The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission found Puget Sound Energy and Avista, two of the state’s investor-owned electric utilities, are in compliance with state renewable energy requirements and supply at least 9 percent of its electric load through renewable sources for 2019, according to an August 8 press release. PSE exceeded its commission-approved target of…
The New York Public Service Commission on Aug. 8 opened a proceeding to examine options to align the state’s resource adequacy programs with renewable energy and emissions reduction goals, while ensuring safe and adequate service at just and reasonable rates. New York enacted legislation last month, which requires a carbon-neutral power system by 2040 and…
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on Aug. 8 proposed to amend the registration process for the Solar Renewable Energy Certificate, or SREC, program by including a step to determine when electricity sales from distributed solar reaches 5.1 percent, the threshold set by legislation enacted last year to phase out the program. The law…
The North Carolina Utilities Commission on Aug. 5 approved tariff revisions filed by Duke Energy Carolinas LLC and Duke Energy Progress LLC to implement the Green Source Advantage Program, which allows for the direct procurement of new renewable energy resources by large nonresidential customers. The commission approved the program with changes in February and directed…
The California Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 1 revised a 1992 energy efficiency policy to allow funding for electrification efforts, paving the way for new programs that use electric technologies powered by emissions-free resources. The decision modifies the “three-prong test” that was originally adopted to avoid encouraging programs that involved substituting one fuel for another,…
State renewable portfolio standards are a key driver behind the torrid expansion of wind and solar generation across the U.S., responsible for about half of the nation’s deployment of the clean energy sources over the last couple of decades, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Over three dozen states, territories and the nation’s capital…...
The Maine Public Utilities Commission on July 31 implemented changes to reinstate net metering, following legislation enacted in April that eliminated the gross metering policy, which was adopted in 2017. The 2017 rule required that the total or gross production of the net-metered facility be measured using a second meter as opposed to the prior…
The Kentucky Public Service Commission opened a docket on July 30 to implement legislation enacted in March that redefined net metering by directing state regulators to set the compensation rate for solar customers through a ratemaking process. Under the law, retail electric suppliers are entitled to recover the costs incurred to serve customer-generators, including fixed…
U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat representing Nevada, introduced legislation on July 25 that would provide a five-year extension of the solar investment tax credit at its full 30 percent value. Representative Mike Thompson, a California Democrat, joined by Republican Representatives Paul Cook of California and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, introduced a bipartisan companion…
Republican Governor Christopher Sununu vetoed legislation on July 24 that sought to revise the state’s renewable portfolio standards for solar to 5.4 percent by 2025. Currently, the state’s RPS requires 25.2 percent of power to come from renewables by 2025, with a solar carve-out of 0.7 percent by 2020. This is the second solar bill…
Duke Energy Renewables LLC on July 22 announced the purchase of its largest solar energy project, a 200-megawatt facility, which is being developed by 8minute Solar Energy in Texas. The solar farm, which is expected to be complete in the summer of 2020, will sell much of its output through a 12-year hedge agreement to…
The California Independent System Operator Corporation called for an immediate plan to address near-term reliability needs through 2022, according to a July 23 filing in response to the Public Utilities Commission’s rulemaking to refine long-term procurement planning requirements. The grid operator projects a gap of up to 2 gigawatts beginning in the summer of 2021…