Energy Storage Procurement for Electric Cooperatives and Public Power

August 31, 2021 | Online :: Central Time

0821-storage-procurement

The grid continues to face multiple challenges as technology advancements transform the way electricity is produced and delivered. Whether it comes from batteries, thermal systems, elevated weights, compressed air, hydrogen production, or pumped hydro, energy storage is critical to the advancement of the power sector. Storage has the potential to provide a wide array of benefits to the electric grid, and states across the country are increasingly considering statewide targets for the deployment of energy storage resources. As new storage technologies become available, electric cooperatives and public power utilities continue to explore the possibilities of implementing the technology or the potential benefits and opportunities to their customers.

EUCI’s virtual event will help you to keep abreast of the tremendous potential of energy storage and how to undertake storage initiatives in a practical and manageable way. The course will describe and share the drivers, benefits, applications, best practices, contracts negotiation, operational challenges, and technical considerations for energy storage systems. The course will assist attendees in their efforts to evaluate the role that storage can and will play in their operations. 

Learning Outcomes

• Review the market for energy storage for electric cooperatives and public power utilities
• Explore the effect of policy and institutional drivers on electric cooperatives & public power
• Identify the various types of energy storage technologies and match them to procurement
• Review the approaches to consider for cooperative and public power utilities
• Discuss contract negotiations, contracting parties and managing operations
• Discuss the current environment for energy storage
• Review best practices for several case studies and project flexibility
• Discuss future opportunities for storage and considerations

Tuesday, August 31, 2021 : Central Time

 

9:10 – 9:45 a.m.  :: Introductions

• Market overview and storage update
• Best-practice storage procurement framework
  • Project concept
  • Local team formation
  • Use cases and value stacking
  • Early-Stage Decision modeling
  • Market research and procurement partners (RFI)
  • RFP or RFO
  • Refined modeling (iterative)
  • Apples to Apples Evaluation
  • Negotiation partners

Jan Ahlen, Vice President, Utility Research & Policy, National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (NRUCFC)

Jill Cliburn, President, Cliburn and Associates, Principal for SPECs: Solar-Plus for Electric Cooperatives 

9:45 – 10:05 a.m. :: Solar-Plus-Storage Market Topology—Products and Services to Consider

• Local solar plus battery storage (Li-ion) projects and their component parts
• Battery manufacturers, BESS Manufacturers, Advanced OS Options, Solar-Plus Developers, Financing Options, Role of EPC
• Q&A

Jeff Cook-Coyle, Director of Project Development, Interconnection Systems, Inc.

10:05 – 10:35 a.m. :: Policy and Institutional Drivers

• The effect on electric cooperatives and public power utilities
• Storage accreditation for capacity

David Sarkisian, Senior Policy analyst, NC Clean Energy Technology Center 

10:35 – 10:45 a.m. Break 

10:45 – 11:05 a.m. :: Utility Case Study

• Best practices
• Experiences
• Project procurement framework

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

11:05 – 11:35 a.m. :: How Use Cases and Value Stacks Affect the Procurement

• Practical perspectives on value stacking
• Early-Stage Decision modeling for go/no-go decisions
• Customized walk-through for key data, assumptions, and decisions
• Using modeling outputs to help prepare the RFO, RFP

Jill Cliburn, President, Cliburn and Associates, Principal for SPECs: Solar-Plus for Electric Cooperatives 

11:35 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. :: Discussion to Conclude the Morning session (Participants welcomed to share their project concepts and ask questions)

• Combining solar-plus-storage: What about the solar side?
• Adapting value-stream definitions to specific use cases
• Microgrids and the resilience question
• Questions about co-op case studies and resources

Jan Ahlen, Vice President, Utility Research & Policy, National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (NRUCFC)

Jill Cliburn, President, Cliburn and Associates, Principal for SPECs: Solar-Plus for Electric Cooperatives

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

Jeff Cook-Coyle, Director of Project Development, Interconnection Systems, Inc.

David Sarkisian, Senior Policy analyst, NC Clean Energy Technology Center

12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch Break 

1:00 – 1:30 p.m. :: The Framework of the RFP

• Business model options for the RFP
• Elements of a typical RFP
• Broad expectations vs. specs
• Managing the RFP: co-op and industry procurement norms, point of contact, milestones and schedule, webinar or site visit, enforcement of guidelines, plan for review, etc.
• How to assess operational capabilities for dispatch/operations (internal, G&T or AO systems)
• When to call in the experts, and which experts to call

Jill Cliburn, President, Cliburn and Associates, Principal for SPECs: Solar-Plus for Electric Cooperatives

1:30 – 2:30 p.m. :: Panel Discussion: RFP Options and Resources

• Popular and new models
• The co-op perspective vs the bidder perspective
• NDAs: when, why and how
• Risks and how to address them in the RFP
• Tips on evaluation
• Resources from the field
• Working with the G&T or wholesale supplier

Moderator: Jill Cliburn, President, Cliburn and Associates, Principal for SPECs: Solar-Plus for Electric Cooperatives

Ashley Wald, Partner, Holland & Hart LLP

Jeff Cook-Coyle, Director of Project Development, Interconnection Systems, Inc.

David Sarkisian, Senior Policy analyst, NC Clean Energy Technology Center

2:30 – 2:45 p.m. Break 

2:45 – 3:15 p.m. :: Contracts and Negotiations

• Purchase vs storage as a service options
• Negotiations
• Contracting parties
• Managing operations
• Warranty guarantees
• Performance guarantees
• Clarity on differences in the RFP and negotiations
• Sorting out players and their legal responsibilities: solar-plus project lead developers, solar or storage partner, microgrid system partners, EPC, utility, upstream partners

Ashley Wald, Partner, Holland & Hart LLP

3:45 – 4:30 p.m. :: Discussion: Preparing for Change

• Technical examples of change
• Contractual changes (ownership, operating agreements, performance issues)
• Policy and market examples of change

Tim Jarrell, Vice President of Power Supply and Planning, Cobb EMC

David Sarkisian, Senior Policy analyst, NC Clean Energy Technology Center.

Ashley Wald, Partner, Holland & Hart LLP

Jeff Cook-Coyle, Director of Project Development, Interconnection Systems, Inc.

4:30 – 4:45 p.m. :: Course Recap and Other Topics of Interest from the Participants

4:45 p.m. :: Course Adjourns

Jill Cliburn, President, Cliburn and Associates, Principal for SPECs: Solar-Plus for Electric Cooperatives

Jill Cliburn has a long history of bringing renewable energy and distributed energy resources into cost- effective and widespread use, working with utilities, stakeholder groups and industry. In recent years, she led the Solar-Plus for Electric Co-ops (SPECs) project, co-funded by NREL’s Solar Energy Innovation Network, and she served as Principal for the U.S. DOE-funded Community Solar Value Project, aimed at community solar solutions, with a focus on public power. She has supported procurement of MW-scale solar and solar-plus projects and has led research and training on utility program design, procurement, process management, IRP, regulatory and financing strategy for industry associations including NRECA, APPA, SEPA, and AESP. Early in her career, Jill led Energy Services for a mid-sized municipal utility and helped initiate solar business standards for the state of Illinois. Her education focused on marketing strategy and economics.

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David Sarkisian, Senior Policy analyst, NC Clean Energy Technology Center.

For the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE), Mr. Sarkisian manages the entries for the following states: IA, IL, KS, MI, MO, NE, NM, OK, and TX. David received his B.A. in public policy from Duke University and completed a J.D. and a Master of Science in Environmental Science degree at Indiana University in Bloomington. He is a member of the Indiana State Bar. David’s field of interest includes energy efficiency, smart grids, behavioral effects on energy use, and administrative law. He has previously worked with the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor developing smart grid policy. He has also interned with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where his work included analyzing regulatory innovation projects and developing recognition-based incentive programs.

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Jan Ahlen, Vice President, Utility Research & Policy, National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (NRUCFC)

Jan Ahlen serves as the Director of Energy Solutions for NRECA. In this capacity, he is responsible for representing rural electric cooperatives before various federal agencies. Mr. Ahlen is also NRECA’s Subject Matter Expert in retail rate design, utility business models, grid modernization, and retail market design. Prior to joining NRECA, Mr. Ahlen served as energy lobbyist for the National Farmers Union.

Mr. Ahlen earned his Bachelor of Arts degree and his Master of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned his Master in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University. A native of Sweden, Mr. Ahlen grew up in North Carolina and lives in Washington, DC. 

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Ashley Wald, Partner, Holland & Hart LLP

Ms. Wald provides guidance to clients in the solar, wind, hydropower and natural gas industries as they develop energy projects and related infrastructure across the United States.  She negotiates power purchase agreements on behalf of clients seeking to buy renewable power, including municipal utilities and electric cooperatives, and she is uniquely positioned to provide insights and strategic solutions based on her experience sitting on both sides of the negotiating table.  In addition, Ms. Wald counsels clients in the purchase and sale of energy project assets and project companies.

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

Mr. Murudkar has a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer engineering and an MBA degree in Global Business Management from Georgia State University. He has 20+ years of experience in power system operation, and software design and development. At Cobb EMC, he is responsible for the distribution automation, applications of smart grid technologies, and integration of distributed energy resources. His current focus is on leading the cooperative into the next generation of DER-related digital technologies that can create energy efficiency and demand management opportunities, improve the reliability of the system, and offer innovative energy solutions based on DER technologies.

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Tim Jarrell, Vice President of Power Supply and Planning, Cobb EMC.

Mr. Jarrell’s team is responsible for all power supply planning and management, rates, distributed energy resource strategy, and strategic planning.  From 2006-2013, Tim was Cobb EMC’s associate vice president for information system programs, where he was responsible for enterprise software solutions, project management office, business intelligence and enterprise integration.  

Tim has spent 25 years in the energy industry; beginning his career as an electric power trader with South Carolina Electric & Gas in 1996.  During this time, Tim was a trader in most major markets of the U.S.  He later transferred as a senior rates analyst and then became the rates manager for SCANA Energy in the deregulated natural gas market in Georgia. Tim then spent five years as a senior project manager for Energy Consulting, LLC, where he worked on risk management programs, power supply contracts and process improvement activities for several EMCs.

During his career, Tim has received the Project Management Professional Certification (PMP) along with Six Sigma Black Belt designation.  Tim has a bachelor’s degree in marketing management from Florida State University and has completed graduate work in organizational management, accounting/finance and business administration.     

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Jeff Cook-Coyle, Director of Project Development, Interconnection Systems, Inc.

Jeff brings 25 years of strategic energy management and renewable project development experience in implementing sustainable energy solutions in renewable energy, energy storage, and energy efficiency. He is particularly interested working as a developer of, and integrator of, renewable energy through flexible, demand-side solutions. His areas of expertise include energy storage, energy efficiency, demand-side management, renewable energy, microgrids, and distributed energy resources.

Jeff has been recognized as an outstanding program manager and creator of investment-worthy project developments. He has a reputation as a visionary, for hard work, and for encouraging his partners. He has a consistent track record for achieving and/or exceeding financial and technical performance goals. Jeff has a life-long passion for clean energy. His goal for any project is to develop win-win-win solutions that are environmentally sustainable, economically beneficial, and improve the lives of the users and community members.

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:

Energy Storage Procurement for Electric Cooperatives and Public Power

August 31, 2021 | Online

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

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 July 30, 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 0.7 CEUs for this event.

Requirements For Successful Completion Of Program

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

Instructional Methods

Case studies and PowerPoint presentations will be used in this program.