• The Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF), Ben Kroposki
• Energy Data Visualization, Dan Getman

2:00 – 3:00pm – Coal Retirements and Action at the State Level

• EPA’s Clean Air Regulations: State of Litigation on CSAPR and MATS (Chris Carr, C2E2 Strategies)
• Implementing Colorado’s Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act: Reviewing Two Years of Progress (Ron Binz, former CO PUC Commissioner and Frank Prager, Xcel Energy)

3:15 – 5:00pm – Coal Retirements and Action at the State Level (cont.)

• Overview of Fuel Price Trajectories for Natural Gas and Coal
• Energy Sector Modeling and Fuel Price Assumptions (Austin Whitman, M.J. Bradley & Associates)
• ACSF Report: Locking in the Benefits of Fuel Switching (Patrick Bean, ACSF)
• Oklahoma’s New Competitive Procurement Process for Electric Utilities to Secure Long-Term Fuel Supply (Jim Roth, Phillips Murrah P.C.)

6:30 – 9:00pm – Reception and Dinner

Keynote – David Hart, co-author of ‘Unlocking Energy Innovation’

April 20^th: Where do we go from here? Refining our Priorities and Next Steps

8:30 – 9:45am – Morning Panel – Clean Energy Policy Landscape in the West, Led by Gov. Bill Ritter, Center for the New Energy Economy, Colorado State University with Kate Fay, Energy Advisor, EPA Region 8; Maryanne Kurtinaitis, Colorado Renewable Energy Lead, Bureau of Land Management; Matt Baker, Commissioner, Colorado Public Utility Commission, and Bob Randall, Deputy Director, Colorado Department of Natural Resources.

10:00 – 12:00 – Synthesis and Next Steps

NATURAL GAS: A NATURAL PARTNER WITH RENEWABLES

One of the biggest advantages of using natural gas to generate electricity is its ability to be paired with renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar. Because generating power from the sun and wind is limited by weather conditions (when the sun is shining or wind is blowing), power generated from natural gas provides an essential complement to maintain a steady flow of power to end users.
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