The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management auctioned three leases off Massachusetts’ coast earmarked for the development of offshore wind farms, reaping a record-breaking $405-million, according to a Dec. 14 press release. The bureau sold commercial wind energy leases comprising nearly 390,000 acres, which are expected to support about 4.1 gigawatts of power. Out of 11 bidders,…
The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, in a Dec. 12 decision, found that the state’s local distribution companies took a prudent approach to managing their gas supply portfolio during the 2013 to 2016 winter seasons and properly met their “supplier-of-last-resort” or SOLR obligations. The agency analyzed data for the peak demand days from the three…
The Kansas State Corporation Commission on Dec. 6 extended the date for Clean Line Energy Partners LLC to begin construction of its multi-state Grain Belt Express transmission line to Dec. 2, 2019 to allow the agency to rule on Invenergy Transmission LLC’s anticipated application to buy the project. The commission granted a siting permit on Nov.…
The Bureau of Land Management’s quarterly oil and gas lease sale in Utah generated net proceeds of $3.04 million drawing bids for 96 of 105 parcels offered, according to a Dec. 12 press release. The sale excluded 116 parcels following a court ruling in September by the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho…
Avista Corporation and Hydro One Limited on Dec. 7 filed a brief with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission explaining that their proposed merger is not affected by a 1951 code that bars certain governmental agencies and entities not regulated by the commission from acquiring electricity generation assets in Idaho. The brief comes in response to…
The U.S. Energy Department will partner with the University of Kentucky to explore breakthrough energy storage technologies in the second phase of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, the agency’s innovation hub dedicated to battery science. Established in 2012, the mission of the hub is to create next-generation technologies that can transform the transportation…
The Maine Public Utilities Commission on Dec. 10 approved Central Maine Power Company’s competitive solicitation to procure electricity for customers receiving standard offer supply service – representing 49 percent of sales in the company’s sales territory – for one-year period starting Jan. 1, 2019. For residential and small business customers, the supply price is 13.7…
The U.S. is poised to become the third largest exporter of liquefied natural gas behind Australia and Qatar as export capacity is projected to reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day by the end of next year – up from the current capacity of 3.6 billion cubic feet, according to a Dec. 10 report from…
The Virginia Corporation Commission on Dec. 7 directed Dominion Energy Inc. to refile its 2018 integrated resource plan finding that the company failed to establish that the proposal is reasonable and in the public interest. The commission found that the plan includes resources that were not subject to modeling on a least-cost basis. The company…
Annual emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the U.S. power sector dropped by 88 percent and 76 percent, respectively, between their peaks in 1997 and 2017, according to a Dec. 11 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Coal’s share of generation declined to 30 percent in 2017 from more than 50 percent…
Washington Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, launched a comprehensive clean energy proposal on Dec. 10 that would lower the state’s emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2035. Inslee said the plan would put the state on the path to become carbon neutral by 2030 and eliminate fossil-fuel generated electricity by 2045. To cut…
The U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 10 passed legislation that would authorize offshore wind energy development in the exclusive economic zone adjacent to all five U.S. territories extending 200 nautical miles seaward, while state waters extending 3 nautical miles would continue to remain under territorial jurisdiction. The bill would provide each territory with state-equivalent…
