The U.S. has been a net exporter of natural gas for over a year, with exports reaching 4.6 billion cubic feet per day in February, the thirteenth consecutive month in which exports exceeded imports, according to a May 2 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While liquefied natural gas shipments have grown in recent…
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission announced that electric and gas customers will receive about $168 million in refunds, reflecting savings from the federal tax cut law, which slashed the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, effective Jan. 1, 2018, according to a May 3 press release. Customers will receive benefits in…
The Virginia State Corporation Commission approved Dominion Energy Inc. to implement ten energy efficiency programs and one demand response initiative for a five-year period starting July 1, 2019, according to a May 2 press release. The Grid Transformation and Security Act, enacted last year, directed the company to develop energy efficiency measures of up to…
The Michigan Public Service Commission on May 2 approved a rate increase of about $273 million for DTE Electric Co., over 40 percent less than the company’s request. The agency rejected the company’s proposed method to determine payments for customers with distributed renewable generation, as well as its proposed system access charge, finding that it…
Democratic Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation on April 30 setting forth requirements that Washington’s electric utilities must accomplish in their distributed energy resources planning processes. The move comes on the heels of a measure approved by the legislature last month requiring the state’s electricity supply to be carbon-neutral by 2030 and 100 percent carbon-free by…
The Colorado legislature approved a measure on May 1, setting a goal of achieving emission cuts of 26 percent by 2025, 50 percent by 2030, and 90 percent by 2050, relative to 2005 levels. The bill requires state regulators to establish implementation rules that may be revised as necessary to ensure timely progress toward the…
The California Independent System Operator Corporation announced that San Diego Gas & Electric’s vanadium redox battery pilot has been connected to the wholesale power market, opening opportunities to leverage the features of flow batteries that could make bulk system electricity storage more cost-efficient, according to an April 30 news release. The four-year pilot is intended…
The Western Energy Imbalance market generated about $85 million in savings in the first quarter of this year, with total benefits reaching over $650 million since its launch in November 2014, according to an April 29 press release from the California Independent System Operator Corporation. The market used over 52,000 megawatt-hours of surplus renewable energy…
Duke Energy Ohio Inc. indicated that it has obtained the necessary renewable energy credits needed to satisfy its 2018 compliance obligations under the state’s renewable portfolio standard. Duke filed its RPS compliance status report for the 2018 compliance year on March 27. In its compliance filing, the company proposed a baseline of 4,195,899 megawatt-hours, which…
The Texas Public Utilities Commission certified Old Jackson Solar LLC’s solar generating facility, which has a nameplate capacity of about 128-megawatts, as a renewable energy credit generator, according to an April 29 order. The project is expected to come online during the summer of 2020. The project will be developed by Pattern Development, a subsidiary…
The Independent Power Producers of New York Inc. wrote a letter to the New York Public Service Commission on April 29, expressing concern that a law passed by the New York City Council allowing the use of renewable energy credits from large-scale hydroelectric impoundment resources conflicts with the commission’s renewable energy standard adopted in 2004.…
Pacific Gas and Electric Company requested a 16 percent rate of return on equity for 2020, up from the current 10.25 percent, to attract the new investment needed to upgrade and modernize its infrastructure in the face of wildfire risks, according to the company’s cost of capital proposal filed with the California Public Utilities Commission…