The New York State Public Service Commission approved refinements to its value stack policy to facilitate better price signals and compensation that will expand opportunities for customers to benefit from community solar projects in their utility service territories, according to an April 18 press release. The agency authorized the New York State Energy Research and Development…
Regions across the U.S. that have long served as strongholds for conventional, non-renewable generating capacity — from Georgia and Michigan to Tennessee — are now starting to accelerate the phase out of the legacy assets in favor of sourcing power from wind and solar, showing just how far-reaching the shift to renewables is spreading.
Maine Senator Mark Lawrence, a Democrat, introduced legislation on April 13 to establish a program that would put the state on a path to source all of its energy from renewable resources by 2050. The bill would require state agencies to meet 100 percent of their electricity needs using renewables by 2030. (LD 1562) Under…
PJM Interconnection LLC will proceed with its upcoming capacity auction scheduled to begin on Aug. 14 unless the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rules otherwise, according to an April 10 filing. The agency has not yet rendered a decision on the grid operator’s proposal filed last year to address the pricing-suppressing effects from the growing influx…
Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp, proposed a modification to its net metering program for Idaho customers by allowing a once-per-year transfer of financial credits between eligible meters, according to an April 9 press release from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission. The company said that current regulations do not provide for aggregation of accounts…
The New York Independent System Operator Inc.’s board of directors selected two transmission projects, which would add the largest amount of capacity to the state’s power grid in over 30 years, according to an April 8 press release. The grid operator said that the aging and congested transmission infrastructure is not capable of accommodating the…
The Maryland General Assembly approved a bill on April 8 that would raise the state’s renewable portfolio standard to 50 percent by 2030 from 25 percent by 2020. The measure would require a study to create a comprehensive plan to achieve a 100 percent goal by 2040. The legislation adds to the growing list of state-level…...
Rep. Michael Doyle, a Democrat representing Pennsylvania, introduced legislation on April 4 that would expand the solar investment tax credit to include energy storage technology for utilities, businesses, and homes. The current tax code provides the credit for battery technologies paired with a solar installations. (H.R.2096) More than 100 House Democrats, led by Congresswoman Haley…...
Both chambers of the Maryland legislature passed two bills on March 29, which seek to expand community solar and incentivize energy storage pilot programs in the state. House Bill 650 was proposed by Democratic Delegate Marc Korman on February 6 and requires the Public Service Commission to establish an energy storage pilot program by June 1. The pilot projects…
Utah Governor Gary Herbert, a Republican, signed the Community Renewable Energy Act, which will assist communities in achieving 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, setting up a framework between them and Utah’s largest electricity provider, Rocky Mountain Power Inc. House Bill 411 was introduced on February 26 by Republican Representative Steve Handy and allows municipalities or counties to apply for 100…
PJM Interconnection LLC is joining forces with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory to study the integration of distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar, into the operator’s grid, according to an April 2 press release. The Argonne laboratory will be supporting PJM’s Distributed Energy Resource Ride-Through Task Force in developing guidelines for so-called “ride through” and…
The Florida Public Service Commission approved cost recovery for two of Duke Energy Florida LLC’s solar projects, totaling about 150 megawatts of capacity, according to an April 2 press release. The two projects, located in the northern part of the state, are the 74.9-megawatt Hamilton Solar farm and the 74.9-megawatt Columbia Solar farm. Hamilton was originally developed by Tradewind…