PJM Interconnection LLC, manager of the power grid extending from the mid-Atlantic to the Midwest, proposed rule changes Nov. 15 that would allow all types of generators, both flexible and inflexible, to set the clearing price in the wholesale energy markets in an effort to “produce prices that more accurately reflect the true costs” of providing electricity and to limit out-of-market payments, known as uplift.

Day-ahead and real-time wholesale power prices in October across the six-state market run by ISO New England Inc. climbed by one-third from the same time a year-ago amid a 26 percent boost in natural gas prices, according to the grid operator’s monthly report issued on Nov. 15.

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc., manager of the grid spanning from Minnesota to Louisiana, requested FERC to waive the $1,000 per megawatt-hour offer price caps for the day-ahead and real-time energy markets to prepare for possible surges in fuel costs, like those experienced during the polar vortex of January and March of 2014.

Stamford, Connecticut-based Phibro LLC, an independent commodity merchant company, requested approval from FERC as “expeditiously as possible” to sell wholesale energy, capacity and reliability services at market-based rates in the regional power markets run by ISO New England Inc., PJM Interconnection LLC, the New York Independent System Operator Inc., and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc., according to the company’s Nov. 15 filing with the commission.

Over 1,200 megawatts of solar generating capacity has been approved and contracted under the NY-Sun program, topping the 904 megawatts that have been installed statewide with funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, a Nov. 9 report by the agency showed. The additional generation will bring the state more than two-thirds toward its goal of installing three gigawatts by 2023.

Renewable project investments by the New York Green Bank, a state-sponsored financial entity within the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, reached $440.9 million in September, double the amount a year ago, according to a Nov. 14 report from the agency. The boom in investments comes as Governor Andrew Cuomo in October announced an effort to raise at least an additional $1 billion in private sector funds to expand financing.

Subsidiaries JPM Capital Corporation and BAL Investment & Advisory Inc. withdrew their application before FERC to acquire a stake in Enel SPA’s Rock Creek Wind Project in Atchison County under a tax equity financing transaction, according to a Nov. 14 filing with the commission.

The Michigan Public Service Commission should reject DTE Electric’s Voluntary Renewable Energy Program because the company was not authorized to impose a cap on the amount of renewable energy purchases set at 150,000 megawatt-hours annually, the Michigan Environmental Council said in a Nov. 15 filing.

The PacifiCorp division, part of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, will replace 3,650 megawatts of coal-fired generating capacity set to retire through 2037 with 1,959 megawatts of new wind resources, 905 megawatts of upgraded or “repowered” wind resources and 1,040 MW of new solar generation through 2036, according to a Nov. 16 press release. Comments on the resource plan, which must be updated with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission every two years, are due by Jan. 12, 2018.

Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, Wisconsin Power and Light Company and Madison Gas and Electric Company are seeking approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to purchase Forward Wind Energy Center’s 129-megawatt wind farm in Dodge and Fond Du Lac Counties to meet Wisconsin’s Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements, according to the companies’ Nov. 14 filing with the commission.

Mission Minnesota Wind LLC, a subsidiary of NRG Energy Inc., requested FERC approval by Dec. 28, for the sale of its stake in eight 1.25-megawatt wind power facilities, all located in Murray County, to a private individual owning the remaining interests, according to a Nov. 15 filing.

The Hydrogen Council, a global CEO initiative advocating increased use of the technology, calls for total investments of about $280 billion through 2030 to build a “hydrogen economy” to help put the world on a path to meeting ambitious greenhouse gas emission targets needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change, according to the council’s Nov. 15 report.

AES Corporation, a leading developer of energy storage systems in the U.S., asked FERC to reject rule changes proposed by grid operator PJM Interconnection LLC, that calls on batteries to maintain their power balance, or energy neutrality, over a 30-minute interval, up from 15 minutes, to help ensure the stability of the electric system. AES says the changes can damage the batteries, shortening their life and adding costs.

DTE Electric Company, a subsidiary of DTE Energy, and Consumers Energy, a subsidiary of CMS Energy, seek FERC approval of a settlement agreement between the licensees that would extend the operation of the 1.8-gigawatt Ludington pumped storage plant in Mason County, Mich., for 50 years and implement measures to reduce fish mortality caused by entrainment in the turbines, according to a Nov. 10 filing with the agency. Comments on the settlement agreement are due Nov. 30.

The California Public Utilities Commission should reverse strict payout rules that discourage the installation of energy storage systems at multi-tenant buildings, according to a draft decision by Administrative Law Judge Valerie Kao on Nov. 13. The proposal favored by Kao, which calls for the virtual net metering generator and the storage device to be located behind the same output meter, is subject to approval by the commission.

Williams Partners LP subsidiary Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company filed an application with FERC to build and operate the Gateway Expansion Project, an upgrade of meter stations and compressors in New Jersey designed to add 65,000 dekatherms per day of pipeline capacity, according to the company’s Nov. 15 request. The project, which would serve Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. and UGI Energy Services, is scheduled to start in time for the 2020/2021 winter heating season.

U.S. House lawmakers led by Ted Yoho, a Republican representing Florida, introduced the Small Scale LNG Access Act (H.R.4370) on Nov. 9, with the bill aimed at expediting federal approvals of liquefied natural gas exports in volumes of up to 51.1 billion cubic feet per year.

Republican senators led by Lisa Murkowski, head of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, introduced draft legislation to open a coastal plain within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development. The measure would raise about $1.1 billion over the next 10 years according to the Congressional Budget Office, and end a 40-year struggle to open the lands to energy development.

Williams subsidiary Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company LLC requested that FERC grant an approval by Nov. 28 for the start up of its 250,000-dekatherms per day Virginia Southside II natural gas expansion project that spans New Jersey and Virginia, according to a Nov. 14 application letter.

The California Public Utilities Commission issued emergency orders calling on Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison, Southern California Gas Company, San Diego Gas & Electric Company, a unit of Sempra Energy, and Liberty Utilities to assist consumers affected by state’s historic wildfires, according to a Nov. 9 press release. The utilities were ordered to refrain from disconnecting service for non-payment, discontinue billing for areas without power and waive deposit requirements, among other measures.

The Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission and other agencies unveiled a roadmap “to advance a cleaner, more affordable, and reliable energy system for the twenty first century,” including by expanding the deployment of renewable generation, connecting utility earnings with performance, and investing in technologies to make the power system more resilient, according to a Nov. 14 press release.

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, the agency charged with assuring the reliability of the nation’s power system, recommended that regulators and policymakers speed up the licensing of transmission and natural gas projects to “diversify and distribute risk” of service disruptions, according to a report issued Nov. 14.

House lawmakers, led by Peter McCoy, a Republican, introduced draft legislation (H. 4376) on Nov. 9 that would prohibit the South Carolina State Public Service Authority, known as Santee Cooper, from hiking rates or adding charges to pay for the abandonment of its bid to build two new units at the V.C. Summer Nuclear plant, which had been scrapped amid billions of dollars in cost overruns.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected Baltimore Gas and Electric Company’s formula rate revisions to recover $38 million from customers for previously incurred tax amounts after the agency ruled that the Exelon Corp. subsidiary should have properly addressed the tax deficiencies when its formula rate was initially filed in 2005 and because it failed to explain the reason for the 12-year delay, according to the agency’s Nov. 16 order.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission denied requests by Entergy Services Inc., the Louisiana Public Service Commission and Arkansas Public Service Commission for the commission to reconsider the methodology to calculate refunds resulting from Entergy Arkansas improper allocation of energy used to source its off-system sales from 2000 through 2009, finding that distribution of damages between ratepayers and shareholders is outside the scope of the proceeding, according to the commission’s Nov. 16 order.

Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are projected to slow to 0.6 percent per year through 2040, down from 1.8 percent from 1990-2015, as economic activity continues to become less energy intensive, according to a Nov. 16 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.