The governors of five New England states – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont – issued a statement on Oct. 14 calling for reforms to the regional wholesale electricity market structure to support their decarbonization efforts. In light of the states’ commitment to reduce emissions by at least 80 percent below 1990 levels by…...
The Ohio Power Siting Board on Oct. 8 issued an order removing restrictions on nighttime operations of Icebreaker Wind Inc.‘s 20.7- megawatt offshore wind demonstration project in Lake Erie, paving the way for the nation’s first freshwater wind project to move forward. In a construction certificate issued in May, the board imposed 33 conditions including…...
The New York Public Service Commission adopted modifications to the state’s Clean Energy Standard to achieve the state’s goal of sourcing 70 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030 under the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Achieving the goal is foundational to set the state on a path to carbon free…...
Natural gas-fired generators accounted for 43 percent of operating U.S. power generating capacity in 2019, according to an Oct. 16 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration based on the agency’s annual survey of electric generators. They provided 39 percent of generation last year, more than any other source. Most of the capacity added in…...
The Texas Public Utilities Commission on Oct. 16 issued an order allowing El Paso Electric to add a 228-megawatt natural gas-fired generating unit to its Texas-based Newman Power Station. The project is expected to come online in 2023 at an expected cost of $143 million. By the end of 2022, El Paso Electric plans to…...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Oct. 15 issued an order on PJM Interconnection LLC’s proposed revisions in response to a December 2019 order that directed the grid operator to expand the minimum offer price rule, or MOPR, effectively raising the bid price for state-subsidized resources to participate in the capacity market. Democratic Commissioner Richard…...
The New York State Public Service Commission on Oct. 15 adopted criteria it will apply to determine which transmission projects should be advanced expeditiously to meet the state’s renewable energy goals. As part of the move, the commission designated the proposed Northern New York project as a high-priority initiative and referred it to the New…...
The U.S. Energy Department announced the first awards for two projects under the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program launched in May. The program is designed to establish cost-shared partnerships with U.S. industry to expedite the demonstration of advanced nuclear reactors. TerraPower LLC and X-energy received $80 million each in initial funding to build two reactors that…...
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approved a settlement allowing UGI Utilities Inc. to increase its annual operating revenues by $20 million, or 2.7 percent, implemented in a phased manner. In its initial filing in January, the UGI Corp. subsidiary asked for an annual revenue increase of approximately $74.6 million. During the three-step phase in, the…...
In 2019, the weighted average wholesale price of solar PV-generated electricity was $83 per megawatthour, more than double the price of wind, fossil fuels, or nuclear, according to an Oct. 9 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The higher price is partly driven by geography and timing. Wholesale electricity prices rise when demand within…...
The U.S. Energy Department on Oct. 6 announced a statement of intent to collaborate with the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy on analyzing and sharing information on hydrogen technologies. The effort will facilitate the collection of real-world data to guide future research and development, and demonstration activities. The consortium supports the department’s…...
The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public input on two proposed solar farms near Desert Center in eastern Riverside County, California, according to an Oct. 2 press release. The projects, spanning an area of about 4,000 acres, would result in an estimated infrastructure investment of $689 million and $5.9 million in annual operational benefits…....
