What's Happening in Energy highlights the most interesting findings from public utility commission filings.

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What's Happening in Energy — May 30
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A look into one utility’s cost savings justifications after an acquisition: Accenture proposed cost savings via an “IT transition plan” as part of Saturn Utilities Holdco’s proposed plan to buy New Mexico Gas Company from Emera.

Docket profile
Accenture’s IT transition plan (p.34)

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Not a utility or state regulator, but interesting nonetheless: Southwest Power Pool’s regional transmission operator Expansion Integration Study identifies potential reliability issues and a power system simulation.

RTO Expansion Integration Study (and .ppt) 

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Neighboring RTO Midcontinent Independent System Operator has updated its MISO-SPP 2024 Coordinated System Plan (CSP) to enhance interregional planning by monitoring the eastern interconnection, focusing on the southern seam of MISO and SPP, which includes Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. The study seeks to identify transmission upgrades to improve reliability and resiliency, which is particularly relevant given Louisiana’s recent system issues.

MISO-SPP 2024 CSP Study Update

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Back to Kentucky, where data center activity does not let up: the East Kentucky Power Cooperative proposes a new tariff called Rate DCP - Data Center Power. Eligible Data Centers are defined under Rate DCP as meeting two criteria: load size (15 megawatts (MWs) or greater) and load factor (60% or greater). Many features worth noting but in particular: data center loads exceeding 250 MWs will require “one or more dedicated resources” — that is, they need to bring their own power, or contract for it. Docket profile
Proposed tariff filing

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If you live in North Dakota and own the land being used for the 200 megawatt Oliver Wind IV Energy Center’s transmission line effort, you can waive and refuse the option to have trees and shrubs on your property/right-of-way replanted.

Docket profiles PU-23-317 and PU-23-318
Filing: Tree and Shrub Mitigation Plan and Supplement

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A somewhat dramatic finding from Georgia Power’s Integrated Resource Plan and Demand Side Management Plan: the state has almost no interconnection capacity in 2027, even less in 2030, and no transmission capacity to connect its best solar areas from GIPL and Southface’s demonstrative handout).

Docket profile: DGA Power Cert, De-Cert, and Amend Demand Side Mgt Plan

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It’s Halcyon’s weekly “wow, that’s a big rate increase request” for water utilities: Arizona’s Joshua Valley Utility is asking for an additional $308,773, or 73% of total revenues (!) “due to operational losses and increased expenses for system repairs and improvements.”

From Joshua Valley Utility’s application, “Since 2014 the potable water industry producer price index has increased 96%.”

And from a telephone comment,

“This company was recently acquired by a utility owning division. The last owners had 4 employees and were able to be profitable. They are down to 2 employees now. JVU decided to install a very expensive generator project locally even though our electric company Unisource, provided one in an emergency.”

Docket profile
Rate application

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In Wisconsin, application documents for the Mill Road-Granville Transmission Line Project include not just wire plans but also tree clearing, bat maternity seasons, and confidential redacted information about avian deterrence. The responsibilities of the wildlife rehabilitation specialist placement of nesting platforms is confidential, and redacted. 

Docket profile
Data request response

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Also in Wisconsin: A helpful itemization of costs for the $166.1 million, 92 megawatt Red Barn Wind Energy Center.

Docket profile
Final cost report

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And if you’ve read this far — my favorite of the week, in Virginia: SWIFT (the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) filed a notice of participation in a Virginia certificate for public convenience and necessity hearing for transmission lines in Culpeper County. Its reason is fascinating: SWIFT’s engineers advise that electromagnetic field (EMF) emissions from either of the foregoing two routes of high powered 230 kV transmission lines may significantly interfere with SWIFT’s global operations.

That is: too much electromagnetic emissions, and your wire transfers won’t be transferring.

Docket profile
Notice of participation

What's Happening in Energy — May 23
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In California, SoCalGas has identified its customers that could benefit from behind-the-meter microgrids. It identified…76,000 potential microgrids in its service territory. Total built to date: 54.

Docket profile
Prepared direct testimony

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In Missouri, a now-familiar occurrence: recent resource plans are being tossed out thanks to soaring potential demand from data centers. In 2023, Ameren expected zero megawatts of data center load and almost one gigawatt of energy efficiency and demand response in its future; it now expects 2.5 gigawatts of data centers and less than 300 megawatts of efficiency and demand response. The result? An increase in aggregate peak demand of nearly three gigawatts.

Docket profile
Filing

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Related, also in Missouri: Ameren’s analysis finds that in its service territory, battery energy storage systems are more economic on a capacity equivalent basis than natural gas simple turbines up to 1,500 megawatts of capacity. Quote:

“As Table 2 shows, BESS is more economic than additional NGSC (i.e., beyond that already included in the PRP) on a capacity equivalent basis up to 1,500 MW of BESS additions for Ameren Missouri (the negative numbers in the last row of Table 2 reflect a reduction in net present value of revenue requirement over the planning horizon).” 

Docket profile
Direct testimony

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A collage of central Maine Power’s March 7 wind storm: Almost 25,000 accounts without power at peak, and one day, 11 hours, and 41 minutes of time required to restore service. 

Docket profile
Filing

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It’s not often we see territorial disputes between power utilities, but here’s one in Florida: a petition by Taiquin Electric Cooperative, Inc. to resolve a territorial dispute in Gadsden County with the City of Quincy. Small dollars, but a fascinating process nonetheless.

Docket profile
Response to data request

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In Idaho, utility Avista has proposed a 14.7% increase in residential electricity rates this year, followed by a 5.3% increase in 2026. A comment from a ratepayer:

I am not a numbers man but the proposed increase in electric and natural gas appears perverse and potentially detrimental to those they serve

Docket profile
Comment

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Not to be outdone in Ohio: Christi Water System proposes a 30.51% rate increase (not a typo). From testimony from the OH Consumers' Counsel there is between a 30% and 48% unaccounted-for water loss percentage, and testimony from the PUC's rates and analysis department to support the Joint Stipulation and Recommendation. The Ohio Consumers' Counsel's argument is that while inflation is hitting basic goods and services, this utility rake hike is rather different.

Docket profile
Direct testimony

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Georgia has five large battery storage projects under development, with a total about 750 megawatts and 2,500 megawatt-hours of capacity and energy. All five are expected to commission between May and November of next year. Georgia Power is using Tesla Megapacks for its storage capacity.

Docket profile
Filing

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We’ve covered Kentucky and an ongoing certificate of public convenience and necessity hearing to accommodate economic activity in our blog post this week. A nugget from supporting filings: the significance of the utility’s expected change in demand with economic development…and the total lack of change (or rather, the slight decline in demand) without it.

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In Pennsylvania, data center development is moving quickly.  In August, 2024, utility PPL said that it had five gigawatts of data centers in advanced stages of approval (source, p6). In May of 2025, that figure is already 11 gigawatts (source, p36). Total active requests have increased from 17 gigawatts of potential projects through 2033, to 50 gigawatts by 2034.

Docket profile
Investor update

What's Happening in Energy — May 16
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Data centers! Pennsylvania has convened an en banc (read: every commissioner at once) proceeding on large load interconnection (read: data centers) in the state. For anyone following, shaping, or helping decide the future of large loads in the US electric system, here is a great set of questions posed by the PA PUC following the thoughtful en banc hearing that happened 3 weeks ago: 

• Docket profile 
• Statements from Data Center Coalition, PPL Electric Utilities, First Energy, Duquesne Light Company, PECO Energy Company, Vantage Data Centers, and more. 
• Key quotes from the utilities: a single new data center could be 30% of peak load in Duquesne Light’s service territory, and four projects in advanced stages in PECO’s service territory could add 40% to its demand.

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In Wyoming, Black Hills Energy requests a 1.43% rate increase in order to cover its Carbon Capture Compliance surcharge: that’s an additional $4.7 million for 45,753 customers.
Docket profile
Application

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Also in Wyoming: Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. and the Wyoming Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA) are waiting for approval of an average 11.68% rate increase effective August 1. Rates table below - the 15.46% average increase falls heavily on residential ratepayers.

Docket Profile
Stipulation and Agreement

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Also out West: in Utah, the Salt Lake City Corporation is concerned about Rocky Mountain Power’s “unprecedented drop in avoided cost prices,” and that it will impair further development of new power assets. Relatedly: the Corporation is concerned that the new cost structure does not incorporate tariff impacts.

Filing

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An Antora energy storage project in South Dakota has received a state grant for its $200 million+ thermal energy storage project, Big Stone Energy Storage Project LLC (also receiving a grant: an “international cheesemaker”). That’s April news. Here’s what to watch: its 1-of-1 tariff being established with utility Otter Tail.
Docket profile

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In Nevada, NV Energy filed the first amendment to its 2024-26 Joint Natural Disaster Protection Plan, requesting an order accepting this first amendment by June 13. Here’s a cool flow chart of how it de-energizes in the event of a wildfire (note: redactions are within the document itself).

Filing

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From the Southwest: Southwestern Public Service Company’s $538 million “Texas Resiliency Plan 2025-2028.” Of that plan: $521 million is capital investment, and $345 million of that is distribution resiliency.

Docket profile
Filing

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Kentucky solar development plans have a 250 megawatt hole: AEUG Mason Solar (a subsidiary of Spanish company Acciona) is withdrawing its application to build a merchant solar+storage project in the state.

How do we know this is an Acciona development? This 2021 Notice of Intent to File Application of AEUG Mason Solar, LLC for Certificate of Construction with an Acciona email address for the filer!
Docket profile
Order

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A tidbit in Hawaii: the Public Utility Commission is decreasing oversight of Hawaii Gas’ capital expenditures by increasing the oversight threshold from $500,000 to $2.75 million. That $500k figure “has not increased in 60 years to account for inflation and rising project costs” (!).
Docket profile
Decision and Order

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And lastly in Virginia: this week was the deadline for testimony for an Appalachian Power Company (APCo) shared solar program. An interesting argument by Karl R. Rábago: that “APCo’s excessive and confiscatory proposed interim minimum bill will do irreparable harm and should not be approved.” His suggestion: a monthly minimum bill in the amount of $8.96 per customer including a fixed customer charge and $1 of placeholder administrative cost recovery.

Other perspectives include Staff of the Virginia State Corporation Commission pre-filed testimony Part A and Part B, various Memorandum submitted to the Commission, and the Coalition for Community Solar Access (Coggeshall and Kshemendranath) suggesting the minimum bill should be $0.  

Stay tuned for the Evidentiary hearing on June 9th!
Docket profile

What's Happening in Energy — May 9
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In Georgia, intervenors are concerned that Georgia Power's integrated resource plan may be over-stating data center load. Here are not one, but five great exhibits: 

First: 2022, 2023, and 2025 base case summer demand

Second: contracted, service-requested and under-reviewed data center demand in gigawatts

Third: Additions and subtractions to the data center queue in Q4 2024

Fourth: Georgia Power says that it will need 9.4 gigawatts of new capacity by 2033…

…while regulatory staff say the figure is only 6 gigawatts.

Docket profile
Filing

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In Nevada, a brand-new docket: data center operator Switch is building a new 345kV transmission line to serve its project needs. 
Docket profile

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In Colorado, Xcel has received approval for a $2.55 million ‘Thermal Energy Network Pilot Development’ development site.
Filing

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There are rate increases, and then there are rate increases. The California Water Service Company is seeking an additional $140,558,101 or 17.1% in test year 2026.  Water, not power, but still.
Docket profile
Transcript

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Puget Sound Energy in Washington has kicked off a new power cost adjustment proceeding. See the table below for new supply contracts ‘requesting prudence,’ as well as PSE’s approved risk policy and management framework for hedging practices to help align with wholesale market conditions.

Docket profile

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Some real inside-baseball stuff in Hawaii: the state commission seems to be moving past performance-based regulation of Hawaii Electric’s target revenues in favor of a full-scale traditional cost-of-service rate case that could result in re-basing its target revenues.

And some…differing perspectives from Hawaiian Electric Company, Ulupono, Blue Planet Foundation, and the Consumer Advocate.

Blue Planet Foundation, for instance, wants to reward the utility for achieved performance along this greenhouse gas emissions path.

Docket profile

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The state of Wisconsin is reviewing Wisconsin Power & Light’s fuel cost and rates plans. A new group of intervenors has just landed, including Walmart. Why does Walmart care?

Walmart is a large commercial retail customer of Wisconsin Power and Light Company ("WPL" or "Company") owning and operating approximately 18 retail stores, two distribution centers, and related facilities within the Company's service territory. WPL delivers over 83 million kWh of electricity annually to Walmart, mostly under the Company's Industrial Power at Primary or Secondary Voltage – Time of Use ("Cp-1") rate. WPL delivers over 1.5 million therms of natural gas annually to Walmart, mostly under the Company's Medium Commercial & Industrial 20,000 – 200,000 therms ("GC-3F/I") rate. Energy costs comprise a large portion of Walmart's operating costs. As a result, Walmart would be directly impacted by: (1) the adoption of the Company's rate increase request, and (2) any rate design and ratemaking changes approved in implementing any approved increase.

Docket profile 
Request to intervene

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In Texas, Engie's application for its Antlia 70 megawatt battery energy storage project is also deficient, and the company has until May 22 to cure its deficiencies.
Docket profile
Finding

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Also not a state (rather, an RTO): the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has determined that Southwest Power Pool’s submitted revisions to its Open access Transmission Tariff to establish separate winter and summer planning reserve margins is deficient, and requires more information. Docket profile
Deficiency Letter

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Alabama Power is considering the acquisition of the 1,189 megawatt Lindsay Hill combined cycle gas plant for reliability reasons. One of its latest depositions (highly redacted) points to the main driver of new demand: data centers.

Docket profile
Deposition transcript (data center bit starts on page 9 of 113)

What's Happening in Energy — May 2
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This Colorado docket on its integrated resource plan is full of demand expectations and cost estimates from other US electricity markets (Docket profile). Of note: this February testimony in Kentucky on gas power plant prices (Document) and this presentation from Indiana Michigan Power on its demand growth expectations (Document). Here’s the heart of it:

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In Ohio, FirstEnergy’s current rate case “has produced approximately 370,879 documents consisting of approximately 764,244 pages” of documents since February 21, 2024.
Docket profile
Filing

And incidentally of interest: one issue in the rate case is about the improper use of ratepayer funds to re-name a sports stadium!
Filing

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Also in Ohio, The Williams Companies is planning to build, own, and operate two 200-megawatt gas plants to sell power directly to a [redacted] company. Here’s a useful overview on the project cost ($0.7 billion) and its economic benefits: 
Document
Docket profile

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In California, Pacificorp has begun proceedings on its wildfire expense management account. Watch this space: for now it is a lot of data requests and responses, but more meaty stuff will appear later. Docket profile

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This proceeding in Louisiana — about Entergy gas plants built largely to serve the demand from Meta's enormous new data center — is a master class in redaction. Check out this testimony from page 7 and forward.
Filing

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In Virginia, Halcyon favorite Rappahannock Electric Cooperative is kicking off a discussion on large load tariffs (read: data centers), with plans to implement by July 1.
Docket profile
Order for Notice and Comment

(I particularly like this one set of comments, one of which begins with "I used ChatGPT to help me with my comment".)
Document

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Florida power utilities are kicking off their 2026-2035 Storm Protection Plans. Worth checking out (and following!) these dockets as they develop:

- Florida Power & Light (Docket profile)
- Duke Energy Florida (Docket profile)
- Tampa Electric Co (Docket profile)

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In Missouri, we return to Evergy's integrated resource plan and a rebuttal on its gas price forecasts (too low) and its assessment of battery energy storage (too conservative).
Docket profile
Filing

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In South Carolina, Duke Energy Carolinas submitted an ex parte brief on it to the Public Service Commission on its merger with Progress Energy, entitled "One Utility". Here's a chart purporting to show balancing operations, though without any X or Y axis units labeled.
Presentation
Docket profile

Powered by Halcyon Alerts — April 18

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Georgia Power Company’s 2029-31 all-source capacity request for proposals has been underway since July of 2023. Check out Halcyon’s AI-powered Docket profile and also, this new document with seven (!) pages of Georgia Power staff evaluating the RFP.

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In Florida, Duke Energy has calculated the cost savings of four solar projects, as compared to natural gas-fired power. Quote: “These project’s plants will all provide fuel savings…Based on the cost per kWh of natural gas in DEF’s 2025 fuel projection filing.”

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A useful docket in Maryland for monitoring the state’s implementation of FERC Order No. 2222.  Lots of detailed filings on what distributed energy resources are being proposed, built, and approved  across different utility service territories.
Docket profile
Pepco 2024 Small Generator Interconnection Report

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Also in Maryland, leaky gas pipes! Montgomery County in particular is on track for a record year for gas coupling leaks (by count) in Montgomery and Prince George’s County.
Docket profile
Filing

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Worth watching in Michigan: Consumers Energy has filed an application to add a “data center provision” to its tariff sheets.  You can guess how the Data Center Coalition thinks about it.  September 16 is the deadline for the fully developed record in the proceeding. 
Docket profile

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Also data center-related, in Nevada: Callisto Enterprises LLC (Google) is seeking an energy supply agreement with NV Energy. Fervo’s Corsac project is supplying the project.  Of interest at the moment? The utility is revising its pricing model, but its details will be kept confidential for at least five years following the termination of its agreement — so, two decades from now.
Docket profile
Supplemental Direct Testimony

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In Arkansas, Southwest Electric Power Co has applied to set new electricity rates. The case is suspended (in the normal, not-an-issue way) while the commission’s staff reviews for at least 30 days. You can follow this rate case here:
Docket profile

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Not big dollars, but a big % move: in Iowa the city of Johnston wants to apply a 5% surcharge on utility MidAmerican’s gross revenue from the sale of electricity and distribution services within the city’s corporate limits.
Docket profile
Ordinance

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Two more Texas Energy Fund projects have fallen out of the application pile.  The latest two? Application 131 (Emberclear Management and Jupiter Island Capital) and Application 122 (Frontier Group) are out because they did not meet the state’s due diligence requirements.  Worth reading the entire summary.
Docket profile  

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A (gas) rate case in Virginia: Southwestern Virginia Gas Company has requested an overall increase in annual operating revenue of 6.3%. The State Corporation Commission “does not oppose the company’s request to implement its rate increase on an interim basis.” Read the document and docket for more — small overall numbers, but it’s the rate, and the award, that matter.
Docket profile
Filing

Powered by Halcyon Alerts — April 11

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In Missouri (new state!), Evergy has issued a substantial update to its 2024 triennial integrated resource plan. The basics: load growth, a lot of it, for the first time in more than a decade, and most (if not all) of it from a single large customer. It’s noteworthy enough that I made a chart:

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Also in Missouri, and not coincidental, is a new-ish application from Evergy “for Approval of New and Modified Tariffs for Service to Large Load Customers.” Plenty of data center operators are weighing in. 
Docket profile 

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A rarity (these days) in another newly-covered state, Nevada: a utility (NV Energy) is lowering rates (for natural gas). 
Docket profile
Filing

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Another new state! Wisconsin — where proceedings to approve or deny a 1,100 megawatt gas combustion turbine project are underway. Not shown here, but indicated through repeated references to large load customers — another factory- or data center-driven grid expansion. 
Docket profile

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In Oregon, Portland General Electric has filed its 2026 annual power cost update tariff. Here is the kickoff document (236 pages).
Docket profile

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Still in the Pacific Northwest: another Washington utility, NW Natural Gas, tackles the accounting required for tariffs on Canadian natural gas imports.  

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The Arizona Electric Power Cooperative is raising $94 million in long-term financing. This is a new proceeding, so you can follow it from the start at the Docket profile or jump right into the 352-page Application document.

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Also in Arizona, the Columbia Electric Cooperative has opened a proceeding to revise its net metering tariff to include batteries. Not the world’s biggest electric system, but worth reading to see how much has changed since the tariff was established in 2010. 
Docket profile  
Filing

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A useful docket in Virginia concerning data center-driven electricity rate increases. Hundreds of comments filed in the past week!
Docket profile 

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And lastly in New York State, a transcript worth reading on Consolidated Edison’s contentious rate case.
Filing

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