The Southwest Power Pool Inc., the grid operator for 14 states in the central U.S., launched its western reliability coordination service for almost a dozen western entities, according to a Dec. 3 news release. The launch makes SPP the first regional transmission organization to provide the service in both the Eastern and Western Interconnections. The…
The Ohio Supreme Court on Nov. 27 dismissed FirstEnergy Solutions Corp.’s complaint against a referendum effort by Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts to repeal legislation enacted in July to subsidize nuclear and coal plants. The court rejected the case for “lack of a justiciable controversy.” The company argued that the rate increase resulting from the law constitutes…
Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy Corp., completed a $700 million green bond transaction to finance renewable energy projects, including solar generation and utility-scale battery storage deployments in the state, according to a Nov. 26 news release. This is the third green bond transaction by Duke Energy utilities over the past year, following…
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission on Nov. 27 granted a permit allowing Tatanka Ridge Wind LLC, a subsidiary of Avangrid Renewables LLC, to construct and operate a $216 million wind generation project in Deuel County. The developer has entered into two power purchase contracts, one with Google for 98 megawatts of the output, and…
Nearly a year had passed before net electricity generation in Puerto Rico approached levels similar to those in the months before Hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged the territory’s electricity grid in September 2017, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest annual Power Plant Operations Report. When Hurricane Irma passed near Puerto Rico in early September 2017,…
The Ontario Energy Board has received an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) from Elexicon Energy Inc. stating the company is committed to paying a series of fines after it admitted to disconnecting customers, according to a November 28 press release. The OEB’s inspection found, and Elexicon admitted, that during the period from May 1 to July…
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission has received an application from El Paso Electric Company to build a solar generation project paired with energy storage at the New Mexico State University, according to a Nov. 20 filing. El Paso Electric is seeking expedited approval for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for a 3-megawatt…
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has put forward a $210,000 program that will support local governments in transitioning their fleets to electric vehicles, according to a Nov. 26 press release. The Clean Fleet EV Incentive program, which is funded primarily through a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, will incentivize the…
The Missouri Public Service Commission approved changes to The Empire District Gas Company’s natural gas rates to reflect estimated changes in the wholesale cost of natural gas as well as a change in the company’s Actual Cost Adjustment (ACA) factor, according to a Nov. 25 press release. In the company’s North System, residential customers currently pay approximately $0.45 per…
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on Nov. 21 directed the Dayton Power & Light Company, a subsidiary of AES Corporation, to terminate its distribution modernization rider, which authorized the utility to collect $315 million over a three-year period for future investments in grid modernization. The agency based its decision on a recent ruling by…
The staff of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission recommended rejecting Puget Sound Energy’s requested electric and natural gas rate hikes, proposing smaller increases instead, according to a Nov. 25 press release. In June, the company applied for $139.9 million, or 6.9 percent, in additional electric revenue and an extra $65.5 million, or 7.9 percent, in…
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is seeking an additional $573 million to help achieve the expanded 6 gigawatts of solar energy by 2025 policy goal set by Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo earlier this summer, according to a Nov. 25 filing. From this request, the agency wants to allocate $290 million for the…
