The New York State Public Service Commission established a three-year rate plan for electric and gas service for customers of Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc., reducing the rate request by 80 percent. Under its last proposal, the utility sought a total electric revenue increase of $30 million, or 3.3 percent, and a $2.2 million gas revenue…
Democratic State Representative Anna Eskamani and Democratic Senator José Javier Rodríguez have introduced identical bills which direct the Office of Energy within the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to create and implement a plan that would move the state to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, including an interim goal of at least 40 percent renewables by…
The Puerto Rico Energy Commission on March 14 found that the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s proposed integrated resource plan did not comply with the agency’s regulation and prior orders. The agency said that the plan includes a scenario titled “Energy System Modernization Plan,” which does not meet the regulatory requirement to use a capacity…
The Maine legislature passed a bill on March 15 that would reestablish net metering for consumers with solar installations, doing away with the previous administration’s gross metering policy. The legislation, introduced by State Representative Seth Berry, a Democrat, will likely be signed by fellow Democratic governor Janet Mills. Gross metering was developed by the Maine Public Utility Commission with…
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on March 11 ruled that the bankruptcy code is adequate to decide the future of Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s wholesale power purchase contracts. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission claimed that the agency has concurrent jurisdiction with bankruptcy courts over wholesale contracts that the utility…
Florida Power & Light Company submitted a petition with the Florida Public Service Commission for approval of a new voluntary community solar program, FPL SolarTogether, which allows customers to subscribe to a portion of new solar capacity built through the program and receive a credit for a portion of the system’s savings, according to a March 14…
The U.S. added 31.3 gigawatts of generating capacity in 2018, the largest since the 2003 capacity addition of 48.8 gigawatts, according to a March 11 report from the Energy Information Administration. Natural gas accounted for 62 percent of utility-scale additions, while wind and solar photovoltaic represented 21 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Coal accounted for…
The New York State Public Service Commission capped early termination fees for community distributed generation project members and mandated production guarantees for on-site mass-market solar projects as well as clear disclosure of escalation clauses in contracts between customers and developers, according to a March 14 press release. Termination fees for distributed generation projects will be capped at $200.…
A bill introduced on March 11 by Republican Representatives John Szoka, Dean Arp, Bobby Hanig, and Harry Warren seeks to allow charging to resell kilowatt-hours originally purchased from an electric utility, in a bid to spur more private investment into electric charging infrastructure around the state and more North Carolinians to drive electric. Currently, operators…
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission doubled down on the civil penalties imposed as part of a settlement agreement with Vista Energy Marketing LP, following an investigation into the company’s marketing and sales practices as a licensed electric generation supplier in Pennsylvania, according to a March 14 press release. The Commission voted 5-0 to approve a…
U.S. natural gas production grew by 10.0 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2018, an 11 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Energy Information Administration’s Monthly Crude Oil, Lease Condensate, and Natural Gas Production Report. The growth was the largest annual increase in production on record, following an already record-breaking 2017. The…
Ameren Corporation published a report on March 11 called Building a Cleaner Energy Future, in which it sets out the company’s strategy for tackling climate risks and moving toward cleaner energy. The company wants to reduce carbon emissions by 35 percent by 2030, 50 percent by 2040 and an 80 percent reduction by 2050 from 2005 levels. Ameren expects…
