Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom found that Pacific Gas and Electric’s proposed restructuring plan failed to meet the requirements of the state’s wildfire law, dealing a blow to the company’s efforts to exit bankruptcy, according to a Dec. 13 letter to PG&E Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson. Newsom called for a feasible plan, pointing to the…
Year-over-year increases in U.S. proved reserves resulted in record-high levels of crude oil and lease condensate, up 12 percent, and natural gas up 9 percent in 2018, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves, Year-End 2018 report. Strong oil and natural gas prices in 2018 drove the increase in…
The Public Service Commission of Maryland has issued its annual report on the implementation of the Maryland Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard with data for calendar year 2018. According to the report, published on Dec. 10, Maryland RPS obligations were almost entirely fulfilled through the submission of the appropriate level of Tier 1 and Tier 2 Renewable Energy Credits…
The New York State Public Service Commission has announced reforms to the retail energy market to strengthen customer protections and to enhance price and operational transparency, according to a Dec. 12 press release. The resetting of the retail energy market in New York will impact the day-to-day business of energy service companies, or ESCOs, doing business…
The New York Public Service Commission adopted a measure to consolidate the utility bills of Community Distributed Generation (CDG) customers in a bid to reduce operational costs and broaden access to the technology, according to a Dec.12 press release. CDG systems, such as community solar, offer customers that prefer not to install solar directly on their property,…
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved a new solar incentive program to facilitate the transition from the current Solar Renewable Energy Certificate, or SREC, program to a yet-to-be-determined successor incentive program, according to a December 6 press release. The Transition Incentive will serve as a bridge between the legacy SREC and the new…
The cumulative U.S. installed onshore wind capacity exceeded 100 gigawatts on a nameplate capacity basis as of the end of September 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. More than half of that amount has been installed since the beginning of 2012. The oldest wind turbines still operating in the United States came online…
The 46th quarterly carbon auction of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation’s first mandatory cap-and-trade program to cut power sector emissions, resulted in a price of $5.61 per short ton for the 13.1 million tons of carbon allowances sold. The clearing price was almost the same as the June 2019 price, which was the…
Southwest Power Pool Inc., the grid operator for 14 states in the central U.S., launched a new roadmap process to improve the way in which the grid operator and its stakeholders collaborate on proposed changes to its day-ahead and real-time electric markets, according to a Dec. 11 news release. The process adds more transparency, giving…
Republican Governor Christopher Sununu signed an executive order on Dec. 3, establishing four advisory boards to inform the state’s next steps for offshore wind energy development. The order also calls for a study on the emissions reduction potential of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine, as well as the state’s existing port and coastal…
The New York State Department of Public Service issued a report that recommends improvements to residential net metering to support continued growth of the state’s solar industry while ensuring fairness for all ratepayers by enhancing the accuracy of price signals and lowering the subsidies that are not directly tied to environmental values, according to a…
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas forecasts the reserve margin for summer 2020 to be 10.6 percent, based on resource updates provided to the grid operator from generation developers and an updated peak demand forecast, according to a Dec. 5 press release. The grid operator released its December Capacity, Demand and Reserves (CDR) Report which includes planning reserve…
