The Arizona Corporation Commission on Jan. 26 voted 3-2 to decline rules that would have required the state’s investor-owned electric utilities to supply 100 percent carbon-free power to their customers by 2070. Utilities already have voluntarily committed to more ambitious decarbonization plans. Arizona Public Service Company (APS) has committed to source all of its electricity…...
Xcel Energy-Colorado, Platte River Power Authority, and Black Hills Colorado Electric LLC on Jan. 25 revealed plans to join the Western Energy Imbalances Service (WEIS) Market, operated by the Southwest Power Pool, which manages the power grid across the central U.S. The utilities plan to join the market by April 2023 subject to approval through…...
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on Jan. 26 announced the opening of the electric vehicle charger incentive program for multi-unit dwellings. This program is consistent with the 2019 Energy Master Plan’s effort to electrify the transportation sector, which accounts for more than 40 percent of the state’s emissions and supports the goal of…...
The U.S. Energy Department on Jan. 25 announced $25 million funding to aid research and expansion of technologies to generate electricity from wave power. The program will assist eight projects in conducting open-water tests at the PacWave South test site. This funding aims to enhance the commercial feasibility and implementation of wave energy technologies as…...
The U.S. Energy Department on Jan. 25 announced various initiatives to advance the deployment of community solar, at the National Community Solar Partnership (NCSP) Annual Summit. The initiatives are expected to help achieve the partnership’s target of reaching a deployment level that can the equivalent of 5 million homes and generate about $1 billion in…...
The National Energy Technology Laboratory on Jan. 24 announced that its Strategic Systems Analysis & Engineering, or SSAE, researchers are working towards using fossil energy resources to produce hydrogen by adopting advanced hydrogen production and carbon capture technologies. The new initiative by the Energy Department national lab is expected to expand the use of fossil-fuel…
Several states are reshaping their distributed generation policies and programs amid the proliferation of distributed solar and other solutions prompted by changing customer needs and clean energy goals. Recent actions range from California’s proposed net metering successor, which has triggered cost-shift debates in the nation’s largest solar market, to New York’s roadmap to achieve 10 gigawatts (GW) of distributed solar by 2030.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Jan. 21 announced new initiatives that will help lower greenhouse gas emissions and improve the energy efficiency of commercial buildings. These actions support President Biden’s climate agenda. EPA and its ENERGY STAR program represent a fundamental tool for reducing carbon and achieving industry standard construction efficiency, as well as…...
The New York State Public Service Commission on Jan. 20 issued an order on recommendations related to offshore wind energy integration identified in the Power Grid Study released in January 2021. The order requires revisions to upcoming offshore wind procurements and establishes a technology working group to test and implement innovative transmission technologies. Further, the…...
The New York State Public Service Commission on Jan. 20 sanctioned the first stage of an expanded solar-for-all program, or E-SFA, which will benefit National Grid’s low-income electric customers. Customers already registered in the utility’s energy affordability program will be automatically enrolled in the new program, resulting in electricity bill savings of $5 per month…....
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Jan. 20 issued a decision lowering its oil pipeline price index, returning to its prior policy of calculating the level using the middle 50 percent of pipeline cost changes. The decision revises a December 2020 order, which based the calculation on the middle 80 percent of pipeline cost changes…...