Alaska Commission Begins Process to Regulate Electric Reliability Organization

Con Edison Faces $25 Million in Penalties for 2019 Power Outages in New York

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, on Nov 19 announced that Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc. faces $25 million in penalties as well as possible license revocation for failure to respond to outages in July 2019 that left over 100,000 customers without power for two days. The potential penalty is in addition…...

West Virginia Regulator Orders Cost Adjustments Slashing Gas Bills For 95 Percent of Customers

Minnesota Regulators Approve CenterPoint’s Renewable Natural Gas Interconnection Plan

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Nov. 21 granted CenterPoint Energy’s request to offer renewable natural gas, or RNG, interconnection service. The approval establishes a process for producers to inject RNG into the company’s system and creates terms and conditions for the service, including proposed interconnection rates. CenterPoint said that the proposal responds to demand…

Electric Car Charging Stations

Minnesota Agency to Fund 22 New Charging Stations

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on Nov. 10 announced plans to allocate $170,000 in grants to facilitate the development of dual-port EV Level 2 Charging Stations in public settings to further bolster the presence of electric vehicles in the state. These grants can be accessed through an application system with extra incentives for proposals that…...

Electric Vehicles on Utility Services

New York Governor Announces $11 Million to Expand EV Charging Using Volkswagen Settlement Funds

Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo on Nov. 12 announced the availability of $11 million in funds to continue strengthening fast charging infrastructure throughout the state. The program will cover up to 80 percent of the cost to build public charging stations, with funding made available in two rounds. The initiative is funded by New York’s $127.7…...

California Utilities’ Renewable Generation Reached 40 Percent of Total Procurement in 2018

California Regulator Strengthens Enforcement Practices

The California Public Utilities Commission has adopted a new enforcement policy that provides guidance to achieve a consistent approach to enforcement practices and ensure that regulated entities demonstrate maximum compliance with rules and requirements, according to a Nov. 5 press release. The measure, which builds on existing tools and processes, is designed to promote consistency…...

Missouri Regulator Launches Probe into Winter Storm Event

Texas Grid Operator Projects Sufficient Generation for Upcoming Winter, Spring

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. expects nearly 83,000 megawatts of resource capacity to be available to meet the projected peak demand of 57,699 megawatts for the upcoming winter season from December 2020 to February 2021. The winter peak demand forecast in the grid operator’s final winter resource adequacy assessment, released on Nov. 5, …...

New York Begins Process for Second Offshore Wind Solicitation to Procure At Least 1,000 Megawatts

Massachusetts Approves Contracts for 800-Megawatt Mayflower Offshore Wind Project

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities on Nov. 5 approved long-term contracts executed by the state’s electric distribution companies to purchase offshore wind power from Mayflower Wind Energy LLC’s 804-megawatt project, which was selected in the state’s second round of offshore wind solicitation last year. The project is expected to provide about  0.1 to 1.8…...

Evergy to Refund Demand Charges Collected From Kansas Solar Customers

Florida Regulator Approves Cost Recovery for Fourth Phase of Tampa Electric’s 600-Megawatt Solar Plan

The Florida Public Service Commission on Nov. 3 authorized Tampa Electric Company  to recover costs for a 60.1-megawatt project under the fourth phase of the company’s solar construction plan. The completion of the project will bring the company’s solar generation capacity to 600 megawatts, firmly asserting it as a major solar developer.  Tampa Electric opted…...

New York Governor Announces Creation of Special Counsel for Ratepayer Protection

New York Governor Announces Creation of Special Counsel for Ratepayer Protection

Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed New York City Council Member and former Assembly Member Rory Lancman to the new role of Statewide Special Counsel for Ratepayer Protection, according to an Oct. 30 press release. In the new role, Lancman will assess the performance of the state’s regulated utilities across the electric, natural gas, water, and…...

New York Governor Announces $90 Million in Federal Aid for Home Heating During Winter

Ameren Missouri’s Natural Gas Rates Increase

The Missouri Public Service Commission on Oct. 29 announced changes to Ameren Missouri’s wholesale cost of natural gas as well as a cost adjustment, which will result in a rate increase of about $0.03 per hundred cubic feet of gas effective Nov. 1. At present, residential customers pay approximately $0.35 per hundred cubic feet of…...

Arizona Law Prevents Local Restrictions on Natural Gas Use in Buildings

Colorado Regulators Probe into Retail Natural Gas Industry Emissions

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Nov. 4 opened a proceeding to investigate retail natural gas industry emissions as the state explores ways to meet the requirements of a 2019 law that set statewide goals to achieve emission cuts of 26 percent by 2025, 50 percent by 2030, and 90 percent by 2050, relative to…...

Western EIM Benefits Q3 2020

Western Energy Market Cumulative Benefits Exceed $1.1 Billion

The Western Energy Imbalance market generated $119.3 million in savings in the third quarter of this year, the highest quarterly benefits achieved since the market launched in 2014, according to an Oct. 29 press release from the California Independent System Operator Corporation. This brings the cumulative benefits of the real-time energy market to about $1.11…...