Southeast Renewable Energy Summit

April 27-28, 2021 | Online ::

0421-southeast-renewable-energy

“This conference is very enlightening and extremely useful. If you are an energy industry professional, you will find this conference very educational.” – Resource Planning Analyst, Entergy New Orleans

“EUCI courses are exceptionally prepared and the speakers are always highly proficient and knowledgeable in the subjects they present!” – Project Manager II, Tampa Electric

Generation of electricity by renewable sources like solar and wind continues its swift ascendancy in the southeastern U.S. Utilities, states, and cities in the region are taking the climate crisis seriously by setting goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Changes in power generation continue to lead to reductions in carbon emissions from electric utilities over the past few years. This increased renewable generation plays a significant role in advancing sustainability goals and reducing carbon outputs.

The Southeast is one of the country’s fastest growing economic sectors and one of the only regions without a competitive wholesale electricity market. However, this might be changing as three regional utilities – Tennessee Valley Authority, Southern Company and Duke Energy have proposed the voluntary “Southeast Energy Exchange Market” (SEEM).  This could potentially save billions and create thousands of clean energy jobs, helping an economy slowed by the pandemic.

This annual Renewable Energy Summit is the key event to learn about what is happening in the Southeast region and what it is likely to mean for stakeholders. Attendees will gain in-depth knowledge about current and future renewable energy developments as well as related policy & regulatory initiatives.

Learning Outcomes

• Discuss renewable energy policy updates in the southeast
• Discuss customer outreach programs for solar projects
• Hear a regulatory perspective on renewable energy in the southeast
• Identify the ways in which renewable development is having a meaningful impact on the SE region
• Discuss the benefits that wind energy provides to local communities and ratepayer
• Explore the challenges that commercial fleet electrification will pose to the grid
• Discuss key issues for advancing energy storage

Tuesday, April 27, 2021 : Central Standard Time

9:15 – 9:55 a.m. :: Renewable Energy Initiatives in Georgia

Like most states in the Southeast, Georgia does not have the kind of state-level mandates that have propelled the growth of renewable energy in other parts of the country. However, available land and lots of sunshine are driving demand for massive, utility-scale solar projects across Georgia and the American Southeast. The State of Georgia is also positioned to become a leader in battery energy storage in the Southeast. In this session, the manager of the Georgia Commission’s Energy Renewable Energy Group will take a comprehensive look at the state of Georgia and its recent growth in renewable energy.

Jamie Barber, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Manager, Georgia Public Service Commission

9:55 – 10:00 a.m. :: Break

10:00 a.m. – 10:40 a.m. :: The Solarbe Project at Cobb EMC

As part of Cobb EMC’s commitment, the campus solar plus battery project (Solarbe) was commissioned recently and is now fully operational. In this session, Manish Murudkar will share the company’s experience on the implementation, potential impact on the grid, and lessons that they learned. Cobb is also reviewing proposals from multiple vendors regarding a microgrid project that is also in the pipeline.

Manish Murudkar, Director Distributed Energy Resources Strategy, Cobb EMC

10:40 – 10:50 a.m. :: Break

10:50 – 11:30 a.m. :: Entergy’s Expansion of Renewable Energy Solutions

Entergy’s utilities are taking many actions to transform each of their generation portfolios to better meet customers’ needs and respond to climate change, including pursuing additional cost-effective renewable energy opportunities and potential applications for distributed energy resources as technology and economics continue to improve.  The company believes that investing in renewable energy and DERs can help improve grid reliability, protect the environment, and support the long-term sustainability goals of the company and its customers.  In this presentation, hear about some of the renewable energy generation projects that have been added, or are being planned, along with related customer offerings.

Andrew Owens, Director, Regulatory Research, Entergy

11:30 – 11:35 a.m. :: Break

11:35 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. :: Public Engagement/Outreach for Solar Projects at Tampa Electric

This presentation will address public engagement/outreach techniques for renewable energy projects and share some lessons learned from Tampa Electric’s construction of multiple solar projects in the 74.5 MW range.

• Educating a Community on Solar Energy
• Solar Fact Sheets, Brochures, or Guides
• Virtual Open Houses
• Keeping the Public Informed

Arlee Jones PgMP®, EVMP®, Project Manager II – ED Project Management, Tampa Electric

12:15 – 1:00 p.m. :: Lunch Break

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. :: Commissioners Perspective

This session will take a comprehensive look at the renewable/clean power initiatives in several states. Each Commissioner will provide a brief overview on issues in their respective states. This session will also include an opportunity for attendees to ask questions of the Commissioners regarding the future demand for renewable resources.

Dr. Talina R. Mathews, Commissioner, Kentucky Public Service Commission

Jeremy Oden, Commissioner, Alabama Public Service Commission

2:00 – 2:05 p.m. :: Break

2:05 – 2:45 p.m. :: Trends in EV and Storage Deployment

The Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems Center at NC State University conducts research in Wide Bandgap Semiconductors, Power Systems, Electric Transportation, and Renewable Energy. In this session, hear from Ken Dulaney from FREEDM about the latest trends in storage deployment and EV deployment.

Ken Dulaney, PE, Director of Industry and Innovation, FREEDM Systems Center

2:45 – 2:55 p.m. :: Break

2:55 – 3:35 p.m. :: Key (Legal and Other) Issues in Energy Storage Transactions

The focus of this presentation is on the key issues to consider when negotiating either a stand-alone storage project or an integrated storage + renewable energy facility, including defining products and services being bought and sold, managing operations, grid-charting, technical considerations, guarantees, and the ability to finance.

Ashley Wald, Partner, Holland & Hart LLP

3:35 – 3:40 p.m. :: Break

3:40 – 4:20 p.m. :: Clean Energy Policy Landscape in North Carolina – A Pivotal Period

North Carolina has grown to become a powerhouse within the clean energy industry through supportive policies like the renewable energy portfolio standard. In the past 3-4 years, we’ve seen a lot of changes within the industry spurred by the passage of comprehensive energy legislation at the North Carolina General Assembly back in 2017 (HB 589). Opportunities around wide-scale utility-scale solar development has slowed down in the state, however, interest in clean energy did not. In 2018, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper signed Executive Order 80 leading to the state’s Clean Energy Plan establishing aggressive goals for the state including reducing electric power sector greenhouse gas emissions by 70% below 2005 levels by 2030 and attaining carbon neutrality by 2050. This Clean Energy Plan kicked off a series of stakeholder processes that are now ending with a series of key policy and regulatory recommendations that will shape the narrative for clean energy over the coming years in the state. This session will provide an update on the key takeaways in clean energy policy and regulation over the past year and provide a glimpse into what is potentially on the horizon.

Matt Abele, Strategic Partnership Specialist, NC Sustainable Energy Association

4:20 – 5:00 p.m. :: Panel Discussion

This first day closing panel discussion will allow attendees to ask questions of the presenters that they did not get to ask earlier. In this roundtable discussion, attendees will have the opportunity to talk with peers and get additional perspectives on clean power/renewable energy.

Arlee Jones PgMP®, EVMP®, Project Manager II – ED Project Management, Tampa Electric

Manish Murudkar, Director Distributed Energy Resources Strategy, Cobb EMC

Ken Dulaney, PE, Director of Industry and Innovation, FREEDM Systems Center

Andrew Owens, Director, Regulatory Research, Entergy

Wednesday, April 28, 2021 : Central Time

9:00 – 9:40 a.m. :: Commercial Fleet Electrification – A Series of Snowballs or Avalanches Aimed at the Grid?

Most of the discussion and focus of electric vehicles and their impacts on the grid have been related to passenger cars such as Tesla and their charging network.  However, the electrification of the long-haul, intermediate-haul and local fleets of commercial vehicles will create a greater challenge to the grid. There are significant and divergent factors that will cause this challenge to occur much sooner than the industry is expecting.  This discussion will not only cover these factors but will foster open debate on grid issues (in front of and behind the meter), regulatory issues (local, state, and federal), and potential temporal obstacles as well.

Howard Smith, Owner, Renewable and Grid Edge Consulting (retired Manager, Southern Company)

9:40 – 9:45 a.m. :: Break

9:45 – 10:25 a.m. :: Developments in Southeast Rooftop Solar Policy 

The Southeast has some of the greatest solar potential in the nation and this past year has been very busy for rooftop solar in the Southeast. This presentation will discuss recent policy developments in South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida and Virginia, and look ahead at what to expect in 2021. 

Katie Chiles Ottenweller, Southeast Director, Vote Solar

10:25 – 10:30 a.m. :: Break

10:30 – 11:10 a.m. :: Wind Energy in the Southeast

In this session, the Southeastern Wind Coalition will provide an overview of land-based and offshore wind. SEWC will also examine the benefits that wind energy provides to local communities and ratepayers, its compatibility with agriculture operations and military installations, and the technological advancements that are making wind an increasingly viable technology in the Southeast.

Jaime Simmons, Program Manager, Southeastern Wind Coalition

11:10 – 11:15 a.m. :: Break

11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. :: North Carolina Carbon Policy

North Carolina is on the cusp of implementing meaningful carbon-reduction policies for the electric power sector. In 2018, Gov. Cooper issued Executive Order No. 80 on climate change, setting a statewide target for greenhouse gas reductions. The order directed the Department of Environmental Quality to develop a Clean Energy Plan to reduce carbon emissions from the electric power sector. After a substantial stakeholder process, the final Clean Energy Plan set a goal of reducing carbon emissions from the electric power sector by 70% from 2005 levels by 2030. The Plan recommended 39 different actions, but foremost among them was “recommendation A-1,” having academics develop an in-depth report evaluating four main policies: accelerated coal retirements, a carbon adder, a market-based policy like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), and a clean energy standard. In mid-March, Duke University and UNC released their joint report, relying on multiple power sector models, to understand the potential energy system impacts, as well macroeconomic and rate impacts, of various policies. At the same time, two environmental nonprofits represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center have filed a petition for rulemaking with the state’s Environmental Management Commission seeking to join RGGI. The discussion will cover the report, the petition, and their implications for carbon policy in North Carolina.

Nick Jimenez, Staff Attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center

Amanda Levin, Policy Analyst, Climate & Clean Energy Program, Natural Resources Defense Council  

12:00 p.m. :: Conference Adjourns

Pricing Distributed Energy Resources: New Challenges

Wednesday April 28, 2021 : Central Time

Overview

Utilities continue to struggle with the need to serve customers with distributed energy resources (DER) while covering their fixed costs. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed such concerns to the fore with its focus on overall cost coverage.

This workshop reviews why DER, under current rate designs, creates the cost coverage dilemma. The workshop will review how utilities currently price DER, predominantly via net metering and net billing. It will also focus on why these pricing structures fall short in the traditional tasks of revenue recovery and efficient pricing. Additionally, the event will review the candidate alternatives to the existing pricing structures, including providing an overview of their strengths and weaknesses. These strengths and weaknesses will help us to conclude what designs can deliver a successful DER outcome:  recovery of fixed costs and pricing that produces cost effective investment in site generation for them and the system.

Learning Outcomes

• Review the pricing challenges of distributed energy resources
• Discuss how utilities are currently charging customers with DER
• Explore the core challenges of fixed cost recovery and efficient pricing: how much DER is cost effective?
• Identify how utilities are updating their DER pricing, moving away from net metering and net billing. What are the candidate alternatives and how well do they work?

Workshop Agenda

• The DER Pricing Dilemma
• Why do current pricing regimes create controversy?
• Current DER Pricing
• What are utilities offering their customers?
• Why is the present a good time to review DER pricing?
• The Challenges of Fixed Cost Recovery and Efficient Pricing
• How do net metering and net billing price DER?
• What are their strengths and shortcomings?
• What is a Distributed kWh Worth?
• How do utilities view the cost impacts of an avoided kWh?
• How do customers view these cost impacts?
• Pricing Alternatives for DER
  • How successful is each alternative in resolving the DER pricing dilemma?
  • What designs are the current leading pricing designs and why?

Instructor

Bruce Chapman Vice President, Christensen Associates

Mr. Chapman is a Vice President at Christensen Associates Energy Consulting. He assists clients in the electricity and natural gas industries to improve their costing and pricing capabilities. Mr. Chapman advises clients in such areas of expertise as: cost-of-service analysis and rate design based upon both established regulatory and market-based principles; innovative rate design including demand response products, renewables pricing, fixed billing, and other market-based retail pricing products; load forecasting and load research analysis. Additionally, he has supervised the development of software required for the implementation and support of innovative retail products.

• Matt Abele, Strategic Partnership Specialist, NC Sustainable Energy Association

• Jamie Barber, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Manager, Georgia Public Service Commission

• Ken Dulaney, PE, Director of Industry and Innovation, FREEDM Systems Center

• Nick Jimenez, Staff Attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center

• Arlee Jones PgMP®, EVMP®, Project Manager II – ED Project Management, Tampa Electric

• Amanda Levin, Policy Analyst, Climate & Clean Energy Program, Natural Resources Defense Council  

• Dr. Talina R. Mathews, Commissioner, Kentucky Public Service Commission

• Manish Murudkar, Director Distributed Energy Resources Strategy, Cobb EMC

• Jeremy Oden, Commissioner, Alabama Public Service Commission

• Katie Chiles Ottenweller, Southeast Director, Vote Solar

• Andrew Owens, Director, Regulatory Research, Entergy

• Jaime Simmons, Program Manager, Southeastern Wind Coalition

• Howard Smith, Owner, Renewable and Grid Edge Consulting (retired Manager, Southern Company)

• Ashley Wald, Partner, Holland & Hart LLP

We will be using Microsoft Teams to facilitate your participation in the upcoming event. You do not need to have an existing Teams account in order to participate in the broadcast – the course will play in your browser and you will have the option of using a microphone to speak with the room and ask questions, or type any questions in via the chat window and our on-site representative will relay your question to the instructor.

• IMPORTANT NOTE: After November 30 you will not be able to join a Teams meeting using Internet Explorer 11. Microsoft recommends downloading and installing the Teams app if possible. You may also use the Edge browser or Chrome.
• You will receive a meeting invitation will include a link to join the meeting.
• Separate meeting invitations will be sent for the morning and afternoon sessions of the course.
  • You will need to join the appropriate meeting at the appropriate time.
• If you are using a microphone, please ensure that it is muted until such time as you need to ask a question.
• The remote meeting connection will be open approximately 30 minutes before the start of the course. We encourage you to connect as early as possible in case you experience any unforeseen problems.

REGISTER NOW FOR THIS EVENT:

Southeast Renewable Energy Summit

April 27-28, 2021 | Online

Buy 4 in-person seats and only pay for 3! For this event every fourth in-person attendee is free!

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RELATED WORKSHOPS:

Pricing Distributed Energy Resources: New Challenges

April 28

Individual attendee(s) - $ 495.00 each
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Your registration may be transferred to a member of your organization up to 24 hours in advance of the event. Cancellations must be received on or before March 26, 2021 in order to be refunded and will be subject to a US $195.00 processing fee per registrant. No refunds will be made after this date. Cancellations received after this date will create a credit of the tuition (less processing fee) good toward any other EUCI event. This credit will be good for six months from the cancellation date. In the event of non-attendance, all registration fees will be forfeited. In case of conference cancellation, EUCIs liability is limited to refund of the event registration fee only. For more information regarding administrative policies, such as complaints and refunds, please contact our offices at 303-770-8800

Credits

EUCI is accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard. IACET is recognized internationally as a standard development organization and accrediting body that promotes quality of continuing education and training.

EUCI is authorized by IACET to offer 1.0 CEUs for this event and 0.4 CEUs for the workshop.

Requirements for Successful Completion of Program

Participants must log in each day and be in attendance for the entirety of the course to be eligible for continuing education credit. 

Instructional Methods

Case Studies, PowerPoint presentations, case studies and panel discussions will be used in program

Who Should Attend

• Utility professionals involved with generation and procurement of power
• Independent power producers
• Federal, state, county, and local regulatory agencies
• ISO/RTO professionals
• Financial and legal professionals interested in cleantech development
• Energy consultants, project managers, and engineers
• Cleantech developers, manufacturers, and distributors
• Permitting and siting professionals
• Academia involved with renewable energy R&D
• Energy service companies
• Renewable energy trade associations