The North Carolina Utilities Commission on May 10 authorized Duke Energy Progress LLC to construct the generation components of the company’s proposed Hot Springs microgrid project consisting of a 2-megawatt solar facility and a 4-megawatt lithium-based battery storage facility. The project, to be located in Madison County, is designed to provide an innovative grid solution…
The South Carolina legislature on May 9 passed a measure that will eliminate the 2 percent cap on net metering for rooftop solar customers until a successor program is in place. The bill directs the Public Service Commission to open a generic docket by January 1, 2020 to investigate and determine the costs and benefits…
DTE Electric Company submitted its 2019 integrated resource plan to the Michigan Public Service Commission on March 29, outlining the company’s strategy for the next 20 years. The plan focuses on a transition from coal to renewables, boosting energy efficiency and accelerating carbon emission reductions. The utility’s plan calls for about $2 billion to be invested in renewable…
The Puerto Rico Energy Commission on March 14 found that the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s proposed integrated resource plan did not comply with the agency’s regulation and prior orders. The agency said that the plan includes a scenario titled “Energy System Modernization Plan,” which does not meet the regulatory requirement to use a capacity…
Green Mountain Power Corporation proposed to focus on transitioning to a highly distributed system while continuing its strategic efforts to electrify transportation, heating, and fossil fuel processes, in its 2018 integrated resource plan filed with the Vermont Public Utility Commission on March 6. The 10-year plan underscores the company’s declining electric demand as customers look to install their…
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Feb. 20 adopted requirements that each of the state’s regulated utilities must adhere to in filing integrated distribution plans. Utilities must submit their filings biennially starting on Nov. 1, providing a five-year action plan, as well as a ten-year plan for distribution system development. Each utility is required to provide system…
Policy changes are occurring faster than ever before, confounding efforts by utilities to plan for the future, causing a paralysis in decision making. The task of identifying all possible scenarios over a longer horizon is becoming more demanding as state renewable energy standards are changing more frequently. Utilities are grappling with the influx of distributed energy resources and new renewable generation under various state programs, coupled with the need to maintain fossil generation to manage the intermittency of these sources.
Georgia Power Company proposed to close four of its coal generation units at Plant Hammond and one unit at Plant McIntosh as part of its 2019 integrated resource plan filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission on Jan. 31. Hammond and McIntosh plants have a capacity 800 megawatts and 163 megawatts, respectively. The company requested…
Interstate Power and Light Company anticipates that over the next decade it will have a surplus of renewable energy credits to the tune of between 1.5 million to 5.5 million per year, relative to Iowa’s current renewable energy requirements, according to a Jan. 31 filing by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Interstate Power and Light…
Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., an affiliate of National Grid Plc, proposes to boost annual spending on transmission and distribution repairs, upgrades and other projects in New York to $805.7 million in fiscal year 2024, up from $573 million in 2020, according to the utility’s five-year capital investment plan issued Jan. 31. Capital spending to total…
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on Dec. 19 approved the Public Service Co. of New Mexico’s integrated resource plan which calls for retirement of the utility’s remaining units at the San Juan Generating Station by 2022 and withdrawal from the Four Corners coal plant when the its contracts with that facility end in 2031.…
The Virginia Corporation Commission on Dec. 7 directed Dominion Energy Inc. to refile its 2018 integrated resource plan finding that the company failed to establish that the proposal is reasonable and in the public interest. The commission found that the plan includes resources that were not subject to modeling on a least-cost basis. The company…