U.S. Competitive Retail Energy Markets Face Slew of Oversight Bills Amid Growing Calls for Consumer Safeguards

EnerKnol’s Visual Primer – U.S. Competitive Retail Energy Markets Face Slew of Oversight Bills Amid Growing Calls for Consumer Safeguards

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Research Reports, EnerKnol Visual Primer, Power & Utilities, PRODUCTS, REC Feed, Retail Power, Retail Power and Gas

More than half of U.S. states with competitive retail energy markets face proposals for stricter oversight rules from lawmakers, including measures to phase out the industry altogether, as efforts mount to put in place more consumer protections. Just five months into most states’ legislative sessions, over two dozen proposals have emerged to toughen rules around billing and marketing practices, licensing and registration and contractual terms.

California Regulator Adopts Long-Term Resource Plan Seeking 12 Gigawatts of Renewables, Storage

California Regulator Adopts Long-Term Resource Plan Seeking 12 Gigawatts of Renewables, Storage

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

The California Public Utilities Commission approved a preferred system portfolio that calls for 12 gigawatts of new renewables and storage by 2030, including 1.7 gigawatts of geothermal, according to a May 1 decision. The agency said that geothermal is valuable for balancing the intermittency of wind and solar resources. The plan will require “concrete procurement…

Massachusetts Utilities Revise Performance Metrics to Track Grid Modernization Progress

FERC Reaffirms Jurisdiction Over $42 Billion Power Contracts in PG&E Bankruptcy

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, REC Feed, Wholesale Power

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on May 1 denied Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s requests for rehearing of the agency’s order asserting concurrent jurisdiction with bankruptcy courts over wholesale contracts that the utility may seek to reject through its Chapter 11 filing. While FERC’s role in evaluating rates and terms of power contracts is to protect…

Venture Global LNG’s Plaquemines Export Project Clears Federal Environmental Review

Venture Global LNG’s Plaquemines Export Project Clears Federal Environmental Review

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Natural Gas

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…

Texas Retail Electric Provider Fined $100,000 For Violating Billing Rules

Colorado Electric, Gas Utilities Return $170 Million in Federal Tax Cut Savings to Customers

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Retail Power and Gas

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…

Ohio Regulator Creates Grid Modernization Workgroups to Foster Innovation Towards Enhanced Customer Experience

Michigan Regulators Slash DTE Electric’s Revenue Hike by Nearly Half, Replace Net Metering Program

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Retail Power and Gas

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…

Washington Enacts Law Requiring Electric Utilities to Plan for Distributed Energy Future

Washington Enacts Law Requiring Electric Utilities to Plan for Distributed Energy Future

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, Grid Modernization, REC Feed, Solar

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…

Sempra Energy's Flow Battery Pilot Connects to California Grid, Promising Potential for Cost-Efficient, Large-Scale systems

Sempra Energy’s Flow Battery Pilot Connects to California Grid, Promising Potential for Cost-Efficient, Large-Scale systems

Energy Storage, EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, REC Feed, Solar

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…

Western Power Market Yields $650 Million in Benefits, Allowing Effective Use of Carbon-Free Generation

Western Power Market Yields $650 Million in Benefits, Allowing Effective Use of Carbon-Free Generation

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, REC Feed, Wholesale Power

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, Puerto Rico Join the Tide of 100-Percent Clean Energy States

EnerKnol’s Visual Primer – Nevada, Washington, Puerto Rico Join the Tide of 100-Percent Clean Energy States

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

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.

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Pattern Energy’s 130-Megawatt Solar Project Qualifies for Texas Renewable Credits

EnerKnol Impacts, EnerKnol Pulse, REC Feed, Solar

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…