President Donald Trump nominated Bernard L. McNamee to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the term ending June 30, 2020, to fill the vacancy resulting from Commissioner Robert Powelson’s resignation in August, according to an Oct. 9 release from the agency. McNamee currently serves as the Executive Director of the U.S. Energy Department’s Office of…
The Michigan Public Service Commission on Oct. 5 ruled that avoided costs set for Consumers Energy Co. last November can take effect, dismissing contentions that the utility has no capacity need for the next 10 years. The commission ruled that the integrated resource plan will be used to determine annual capacity requirements and that capacity…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Oct. 5 authorized Pine River Wind Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Invenergy Renewables LLC, to sell its 161-megawatt wind generation project to DTE Electric Company. The wind facility, which is under construction, will be interconnected to the transmission system controlled by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc.’s market. DTE…
The U.S. Department of Energy published a final environmental assessment on Oct. 2 for Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation’s project Icebreaker, a freshwater offshore wind demonstration project located in Lake Erie, near Cleveland, Ohio. The 20.7-megawatt project is being developed by Fred. Olsen Renewables, a Norwegian company, and the nonprofit Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation…
Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, released Virginia’s new energy plan which provides a strategic vision for the commonwealth’s energy policy over the next 10 years. The plan is the implementation strategy of the Grid Transformation and Security Act (Senate Bill 966), signed into law earlier this year. Among other things, the legislation includes 3,000 megawatts…
PJM Interconnection LLC on Oct. 2 unveiled a proposal addressing a June 29 directive from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to revamp the capacity market rules to address price distortion as the participation of sources receiving out-of-market state revenues continues to grow. The plan proposes an expanded minimum offer price rule or MOPR that would…
U.S. energy related carbon emissions in 2017 dropped 0.9 percent from the prior year and 14 percent below 2005 levels, according to a Sept. 25 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Although the gross domestic product grew by 2.3 percent from 2016 to 2017, the agency said that emissions were more than offset by…
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved an application window for 1,100 megawatts of offshore wind capacity, the first step towards meeting the state’s 3,500-megawatt goal by 2030, according to a Sept. 17 press release. Developers can file applications from Sept. 20 to Dec. 28. The board plans to review the applications by July…
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…
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 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…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 31 rejected challenges to ISO New England Inc.’s rules that provide an exemption to the minimum offer price rule, or MOPR, for certain renewable resources participating in the capacity market. In 2014, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved revisions to allow up…
