The Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction unveiled legislation on Feb. 4 that would establish the Oregon Climate Action Program to place a cap on greenhouse gas emissions for entities whose annual emissions exceed 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The bill would set an annually declining emissions budget, starting in 2021 to put the…...
Dominion Energy Inc. has bumped up the estimated cost of its 604-mile natural gas pipeline from $6 to about $7 billion, adding that it also expects the project to be delayed until early 2021 following permitting issues. Thomas Farrell, Chief Executive Office, said in a Feb. 1 press release that the company is “actively pursuing multiple paths to…
The Virginia state House of Delegates on Jan. 31 voted 86 -12 to reject a bill that would have required all of the state’s electricity to come from clean energy after 2036 while also placing a moratorium on new fossil fuel developments. (HB 1635) The bill would have put Virginia in line with California, District…
Georgia Power Company proposed to close four of its coal generation units at Plant Hammond and one unit at Plant McIntosh as part of its 2019 integrated resource plan filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission on Jan. 31. Hammond and McIntosh plants have a capacity 800 megawatts and 163 megawatts, respectively. The company requested…
The Department of Energy’s Natural Gas Imports and Exports Third Quarter Report 2018 highlights all the important transactions of the precious fossil fuel from July through September last year. Total U.S. exports were 918.7 Bfc, about 13 percent higher than the previous quarter and about 24 percent higher compared to 2017. Total imports decreased by 0.1…
The U.S. Department of Energy will provide $28 million in funding for a research program that aims to develop new technologies for floating offshore wind turbines, according to a Feb. 1 press release. The department recognizes that the U.S. has the potential to lead the world in the development of offshore wind energy, particularly in floating…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found that the construction of Sempra Energy’s Port Arthur Liquefaction Project, a natural gas liquefaction and export terminal in Texas, and the associated pipeline projects would result in some adverse environmental impacts, which would be reduced to less-than-significant levels, according to a Jan. 31 notice. The facility, proposed by Port…
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities issued an order on Feb. 1 clarifying ownership of capacity and energy rights of facilities under net metering and Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target, or SMART, programs participating in the ISO New England Inc.’s forward capacity market. The order allows owners of storage-paired facilities to retain their energy or capacity…...
Interstate Power and Light Company anticipates that over the next decade it will have a surplus of renewable energy credits to the tune of between 1.5 million to 5.5 million per year, relative to Iowa’s current renewable energy requirements, according to a Jan. 31 filing by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission. Interstate Power and Light…
The Delaware Public Service Commission on Jan. 31 approved additional rate cuts for the state’s regulated utilities to account for over-collection associated with the federal tax reforms that slashed corporate income tax rates to 21 percent from 35 percent, effective Jan. 1, 2018. Overall rate reductions to regulated utilities to flow back excess taxes to…
Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., an affiliate of National Grid Plc, proposes to boost annual spending on transmission and distribution repairs, upgrades and other projects in New York to $805.7 million in fiscal year 2024, up from $573 million in 2020, according to the utility’s five-year capital investment plan issued Jan. 31. Capital spending to total…
FirstEnergy Corp.’s wholesale auction held on Jan. 28 resulted in an average clearing price of $47.92 per megawatt hour for a one-year product to supply electricity to the company’s Ohio customers for the delivery period of June 2019 through May 2020. The results will be combined with previous auctions to set the price-to-compare for the…
