Ohio Regulator Creates Grid Modernization Workgroups to Foster Innovation Towards Enhanced Customer Experience

Michigan Regulators Slash DTE Electric’s Revenue Hike by Nearly Half, Replace Net Metering Program

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…

Washington Enacts Law Requiring Electric Utilities to Plan for Distributed Energy Future

Washington Enacts Law Requiring Electric Utilities to Plan for Distributed Energy Future

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…

Colorado Passes Bill Aiming for 90 Percent Emissions Reduction by 2050

Colorado Passes Bill Aiming for 90 Percent Emissions Reduction by 2050

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…

Sempra Energy's Flow Battery Pilot Connects to California Grid, Promising Potential for Cost-Efficient, Large-Scale systems

Sempra Energy’s Flow Battery Pilot Connects to California Grid, Promising Potential for Cost-Efficient, Large-Scale systems

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…

Western Power Market Yields $650 Million in Benefits, Allowing Effective Use of Carbon-Free Generation

Western Power Market Yields $650 Million in Benefits, Allowing Effective Use of Carbon-Free Generation

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…

Ohio Commission Staff Endorses Duke Energy’s RPS Compliance Report

Ohio Commission Staff Endorses Duke Energy’s RPS Compliance Report

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…

old jackson solar map

Pattern Energy’s 130-Megawatt Solar Project Qualifies for Texas Renewable Credits

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…

U.S. EPA Announces Initiatives to Advance Building Performance Policies

Power Producers Find New York City’s Building Emission Law Conflicts With Renewable Standard

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.…

PG&E Seeks $1.2 Billion Revenue Hike to Support Wildfire Safety Enhancements

PG&E Seeks $1.2 Billion Revenue Hike to Support Wildfire Safety Enhancements

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…

New York Kicks Off Storage Incentive Program, Allocating $280 Million Worth of Funding

New York Kicks Off Storage Incentive Program, Allocating $280 Million Worth of Funding

The New York State Energy Research and Development Agency on April 25 announced a funding opportunity for two categories of projects as part of the state’s $400 million investment to attain the ambitious goal of deploying 3 gigawatts of storage by 2030. The state is making available $150 million for bulk storage projects comprising installations…

Texas-Based 7X Energy Secures Contract for 690-Megawatt Solar Project, Largest in State

Texas-Based 7X Energy Secures Contract for 690-Megawatt Solar Project, Largest in State

Solar developer 7X Energy signed a final power-purchase agreement for its 690-megawatt Taygete project in Pecos County, Texas, opening the doors for the state’s largest solar farm, according to an April 23 press release. The $650 million facility will be constructed in two stages, with the first phase anticipated to begin in the third quarter…

Con Edison’s Pipeline Expansion Deal Could End Gas Connection Moratorium in 2023

Con Edison’s Pipeline Expansion Deal Could End Gas Connection Moratorium in 2023

The Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc. on April 24 announced an agreement with Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company LLC to boost the capacity in its existing pipeline that connects the utility’s distribution system to Westchester County. The utility said that the expansion could be in service by November 2023, providing the capacity needed to…