Xcel Energy Inc. announced its Renewable Connect Program, which allows customers who subscribe to source up to 100 percent of their electricity from renewables like wind and solar, according to a March 11 press release. The program gives customers the flexibility to choose how much of their electricity should come from renewables and for how long, with subscription options…
The California Energy Commission has approved a battery energy storage system to support the operation of the Marsh Landing natural gas plant in the event of a blackout, according to a March 12 order. The batteries will be used to start the gas turbines and to restart the power plant in the event of a blackout, also known as…
The New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) has published its Energy Storage Market Acceleration Incentives Implementation Plan on March 11. It describes how the state will allocate $310 million in funding to boost adoption of the technology and help achieve approximately a third of New York’s ambitious goal of 3 gigawatts by 2030. This $310 million market…
The New Mexico House of Representatives passed the Energy Transition Act on Tuesday afternoon, which orders the state to source all of its power from carbon-free supplies by 2045. The bill passed the Democratic-controlled state legislature with 32-9 votes in the Senate and 43-22 in the House. Democratic governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham is expected to sign it into…
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…...
Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp, proposed three innovative utility programs to explore vehicle-to-grid power flow management, study the value of behind-the-meter grid optimized solar-plus-battery installations, and improve outage response by deploying line sensor technology on distribution circuits, according to a March 8 filing with the Utah Public Service Commission. The initiatives form the…...
The Retail Energy Supply Association expressed support for a market-determined price for solar renewable energy certificates, or SRECs, in New Jersey’s successor program, as the state transitions to a new distributed solar regime. In its comments filed with the the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on March 5, the group said that the alternative…...
A bill introduced by Senator Jacob Candelaria, a Democrat, which seeks to make New Mexico’s electricity generation 100 percent carbon-free by 2045 passed the eight-member Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee, with two Republican members voting against the measure. Known as the Energy Transition Act, it would require the state’s utilities to derive at least 50 percent…
Wisconsin’s Democratic Governor Tony Evers put forward a requirement to make the state’s electricity supply carbon-free by 2050, according to a March 7 proposal. During last year’s midterm elections, Evers made it clear that he was a proponent for shifting the state to 100 percent renewable energy by mid-century, but his political position is not as strong as some…
Green Mountain Power Corporation proposed to focus on transitioning to a highly distributed system while continuing its strategic efforts to electrify transportation, heating, and fossil fuel processes, in its 2018 integrated resource plan filed with the Vermont Public Utility Commission on March 6. The 10-year plan underscores the company’s declining electric demand as customers look to install their…
Dominion Energy Inc. is due to make a decision by March 15 on whether or not to retire the 2,100-megawatt Millstone nuclear plant. Despite securing the ability to compete for long-term contracts with other zero-carbon resources such as wind and solar, the biggest zero-emission power plant in the region may be forced to close if…
The Florida Public Service Commission on March 5 accepted Tampa Electric Company’s opt-out tariff for customers who wish to retain their existing analog meter instead of a smart meter. The company anticipates about 0.2 percent of customers to opt out of the initiative, after reviewing experiences with other utilities that have implemented advanced metering programs…....
