News & Updates
December 15, 2014: | Website launched |
January 12, 2015: | Technical conference presentation materials added to Documents page |
February 3, 2015: | |
March 27, 2015: | |
April 14, 2015: | |
| Axum Energy Ventures, LLC has submitted its Generation Interconnection System Impact Study Report to the Maryland PSC that provides cost estimates for anticipated PJM transmission network upgrades for two hypothetical offshore wind projects sized at 250 MW and 400 MW (nameplate capacity) interconnecting to the DPL Indian River 230 kV substation. The Axum Report is posted in the Application Materials section of the Documents page. The Axum planning-level estimates of network upgrade costs include (i) system reinforcements and (ii) contributions to previously identified system reinforcements. The combined upgrade cost estimate will be utilized in the 2-Part Bid Forms as a placeholder value for applicants submitting 2-Part OREC Price Bids regardless of the applicant’s proposed interconnection point and line voltage. The applicant’s Part 2 price bid will be trued-up based on PJM’s estimated upgrade cost in the applicant’s Interconnection Service Agreement. The Axum Report also estimates interconnection facility costs for a new 230 kV line from a new switching station on the Delmarva Peninsula coast near the DPL Bethany 138 kV substation via an existing right-of-way to the DPL Indian River 230 kV substation. Applicants may find these estimated interconnection costs useful, but (i) these interconnection costs are incremental to the network upgrade costs, (ii) assume the use of DPL’s existing rights-of-way for the interconnection facilities from the new switching station, and (iii) are not applicable to the 2-Part OREC Price Bid true-up mechanism. |
April 24, 2015: | A new version of the OREC Bid Price Form has been posted on the website under the Documents tab, Application Materials. "Bid Price Form Version 2.0 (XLSX)" replaces the "1-Part Bid Price Form (XLSX)" and allows bidders to prepare both 1-Part Price bids and 2-Part Price bids. A document titled "OREC Bid Price Form Instructions (PDF)" replaces the old document "OREC 1-Part Bid Price Form Instructions (PDF)" as well. Documents labeled "OREC 2-Part Bid Price Form Instructions (PDF)" and "Preliminary 2-Part Bid Price Form (XLSX)" have been deleted from the Technical Conference Materials tab to avoid confusion.
The new OREC Bid Price Form incorporates the network upgrade cost estimates developed by Axum Energy Ventures, LLC in its Generation Interconnection System Impact Study Report prepared for the MD PSC. The Report provides cost estimates for anticipated PJM transmission network upgrades for two hypothetical offshore wind projects sized at 250 MW and 400 MW (nameplate capacity) interconnecting to the DPL Indian River 230 kV substation. Bidders may elect either the 1-Part or the 2-Part Price Proposal Type through an entry on the Bid Price Form.
- Under the 1-Part Price Proposal Type structure, a set of firm annual prices must be specified and would cover all project costs plus transmission network upgrade costs.
- Under the 2-Part Price Proposal Type structure, a Part 1 price schedule would cover all project costs and not transmission network upgrade costs. The Part 2 price would cover network upgrade costs based on the Axum Report estimates level, with a one-time true-up adjustment once the actual network upgrade costs are established in a PJM Interconnection Services Agreement.
When the 2-Part Price Proposal Type election is made and Target CO Date and Project Installed Capacity are entered in the OREC Bid Price Form, it will automatically identify a reference network upgrade cost for the project based on the indicated capacity and expressed in Target CO Date dollars. Please note that total OREC 2-Part Price remains subject to the Levelized OREC Price Cap of $190/MWh in 2012 constant dollars, and thus may limit the true-up adjustment.
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May 28, 2015: | |
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September 29, 2015: | |
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October 7, 2015: | Description of the Procedural Process for Consideration of a Potential Maryland Offshore Wind Project posted to the Schedule page |
October 16, 2015: | |
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February 10, 2016: | Public Utilities Article, §7-704.1, Annotated Code of Maryland cited in COMAR 20.61.06.01.B and 20.61.06.03.B(2)(i) has been posted in the Code of Maryland Regulations section of the Documents page. Public Utilities Article, §7-704.1(e)(1)(ii) and (iii), Annotated Code of Maryland specifies the residential and non-residential net rate impact requirements for Commission approval. |
February 25, 2016: | Maryland PSC has opened the application period for Offshore Wind Projects on February 25, 2016. Unless extended, the application period will end 180 days later at the close of business on August 23, 2016. See the press release for more details. |
July 7, 2016: | |
August 23, 2016: | The Maryland PSC has extended the Application Period for Offshore Wind Projects for thirty days beyond the original August 22, 2016 deadline to the close of business on September 22, 2016, unless further extended. See the notice of extension for more details. |
September 22, 2016: | The Maryland PSC has extended the Application Period for Offshore Wind Projects for twenty-nine days beyond the extended September 22, 2016 deadline to the close of business on October 21, 2016, unless further extended. See the notice of second extension for more details. |
October 5, 2016: | On February 24, 2016, LAI submitted a letter notifying the MPSC that the first application for a proposed Offshore Wind Project was determined to be administratively complete. On September 22, 2016, LAI submitted another letter notifying the MPSC that a second application was determined to be administratively complete. |
October 20, 2016: | The Maryland PSC has extended the Application Period for Offshore Wind Projects for twenty-eight days beyond the extended October 21, 2016 deadline to the close of business on November 18, 2016, unless further extended. See the notice of third extension for more details. |
November 22, 2016: | The Maryland PSC announced that two offshore wind project applications were submitted, found to be administratively complete, and found to have met the minimum threshold criteria. The applicants are (i) US Wind, Inc., a subsidiary of Toto Holding SpA, and (ii) Skipjack Offshore Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of Deepwater Wind Holdings, LLC. The Maryland PSC announced a docketed proceeding to conduct a multipart review to evaluate and compare the applications. |
December 16, 2016: | The Maryland Public Service Commission held a pre-hearing conference in Case No. 9431 for a Proposed Offshore Wind Project(s) and issued Procedural Order No. 87945 on December 16, 2016 that lays out the dates for the upcoming proceedings and resolves several preliminary matters. The Order can be found here. |
March 13-28, 2017: | The Maryland Public Service Commission held hearings in Case No. 9431 for a Proposed Offshore Wind Project(s). Applicants US Wind, Inc. and Skipjack Offshore Energy, as well as LAI, responded to questions from intervenors, Staff, and the Commission regarding the potential in-state power market, economic, and environmental impacts of their proposed projects. LAI’s revised report (public version) can be found here (item 85).
Both applicants submitted updated OREC price schedules in response to a bench data request from the Commission. LAI’s updated net ratepayer impact tables can be found here (items 93 and 101). Unless extended, an order will be issued no later than May 17, 2017. |
May 26, 2017: | Skipjack and US Wind notified the Commission on May 24 and 25, 2017, respectively, that they accept the conditions of approval attached to Order No. 88192 as Appendix A (US Wind) and Appendix B (Skipjack). Skipjack’s and US Wind’s notifications can be viewed on the MD PSC website as items numbers 122 and 123, respectively. |
June 21, 2017: | |
August 14, 2017: | The Maryland PSC announced a Technical Conference to be held on September 19, 2018 in the 16th Floor Hearing Room regarding the next steps by load-serving entities ("LSEs") to implement the State’s RPS offshore wind energy carve-out. |
August 22, 2017: | |
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