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…
In this update, fossil-fuel rich New Mexico is the latest state to join the 100-percent-clean-energy club, a strong sign of the momentum building for pro-renewable policies across the U.S. New Mexico’s Democrat-led House charted a course for the state to obtain all of its power from carbon-free resources by 2045, with intermediate goals of 50 percent by…...
A decade into the nation's vast solar expansion, pitched battles continue to play out from the Northeast to the Midwest over how to set payouts for surplus supplies from the rooftop solar systems, throwing the future growth of the technology into question. Still, other states in the Northwest to the mid-Atlantic are studying how to chart a path forward.
PJM Interconnection LLC on March 29 filed a proposal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to revise its energy and reserve market rules to properly value the energy reserves that support grid reliability by providing the flexibility needed to accommodate the evolving resource mix. The grid operator said that the growing variability of power demand…...
The Maryland legislature on March 28 approved a measure that would extend the state’s community solar pilot through 2024 and remove the limit on the maximum number of subscribers in the program. The legislation would also include annually increasing capacity levels for each program category, modifying the current requirement that allows restrictions to enable regulators…...
The U.S. Energy Department will provide up to $130 million to support research and development of early-stage solar technologies, according to a March 26 news release. The funding will support up to 80 projects focused on photovoltaics, concentrating solar-thermal power, soft costs reduction, innovation in the solar manufacturing sector, and advanced grid integration technologies. The…...
Democratic Representative Seth Berry has introduced legislation on March 26 which seeks to study measures that would boost the adoption of renewable energy in the state. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology. LD 1401 will focus on transmission solutions that help enable more renewable energy investment in the…
The U.S. territory has passed the “Ley de Política Pública Energética de Puerto Rico” or Public Energy Policy Law of Puerto Rico on March 25, which among other energy reforms will set a 100 percent renewable portfolio standard by 2050. The measure, introduced by Senator Larry Seilhamer Rodríguez, a member of the New Progressive Party, and Senator Eduardo Bhatia…
Democratic Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation on March 21 that makes changes to the net energy metering program for customers of electric cooperatives. The bill allows cooperatives to raise the net metering cap to seven percent of the system peak, with an increase allocated among residential, nonresidential, and not-for-profit and non-jurisdictional customers. (HB 2547) The legislation increases…...
Fossil-fuel rich New Mexico may be among the more unlikely states to join the 100-percent-clean-energy club, but it did just that in March, in the strongest sign yet of the momentum building for pro-renewable policies across the U.S. New Mexico's Democrat-led House charted a course for the state to obtain all of its power from carbon-free resources by 2045, with intermediate goals of 50 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2040, following passage of the Energy Transition Act.
The New England electric grid is moving towards a hybrid system marked by a transition from conventional to renewable generation, and from centrally-dispatched generation to distributed resources, according to the ISO New England Inc.’s 2019 annual outlook. Over 150,000 behind-the-meter solar panels were installed across the region’s six states, with a combined capacity of nearly…
Democratic Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation on March 18 creating a pilot program to disburse loans or rebates for solar installations in households whose income is at or below 80 percent of the state or regional median income. (HB 2741) Residents applying for the program are required to document the installation of energy efficiency services…...