The California legislature approved legislation on Aug. 29 that reinforces the state’s clean energy leadership with a goal of procuring 100 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable and zero-carbon resources by 2045. The bill would strengthen the Renewable Portfolio Standard to 60 percent by 2030, up from the current 50 percent. Hawaii was the…
Public Service Company of New Mexico filed a request to join the Western Energy Imbalance Market on Aug. 22, noting that a transition to the system’s more flexible supply resources could see benefits soar to $21 million by 2024. Public Service Company of New Mexico said that it seeks to use the imbalance market’s intra-hour…
The North Carolina Utilities Commission on Aug. 21 authorized a permit for Recurrent Energy LLC’s 75-megawatt solar facility in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. The project, expected to come online this year, has a 10-year power purchase agreement with Duke Energy Carolinas LLC. In May, Recurrent announced it has closed $106.7 million in financing for the…
A 40-year-old U.S. statute designed to encourage energy diversity and conservation helped drive 2 gigawatts of solar capacity in 2017, representing just under half of all new utility-scale solar projects added to the grid that year, according to a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Over the last decade the federal mandate, called the…
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Aug. 16 dismissed a lawsuit by renewable advocates against a rule that cuts credits for solar power exported to the grid, finding that the challenges need to be brought to the lower Superior Court. Solar and environmental advocates, led by the Conservation Law Foundation, sought to overturn the rule,…
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, signed legislation on Aug. 9 that strengthens the state’s renewable portfolio standard by requiring a 2 percent boost in procurement of the supplies each year from 2020 to 2029, up from the current 1 percent annual increase. The current goal requires 15 percent by 2020, followed by a one…
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management found that First Solar Development LLC’s 450-megawatt Desert Quartzite Solar Project in eastern Riverside County, California, will result in temporary exceedances of air quality standards, temporary visual qualify impacts from dust, and potential groundwater contamination from releases of fuels and other materials, according to a draft environmental review from…
Solar photovoltaic cells were the second-most popular technology installed in 2016, after wind turbines, as average construction costs of the projects have dropped to $2,436 per kilowatt, a 34 percent fall from $3,705 per kilowatt in 2013, according to an Aug. 8 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency said that crystalline silicon…
The Virginia State Corporation Commission approved Sustainable Power Group’s application to construct the Spotsylvania Solar Energy Center, set to be Virginia’s largest solar project. The solar farm, planned for western Spotsylvania County, will sell its output to the wholesale market operated by PJM Interconnection LLC. In March, Microsoft Corp. announced a contract to buy 315…
The Florida Public Service Commission clarified that Vivint Solar Developer LLC can offer residential solar equipment leases in the state, according to the agency’s Aug. 7 press release. The commission agreed that the company’s 20-year, fixed-payment lease is not a retail sale of electricity. Vivint Solar proposed the lease as a financing option to homeowners…
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission approved a long-term power purchase contract between Maui Electric Company Limited and Molokai New Energy Partners for a solar-plus-battery project capable of meeting about 40 percent of the island’s electricity demand. The approximately 5-megawatt photovoltaic project, combined with a 3-megawatt battery, is projected to slash the island’s reliance on diesel…
The Illinois Power Agency finalized its first long-term plan for renewable procurements and programs for the years 2018 and 2019 to meet the state’s stronger renewable portfolio standard targets, according to an Aug. 6 filing with the Illinois Commerce Commission. The measure follows legislation enacted in 2016 that required a separate plan for procuring renewable…