Continued growth in U.S. natural gas production is expected to result in 9 percent lower average prices this year compared to 2019, according to a Jan. 15 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Natural gas production, which set a new record last year, averaging 92.0 billion cubic feet per day is forecast to rise…
The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management authorized Desert Quartzite LLC, a subsidiary of First Solar Inc., to build a 450-megawatt solar photovoltaic project covering about 3,000 acres of public lands in eastern Riverside County, California, according to a Jan. 15 news release. The project will result in a private infrastructure investment of $1…
The South Carolina Public Service Commission on Jan. 3 voted to increase the rates that Dominion Energy Inc. must use to compensate independent solar providers under the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act, or PURPA. The vote revokes a November 2019 decision that lowered the rates and would have stifled solar development in the state. The…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Jan. 7 vacated a permit issued by the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board for Dominion Energy Inc. for the construction of a compressor station to support natural gas transmission through the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The court remanded the permit back to the agency for…
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority will launch its second solicitation for offshore wind energy this year, targeting at least one gigawatt of additional capacity, according to Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, who gave his State of the State address on Jan. 8. The first solicitation held last year resulted in contracts for…
The Iowa Utilities Board approved a settlement allowing an increase of $127 million in Alliant Energy Corp.’s annual electric base rates, according to a Jan. 9 news release. The company initially asked for an increase of about $204 million, but a partial settlement reached last October reduced the amount by nearly 40 percent with a…
The U.S. Energy Department on Jan. 8 announced a comprehensive program aimed to establish and sustain U.S. leadership in energy storage utilization and exports, with a domestic manufacturing supply chain that does not depend on foreign sources of critical materials, by 2030. The initiative, called Energy Storage Grand Challenge, establishes a set of goals to…
Republican Governor Christopher Sununu on Jan. 6 announced his support for a trio of clean energy bills including measures that would expand access to net metering. Sununu vetoed several clean energy bills in the last session, including raising the state’s net metering cap to 5 megawatts from 1 megawatt, over concerns of higher electric bills.…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s long-awaited order revamping PJM Interconnection LLC’s capacity market rules directs the grid operator to extend the minimum offer price, or MOPR, to all new state-subsidized resources. Clean energy advocates sharply criticized the move citing its potential to harm renewable generation seeking to participate in the capacity market. Democratic Commissioner Richard…
The Oregon Public Utilities Commission approved guidelines to implement its community solar initiative, allowing project managers to begin creating program applications, according to a Jan. 2 news release. The program, which is designed to reduce barriers to participation, includes a 10 percent project capacity carve-out dedicated to low income customers. The initiative will allow customers…
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality reached a settlement with Duke Energy and community groups represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center to clean up coal ash at six facilities in the state, according to a Jan. 2 news release. Duke agreed to move about 80 million tons of coal ash, a toxic byproduct…
The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management on Dec. 30 released a favorable environmental review for the Gemini solar project, a proposed 690-megawatt facility that would span 7,100 acres of BLM-administered land, located about 33 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The $1 billion project, which includes 380 megawatts of battery storage, would be the…
