The Michigan Public Service Commission opened an investigation requested by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, on the supply and deliverability of natural gas, electricity, and propane in Michigan as well as contingency plans, according to a Feb. 7 press release. The investigation was prompted by a fire at Consumer EnergyCo.’s Ray natural gas compressor station. The…
The compliance obligations under Ohio’s renewable portfolio standard have been shifting from electric distribution companies to competitive retail suppliers as consumers are exercising their choice of electric service providers, according to a Feb. 11 draft annual report by the Ohio Public Utilities Commission staff. Competitive suppliers were responsible for about 77 percent of Ohio’s overall…...
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on Feb. 7 accepted the results of the state’s annual electricity auction for basic generation service, securing commitments for up to $6 bill worth of purchases to meet about 7.8 gigawatts of customer requirements. The auction will help set electricity prices for most residents and many businesses for…
The New York State Public Service Commission on Feb. 7 authorized Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc. to implement a portfolio of demand-side solutions at a cost capped at $223 million, in a bid to ease natural gas demand in the utility’s supply-constrained areas. The commission said that the need to address surging gas…
Michigan’s electric choice customers had about 1,970 megawatts of demand, as of December 2018, an increase of about 8 megawatts from the prior year, according to the Michigan Public Service Commission’s report on electric competition report released on Feb. 1. Electricity consumption rose despite a decline in the number of customers to 5,819, from 5,929…
The Delaware Public Service Commission on Jan. 31 approved additional rate cuts for the state’s regulated utilities to account for over-collection associated with the federal tax reforms that slashed corporate income tax rates to 21 percent from 35 percent, effective Jan. 1, 2018. Overall rate reductions to regulated utilities to flow back excess taxes to…
FirstEnergy Corp.’s wholesale auction held on Jan. 28 resulted in an average clearing price of $47.92 per megawatt hour for a one-year product to supply electricity to the company’s Ohio customers for the delivery period of June 2019 through May 2020. The results will be combined with previous auctions to set the price-to-compare for the…
New York State Democratic Senator Liz Krueger introduced legislation on Jan. 24 that would protect electric and natural gas customers against slamming by prohibiting suppliers from switching customers without proper authorization. The bill would authorize the state Public Service Commission to establish requirements for obtaining customer consent to effect a change in their supplier and…
The New York Public Service Commission issued a notice to AAA ESCO Llc., a natural gas supplier, for failure to file its second quarter 2018 historic pricing data, threatening to revoke the supplier’s license to operate in the state. The regulator alleges that AAA has not complied with the filing deadlines for pricing data and has repeatedly missed…
BlueRock Energy Inc. submitted a request to the New York State Public Service Commission asking for relief from the approximately $185,000 per month that it would have to pay the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority for zero-emission credits. The company explains that it entered into an agreement in October to assign all of…
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities issued an order on Jan. 23 opening an investigation into initiatives that would promote and protect electricity consumers in the state. The study will discuss measures including increasing customer awareness, improving the department’s ability to investigate dubious practices by suppliers and other means that would improve the operational efficiency of the market.…
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection determined that a private electrical system caused the Tubbs Fire in 2017 in Northern California’s Sonoma County, and not Pacific Gas & Electric Company, which had been under scrutiny for the possible involvement of its equipment in sparking the fires, according to a Jan. 24 news release.…
