Maryland Clean Energy Center

The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

● Clean Energy Technologies The Current - November 2010 ● Using Clean Energy Articles In This Issue: ● Business Resources ● Proposed transmission line, federal leases bolster prospects for offshore wind power in

● Research & Development Maryland

● ● Programs & Incentives Pepco, BGE revise smart meter plans to include more consumer education and cost- protection ● Find

● Senator Pinsky Vows To Correct Net Metering Law During 2011 Session ● News & Events ● Fairfield Renewable Energy project in Baltimore poised to create nearly 600 green jobs, 140 MW of clean energy

● New Solar Thermal Division at regional chapter of the national Solar Energy Industries Association

● Cyber security experts from NIST, State of Maryland and MITRE to discuss ‘Stuxnet,’ other threats Dec. 14 at Clean Energy Technology Incubator in Baltimore

● Pepco’s Reliability Enhancement Plan for Maryland

● Upcoming Events: - Maryland offshore wind conference, December 4 in Annapolis - ACORE’s Phase II Renewable Energy Policy Forum - Maryland Clean Energy Legislative Day, January 27, 2011 in Annapolis

"THE CURRENT" NEWSLETTER SERIES IS MADE POSSIBLE THANKS TO PEPCO HOLDINGS INC:

http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (1 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

Proposed transmission line, federal leases bolster prospects for offshore wind power in Maryland Two major announcements in less than a month could propel Maryland closer to creating an offshore wind power industry.

Bidding Is Open for Leasing Wind Parcels Offshore Near Ocean City

Gov. Martin O’Malley, the Maryland Energy Administration and the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) have opened the bidding process for companies interested in leasing parcels off the Maryland coast to develop wind power farms.

“I think this is all very good news for the offshore wind industry,” said Jean-Paul Crouzoulon, vice president of operations with Areva Renewables North America in Bethesda. Areva, which is headquartered in France, is vying for the contract to supply turbines to NRG Bluewater Wind’s Mid- Atlantic Wind Park in Delaware and exploring Jean-Paul Crouzoulon of AREVA options to manufacture turbines in North America. Renewables. AREVA is seeking to build wind turbines for wind systems offshore The BOEMRE announcement in early November Delaware. made Maryland just the second state in the nation, after Massachusetts, to begin the leasing process for offshore wind projects. Based on two years of work by the Maryland Offshore Wind Task Force, BOEMRE approved 277 square nautical miles off a 31-mile stretch of Maryland coastline as possible lease sites for wind farms. The leasing area, which is set along the Outer Continental Shelf, would not permit turbines within 10 nautical miles of Ocean City’s beach or 20 nautical miles of the Assateague National Seashore. The process gives would-be wind-power developers 60 days to file an expression of interest with federal authorities.

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Governor Martin O’Malley described the launch of the leasing process as “another step forward for Maryland’s new economy. By harnessing the outstanding wind resources off of Maryland’s coast, we can create thousands of green collar jobs, reduce harmful air pollution and bring much needed, additional clean energy to Maryland.”

Map illustrates tracts to be leased offshore State officials estimate that a 1-gigawatt wind Ocean City for wind energy turbines. development off Maryland’s coast could create as many as 4,000 jobs in manufacturing and construction during the five-year development period and 800 permanent jobs once the wind turbines went into operation.

Crouzoulon described the leasing arrangement as a “critical step” to the development of an offshore wind industry in Maryland.

“It is critical because frankly today siting and permitting are still things that haven’t been resolved and we still have question marks when we look to the future,” he said. “For developers, it is good news that there is now a process for them to apply and bid for land.”

Crouzoulon predicted the leasing process would attract a “fair amount” of expressions of interest from developers and create the prospect of multiple wind farms off Maryland’s coast.

“Developers are not here to build a wind farm. They are here to launch an industry,” he said. “You launch an industry by having several projects so you can afford a transmission line and have a supplier of wind turbines move here and build a supply chain. You are not going to do that with one wind farm of 100 megawatts.”

Google, Trans-Elect Partnership Aiming for Mid-Atlantic Sub-Sea Transmission Line

In mid-October, Chevy Chase-based Trans- Elect Development Co. announced that it had http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (3 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

forged a partnership with Google and other major investors to develop a $5-billion, sub-sea, transmission network to bolster the PJM Interconnection grid and serve wind farms off the Mid-Atlantic coast.

Andrew Gohn, a clean energy program manager specializing in wind energy at the Maryland Energy Administration, suggests the Trans-Elect transmission line might make the Map illustrates the Atlantic Wind Connection region more attractive to wind power developers. and how it plans on transmitting electricity onshore.

Trans-Elect and its investors have proposed to build the Atlantic Wind Connection project – a 350-mile power-transmission network that would run beneath the ocean floor from Virginia to New Jersey. Connecting to land at multiple points, the line could handle 6,000 megawatts of offshore wind and would tie into the PJM grid, which serves 13 states and the District of Columbia.

Gohn points to a proposal that NRG Bluewater Wind submitted in 2007 to build a 600- megawatt offshore wind facility and bring the power ashore at Ocean City. PJM Interconnection officials who evaluated the project, concluded that Bluewater would have to spend $200 million upgrading transmission lines to the site “so that particular project ended up being cost- prohibitive for Bluewater,” he said.

“An offshore backbone transmission line, like the one being proposed by Trans-Elect, could dramatically lower the cost of deployment of wind farms,” Gohn added.

Markian Melnyk, a principal in Atlantic Wind Connection, said the transmission line could address two major energy problems in the Mid-Atlantic: the high cost of peak power in a region with congested transmission lines and the challenge of finding adequate sites to build clean energy facilities.

“The Mid-Atlantic region’s electric transmission corridor is critically congested to the point that http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (4 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

we pay higher prices because we don’t have the transmission capacity to get access to broad energy resources. So when we are using a lot of power, we have to turn on more expensive generation,” Melnyk said. “Because this region is so heavily populated, it is also extremely difficult to build new energy developments on land.”

The Atlantic Wind Connection would actually increase the number of commercially viable sites for wind farms, Melnyk said.

“Right now, the transmission grid along the Mid-Atlantic coast is not all that strong. That means that early wind projects would connect to the best spots in the grid. Later projects would have to settle for worse spots,” he said. “The Atlantic Wind Connection backbone dramatically opens up the number of potential interconnection points and makes them much more convenient for developers.”

The Atlantic Wind Connection project faces some challenges.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) does not currently have a template for assessing offshore wind power transmission lines. Furthermore, guidelines for assessing any new transmission lines within the PJM grid are “very strict and rigid” and do not include consideration of a project’s ability to tap clean energy sources, Melnyk said.

The Mid-Atlantic governors, however, have already appealed to FERC to open up the guidelines for assessing new transmission lines to consider state policy objectives, including renewable portfolio standards (RPS), Gohn said. FERC officials, he added, “have been very easy to work with on this. We are getting strong indications that they will consider state RPS issues.”

Maryland officials hope to solidify connection to proposed Trans-Elect line

Some Maryland officials and developers are anxious to see Trans-Elect solidify Phase II of the Atlantic Wind Connection. The development plan includes bringing power lines ashore initially in just three states – Virginia, Delaware and New Jersey. Trans-Elect plans to land a line at an undisclosed location in Maryland during a later phase of the development. http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (5 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

“That is a concern and we want to get that Phase II done as quickly as possible,” Gohn said. “We do not want to be left out of this process because it is going to be important for us in terms of deploying offshore wind.”

Tom Carlson, Maryland state director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), stresses that Maryland will also need to take other initiatives to turn the possibility of an offshore wind power industry into a reality.

“For offshore wind to compete and be successful, it requires long-term, power-purchase contracts. But a lot of energy contracts are short term,” Carlson said.

CCAN is currently working with the governor’s office and the MEA to draft legislation that would mandate some long-term purchase contracts for clean energy. Carlson said the environmental group hopes to get that legislation passed during the 2011 session of the General Assembly.

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Pepco, BGE revise smart meter plans to include more consumer education and cost-protection Landmark rulings by Maryland’s Public Service Commission should provide consumers with greater education, protection and choice when utilities begin to roll out their smart meter projects.

In a series of rulings from June to September, the PSC accepted several arguments raised by consumer advocates and directed Baltimore Gas and Electric and Pepco to alter their smart meter plans.

“The Maryland order was obviously a game changer,” said Maryland People’s Counsel Paula Carmody, referring to the PSC’s June rejection of BGE’s original smart meter plan. “A lot of consumer organizations in other states were so pleased to see that order come out and to see these issues being brought to the top of the list rather than being left at the bottom.” http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (6 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

The People’s Counsel had argued that BGE’s original smart meter plan would place too much financial risk on consumers, channel some consumers into unreasonable rate plans and deny consumers adequate education about smart meters and market energy prices.

In its ruling, the PSC concluded that BGE’s original smart meter plan “asks BGE’s ratepayers to take significant financial and technological risks and adapt to categorical changes in rate design, all in exchange for savings that are largely indirect, highly contingent and a long way off. We are not persuaded that this bargain is cost-effective or serves the public interest, at least in its current form.”

The commission directed BGE and Pepco to adopt more conservative business models for smart meters projects. In particular, it identified about $200 million of expenses to add to BGE’s cost-benefit calculations, including the price of retiring existing meters, establishing a new billing system and installing in-home energy-use displays. The commission rejected any The existing analog electricity meters (left) mandatory time-of-use pricing plans. It rejected a compared to the new, digital or “smart” BGE proposal for an upfront surcharge to cover meters coming soon to Maryland customers some smart meter costs. Instead, the PSC ruled of Baltimore Gas & Electric and PEPCO. that BGE shoulder early costs of installing smart Image courtesy of Southern California meters and seek reimbursement by applying for Edison. a rate increase in 2014. The commission also directed both BGE and Pepco to eliminate projected reductions in peak energy use and overall energy use from their cost-benefit analyses.

The utilities, Carmody said, will be going forward with smart meters in a way that protects customers from inappropriate cost recovery.”

The PSC, which imposed similar criteria on smart meter proposals from BGE and Pepco, also directed both utilities to plan extensive consumer education campaigns about the smart meter http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (7 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

technology and the new energy pricing systems it will eventually facilitate. “The success of this initiative, and the likelihood that customers will actually see the benefits this project promises, depend centrally on the success of the Company’s customer education and communication effort,” commissioners wrote.

“You can’t just put up a web site and publish a brochure and think people are educated,” Carmody said. “You really need to look at a multi-faceted approach and do a variety of things over a long period of time.”

Stephen Sunderhauf, manager of program design and evaluation for Pepco Holdings Inc., acknowledges that educating consumers and changing consumer behavior will be the single biggest challenge that Pepco and Delmarva Power face as they roll out their smart meter projects. (The PSC has not yet ruled on Delmarva’s application to deploy smart meters in its Maryland coverage area.)

Pepco, he said, is planning a three-year, multi-faceted education program that addresses the fact that different customers absorb information in different ways and will need to encounter information about smart meters multiple times in order to fully absorb it and use the technology to their benefit.

“What works well for each person is going to be very individualized,” Sunderhauf said. “That’s true as well of the in-home displays. Some people will want it as an iPhone app, others might want it on a thermostat on the wall. Some customers will find the detailed [energy use] information we provide very actionable, while others will ignore it.”

However, smart meters and, eventually, dynamic pricing that more closely reflects market prices will challenge customers to change the way they think about and use energy.

Pepco and BGE have already taken the first “baby step” in introducing dynamic pricing by offering an optional rebate program that rewards customers for conserving energy during peak- use hours, Sunderhauf said.

“The critical peak rebate is the politically expedient way to put these new rate structures in http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (8 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

place. It is designed to provide a nice, firm price signal to consumers to reward them for reducing their consumption during periods when there is very high cost in the electric system,” he said. “Over time, the idea would be to introduce more complex pricing changes when you begin to have automatic technology that can respond to grid conditions. That is the nirvana of electricity pricing.”

Both Pepco and BGE are slated to begin installing smart meters in 2011.

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Senator Pinsky Vows To Correct Net Metering Law During 2011 Session Even before a Rulemaking on energy net metering is promulgated by the Maryland Public Service Commission, the author of the original legislation is vowing to work with other stakeholders to correct it in the upcoming General Assembly which begins in mid-January.

After an all-day public rulemaking session October 26 in Baltimore, the four commissioners who participated had not by press time published their ruling in case “RM41”. Anticipating what the Commission is likely to do, the principal author of the originating legislation, State Senator Paul Pinsky of Prince George’s County, vowed to push for legislation that would achieve what he intended when he introduced Senate Bill (SB) 355 last winter for the 2010 General Assembly. Maryland State Senator Paul Pinsky of Pinsky explained to The Current that he regretted Prince George’s County is a long-time not providing closer review to last minute advocate of the Free State’s push for negotiations between interested parties late last policies that promote the adoption of session shortly before final votes were cast in April. clean energy. http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (9 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

He said parties unwilling to embrace net metering and what it offers owners of renewable energy systems outmaneuvered proponents in the closing days of the session. “We will get it right next year,” Pinsky said.

The anticipated rulemaking would come after representatives of electricity suppliers and renewable energy companies and their customers made their respective cases for rules that would fix a monthly monetary credit for homeowners and small businesses whose solar and other renewable energy systems generated more electricity than they used in a previous billing cycle. How that net excess amount of kilowatt hours is monetized is the crux of the debate.

Most proponents of net metering are calling for the ability to roll-over excess kilowatt hours month to month and cashing out at the end of a 12-month cycle at or something close to the retail value of that electricity. They contend by generating their own electricity, they should receive the full value of what is delivered to their homes, including transmission and distribution charges – which they avoid. (Proponents note that does not include the taxes and other fees added to one’s electricity bill.)

The new net metering law, as passed, PSC Chair Douglas Nazarian noted several times, ties the hands of the Commission in following the wholesale price for electricity which can vary depending on where one’s home or business is in Maryland due to different levels of congestion on the power grid. The difference between the retail and wholesale prices of electricity can vary by several cents per kilowatt hour. The retail rate is also known as the SOS, or “Standard Offer Service” rate.

Ken Stadlin, founder of Maryland-based Kenergy Solar, noted that the difference between retail and wholesale rates will grow in significance as Time-of-Day electricity prices are permitted with the evolution of ‘smart grid’ applications. Electricity during hot summer weekdays could be three times as expensive as the fixed retail rate because that’s when demand can skyrocket. Utilities want to recover as many of those relevant costs as possible.

The next date the Rulemaking could be published is Friday, Dec. 3. Click here to check. If it’s not published checked every other Friday (Dec. 17, Dec. 31, etc.) because that’s the publication schedule for future Registers. http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (10 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

In one curious move, the Commission opted to elevate to 200% the maximum size of a solar system that could qualify for net metering. A summer Working Group of utility and solar company managers and argued whether the maximum should be set at 110% or 125%. So the Commission is willing to exert significant discretion on certain topics where the law does not ‘tie its hands’, as Nazarian asserted repeatedly.

Since the October 26 rulemaking session, Baltimore Gas & Electric – a vocal opponent of the wording in Pinsky’s original SB 355 – has logged written testimony at the Commission asserting the 200% cap is “inconsistent with the statutory definition that the (solar or wind system) primarily offset the customer’s electricity requirements.”

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Fairfield Renewable Energy project in Baltimore poised to create nearly 600 green jobs, 140 MW of clean energy Energy Answers International and FMC Corporation are preparing to break ground on a $1- billion waste-to-energy project that promises to revive a Baltimore City brownfield site, create nearly 600 green jobs and generate 140 megawatts of clean energy.

The companies officially unveiled the Fairfield Renewable Energy Project at an on-site kickoff in late October that attracted representatives from all levels of government, environmental authorities, neighboring communities, construction trades unions and area businesses.

“This is a great opportunity to showcase the new innovation economy here in Baltimore,” said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. “When we talk about trying to climb out of this recession, most people give lip service to the green economy. But here in Maryland, we are moving that concept forward.”

The centerpiece of the Energy Answers-FMC development, which is located on 90 acres of industrial land on Baltimore’s Fairfield http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (11 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

Peninsula, will be a power plant that uses municipal solid waste as its primary fuel source. Energy Answers plans to buy or lease facilities at area municipal waste sites where it will separate valuable recyclables, such as Cutaway illustration of the Fairfield waste-to- metals, from the waste stream then shred the energy plant, which is seeking to qualify for remaining waste into small particles for LEED Gold certification. transport to the Fairfield plant. Once onsite, that fuel could generate 140 megawatts of power and heat to be sold back into the wholesale market.

Energy Answers executives, however, are hoping to divert some of the plant’s power production to a second phase of the Fairfield development. The company intends to convert the remainder of the 90-acre brownfield into an Eco-Industrial Park that could attract energy- intensive industries – such as concrete companies, paper recyclers, bio-fuels plants or research laboratories – that are looking to operate in a sustainable manner. The Fairfield plant could provide energy to those tenants at below-retail prices.

The plant, which will take about three years to construct, should start generating power in mid- to late 2013.

“Almost everything about this project is green,” Rawlings-Blake said. “It is reducing, renewing or reusing. This project will allow city government and surrounding jurisdictions to add more renewable energy to our regional portfolio. It means that Baltimore City will be purchasing less energy from coal-fired power plants to power government buildings … and the project will reduce landfill use and recover valuable materials. This project is a national model for green, renewable energy and I am very proud to have this project in Baltimore City.”

Patrick Mahoney, president and chief executive officer of Energy Answers, said the Fairfield project epitomizes what his company does.

“We recover energy and materials from society’s discards. We recover built resources – buildings, railroad tracks, roadways, storage tanks, utility networks and inactive industrial http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (12 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

properties,” Mahoney said. “But most important of all, we provide an opportunity to recover the skills, the talents, the productivity of the industrial workforce. This is especially evident at the Fairfield Renewable Energy Project where we will recover and re-engage the construction workers, the contractors, the equipment and systems operators, the plant managers and the skilled labor from the region to operate and maintain an efficiently managed, world-class, sustainable energy project.”

Fairfield developers estimate the power plant will sustain an average of 400 union construction jobs over the three-year development period then another 180 permanent, green collar jobs once the plant begins operations.

“This project represents our union’s values,” said Fred Redmond, vice president of human affairs with the United Steel Workers.

The union, he noted, began working with environmentalists more than 20 years ago to explore how industrial workers could advance sustainability efforts.

The Fairfield Renewable Energy Project, Redmond said, “is a good example of what we can do together to rebuild our communities, protect our environment and put our people back to work.”

Bob Perciasepe, deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, added, “It is projects like this that show the right thing to do for the environment is also the right thing to do for the economy. You don’t have to choose between the two. That is an important message.”

Construction on the Fairfield Renewable Energy Power Plant is slated to begin by late January. Designed to qualify for LEED Gold certification, the plant will completely power itself both through its renewable energy production and the solar membrane system that will cover its rooftops. Energy Answers has also proposed to stay within the lowest emission limits and the lowest mercury emission levels in the country for this type of facility.

Residents of the neighboring communities of Brooklyn and Curtis Bay which have contended with pollution and job losses from other industries on the peninsula, initially expressed skepticism about the Fairfield Renewable Energy project. The communities, however, http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (13 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

ultimately endorsed the project after consulting with developers about emissions, environmental improvements, truck traffic and job prospects.

Brooklyn and Curtis Bay Coalition representative Carol Kefford Eshelman predicted the Fairfield project would transform the region “from gritty to green.”

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New Solar Thermal Division at regional chapter of the national Solar Energy Industries Association Recognizing the growth of solar thermal markets in the region, the Maryland-DC-Virginia Solar Energy Industries Association (MDV-SEIA) Board of Directors this month authorized the creation of a Solar Thermal Division within the Association’s membership.

Solar thermal technologies include the mature technologies of solar water heating, space heating, and pool heating; as well as the newest thermal technology, solar air conditioning.

As residential consumers and many other organizations continue to show interest in these technologies, the proportion of MDV-SEIA firms that promote them continues to grow. Mike Healy, an MDV-SEIA board member and a principal at Skyline Innovations, has taken the lead in organizing the new division, chairing the first meeting of the group at MDV-SEIA’s annual solar energy conference held November 12 at the University of Maryland’s conference center. The MDV-SEIA logo.

With more than 35 members attending the first meeting, the division is off to a promising start. For more information, contact Mike Healy [email protected] or Rick Peters [email protected]. http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (14 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

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Cyber security experts from NIST, State of Maryland and MITRE to discuss ‘Stuxnet,’ other threats Dec. 14 at Clean Energy Technology Incubator in Baltimore The role of a secure power grid and other industrial control systems will be Topic A during a conference Tuesday, December 14, at the Clean Energy Technology Incubator in Baltimore. As office parks surrounding Fort Meade – home of the National Security Agency – and throughout Maryland draw more cyber-security consultants and government contractors, Maryland is increasingly becoming the epicenter of cyber security in the US. During the December 14 conference, part of this large pool of expertise will be challenged to focus on the security of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) that are used to monitor and run our industrial infrastructure.

Organizing the cyber security forum is Bjorn Frogner, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Maryland Clean Energy Technology Incubator, located at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC). Frogner works alongside of the Maryland Clean Energy Center in providing support to startup companies in the clean energy field. He is spearheading the establishment of a cyber security “office” at Bjorn Frogner, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at UMBC to attract electric utilities, vendors, the Maryland Clean Energy Technology academia, experts, and others to share Incubator in Baltimore, has more than 35 information through seminars, conferences, years experience in technical and business speaking engagements, and networking. disciplines throughout the IT and energy Watch Bjorn Frogner, talk briefly about his industries. work at the Incubator and this December 14 cyber security forum here.

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The featured speaker during the conference will be Joseph Weiss, an international authority on cyber security, control systems and system security, an advisor to the Obama Administration and Managing Partner at Applied Control Solutions, LLC, will discuss how the “Stuxnet” worm and other threats are changing defensive cyber security strategies to protect the power grid.

Haven’t heard of Weiss is to be followed by Ron Ross, Senior Computer “Stuxnet”? It is a Scientist and Security Researcher at the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST), who will discuss the Windows-specific comprehensive standards activities he is leading. Adam Suri, computer worm first Director of Cyber Security for the State of Maryland, is slated to discovered in June discuss his visions of the future of cyber security. 2010 by VirusBlokAda, a security firm based in A major theme of the conference is the need to have teams with Belarus. It is the first- the combined skills of IT cyber security and ICS to deal with discovered worm that malware like Stuxnet. Maryland has several educational and research institutions that graduate high caliber IT cyber security spies on and students. UMBC is among the most prominent universities in reprograms industrial this regard in the US and they will discuss why they will add ICS systems. security to their MS in Cyber Security curriculum. Other prominent educational institutions in Maryland are set to contribute.

The conference also includes discussions by Edward Lopez of Fortinet, Inc., who is to discuss the “defense-in-depth” approach that their company uses to protect SCADA systems. UMBC Research Park Corporation Executive Director GET logo of the Research & Technology Ellen Hemmerly will share her extensive Park experience with the role of incubation; including a recent new incubator focused on IT cyber security sponsored by Northrop Grumman.

http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (16 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

More details and registration information is available at this site: http://www.bwtechumbc.com/ ceti Total registration is limited to 80 due to the limited size of the conference room and the desire to engage a limited sized group to start this new segment of cyber security.

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Pepco’s Reliability Enhancement Plan for Maryland $256.5 Million Slated for Reliability Improvements Over Next Five Years

Pepco has begun implementing a six-point electric service reliability enhancement plan for Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland. The plan – which was announced in August – advances work on existing programs and initiates new activities, as well. The programs accelerate maintenance plans for trees on both public and private land that have the potential to disrupt the power supply, and for a variety of electric distribution equipment. The work is designed to make a substantial improvement to the reliability of the distribution system across Maryland by reducing both the frequency and the duration of outages for Pepco customers. The total cost of this work over the next five years is estimated to be in excess of a http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (17 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

quarter billion dollars and increases our expenditures on maintenance in our Maryland service territories by $100 million over the next five years.

“This is not just Pepco’s plan, it’s the community’s plan,” said Thomas H. Graham, President, Pepco Region. “We know that reliability enhancement is a critical issue for our customers, and this undertaking is not a sprint, but a marathon.”

The enhancement plan details increases in annual and five-year expenditures for targeted maintenance activities that demonstrate Pepco’s commitment to improved reliability:

● Enhanced Vegetation Management – $7.3 million annually and $36.5 million over five years, up from $4.3 million and $21.5 million

● Enhanced vegetation management includes tree trimming along public rights of way and on private property when granted permission to obtain increased clearance between the overhead electric wires and existing trees. In addition to tree trimming, Pepco also will work with counties, communities and homeowners to remove trees that are dead, in poor health or would damage the distribution system if they were to fall.

● Priority Feeders – $6.5 million annually and $32.5 million over five years, up from $4.5 million and $22.5 million

● A feeder is an electric distribution line that carries electricity to an area, often comprised of several subdivisions or communities; it typically serves approximately 1,100 individual customers. Each year Pepco selects feeders across Maryland that we determine are the least-performing feeders, called priority feeders. We perform detailed Engineering and Field Investigations to identify the cause(s) of outages on these lines and determine the corrective actions necessary to reduce the number of outages. We are expanding this program by 45 percent.

● Load Growth – $12 million annually and $60 million over five years; no change from current budget

● Each year Pepco evaluates the need to add or upgrade feeders in order to support the reliable supply of power to new customers and the increase in usage by existing customers. This program is part of our long-established system planning process that ensures the continued availability of safe and reliable power for all our customers.

● Distribution Automation – $3 million annually and $15 million over five years, up from $1.2 http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (18 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

million and $6 million

● The distribution automation project involves installing advanced technologies across the distribution system that will identify faults on the electric system and automatically perform corrective switching, thus avoiding outages while faults are repaired. These technologies will automatically isolate the failed pieces of equipment and restore most of the affected customers within minutes of the failure. Pepco was awarded a $15 million Department of Energy Smart Grid Investment Grant to help fund accelerated implementation of this technology on our Maryland system.

● Underground Residential Distribution (URD) Cable Replacement – $7.5 million annually and $37.5 million over five years, up from $6.3 million and $31.5 million

● Pepco has a long-standing project to replace cable that generally was installed during the 1970s. This program replaces cable to prevent future failures and increases the reliability of the distribution system for customers supplied from the underground system. Since 2007, Pepco has upgraded more than 1.2 million feet (230 miles) of underground cable across Maryland at a cost of $27 million. We are expanding this program by 20 percent.

● Selective Undergrounding/Substation Improvements – $15 million annually and $75 million over five years – As Pepco evaluates the performance of individual feeders, the need to perform more aggressive modification to the system is sometimes identified. This approach to improving reliability has produced significant benefits. In a limited number of cases, however, it still has not achieved the needed level of reliability. In these limited areas where traditional modifications on the overhead system have not produced desired results, we will evaluate the possibility of selectively replacing the overhead system with an underground system.

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Upcoming Events

Maryland offshore wind conference, December 4 in Annapolis

Over the past several weeks, Marylanders have had encouraging news for wind energy deployments in the Free State. See related stories in this edition of The Current. The Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) is trying to build on them with a conference on http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (19 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

Saturday, Dec. 4 in Annapolis.

Together with other environmental groups active in Maryland (including the Maryland Sierra Club, Maryland League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, Environment Maryland, and the National Wildlife Federation), the “Wind Vision” conference is designed to help citizens and policymakers learn about current proposals for offshore wind parks off of Maryland's coast and how to make this vision a reality. Go here for details.

ACORE’s Phase II Renewable Energy Policy Forum, December 8-9 in Washington,

ACORE’s annual Phase II Policy Forum has never been more important. A new Congress will convene and a slate of new Governors will take office in January following the November 2 elections. The Phase II National Policy Forum will lay the groundwork for the 2011 US renewable energy market and finance policy agenda.

Renewable energy supply, national security, economic development and jobs, and environment and climate are among the issues speakers will address. It will connect renewable energy with energy efficiency, storage, demand response, and smart grid. If you are a thought leader on renewable energy policy, you need to be in this meeting. Join national and global leaders as we assess the state of renewable energy policy today and the range of policy options available, and help to advise on a best case policy framework for 2011 and beyond.

**Click here to add the ACORE Phase II Program to your Outlook Calendar**

Maryland’s Clean Energy Technology Incubator to assess security of industrial control systems, December 14 in Baltimore

This one-day conference will discuss issues and solutions to deal with cyber threats to the electric grid and other industrial control systems. The event will take place in the main seminar room at the Research & Technology Park at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. See related story in this issue of The Current. Details are available here.

Maryland Clean Energy Legislative Day, January 27, 2011 in Annapolis http://www.mdcleanenergy.org/news_and_events/archive/thecurrent-november2010 (20 of 21)6/27/2012 2:05:17 PM The Current - November 2010 | Maryland Clean Energy Center

The Maryland Clean Energy 2011 Legislative Day begins with a breakfast starting at 8 a.m. followed by brief remarks by lawmakers and policy influentials who will play a role in what legislation is acted on in the 90-day session which begins January 12.

Last year’s Legislative Day drew more than 200 participants. This year it is expected to draw even more considering how voters spoke up at the polls November 2 and how the O’Malley Administration is prioritizing its legislative agenda after the Governor’s resounding re-election.

● What can energy efficiency contractors and renewable energy developers, financiers and installers expect out of the House Economic Matters Committee and the Senate Finance Committee? How does the composition of each panel alter the prerequisites for success?

● How will Maryland’s budget deficit hamper the legislators’ choices? How can clean energy play an even more effective role in generating permanent, good-paying jobs and further reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

● How does the market for Solar Renewable Energy Credits need to change? What can Maryland do to assemble a hub of manufacturing activity for the burgeoning offshore wind opportunities?

● Can the energy net metering law be modified to achieve its original legislative intent?

These and other questions will be front-and-center on January 27. Sign up now while space is available in the meeting and reception space at the historic Calvert Governor House right on State Circle just a few steps from the legislators’ offices.

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