President Donald Trump selected Commissioner Neil Chatterjee, a Republican appointee, to be the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, replacing fellow Republican Kevin McIntyre, according to an Oct. 24 announcement. Chatterjee, a former energy adviser for Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, was acting chairman of FERC last year before McIntyre’s confirmation, and during…
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on Oct. 24 established the PowerForward Collaborative, a utility workgroup charged with monitoring marketplace developments to fulfil the objectives of its grid modernization roadmap. The PowerForward roadmap charts a path forward for the state’s grid modernization endeavor, creating a regulatory paradigm to foster innovation that allows for an enhanced…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Oct. 19 suspended water crossing authorizations in two counties of West Virginia for the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline. The Corps stated that because more than a thousand water crossing verifications are currently suspended along the majority of the 303-mile pipeline route in that area, it considers it…
The U.S. Energy Department’s Argonne National Laboratory signed an agreement with 14 members of the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium to explore the next generation of lead batteries making it more attractive to the automotive industry and the power grid, according to an Oct. 19 press release. Lead battery makers have largely focused on the…
The California Public Utilities Commission approved Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s energy storage contracts totaling 165 megawatts with six storage resources including a 20-megawatt project that would provide distribution deferral services, according to an Oct. 19 decision. The commission also authorized a 10-megawatt contract proposed by Southern California Edison Company. The contracts stem from a…
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality approved three environmental protection plans for the Atlantic Coast pipeline, allowing construction to begin on the 300-mile track across the state, according to an Oct. 19 press release. Following the approval of the erosion and sediment control, stormwater management, and karst protection plans, final construction approval now lies with…
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will auction three commercial wind energy leases comprising nearly 390,000 acres offshore Massachusetts on Dec. 13, according to the agency’s Oct. 19 notice. The auction is expected to support about 4.1 gigawatts of power. Massachusetts has set a goal to procure 1.6 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2027 and…
New York Independent System Operator Inc.’s 2018 reliability needs assessment issued on Oct. 18 identifies no resource adequacy related reliability need for the 10-year period from 2019 through 2028. The grid operator also said the assessment identifies no reliability need resulting from the transmission security evaluations for the same period. NYISO said that a transmission…
The New York Public Service Commission updated the Standardized Interconnection Requirements for renewable distributed generators including energy storage systems. With these revisions to the application and technical study process, the regulator wants to achieve a more transparent and faster interconnection process, allowing the utility to analyze and process a high volume of applications and helping…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Oct. 18 approved reliability standards to address supply chain risks in industrial control system hardware, software, and computing and networking services. The rule, developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation builds on existing critical infrastructure protection standards to allay cyber security risks associated with the supply chain for…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Oct. 17 authorized National Grid LNG LLC to add natural gas liquefaction facilities at the company’s existing Fields Point facility in Providence, Rhode Island. National Grid proposed the project, which seeks to add a 20 million standard cubic feet per day capacity, at the request of its customers Narragansett…
