PacifiCorp unveiled its draft long-term resource plan on Oct. 3 that proposes to retire 20 of its 24 coal units by the end of the planning period in 2038, reducing coal-fired generation capacity by about 4.5 gigawatts. The plan, which envisions about 7 gigawatts of renewables and storage by 2025, identifies battery installations as part…
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Oct. 3 declined to hear a petition seeking clarification regarding the applicability of the Energy Transition Act to the Public Service Company of New Mexico’s closure and replacement of the San Juan coal-fired plant. The law, which took effect in June, includes provisions to issue energy transition bonds for…
Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Oct. 2 directing the Public Utilities Commission to review each retail seller’s annual renewable portfolio standard compliance report and notify a seller if it may be at risk of not satisfying the requirement. The law requires the commission to ensure that load-serving entities carry out their integrated resource…
The Energy Information Administration projects that renewables will collectively provide almost 50 percent of global electricity generation by 2050, with solar being the fastest growing technology, according to its latest International Energy Outlook 2019. Resource availability, renewable policies, regional load growth, and declining technology costs drive EIA’s projected increase in global electricity generation from solar technologies.…
The Delaware Public Service Commission received Delmarva Power & Light Company’s annual renewable portfolio compliance report covering June 1, 2018, to May 31, 2019 compliance year, according to a September 23 filling. The company reports total retail sales of 8,080,249 megawatt-hours, with 17.5 percent from eligible energy resources, including 1.75 percent from solar photovoltaics. Established in…
Utility resource planning is becoming more complex in the fast-changing energy landscape, prompting intense scrutiny from regulators. State measures are transforming the way utilities procure energy in light of continued growth in intermittent large-scale energy, customer-sited generation, demand response, energy efficiency, and clean energy commitments.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts that natural gas-fired electricity generation in the United States will increase by 6 percent in 2019 and by 2 percent in 2020, while wind power will go up by 6 percent in 2019 and by 14 percent in 2020, according to its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook. These trends vary widely among…
Duke Energy Corporation aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions from electric generation by 2050, and cut emissions by at least 50 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, according to a Sept. 17 press release. The company plans to double its renewable energy portfolio by 2025, and continue deploying low-cost natural gas to speed the transition…
The New York Public Service Commission on Sept. 19 authorized New York Transco, a consortium of major utilities, to borrow up to $400 million to upgrade transmission corridors that will allow increased transmission of renewable electricity across the state. In May, Transco sought approval to issue new long-term debt securities to complete the New York…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced a rulemaking to update provisions of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 1978, or PURPA, which requires utilities to purchase power from small independent electricity generators at the avoided cost, or the cost the utility would spend to procure the electricity itself, according to a Sept. 19 press release.…
Democratic Governor Ralph Northam signed an executive order on Sept. 17, setting a goal for the state to produce 30 percent of its power from renewable energy resources by 2030 and transition to zero-carbon electricity by 2050. Legislation enacted last year set a goal of achieving 5.5 gigawatts of wind and solar by 2028. The…
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved Ocean Wind LLC’s purchase of capacity interconnection rights, or CIRs, to advance its proposed 1.1 gigawatt wind project off the coast of Atlantic City, according to a Sept. 11 order. The agency found that the CIRs reduce the costs of transmission upgrades, and therefore, the ratepayer allocation…