The Maryland Department of the Environment released a plan to invest the state’s allocation of $75.7 million from the Volkswagen settlement in transportation strategies and projects to improve air quality, according to a Feb. 13 press release. The plan intends to use the full 15 percent of the amount that is allowed for electric vehicle…
National Grid plc asked the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission to approve rate adjustments stemming from reconciliations for various costs from January through December 2018, according to a Feb. 15 filing. The company said that the overall impact of the changes would result in a decrease of $3.07, from $118.51 to $115.44, in monthly residential…...
Virginia lawmakers approved legislation on Feb. 18 that would make changes to the net metering program for customers of electric cooperatives, including increasing the cap from one percent of system peak to three percent for residential, four percent for not-for-profit and non-jurisdictional, and two percent for non-residential customers. The bill would allow electric cooperatives to…...
Democratic Governor Janet Mills signed an executive order on Feb. 14 ending a moratorium on wind turbine permits, authorizing state agencies to resume determining whether proposed projects qualify for approval. The move comes at a time when Northeastern states are planning large amounts of wind power to meet clean energy goals. Maine has a target…...
Portland General Electric Company and NextEra Energy Resources LLC have announced plans to build a 300-megawatt wind farm combined with 50 megawatts of solar and 30 megawatts of battery storage, making it the largest project of this kind in the nation, according to a Feb. 13 press release. The new project called the Wheatridge Renewable Energy Facility…
New York installed 744 megawatts of solar generating capacity through 2018, with an additional 883 megawatts in the pipeline under the NY Sun program, a $1 billion initiative that aims to add 3 gigawatts by 2023, according to a Feb. 14 report from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Expanding to include…...
The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is scheduled to receive comments on the draft environmental impact statement for Vineyard Wind LLC’s 800-megawatt offshore wind project by Feb. 22, with a final version of the environmental study set to be released in the spring, according to a Feb. 8 notice. The statement provides an analysis…
PJM Interconnection LLC’s board of managers on Feb. 13 directed PJM staff to submit a revised version of its energy price formation proposal for approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The move comes after market participants failed to reach an agreement on a compromise proposal to update the energy reserve pricing rules. The board asked PJM…...
The Michigan Public Service Commission opened an investigation requested by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, on the supply and deliverability of natural gas, electricity, and propane in Michigan as well as contingency plans, according to a Feb. 7 press release. The investigation was prompted by a fire at Consumer EnergyCo.’s Ray natural gas compressor station. The…
Consumers Energy Company, in a Feb. 12 filing with the Michigan Public Service Commission, said that its avoided cost, which must be paid to small independent power producers under the federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act, should be rescinded as it was based on out-of-date information. The company asked the agency to approve new rates…...
The Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors on Feb. 14 approved the retirement of Paradise Unit 3 by 2020 and the Bull Run Fossil Plant by 2023, in order to better balance its generation system with changing demands. The vote reflects TVA’s commitment to replace less-efficient coal-fired plants with cleaner resources, despite President Donald Trump’s…...
South Carolina Electric & Gas Company proposed two resource plans based on the least cost options from 19 scenarios that were modeled for its 2019 integrated resource plan filed with the South Carolina Public Service Commission on Feb. 8. The plans, which detail resource needs from 2019 through 2033, reflect a shortage in base capacity…...
