Maryland Power Plants and the Environment: A review of the impacts of power plants and transmission lines on Maryland's natural resources (CEIR-16)

 

 

¹There are certain exceptions where a CPCN is not required, such as for land-based wind power projects no greater than 70 MW; electric generators no greater than 70 MW that consume at least 80 percent of the electricity generated on-site; and generators with capacity no greater than 25 MW that consume at least 10 percent of the electricity generated on-site (see PUC Article §7-207.1).

²2 MW is equal to 2 million watts, enough power to meet the simultaneous peak demand of about 500 homes

³National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Wind Powering America: 80-Meter Wind Maps and Wind Resource Potential (February 2010). http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/

⁴Ibid. This estimate is based on the amount of available windy land area in Maryland, assuming a height of 80 meters and 5 MW/km2 of installed nameplate capacity.

⁵U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States (September 2010). http://www.nrel.gov/wind/ pdfs/40745.pdf. No exclusions (e.g., shipping lanes and environmentally sensitive areas) were applied to these offshore wind resource estimates.

⁶Ibid. This estimate is assuming average wind speeds of 8.5 to 9 m/s, at a distance of 12 to 50 nautical miles from the shoreline, with no exclusions for shipping lanes or environmentally sensitive areas.

⁷Firestone, Jeremy, et al. Maryland’s Offshore Wind Power Potential (February 2010) http://offshorewind.net/Other_Pages/Links%20Library/MarylandsOffshorewindPowerP otential-feb2010.pdf.

⁸GATS is a database maintained by PJM that lists the generation attributes (e.g., time, facility, fuel type) for all MWh generated in the PJM territory and outside the PJM territory if the generator is eligible for a PJM-state’s RPS and has registered as such with PJM.

⁹New Jersey Board of Public Utility, Clean Energy Program Report: http://www. njcleanenergy.com/renewable-energy/project-activity-reports/project-activity-reports

¹⁰Solar Energy Industry Association: http://www.seia.org/galleries/pdf/SMI-YIR- 2010-ES.pdf

¹¹The natural gas prices used here are from the Henry Hub, a pricing point for natural gas futures contracts traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Henry Hub is a point on the natural gas pipeline system in Erath, Louisiana that interconnects with nine interstate and four intrastate pipelines: Acadian, Columbia Gulf Transmission, Gulf South Pipeline, Bridgeline, NGPL, Sea Robin, Southern Natural Pipeline, Texas Gas Transmission, Transcontinental Pipeline, Trunkline Pipeline, Jefferson Island, and Sabine.

¹²Existing nuclear facilities have added almost 6,000 MW of generating capacity, equivalent to approximately six new reactors, through uprates since 1977. Source: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/power-uprates.html.

¹³In an unrelated process, Constellation is currently seeking to renew its NRC license for storing spent nuclear fuel at the site in its independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI).

¹⁴The Pepco zone includes Washington D.C. and the Delmarva zone includes Delaware.

¹⁵PSC Order No. 82936, September 29, 2009.

¹⁶PJM’s RTEP process also considers market-based economically beneficial transmission enhancements, but the criteria for approving projects under this process is rigorous and to date, very few economic projects have been approved and constructed.

¹⁷According to PUC §1-101, an “electric company” means a person who physically transmits or distributes electricity in the State to a retail electric customer. A “person” is defined as an individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, personal representative, fiduciary, or representative of any kind and any partnership, firm, association, corporation, or other entity.

¹⁸http://www.epa.gov/air/caa/40th.html

¹⁹M. J. Bradley & Associates (2010). Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the United States.

²⁰EPA. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2009.

²¹Details on the Chesapeake Bay TMDLs and Maryland’s Watershed Implementation Plan can be found at http://www.mde.maryland.gov/programs/Water/TMDL/ ChesapeakeBayTMDL/Pages/programs/waterprograms/tmdl/cb_tmdl/index.aspx.

²²PSD and Title V Permitting Guidance for Greenhouse Gases, prepared by the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, March 2011.

²³http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=2016&

²⁴http://water.usgs.gov/watuse/

²⁵Pozzolan is a type of material that, when added in the process of mixing cement, improves the strength of the resulting solid.

²⁶http://www.nerc.com/filez/standards/Vegetation-Management_Project_2007-7.html

²⁷http://www.fws.gov/video/productions.htm

²⁸Chalmers and Voorvant, 2009

²⁹FERC, “2010 Assessment of Demand Response & Advanced Metering,” Staff Report, February 2011.

³⁰FERC, “National Action Plan on Demand Response,” June 17, 2010.

³¹Updated analysis in 1995 increased the ALM limit to 7.5 percent.

³²The final CAP is available on MDE’s website: http://www.mde.maryland.gov/programs/Air/ ClimateChange/Pages/Air/climatechange/legislation/index.aspx

³³PSD and Title V Permitting Guidance for Greenhouse Gases, Prepared by the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, November 2010.

³⁴Sherwell, J., Flynn, P., and Ross J., “IGCC: Opportunities for Alternative Energy Technologies in Maryland”, Maryland Power Plant Research Program Publication No. DNR-12-5182010-454, June 2010.

³⁵http://www.enerdynamics.com/documents/Insider91807_000.pdf

³⁶http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/analysispaper/unconventional_gas.html

³⁷Howarth, R.W., R. Santoro, A. Ingraffea. 2011. Methane and the Greenhouse-gas Footprint of Natural Gas from Shale Formations, A Letter. Climatic Change, DOI 10.1007/s10584-011- 0061-5.

³⁸Jiang, M., W.M.Griffin, C. Hendrickson, P. Jaramillo, J. VanBriesen, A. Venkatesh, Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Marcellus Shale Gas, Environ. Res. Lett. 6 (July-September 2011) 034014 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/6/3/034014.

³⁹U.S. DOE, National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States (September 2010). http://www.nrel.gov/wind/pdfs/40745.pdf.

⁴⁰http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/ AR2008010303907.html.

⁴¹Pesaran, A.A., “Battery Pack Thermal Issues and Solutions for PHEVs”, NREL, presentation at Plug-in 2009.

⁴²12,000 miles per year is the baseline used by the EPA to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions from a typical passenger vehicle.

⁴³PNNL, “Impact Assessment of Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles on Electric Utilities And Regional U.S. Power Grids Part 1: Technical Analysis,” 2007. http://www.euec.com/ getattachment/euecjournal/Paper_4.pdf.aspx

⁴⁴Maryland PSC, “Notice Initiating Proceeding and Notice of Status Conference,” Case No. 9261, March 7, 2011.

^B1The term “ancillary services” refers to a suite of services necessary for the reliable generation and delivery of power and includes such services as reactive supply and voltage control, scheduling, and operating reserves. A more detailed discussion of ancillary services is provided later in this appendix.

^B2PJM divides the PJM region into deliverability areas based on transmission connections and constraints.

^B3Certain LSEs (utilities, electric cooperatives, or municipal utilities) may opt to commit capacity to meet peak demand plus the reserve requirement on a firm basis for a minimum five-year period and subject to PJM approval.

^B4PJM, “A Review of Generation Compensation and Cost Elements in the PJM Markets,” 2009.