The Florida Public Service Commission on June 15 approved Tampa Electric Company’s four-year microgrid pilot program, which involves the installation of new direct current electric microgrid technology and generating equipment, called Block Energy System. The new system would have the ability to operate independently and also connect to the utility grid as backup. The purpose…...
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat, signed legislation on June 16, establishing a goal of deploying 1,000 megawatts of energy storage by Dec. 31, 2030. Connecticut is the eighth state to establish a storage deployment target, which will increase reliability and aid in the state’s pursuit of a zero carbon electric sector by 2040, a…...
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on June 12 authorized a $210 million investment toward Xcel Energy Inc.’s wind repower portfolio. This investment is an effort to support Minnesota’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and to reduce carbon emissions by displacing fossil energy sources. The repowering project, Northern Wind, is a build-operate-transfer proposal between the…...
The Michigan Public Service Commission on June 9 approved a partial settlement allowing DTE Electric Co. to increase its voluntary green pricing program by 797 megawatts from 2022-2025 and provide new program offerings to expand access for low-income customers. The voluntary program allows customers to meet a portion of their electricity needs from renewable energy…...
Natural gas exports rose by 13 percent from 2019 to 2020, reaching 5.3 trillion cubic feet, according to a June 7 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Consumption also grew in the U.S. electric power sector, increasing by 3 percent over the same period. Since 2011, 100 coal plants across the U.S. have been…...
Performance-based regulation (PBR) continues to evolve in the face of transformational changes brought about by new technologies, changing customer preferences, and state policy mandates. Recent actions range from Hawaii’s approval of performance incentive mechanisms to accelerate clean energy goals, the District of Columbia’s ratemaking pilot that contains climate goals-driven tracking mechanisms, and Washington’s law to move towards PBR to help utilities adapt to rapidly changing societal expectations and public policy objectives.
The Mississippi Public Service Commission approved the construction of a 200-megawatt wind turbine electric generation facility in Tunica County. The project will be developed by Tunica Wind Power LLC, whose parent company is Vestas—a company based in Denmark, that designs, installs, and services wind turbines having more than 132 GW of wind turbines in 83…...
The U.S. Energy Department on June 9 announced $54 million in critical seed funding for 266 clean energy and climate related projects headed up by small businesses. The awardees encompass 235 small businesses across 42 states for projects focused on proof-of-concept prototypes for technological solutions that could help achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by…
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission approved performance incentive mechanisms, scorecards, and metrics as part of its performance-based regulatory framework for the Hawaiian Electric Companies. The framework was created on Dec. 23, 2020, aiming at becoming a system that rewards “utility for exemplary performance,” while reducing utility costs for customers, and moving towards more renewable energy…....
U.S.energy consumption totaled 92.9 quadrillion British thermal units in 2020, a record 7 percent decrease from 2019, according to a June 4 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Renewable energy consumption increased by 2 percent, whereas all other fuels decreased: coal by 19 percent, petroleum by 13 percent, natural gas by 2 percent, and…...
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed legislation on June 8, calling for comprehensive reforms aimed to prevent the recurrence of the mid-February winter storm event that caused widespread power outages across the state. Among the key provisions, the bill addresses winterization of power and gas facilities, establishes a power outage alert system, and establishes…...