U.S President Joe Biden on June 26 announced an agreement with a bipartisan group of senators on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure framework including $73 billion for power infrastructure. Among the key initiatives, the plan would create a new Grid Development Authority at the Department of Energy, deploy long distance, high voltage transmission, integrate the highest…...
Customer-owned renewable generation installations across Florida increased by about 52 percent from 2019 to 2020, reaching 90,552 interconnections, according to electric utility reports filed with the Florida Public Service Commission. Electric generation capacity from customer-sited systems rose by 62 percent over the same period to reach 837,160 kilowatts, showing that solar continues to be the…...
States are exploring ways to utilize the multiple benefits that energy storage provides to the grid, from enabling the increased penetration of renewable resources and reducing dependence on emitting generation, to bolstering reliability.
The California Public Utilities Commission on June 24 directed utilities to procure 11,500 megawatts of new generation from clean energy sources. This is the largest clean energy procurement ordered to date and is a step towards California’s goal of transitioning to 100 percent clean electricity by 2045. The resources, required to come online between 2023…...
The California Public Utilities Commission on June 24 set new guidelines and rules adding to existing directives to improve preparation and access to resources during utilities’ Public Power Shutoff, or PSPS, events ahead of the wildfire season. The commission requires electric investor-owned utilities to take a results-based approach to PSPS events, which involves proactive de-energization…...
Clean energy mandates and goals adopted by U.S. states and utilities are driving efforts to plan and build out the transmission infrastructure needed to accommodate the exponential growth of wind and solar to facilitate power sector decarbonization.
The California Public Utilities Commission on June 24 opened a proceeding to modernize the state’s electric grid, in order to accommodate the growing number of distributed energy resources, including electric vehicle charging. The proceeding will maximize ratepayer value through a range of actions including clarifying grid roles and responsibilities, charging infrastructure forecasting, and community involvement.…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has announced that it will reexamine whether demand response participation in wholesale energy markets as a component of distributed energy resource, or DER, aggregations should be subject to state opt-out rules. The move sets aside the agency’s determination in Order No. 2222-A, issued in March, that the opt-out provision does…...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) have formed a joint-federal state task force to explore transmission-related issues. The first-of-its-kind task force will identify barriers inhibiting planning and development of transmission infrastructure, which is key to facilitating the transition towards clean energy resources, and potential solutions to…...
Legislation enacted across U.S. states so far in 2021 reflects the evolving discussion around a wide range of policies ranging from accelerating the transition to cleaner energy and strengthening emissions reduction targets, to enhancing grid resilience, and preempting municipal natural gas bans. Delaware enacted legislation to increase the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for regulated…...