Blog preview 2019 11 13

EnerKnol’s Visual Primer – U.S. Offshore Wind Industry Gathers Steam as Northeast’s Climate Goals Ramp Up

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Research Reports, EnerKnol Visual Primer, PRODUCTS, REC Feed, Renewables, Wind, Wind Power

In the latest sign of the health and growth of the nation's nascent offshore wind industry, state commitments to procure supplies of the energy source rose to nearly 20 gigawatts this year, quadruple the amount of capacity from just two years ago. The burgeoning industry remains upbeat even as federal permitting delays to the nation’s first large-scale project raised concerns of regulatory roadblocks.

Solar Panels 11 13 2019

Maine Utilities, Solar Developers Seek Rule Changes to Tackle Influx of Grid Connection Requests

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, REC Feed, Solar

A coalition of investor-owned utilities and renewable energy developers on Nov. 11 asked the Maine Public Utilities Commission for temporary rule changes to resolve issues arising from the growth in interconnection activity after the state passed a law in June that expands opportunities to invest in solar power and distributed generation.  The legislation led to…

Environmental Groups Seek Stop Work Order on Mountain Valley Gas Pipeline Following Court Rulings

National Grid Faces Threat of License Cancellation in New York Over Gas Supply Issues

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Integrated Resource Plans

Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo notified National Grid plc of the state’s intent to revoke the company’s license to operate its gas franchise, following its inability to provide reliable natural gas supply, according to a Nov. 12 press release. The company’s failure to plan for supply needs is evident from its own explanation that it denied…

Wind Turbine Solar Panels 10 4 2019

California Approves Purchase of 3.3 Gigawatts of New Resources to Avoid Impending Power Capacity Shortfall

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Natural Gas, REC Feed, Solar, Wind

The California Public Utilities Commission voted to authorize the procurement of 3.3 gigawatts of new, non-emitting electricity resources by 2023 to forestall potential resource adequacy shortages starting in 2021, according to a Nov. 7 news release. The order also seeks to keep some natural-gas-fired power plants open past their current 2020 closure dates by recommending…

Dan Brouillette DOE

Trump Nominates Dan Brouillette to Take the Helm at U.S. Energy Department, Replacing Perry

EnerKnol Impact-Misc Categories, EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Natural Gas, Nuclear

U.S. President Donald Trump formally nominated Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette to head the Energy Department, according to a Nov. 7 press release. If confirmed by the Senate, Brouillette will replace current Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who announced his resignation last month amid scrutiny for his involvement in the administration’s interactions with Ukraine. The Ukraine…

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PJM Ready to Meet Warmer-Than-Average Winter Electricity Needs

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Retail Power and Gas, Wholesale Power

PJM Interconnection LLC and its members are prepared to meet the forecasted winter electricity demand across 13 states and the District of Columbia, according to a Nov. 7 press release. The nation’s largest grid operator forecasts peak demand at around 134,000 megawatts this winter compared to the grid operator’s all-time winter peak of 143,434 megawatts, which…

IPL Wins Indiana Approval to Implement $1.2 Billion Grid Modernization Plan

Texas Grid Operator Prepared to Meet Winter, Spring Peak Demand

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Natural Gas, Solar, Wholesale Power, Wind

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. expects more than 82,000 megawatts of resource capacity to be available to meet the system-wide projected peak demand of 62,257 megawatts for the upcoming winter season from December through February 2020, according to a Nov. 7 announcement. The final resource adequacy assessment for winter season 2019-20 includes 136…

Washington Utilities Denied Recovery of $15 Million Related to Colstrip’s 2018 Outage

California Community Choice Aggregators Seek 30 Megawatts of Customer-Sited Batteries to Tackle Fire-Prevention Outages

Energy Storage, EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse

East Bay Community Energy, Peninsula Clean Energy, Silicon Valley Clean Energy, and municipal utility Silicon Valley Power on Nov. 5 issued a request for proposals for about 33 megawatts of behind-the-meter battery projects to protect their customers and communities from Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s massive fire-prevention power outages. The entities noted that the growing threat…

Maine Aqua Ventus Offshore Wind Project

Maine Regulators Approve Contract for First Offshore Floating Wind Project

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, REC Feed, Wind

The Maine Public Utilities Commission on Nov. 5 voted to authorize a contract for the 12-megawatt Maine Aqua Ventus project, the first deep-water offshore wind facility in the U.S. to feature a floating platform. A measure enacted in June directed regulators to approve a long-term power purchase agreement between the University of Maine-led initiative and…

Western EIM 2019 Q3 Benefits

Western Power Market Delivers $800 Million in Benefits Over Five Years

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, REC Feed, Solar, Wholesale Power, Wind

The Western Energy Imbalance market generated about $65 million in savings in the third quarter of this year, with total benefits reaching about $801 million since its launch in November 2014, according to a Nov. 1 press release from the California Independent System Operator Corporation. The energy imbalance market is an automated system that secures…

chinanaturalgas

Natural Gas Consumption Booming in Developing Asian Countries Led by China

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Natural Gas

Future growth in natural gas consumption will be concentrated in developing nations, especially in Asian, including China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Vietnam, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest International Energy Outlook 2019. Annual natural gas consumption in non-OECD Asia is expected to reach 120 billion cubic feet per day by 2050, outpacing regional production by…

repotcalifrps

California Report Shows Utilities on Track to Meet Renewable Energy Goals

Climate Change and Emissions, EnerKnol Impact-Misc Categories, EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, REC Feed, Solar, Wind

The California Public Utilities Commission issued its annual Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) report showing that the program is on track and is helping to drive down renewable contract prices and increasing in-state procurement, according to a Nov. 1 press release. As of 2019, the state’s large investor-owned utilities have executed renewable electricity contracts necessary to…