The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Nov. 4 issued two proposals that would ease the Obama administration’s 2015 regulations governing the disposal of coal ash, a toxic product of coal combustion, and wastewater management from steam electric power plants. The first proposal sets a new date of Aug. 31, 2020 for facilities to begin closure…
The Trump administration has submitted a formal notification to the United Nations to withdraw the U.S from the Paris agreement on climate change, according to a Nov. 4 announcement from the State Department. The move initiates a one-year process to leave the 2015 pact that the U.S. joined during the Obama administration, committing to achieve…
The Western Energy Imbalance market generated about $65 million in savings in the third quarter of this year, with total benefits reaching about $801 million since its launch in November 2014, according to a Nov. 1 press release from the California Independent System Operator Corporation. The energy imbalance market is an automated system that secures…
Future growth in natural gas consumption will be concentrated in developing nations, especially in Asian, including China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Vietnam, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest International Energy Outlook 2019. Annual natural gas consumption in non-OECD Asia is expected to reach 120 billion cubic feet per day by 2050, outpacing regional production by…
The Southwest Power Pool Inc.’s board of directors approved the grid operator’s 2019 Integrated Transmission Plan, requiring members to construct 44 new projects, including 166 miles of transmission lines, according to an October 29 press release. The rapid expansion of renewables has contributed to increasing price disparity between the western and eastern portions of the SPP system, creating higher average…
The California Public Utilities Commission issued its annual Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) report showing that the program is on track and is helping to drive down renewable contract prices and increasing in-state procurement, according to a Nov. 1 press release. As of 2019, the state’s large investor-owned utilities have executed renewable electricity contracts necessary to…
The California Public Utilities Commission unveiled a new equity program that directs 25 percent of funds for distributed energy storage to low-income households and environmentally burdened communities throughout the state, according to an Oct. 31 press release. The regulator is taking this initiative to make the incentive programs more equitable and bring them more in line with measures…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing $1.4 billion through its electric loan program that will help build and improve nearly 7,000 miles of line to strengthen reliability in rural areas across 21 states, according to a Nov. 1 news release.The spending includes about $256 million for smart grid technologies that use digital communications to…
ISO New England has issued its 10-year power system strategy for the region laying the foundation for long-term power system planning in New England, according to an Oct. 31 filing. The report details power system needs through 2028, and how these can be addressed, discussing three key issues currently affecting the New England grid, namely…
The Virginia State Corporation Commission on Oct. 31 approved Virginia Electric and Power Company’s rate option that allows customers to voluntarily buy renewable energy certificates, or RECs, sourced from a broad range of generation facilities to match all or a portion of their usage. The company proposed to offer the new rate, called “Rider REC,”…
The share of U.S. electricity sales by competitive suppliers increased slightly since 2013 following over a decade of steady growth, according to a Nov. 1 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While customer choice programs use competition to lower power prices and introduce new service products, not all customers pay less for purchasing power through…
The U.S. Energy Department awarded a 20-year contract to ExxonMobil Pipeline Company to operate the Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s two-million-barrel capacity St. James marine terminal and Bayou Choctaw 36-Inch Pipeline, according to an Oct. 28 news release. The new lease, effective Jan. 1, 2020, ends Shell Pipeline Company LP’s 22-year control of the facilities. The St.…
