A bipartisan coalition of U.S. House lawmakers led by Rep. Theodore Deutch, a Democrat representing Florida, introduced a bill on Nov. 27 that would impose a hefty carbon tax on global warming emissions. The proposal comes on the heels of landmark reports that warn of the dire consequences of climate change. The bill, the Energy Innovation…
The U.S. Energy Department selected two pumped-storage hydropower projects to conduct techno-economic studies in a bid to examine their long-term value, according to a Dec. 3 news release. The department said that the continued growth of variable renewable generation is having an impact on the value these projects provide to the grid. Pumped hydro projects…
The California Public Utilities Commission announced funding for six pilot projects over the next 20 years to demonstrate the use of dairy methane waste as a renewable transportation fuel, according to a Dec. 3 press release. The commission established the program to cut short-lived climate pollutants, including methane, which is 28 times more potent than…
Total U.S. coal consumption in 2018 is projected to fall by 4% from the prior year to 691 million short tons, reaching the lowest since 1979, as cheap power prices drive closure of coal-fired plants, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration report. The U.S. power sector saw the retirement of 529 coal-fired generators, with…
The proliferation of customer-sited generation has prompted utilities to push for demand charges – a fee based on a customer’s peak consumption during a billing period – to recover fixed costs and address cross-subsidies. Utilities face the conundrum of losing revenue as customers installing distributed generation, such as rooftop solar, rely less on the utility for power needs while also shifting costs to other customers. Solar advocates argue that these fees impact customers’ ability to control their bill, potentially wiping out the incentive to install solar.