The Maryland Public Service Commission will consider an application from CPV Backbone Solar LLC to develop a 175-megawatt solar photovoltaic project in Garrett County. The developer seeks to build the project on land previously used for coal mining with an approximate 1,170-acre construction limit. Construction of the project, which would involve a capital investment of about $250 million, is expected to take place from May 2022 to August 2023, subject to permitting restrictions. Maryland’s renewable portfolio standard requires 50 percent of the state’s electricity to be sourced from renewable energy by 2030, including 14.5 percent from solar. 9663

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission will consider PECO Energy Company’s application for adjustments of retail rates and charges applicable to its electric service. The Exelon Corp. subsidiary asked for an annual revenue increase of $246 million, or 7 percent, and a return on equity of 10.95 percent. The revision would result in an average monthly bill increase of 9.65 percent for residential customers. R-2021-3024601

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities will discuss modifications to reporting requirements that the state’s electric distribution companies – National Grid plc, Unitil Corp., and Eversource Energy – must follow in their annual grid modernization reports to ensure consistent reporting of information and data. The department adopted changes to the reporting templates to ensure consistent reporting of information, and enable regulators and stakeholders to more easily cross reference and compare each company’s progress in implementing its grid modernization plan. The revisions pertain to calculation of system status data, spending, deployment of new technologies or approaches, and feeder level energy storage data. 21-30

The Nevada Public Utilities Commission will discuss metrics that will be used to measure utility performance to assess alternative ratemaking plans and mechanisms required by a 2019 law. The commission opened a rulemaking docket to implement the law and gathered robust stakeholder input on priority goals and outcomes, current regulatory structure, and alternative ratemaking options. Based on the stakeholder engagement process, the commission initiated a proceeding in March with the intent of establishing metrics to set the baseline for future alternative ratemaking plans. The agency is examining the data required to track the metrics, whether the data is filed by utilities, and whether the current data-gathering practices can be consolidated or streamlined as part of the ratemaking process to increase accessibility and transparency. The metric development will be used in the straw proposal that the commission expects to release around July. 21-02009

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission will discuss the implementation of certain sections of the 2019 Clean Energy Transformation Act, which requires utilities to phase out coal-fired power by 2025, achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, and transition to a carbon-free electric system by 2045. The commission is examining the treatment of energy storage, particularly how the energy used and provided by storage resources should be accounted for, so that the nonpower attributes of renewable generation are not double counted. The workshop will also discuss the specification, verification, and reporting requirements for retail load met with market purchases. UE-210183

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will consider Northern Wind Energy Redevelopment LLC’s request for a site permit amendment to allow decommissioning of 65 turbines from the Chanarambie Wind Farm and Viking Wind Farm, both located in Murray County, and replace them with up to 45 new turbines. The replacement would decrease the number of turbines while increasing the combined nameplate capacity of the project from 97.5 megawatts to 120.12 megawatts. In 2015, ALLETE Clean Energy, parent company of Northern Wind, purchased both the wind generation facilities, which came online in 2003. The combined, repowered project, known as the Northern Wind Project, would increase efficiency and reliability, and extend the life of the facility. WS-20-860