The District of Columbia Public Service Commission is due to receive comments on the energy efficiency and demand response potential studies of Washington Gas Light Company and Potomac Electric Power Company. A 2020 working group report recommended the study to guide future program design, implementation, and energy savings goals. Pursuant to commission directive and 2018 legislation, the Energy Efficiency and Demand Response working group is required to continue considering unresolved issues such as the governance structure to coordinate the planning, delivery, reporting, evaluation, and design of energy efficiency and demand response programs administered by utilities, as well as performance incentive measures for the programs. READ MORE

The New York Energy Research and Development Authority is due to receive proposals in response to its $10 million funding opportunity for energy reduction and beneficial electrification projects from existing facilities within the industrial and commercial sectors. Individual awards range from $500,000 to $5 million to large commercial and industrial entities for implementing clean energy actions that improve energy efficiency. The initiative targets projects focused on energy efficiency improvements through thermal load reduction, process enhancements, or controls, or achieve electrification through clean heating and cooling and other technologies. The funding aims to achieve large energy and emissions reductions on an accelerated timeline by providing large customers with flexible funding streams. READ MORE

The Washington Department of Ecology will hold its third greenhouse gas allowance auction under the state’s cap-and-invest program. This auction will offer 8,585,000 allowances from the current year 2023 at a floor price of $22.20. No future vintage allowances will be offered in the auction. Washington joined the Western Climate Initiative in December 2021, which provides an auction platform for linked programs in California and Québec, and a stand-alone program in Nova Scotia. The second auction, held in May, sold all allowances offered and generated more than $557 million. A summary report will be released on Sept. 6. READ MORE

The California Energy Commission will hold a hearing to discuss three geothermal projects proposed by BHE Renewable LLC, located in Imperial County within the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resource Area. Two of the proposals – Morton Bay and Elmore North – have an expected net output of approximately 140 megawatts each. The third one, Black Rock, is a proposed geothermal power plant with an expected net output of approximately 77 megawatts. 23-AFC-03

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will discuss the proposed scope of the environmental impact statement regarding Summit Carbon Solutions LLC’s application for a routing permit to build a carbon dioxide pipeline. Summit proposes to construct about 28.1 miles of pipeline and associated facilities to capture and transport carbon dioxide from the existing Green Plains Ethanol Plant in Otter Tail County to the North Dakota-Minnesota border in Wilkin County. The project is designed to capture and transport carbon for underground sequestration, which is expected to lower the carbon-intensity score of ethanol produced at the plant by an estimated 40 percent and improve its ability to compete in markets with low-carbon fuel standards. Summit ultimately plans to interconnect the pipeline with a broader proposed network – Midwest Carbon Express Project – spanning about 2,000 miles across Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. PPL-22-422

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will decide whether to approve Minnesota Power’s plan to implement final rates and issue interim rate refunds in its electric rate case proceeding. In December 2021, the commission approved an annual interim rate revenue increase of $87.3 million, or 14.23 percent. The commission’s decisions in this proceeding result in an overall Minnesota jurisdictional revenue requirement deficiency of about $59 million for the 2022 test year. The Department of Commerce recommends that the commission approve an interim rate refund of about $23.5 million for 2022 and a refund of $11.1 million for 2023 non-residential class customers, resulting in nearly $7.4 million higher interim rate refund for non-residential class customers than calculated by the company. The ALLETE Inc. subsidiary initially requested a net increase of $108.3 million, or 17.58 percent, for 2022 with a return on equity of 10.25 percent. GR-21-335