Analysis Group will discuss the outline of a new study on pricing carbon in the New York Independent System Operator Inc.’s wholesale electricity markets. The operator has been discussing ways to implement a charge on the emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants. A previous analysis by the Brattle Group found that the charges would have a modest impact on customer costs as the state shifts toward renewables. A carbon charge of $42 per ton is projected to boost retail power rates by 2.2 percent, or about 0.38 cents per kilowatt-hour, over the baseline amount in 2020.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities is scheduled to receive reply comments on revised performance metrics put forth by National Grid plc, Unitil Corp., and Eversource Energy for evaluating the progress under their individual grid modernization plans, as well as the statewide goals. Last May, the department approved the companies’ grid modernization plans, but directed them to redo the performance metrics that were designed to address the preauthorized grid-facing investments, saying that the metrics must appropriately track the quantitative benefits associated with such investments. READ MORE

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is scheduled to discuss a rate bump request by Peoples Natural Gas Company LLC. The company is seeking a 14 percent boost to annual revenue totaling about $95 million. Under the proposal, the average monthly bill for a residential customer in their service territory would go up by about $10. The Peoples Natural Gas Company operates as a subsidiary of PNG Companies LLC.

The Missouri Public Service Commission is scheduled to receive applications from stakeholders wishing to participate in the review of Ameren Missouri’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan Annual Update Report. The company plans to invest about $1 billion in wind projects to achieve a target of 700 megawatts by 2020, 100 megawatts of solar generation by 2027 and also plans to achieve an 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, as compared to 2005 levels. Ameren Missouri is a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation. EO-2019-0314

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. will discuss market rules to enable storage technologies to be dispatched and priced in the real-time energy market. Regional grid operators filed proposals in 2018 to comply with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s landmark energy storage order (Order 841), which paved the way for broader participation of storage resources in wholesale power markets. FERC issued the order because it found that current tariffs do not recognize the operational characteristics of electric storage resources and limit their participation.

The Michigan Public Service Commission is due to receive rebuttals on a proposed settlement in Consumers Energy Co.’s integrated resource plan. The Solar Energy Industries Association, Inc. and Cypress Creek Renewables, LLC filed objections to the plan regarding investments in demand response, retirement of coal-fired Karn Units 1 and 2, new avoided cost methodology under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act and other issues. An evidentiary hearing is scheduled for May 1. U-20217

The Michigan Public Service Commission will weigh DTE Electric Company’s 2019 integrated resource plan, outlining the company’s strategy for the next 20 years. The utility’s plan calls for about $2 billion to be invested in renewable energy by 2024, effectively doubling its clean generation over the next five years. The company also wants to accelerate carbon emission reductions, with a new target of at least 50 percent lower emissions by 2030 and 80 percent by 2040, up from the previous target of 45 percent by 2030. To achieve this, DTE is accelerating the retirement of its aging coal fleet with plans to close its St. Clair and Trenton Channel power plants in 2022, one year ahead of schedule, totaling about 2.5 gigawatts of coal generation that will have to be replaced. READ MORE