The Florida Public Service Commission on Aug. 18 approved Peoples Gas Systems’ request for an accounting mechanism to track and record additional costs brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The mechanism allows the utility to request approval of cost recovery through rates at a later time. The implementation of this tracking system provides a method…...
The Florida Public Service Commission on Aug. 18 approved Duke Energy Florida LLC’s plan to decommission the Crystal River Nuclear Plant by 2038. This ceasing of operations in the nuclear space comes 36 years earlier than initially planned, and is meant to protect Duke’s customers from potential financial, environmental, and regulatory risks. The Duke Energy…...
The U.S. Energy Department on Aug. 19 announced a plan to award $21 million to support artificial intelligence and machine learning research on fusion energy for a duration of three years. The awards are expected to improve operational efficiencies with automated data analysis workflows and real-time control algorithms at the Office of Science. The department…...
The U.S. Interior Department on Aug. 17 issued a decision approving oil and gas leasing activities in the 1.56 million-acre Coastal Plain area in Alaska’s 19.3 million Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The move follows the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which directed the Secretary of the Interior to establish a competitive program for the…...
The New York Public Service Commission on Aug. 13 adopted a settlement with Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc. and Orange and Rockland Utilities Inc. resolving an investigation into the utilities’ response to power outages during two consecutive winter storms in 2018. The joint agreement provides ratepayer value of $10.75 million paid for by…...
The Illinois Commerce Commission on Aug. 12 opened an inquiry to gather information regarding its rules and regulations governing public utilities, in order to ensure safe and reliable electricity and natural gas services. The move follows a gas explosion in Baltimore, Maryland on Aug. 10 wherein a property in the northwest region of the city…...
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on August 11 released a draft report concerning the incentive levels required to support continued solar development while lowering costs to the state’s four million ratepayers. To attain incentive values that better align with the project types and maximize ratepayer savings, the report recommends transitioning away from the…...
Xcel Energy Inc. announced a plan to power 1.5 million electric vehicles in the eight states it serves by 2030, according to an Aug. 12 press release. The company expects 20 percent of the vehicles in its service territory to be replaced by electric vehicles, over the next decade, a 30-fold increase from current levels…....
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 13 issued final rules that remove the transmission and storage segment of the oil and gas industry from regulation and revokes emissions standards for that segment. The rules also rescind methane standards for the production and processing segments as controls for ozone-forming volatile organic compounds also reduce methane…...
The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management on Aug. 14 issued a final environmental review for ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc.’s proposed Willow Master Development Plan, an oil and gas development project in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The project is expected to produce up to 590 million total barrels of oil during its 30-year…...
The Bureau of Land Management on Aug. 14 issued a record of decision approving Borderlands Wind LLC’s 100-megawatt wind generating project, which consists of 34 turbines sited on 16,648 acres in New Mexico. The wind farm would be built near Quemado, New Mexico and the Arizona-New Mexico border. The project will include larger versions of…...
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on August 12 issued an order directing jurisdictional utilities to maintain their policy of offering extended payment arrangements for a minimum of six months to all customers through October 12. The order pertains to the first phase of the commission’s investigation into the impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic on…...
