The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found that the construction of Venture Global LNG Inc.’s Plaquemines LNG, a natural gas liquefaction and export terminal in Louisiana, and the associated pipeline projects would result in some adverse environmental impacts, which would be reduced to less-than-significant levels, according to a May 3 notice. The Plaquemines terminal consists of…
The U.S. has been a net exporter of natural gas for over a year, with exports reaching 4.6 billion cubic feet per day in February, the thirteenth consecutive month in which exports exceeded imports, according to a May 2 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While liquefied natural gas shipments have grown in recent…
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission announced that electric and gas customers will receive about $168 million in refunds, reflecting savings from the federal tax cut law, which slashed the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, effective Jan. 1, 2018, according to a May 3 press release. Customers will receive benefits in…
The Michigan Public Service Commission on May 2 approved a rate increase of about $273 million for DTE Electric Co., over 40 percent less than the company’s request. The agency rejected the company’s proposed method to determine payments for customers with distributed renewable generation, as well as its proposed system access charge, finding that it…
Democratic Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation on April 30 setting forth requirements that Washington’s electric utilities must accomplish in their distributed energy resources planning processes. The move comes on the heels of a measure approved by the legislature last month requiring the state’s electricity supply to be carbon-neutral by 2030 and 100 percent carbon-free by…
The California Independent System Operator Corporation announced that San Diego Gas & Electric’s vanadium redox battery pilot has been connected to the wholesale power market, opening opportunities to leverage the features of flow batteries that could make bulk system electricity storage more cost-efficient, according to an April 30 news release. The four-year pilot is intended…
The Western Energy Imbalance market generated about $85 million in savings in the first quarter of this year, with total benefits reaching over $650 million since its launch in November 2014, according to an April 29 press release from the California Independent System Operator Corporation. The market used over 52,000 megawatt-hours of surplus renewable energy…
Nevada, Washington, Maryland and Puerto Rico are the latest states and territory to strengthen targets for clean energy, showing how momentum is building across the U.S. for policy makers to break away from fossil fuels over the next couple of decades. These new standards brings to five the number of states and territories that are in the advanced stages of hiking renewable goals so far this year.
The Texas Public Utilities Commission certified Old Jackson Solar LLC’s solar generating facility, which has a nameplate capacity of about 128-megawatts, as a renewable energy credit generator, according to an April 29 order. The project is expected to come online during the summer of 2020. The project will be developed by Pattern Development, a subsidiary…
Pacific Gas and Electric Company requested a 16 percent rate of return on equity for 2020, up from the current 10.25 percent, to attract the new investment needed to upgrade and modernize its infrastructure in the face of wildfire risks, according to the company’s cost of capital proposal filed with the California Public Utilities Commission…
The New York State Energy Research and Development Agency on April 25 announced a funding opportunity for two categories of projects as part of the state’s $400 million investment to attain the ambitious goal of deploying 3 gigawatts of storage by 2030. The state is making available $150 million for bulk storage projects comprising installations…
Solar developer 7X Energy signed a final power-purchase agreement for its 690-megawatt Taygete project in Pecos County, Texas, opening the doors for the state’s largest solar farm, according to an April 23 press release. The $650 million facility will be constructed in two stages, with the first phase anticipated to begin in the third quarter…
