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21 projects found for:
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Topic: Prudence, Used and Useful
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Atlantic Utility Base Rate Case Review
Client: New Jersey Division of the Ratepayer Advocate
Synapse is currently reviewing company filings to identify electric reliability and infrastructure related issues in the support of legal briefs to be filed as part the Company's base rate case. Project ongoing.
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Report on Impact of Proposed Reliability Pricing Model
Client: Illinois Citizens Utility Board
Synapse developed a report on the impact of PJM's proposed Reliability Pricing Model (RPM) on Exelon nuclear facilities' capacity revenues in northern Illinois. At the request of Illinois Citizens Utility Board (CUB), Synapse analyzed the current capacity revenues earned by Exelon's nuclear fleet in Illinois and compared those revenues to the historical six-year average prices for capacity in PJM and to the RPM "target price" as defined by a benchmark proxy peaker unit. The analysis showed that the capacity revenues for Exelon's nuclear units in northern Illinois would increase from $100 million (2005) to over $500 million annually under RPM, on average, and that annual earnings under RPM for a single year could be as high as $1.2 billion under extreme scarcity conditions. Project completed in August 2005. Download Report
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Clean Air Act Litigation
Client: U.S. Department of Justice
Synapse prepared expert reports on the planning and modeling conducted by defendants in a series of lawsuits involving the New Source Review provisions of the Clean Air Act. This work has included a review of the Companies' application of the PROMOD and PROSYM models and the development of PROSYM model runs to analyze the relationships between power plant availability, generation, and emissions. Project completed March 2010.
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PSEG Utility Base Rate Case Review
Client: New Jersey Division of the Ratepayer Advocate
For this project, Synapse reviewed company filings and identified electric reliability and infrastructure related issues in the support of legal briefs that were filed as part the Company's base rate case. Project completed August 2010
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Rockland Utility Base Rate Case Review
Client: New Jersey Division of the Ratepayer Advocate
Synapse reviewed company filings and identified electric reliability and infrastructure related issues in the support of legal briefs that were filed as part the Company's base rate case. Project completed August 2010.
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Interstate Power and Light Company's Proposed Energy Efficiency Program
Clients: Community Coalition, Plains Justice
Synapse was retained by Plains Justice to participate in the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) docket for the IPL energy efficiency case. Synapse reviewed IPL's filings, their annual reports, and their proposed plans to achieve the objectives of IUBs order. Direct and rebuttal testimony were prepared and submitted. Briefings for Iowa agency heads and legislators were planned for the first quarter of 2009. Project completed May 2009. Download Testimony
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SierraPacific Integrated Resource Planning Case
Clients: Environmental Defense, Western Resource Advocates
Synapse prepared testimony related to carbon price and escalation of construction costs for coal plants. Synapse testified before the Nevada Public Service Commission regarding our findings, and afterward developed a report based on our testimony. Project completed September 2008.
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The Electricity Industry at a Glance
Client: National Regulatory Research Institute
The National Regulatory Research Institute (NRRI) retained Synapse to prepare a primer on the U.S. electric industry for public utility commissioners and public utility commission staff. The primer provides basic information on the U.S. electric industry. It assumes only a basic understanding of the nature and purpose of utility regulation. While it addresses issues related to ratemaking, it is not an introduction to rate setting. Section I reviews the overall nature of the industry and of power production and use. Section II breaks down the industry into segments and discusses their recent and current status and organization. Section III (written by Scott Hempling of NRRI) covers regulatory jurisdiction, while Section IV identifies some of the critical issues facing the industry and its regulators. Project completed in November 2008. Download Report
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Review of Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine Acquisition
Client: Arkansas Public Service Commission Staff
Synapse was retained by Staff of the Arkansas Public Service Commission as a subcontractor to Larkin Associates to provide assistance on a range of electric resource planning and power procurement issues over the year July 2007 through June 2008. In this phase under that contract Synapse provided advice and testimony regarding whether Entergy Arkansas Inc. (EAI)'s proposed acquisition of the Ouachita combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) capacity is in the public interest. Project completed in June 2008. Download Testimony
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Wind Energy
Client: Union of Concerned Scientists
This project analyzed issues related to contracting for wind energy. Download Report
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Companion Scenario Analysis
Clients: Conservation Law Foundation, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships
For this project, Synapse reviewed a ISO-NE Scenario Analysis report and developed a Companion Report that evaluated two additional scenarios for greater EE, DR, renewables, and reduced carbon resources. Project completed in 2007. Download Report
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Proposed Glades Power Park Coal Plants
Clients: Earthjustice, Sierra Club, Save our Creeks, Florida Wildlife Federation, Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida
Synapse was asked to evaluate Florida Light & Power Company's justification for its proposed 2000 MW coal-fired Glades Park Power plants. The specific subjects addressed by Synapse in testimony included the likely future CO2 emission costs that will result from federal greenhouse gas regulations/restrictions; the Company's resource planning; and the results of the Company's economic analyses of the proposed Glades Project. Synapse found that the proposed Project would be the more economic option only if the potential costs of CO2 regulations were not considered or if a very high difference was assumed between natural gas and coal prices. Synapse also found that the Company had not fully reflected the risk of increases in the actual capital cost of completing the proposed Project and placing the generating units in commercial operation. As a result, Synapse recommended that the Commission deny Florida Light & Power Company's need request because the Company had failed to demonstrate that the proposed Project was the least cost, least risk addition to its system. The Florida Public Service Commission agreed with the conclusion that the proposed Glades Project was not the most cost-effective option and, therefore, denied the request for a certificate to build the plants. Project completed in May 2007. Download Testimony
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Midland Resource Conservation Plan
Client: Michigan Department of the Attorney General
Review the Resource Conservation Plan for purchases from Midland Cogeneration Venture Limited Partnership. Download Testimony
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Arizona Public Service Company Rate Case
Client: Residential Utility Consumer Office of Arizona
Synapse investigated a number of issues in a rate case: 1) whether Arizona Public Service's (APS) acquisition of the Sundance Generating Station was prudent; 2) whether the amounts that APS requested for Operating & Maintenance expenditures ("O&M") for the PWEC Units and the Sundance Plant were reasonable; and 3) the generation and associated costs included in APS' base rate application. Synapse found that APS' acquisition of the Sundance Plant was reasonable and prudent. However, we found that the Company's requested power plant O&M was unreasonably high and should be reduced for both plants. Project completed in February 2006. Download Hornby Surrebuttal
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Review of Proposed Replacement of the Steam Generators at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station
Client: The Utility Reform Network (TURN)
Synapse reviewed whether the failure of the owners of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station to seek damages from the designer and fabricator of the unit's original steam generators represented prudent management. Synapse also examined the units' likely future operating costs and performance. Project completed in May 2005. Download Testimony
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Retail Choice Proceeding Testimony
Client: Texas Office of Public Utility Counsel
Synapse provided testimony in an on-going retail choice proceeding involving an Entergy subsidiary in East Texas (Entergy Gulf States). Synapse assisted the Texas Office of People's Counsel (OPC) in evaluating Entergy's proposal for an "independent" subsidiary to oversee the transition to a retail open access structure authorized by the Texas legislature. Synapse compared the proposed "independent" Entergy subsidiary to the standards and criteria that FERC applies to applications for Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) and provided testimony before the Texas PUC. Project completed in May 2004. Download Peterson Testimony
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Whether New Electric Generating Units Are Used and Useful
Client: Residential Utility Consumer Office of Arizona
Synapse examined whether the Arizona Public Service Company should be allowed to include in rate base the cost of five new generating units that were originally built for the Company's deregulated affiliate. Project completed in February 2004.
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Audit of Utility Power Purchasing Practices
Client: New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Staff
Synapse evaluated whether Rockland Electric Company's power purchases during the period from August 1999 through July 2003 were prudent. Synapse prepared an audit report concluding that the Company was imprudent for failing to enter into a multi-year power purchase agreement when it divested all of its generating facilities in 1999. Project completed in July 2003. Download Report
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Review of Power Procurement and Risk Management
Client: Nevada Public Utilities Commission Staff
Synapse reviewed the power procurement and risk management practices of Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company in the Western markets for a test year that included the summer of 2002. The results of this review were presented in the testimony of Bruce Biewald (PUCN Dockets 02-11021 and 03-1014). Project completed in May 2003.
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Modeling Demand Response In New England
Client: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Synapse performed a comprehensive assessment of the emissions impacts of demand response programs in New England. As ISO New England continues to refine its nascent electricity markets, there is widespread interest in facilitating demand response (DR) -- the ability for customers to respond to high prices by reducing electricity use or producing their own electricity onsite. There is also widespread interest in the net air emissions impacts of DR.
Synapse assessed the net emissions impacts of selected DR programs using the PROSYM/PROMOD dispatch model. The programs assessed included the economic DR program proposed by ISO New England for the summer of 2003, an economic DR program proposed by the New England Demand Response Initiative (NEDRI) for the summer of 2004, and several scenarios that explored key variables and uncertainties in these programs. In addition, Synapse modeled several energy efficiency programs in order to compare the emissions impacts of these programs to the DR programs. For all programs assessed, Synapse explored both the emissions impacts of DR operation and the impacts of new DR capacity on ISO unit commitment. Project completed in May 2003. Download Report
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Review of a Green Power Proposal
Client: Delaware Public Service Commission Staff
Synapse assisted the Staff in reviewing proposals from Green Mountain Power and Conectiv Energy to offer an innovative green power program to residential electricity customers. Project completed in October 2002.
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