The California Public Utilities Commission has authorized a 7.63 percent increase to Southern California Edison’s revenue requirement for 2021, down from the utility’s initial request of a 19.03 percent hike. The decision authorizes a $6.899 billion revenue requirement for operations and capital investment in 2021, about $730 million less than what the utility requested. This…...
U.S. large-scale battery power capacity grew by 35 percent in 2020, reaching 1.65 gigawatts, according to an Aug. 20 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Battery power capacity tripled over the last five years. Between 2021-2023, utilities are expected to install more than 10 gigawatts of additional capacity, which is about ten times the…...
Extreme cold weather conditions were a major factor in multiple grid events that occurred over the last decade, most notably the recent mid-February Winter Storm Uri that affected the south-central U.S., causing widespread outages and forcing natural gas processing plants to shut down. The impacts of these events on electric and gas systems that were unprepared for the challenge has emphasized the need to address cold weather reliability.
The California Energy Commission on Aug. 11 adopted the 2022 Building Energy Efficiency Standards revising energy efficiency standards for newly constructed and renovated buildings as part of its three-year update cycle. The new code is estimated to provide $1.5 billion in consumer benefits and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 million metric tons over the…...
Extreme cold weather conditions were a major factor in multiple grid events that occurred over the last decade, most notably the recent mid-February Winter Storm Uri that affected the south-central U.S., causing widespread outages and forcing natural gas processing plants to shut down. The impacts of these events on electric and gas systems that were unprepared for the challenge has emphasized the need to address cold weather reliability.
Oregon has embarked on a clean energy transition with the enactment of sweeping legislation that mandates carbon-free power by 2040, setting one of the most ambitious decarbonization timelines in the nation. The state’s carbon reduction efforts range from legislative measures to study renewable hydrogen and expand transportation electrification, to rulemaking for a climate protection plan, and investigation into resource adequacy.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown, a Democrat, signed legislation on July 19 requiring electricity providers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with electricity sold to Oregon consumers to 80 percent below a 2010-2012 baseline of average emissions by 2030, 90 percent by 2035, and 100 percent by 2040. The law requires each electric company to develop…...
Demand response (DR) portfolios of electric utilities across the U.S. continue to expand as they refine their programs and explore new options to support grid reliability in response to the changing resource mix. The role of DR in planning and operations is expected to increase as the resource mix continues to evolve with increasing generation from natural gas, wind, solar, battery storage, and other emerging distributed energy technologies.
Measures to expand electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure are moving expeditiously driven by state zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) goals and decarbonization mandates. Among recent actions, Washington has adopted legislation requiring a mapping tool to plan charging infrastructure investments, while New Jersey is exploring an EV charging ecosystem for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. A handful of states have adopted measures to exempt charging station operators from regulatory oversight.
States are exploring ways to utilize the multiple benefits that energy storage provides to the grid, from enabling the increased penetration of renewable resources and reducing dependence on emitting generation, to bolstering reliability.
The California Public Utilities Commission on June 24 directed utilities to procure 11,500 megawatts of new generation from clean energy sources. This is the largest clean energy procurement ordered to date and is a step towards California’s goal of transitioning to 100 percent clean electricity by 2045. The resources, required to come online between 2023…...
Clean energy mandates and goals adopted by U.S. states and utilities are driving efforts to plan and build out the transmission infrastructure needed to accommodate the exponential growth of wind and solar to facilitate power sector decarbonization.