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…
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…...
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…
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 Massachusetts electric distribution companies Unitil Corp., National Grid plc, and Eversource Energy, and the state’s Department of Energy Resources proposed a timetable and procedure to solicit and execute long-term contracts for up to 800 megawatts of offshore wind power, according to a March 29 notice from the Department of Public Utilities. The companies are…...
The Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources advised the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission on March 22 to approve the proposed twenty year Power Purchase Agreement between National Grid’s subsidiary Narragansett Electric Company and the 400-megawatt Revolution offshore wind project developed by Orsted, a Danish energy giant. The contract, which details the terms and conditions by which 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…
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 Missouri Public Service Commission on March 20 unanimously approved Clean Line Energy Partners LLC’s 780-mile Grain Belt Express transmission system designed to deliver 4,000 megawatts of wind power from Western Kansas to Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and the neighboring states. The move follows a July 2018 ruling from the Missouri Supreme Court, which found that…...