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…
A growing number of states are redesigning policies and incentives for distributed generation as customer-sited installations spread amid falling costs. Regulators have initiated a number of actions this year, ranging from examining the value of distributed energy resources (DER) to overhauling interconnection rules, and equipping utilities with the planning structure required to accommodate new resources.
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…
Xcel Energy Inc. asked the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to authorize a power purchase agreement with Elk Creek Solar LLC for new solar energy generation from an 80-megawatt facility to be located in Rock County, according to a Sept. 10 filing. The company plans to use the generation in support its Renewable*Connect program, a green…
Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced a $11 billion settlement representing about 85 percent of insurance claims associated with the 2017 and 2018 wildfires in California, according to a Sept. 13 press release. The agreement comes on the heels of PG&E’s reorganization plan filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California,…
The New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment granted approval to Baron Winds LLC to build and operate a 242 megawatt wind farm in western New York, according to a September 12 press release. According to the regulator, Baron Winds project will consist of up to 68 high-capacity, 492-foot tall wind turbines…
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission found that Pacific Power and Light Company, one of the state’s investor-owned electric utilities, is complying with Washington’s renewable energy requirements for 2019 by supplying at least 9 percent of its electric load through renewable sources, according to a September 12 press release. Last month, the regulator reviewed compliance by the state’s other…
The New York State Public Service Commission will receive comments on Ravenswood Development LLC’s request to develop a stand-alone, battery-based, energy storage facility with a capacity of up to approximately 316 megawatts on a portion of the Ravenswood Generating Station property in Long Island City, Queens, according to a September 12 press release. According to…
U.S. natural gas production continued to increase in August, setting a new daily production record of 92.8 billion cubic feet per day on August 19, 2019 according to the Energy Information Administration’s September 12 Today in Energy. Natural gas production also set a new monthly record in August, averaging more than 91 billion cubic feet per day…
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has approved the winter reconnect order, which is designed to help Ohioans reconnect or maintain electric and natural gas service during the winter heating season between Oct. 14, 2019 and April 15, 2020, according to a Sept. 11 press release. Under the order, any customer of a PUCO-regulated electric…
The Michigan Public Service Commission approved a settlement agreement that resolves a number of long-standing contract issues between Consumers Energy Co. and qualified independent power producers in five separate cases, according to a September 11 press release. In June, the commission approved a settlement in Consumers’ integrated resource plan that included a new Public Utility…
The Michigan Public Service Commission released a report on September 11 called Statewide Energy Assessment, which Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer requested in the aftermath of an energy emergency earlier this year. In late January 2019, an extreme cold weather event combined with a fire at a major compressor station created an energy emergency in Michigan that challenged the…
