The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Aug. 29 found that New York waived its water quality certification authority for Williams Co.’s Constitution Pipeline by failing to act within the one-year timeframe under the Clean Water Act. The decision reverses the agency’s 2018 order that upheld New York’s permit denial. The commission followed a recent ruling…
The Ohio Public Utilities Commission approved a settlement allowing Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio to raise its annual distribution rates by $22 million, according to an Aug. 28 press release. The agreement also resolves Vectren’s infrastructure replacement and capital expenditure programs, allowing the company to continue to replace aging pipelines through 2023. The company will…
The Maine Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 28 proposed rules governing the periodic procurement of distributed renewable resources in accordance with legislation enacted in June. The law directs the agency to conduct multiple solicitations to obtain 250 megawatts of distributed generation from shared resources and 125 megawatts from commercial and institutional accounts over the next…
The expansion of the wind industry in the U.S. trailed only China in 2018, as soon-to-expire federal subsidies and state incentives helped propel turbine installations higher for a second straight year, a federal report showed. The nation added nearly 7,600 megawatts of wind power generating capacity in 2018, about 8 percent more than the previous…
Since distributed-level solar generation just started to proliferate across the U.S. a decade ago, as many as 21 states are now reexamining or revamping policies for compensating the power source, upsetting the status quo and deepening a divide among states for and against the incentives.
The Hawaiian Electric Companies issued requests for proposals for about 900 megawatts of new renewable generation capable of delivering nearly 2 million megawatt-hours each year, according to an Aug. 22 news release. The solicitation marks the island’s largest effort to procure renewable energy to replace coal and reduce the dependence on imported oil for power…
Customer-side solar has grown to provide over 4 gigawatts of electricity while grid-connected installations supply more than 1.5 gigawatts, from virtually no solar on the PJM grid a decade ago, according to an Aug. 22 report from the system operator. Solar generation represents a tiny fraction of the 180 gigawatts of capacity committed to serve…
The Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors on Aug. 22 approved the utility’s integrated resource plan, which calls for a continued reduction in its carbon footprint partly through the addition of up to 14 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2038. The resource plan, unveiled in June, updates TVA’s 2015 IRP in response to continuing changes…
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on Aug. 22 proposed a transition incentive program as part of its process to close the current Solar Renewable Energy Certificate, or SREC, program and design a successor mechanism. The proposal seeks to bridge the gap between the legacy and successor programs as the state phases out the…
The U.S. Interior Department announced that its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale held on Aug. 21 generated $159.4 million in high bids for 151 tracts covering about 835,000 acres, down from the previous sale, which drew about $244.3 million. The region-wide lease sale offered 77.8 million acres, including all available unleased areas…
The Maine Public Utilities Commission launched a proceeding to implement amendments to its net energy billing rule, following legislation enacted in June that broadened access to the program, including expanding the capacity of eligible facilities to 5 megawatts, up from the previous 660 kilowatts, according to an Aug. 21 notice. The law expands the customer…
The Michigan Public Service Commission approved DTE Gas Co.’s third round of federal tax cut refunds that will return a total of $333 million, or $12.7 million annually, to customers, according to an Aug. 20 news release. The commission established a three-step process to address the short- and long-term impacts of the federal tax law, which…
