Synapse and other supporting organizations—MassEnergy, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, and the Environment Economics & Society Institute—hosted a free, one-day training program for local environmental advocates interested in expanding their technical knowledge in order to become more effective intervenors and stakeholders.

Topics covered included the history and future of New England’s electric sector; supply and demand of energy in New England; the ISO and wholesale energy markets; current electric planning in New England; resource choices; and planning for greenhouse gas compliance.

Synapse supported the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates and its members in addressing the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan in a manner that is cost-effective and efficient from an electricity consumer perspective.

Prior to the release of the rule, Synapse presented to NASUCA members key issues regarding the details of the proposed rule and the primary compliance options that may be available to states. Following the rule’s release, Synapse prepared a report focusing on the details of the rule as proposed. Recognizing that stakeholders have a wide range of reactions to the EPA’s Plan, the intent of the report is to be a common resource to help all of NASUCA’s members think through a broad range of potential implications of various compliance approaches to their respective consumers—whatever their individual state’s positions. Synapse presented on the findings of Implications of EPA’s Proposed “Clean Power Plan” at the 2014 NASUCA annual meeting in San Francisco, CA.

Synapse used its Clean Power Plan Planning Tool (CP3T) to perform multi-state analysis of the proposed rule to identify and explain a variety of challenges and opportunities related to multi-state compliance, including how states with dissimilar renewable technical potential, states with utilities that cross state boundaries, states with existing mechanisms for cooperation, etc., may approach regional compliance with the Clean Power Plan. Pat Knight, the lead developer of CP3T, provided a webinar for NASUCA members giving an overview of key issues surrounding the Clean Power Plan, as well as a walkthrough of CP3T’s multi-state functionality. Synapse also prepared a report presenting the results of the analysis, presented at the NASUCA 2015 Mid-Year Meeting.

As a third element of Synapse’s Clean Power Plan support to NASUCA members, Synapse prepared a report on best practices in planning for implementation of the Clean Power Plan. The report serves as a guide for consumer advocates to the logistics of developing a state implementation plan, with advice in areas such as stakeholder engagement, evaluating resource options, deciding on reasonable assumptions, identifying appropriate modeling tools, and selecting and implementing a plan.

This work was made possible by a grant from The Energy Foundation.

Synapse critiqued industry claims that a small, sensible change in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations will add billions of dollars to the costs of prescription drugs. Currently, generic drug producers are required to use exactly the same label and warnings as the brand-name version of the same drug; the Supreme Court has held that, as a result, the generic producers cannot be held liable for failure to warn their customers of known drug hazards if the warnings do not appear on the brand-name label. Generic drugs account for most prescriptions filled in the U.S., and brand-name production often ceases when generics enter the market. This often means that the brand-name label, and hence the identical generic labels, are no longer updated when new information is discovered about drug hazards.

FDA proposes to change its rules to allow generic drug producers to update their own labels. The drug industry claims this will cause huge increases in the cost of generic drugs. At the request of the American Association for Justice (AAJ, formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association), Synapse evaluated the costs and benefits of generic drug regulation, and critiqued industry arguments against the FDA rule change.

Synapse reviewed the incorporation of end-use components into the Nova Scotia load forecasting modeling.

Sierra Club retained Synapse to evaluate Kansas City Power & Light’s economic justification for environmental retrofits at the La Cygne Generating Station, for which KCP&L is requesting capital recovery in a case before the Missouri Public Service Commission. The retrofits for La Cygne, which is on the Kansas/Missouri border, were pre-approved by the Kansas Corporation Commission in 2011. After reviewing KCP&L’s original application, modeling files and associated work papers, the monthly status reports on the La Cygne environmental retrofits, and other materials, Synapse found that the original analysis of the retrofits was imprudent and that market conditions have changes significantly in the electric sector in 2011 and 2012, warranting a reevaluation of that analysis. 

Synapse worked with REMI to conduct a national analysis of a fee-and-dividend carbon policy. Synapse used the ReEDS model at the state level in order to assist REMI in a macroeconomic analysis of the impacts of such a policy. Synapse defined modeling scenarios and assumptions with input from REMI; performed five model runs; and provided generation, capacity, and emissions outputs that were used as inputs to the REMI model.

Synapse worked with Meister Consulting Group to analyze the Clean Energy Plan of Lincoln Electric System (LES), the customer-owner municipal utility for the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, on behalf of Sierra Club. Historically, LES has generated about 85 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power plants. Synapse and Meister used LES’s Clean Energy Plan to develop a set of scenarios examining the bulk power costs (including costs of complying with upcoming environmental regulations) and monthly bill impacts of LES maintaining its coal-focused status quo. The project team also examined alternatives in which LES pursues expanded renewable energy PPAs. 

Sierra Club retained Synapse to review Oklahoma Gas & Electric’s application before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission seeking authorization of a plan to comply with the Clean Air Act and to modernize its Mustang plant, and to recover costs for both projects. The filing requested approval of retrofits on Sooner units 1 & 2, conversion of Muskogee units 4 & 5 to natural gas, and construction of new natural gas combustion turbines to replace steam units at Mustang.

Synapse expert witnesses Tyler Comings, Jeremy Fisher, Rachel Wilson submitted direct testimony in this proceeding. Mr. Comings’ testimony focused on the reasonableness of the assumptions used in the Company’s supporting analysis, and how those assumptions impact the net present value of the proposed action. Dr. Fisher discussed the Company’s planning methodology and compared it with best practices in resource planning. Ms. Wilson evaluated the PROMOD and PCI Gentrader modeling performed by the Company and presented the results of her own Gentrader modeling analysis.

The witnesses’ analyses showed that OG&E’s preferred option only advantaged ratepayers in fringe cases, and not at all under reasonable expectations about the future. In December 2015, the Commission denied the Company's application.

On behalf of a coalition of environmental non-governmental organizations, Synapse reviewed PacifiCorp’s use of the System Optimizer model in the development of its 2015 integrated resource plan. In addition to evaluating PacifiCorp’s inputs and configuration choices, Synapse conducted several independent sensitivity scenarios to demonstrate an approach to planning that is more flexible, more transparent, and better optimizes decisions in the face of planning constraints faced by PacifiCorp. Synapse assessed how economic unit retirements could be used to help PacifiCorp states reach Clean Power Plan compliance. Whereas PacifiCorp decided which power plants to force to retire in the model based on a separate analysis, Synapse allowed System Optimizer to determine which units to retire in order to find a least-cost plan. Synapse also tested the PacifiCorp system against likely regional haze compliance requirements and sensitivities to renewable cost assumptions.

Synapse, the Labor Network for Sustainability, and 350.org prepared a report that lays out a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, and refutes claims that achieving these targets will threaten jobs and the U.S. economy. In fact, analysis suggests that the plan will save $78 billion in costs of electricity, heating, and transportation from now through 2050 and will create more than 500,000 jobs per year compared to business as usual. By expanding renewable energy and energy efficiency, phasing out all coal-fired power by 2050, and decreasing natural gas capacity, along with modest changes in other sectors, the United States could reach or surpass the 80 percent reduction target while creating new jobs and saving money.

The series of published reports can be found at http://climatejobs.labor4sustainability.org/.

Synapse conducted an economic analysis of a proposed 1,000 MW natural gas combined-cycle power plant. The results were presented in the testimony of Bruce Biewald before the Mississippi Public Service Commission in Docket No. 97-UA-496. Testimony filed in November 1997.

Synapse conducted a behavioral modeling analysis of electricity market power in New York City given transmission constraints.  Bruce Biewald testified on behalf of the City in ConEd’s restructuring docket.  Synapse reviewed the market power analysis conducted by Dr. Hieronymus for ConEd.  Testimony filed in April 1997.

Synapse and a team of subcontractors developed projections of electricity and natural gas costs that would be avoided due to reductions in electricity and natural gas use resulting from improvements in energy efficiency. The 2018 report provides projections of avoided costs of electricity and natural gas by year from 2018 through 2035 with extrapolated values for another 15 years. In addition to projecting the costs of energy and capacity avoided directly by program participants, the report provides estimates of the Demand Reduction Induced Price Effect (DRIPE) of efficiency programs on wholesale market prices for electric energy, electric capacity, and natural gas. The report also provides a projection of avoided costs of fuel oil and other fuels, non-embedded environmental costs associated with emissions of CO₂, avoided costs of transmission and distribution, and the value of reliability. The 2018 AESC study was sponsored by a group representing all of the major electric and gas utilities in New England as well as efficiency program administrators, energy offices, regulators, and advocates. Synapse conducted prior AESC studies in 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013.

Visit our AESC 2018 Materials page to download the AESC 2018 report appendices, user interfaces, and a slide deck on the study findings.

Synapse has also conducted supplemental analysis on the avoided costs of compliance of the Massachusetts Global Warming Solutions Act. Visit here for more details.

Synapse’s Excel-based tool estimates states’ electric-sector costs and benefits of complying with the EPA’s “111(d)” Carbon Pollution Guidelines for Existing Power Plants. In the proposed rule, EPA presents estimates of the costs and benefits of compliance equivalent to a national net benefit of $13 billion to the electric sector in 2030 (not including additional costs to energy efficiency program participants or climate-damage reduction and health benefits). As the agency does not provide state-level compliance costs or benefits, Synapse’s tool estimates state costs to implement the EPA’s “building blocks” by assuming EPA’s average national costs by measure and using the avoided cost of energy to calibrate the results. You can also find it on our Tools page.