Wind Farm 11 3 2019

Virginia Regulator Approves New Rates for Dominion Customers to Purchase Renewable Energy Certificates

The Virginia State Corporation Commission on Oct. 31 approved Virginia Electric and Power Company’s rate option that allows customers to voluntarily buy renewable energy certificates, or RECs, sourced from a broad range of generation facilities to match all or a portion of their usage. The company proposed to offer the new rate, called “Rider REC,”…

EIA Electricity Customer Choice Participation

Retail Choice Power Market Growth Slowed Since 2013 Amid Higher Costs for Residential Customers: EIA

The share of U.S. electricity sales by competitive suppliers increased slightly since 2013 following over a decade of steady growth, according to a Nov. 1 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While customer choice programs use competition to lower power prices and introduce new service products, not all customers pay less for purchasing power through…

Strategic Petroleum Reserve Bayou Choctaw

ExxonMobil Granted Lease of U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Facility

The U.S. Energy Department awarded a 20-year contract to ExxonMobil Pipeline Company to operate the Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s two-million-barrel capacity St. James marine terminal and Bayou Choctaw 36-Inch Pipeline, according to an Oct. 28 news release. The new lease, effective Jan. 1, 2020, ends Shell Pipeline Company LP’s 22-year control of the facilities. The St.…

California Seeks to Improve Community Engagement for Utility Power Shut-offs Ahead of Wildfire Season

Calpine Fined for Violating Reliability Standards, California Power Market Outage Rules

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Nov. 1 approved an agreement resolving claims that Calpine Corp. violated the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s reliability standards concerning maintenance and testing of protection systems, which contains certain battery testing requirements, as well as California power market rules relating to forced outages. Texas-based Calpine agreed to the terms…