Maine state lawmakers approved legislation on June 18 that requires 80 percent of electricity consumed in the state to come from renewable sources by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050. The legislation, “An Act To Reform Maine’s Renewable Portfolio Standard,” also requires a market assessment study and analysis of the opportunities, potential, and challenges to…
In this update, Maryland, Nevada, Washington and Puerto Rico are the latest states and territory to strengthen targets for clean energy, showing how America’s decade-long renewable push is ramping up. Puerto Rico set a goal in March to source all of its power from renewables by 2050. In April, Nevada lawmakers unanimously approved a target…...
The New Hampshire state legislature passed a measure that revises the state’s renewable portfolio standards for solar to 5.4 percent by 2025, up from the current 0.6 percent. The bill specifically seeks to raise the amount of electricity that utilities must procure from Class II renewables, which comprises solar electric systems that began operation after…
The Maine legislature has passed a bill on June 11 which was set to mandate an 80 percent renewable portfolio standard by 2040, but the goal was removed to focus instead on workforce initiatives and solar installations in schools. The final version of the bill, which was introduced by Democratic Representative Chloe Maxmin, centers instead on workforce…
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has released the draft version of the 2019 Energy Master Plan, which provides a blueprint made up of seven strategies for achieving the state’s goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emission by at least 80 percent compared to 2006 levels,…
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) filed the latest edition of its 2019-2038 integrated resource plan which calls for 1,800 megawatts of solar, 920 megawatts of storage and resilient MiniGrids at a cost of about $14 billion, according to a June 7 testimony and plan. With the assistance of Siemens and extensive stakeholder input, PREPA settled…
Lawmakers from about a dozen U.S. states advanced measures this year to grow supplies of renewable energy through bold anti-fossil-fuel mandates, showing that support for carbon free power sources bears no signs of abating even after years of steady policy action by legislatures.
The Michigan Public Service Commission on June 7 approved Consumers Energy Co.’s integrated resource plan, which calls for the addition of 5 gigawatts of solar capacity through competitive bidding by 2030 and phase-out of coal from its generation portfolio, putting the utility on a path to achieve 90 percent emissions reductions by 2040. The plan…
The Ohio Public Utilities Commission on June 5 set the alternative compliance payment for the non-solar portion of the state’s renewable portfolio standard at about $53 per megawatt-hour for 2019. Ohio has a target to procure 12.5 percent of electricity from renewables by 2027, with a solar carve-out of 0.5 percent. Electric distribution utilities or…
Republican Governor Christopher Sununu on June 3 vetoed legislation that sought to expand the state’s net metering cap to 5 megawatts from one megawatt, saying that the measure would burden ratepayers with hundreds of millions of dollars in higher electric bills. (HB 365) In his veto message, Sununu explained that the bill is a “regressive…
Nuclear power is making its way into clean energy policies as more states embark on ambitious emissions reduction plans. The need to build up carbon-free energy resources in the fight against global warming is driving a number of policymakers to put nuclear power on equal footing with renewable resources.
Democratic Governor Jared Polis on May 30 signed a slate of bills that will transform the state’s energy and environmental landscape, and unveiled a roadmap for the state to reach 100 percent renewable energy by 2040. Among the measures, House Bill 19-1261, the centerpiece of the state’s climate policy, sets a goal of achieving emission…
