Democratic Governor Gina Raimondo on Oct. 27 announced that Rhode Island will launch a competitive solicitation to procure up to 600 megawatts of offshore wind energy. The effort is in line with an executive order issued in January, setting a goal for the state to source all of its electricity from renewable resources by the…...
The California Public Utilities Commission approved $108.5 million in additional funding for the Self-Generation Incentive Program’s “Equity Budget,” to support energy storage installations for disadvantaged or low-income communities. The decision transfers funds to the Equity Budget from the funding allotted for general large-scale projects installed by customers that are not in the low-income or disadvantaged…...
The Bureau of Land Management released its final environmental assessment of the Wyoming Pipeline Corridor Initiative, which seeks to designate nearly 2,000 miles of pipeline corridor network for projects associated with carbon capture, utilization and storage, as well as enhanced oil recovery, or EOR, by developing infrastructure connecting to existing oil fields within the State…...
Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo on Oct. 28 proposed legislation to strengthen the state’s enforcement mechanisms to hold utilities accountable for inadequate preparedness and response to extreme weather events such as Tropical Storm Isaias. The bill would increase penalties to shareholders for failing to comply with emergency response plans and other violations, and also expedite the…...
The U.S. Energy Department has approved a cost share award of up to $1.355 billion, allocated over 10 years, as funds are appropriated by Congress, to demonstrate and deploy a 12-module NuScale reactor located at Idaho National Laboratory. Carbon Free Power Project LLC, an entity owned by Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, or UAMPS, will…...
The U.S. Energy Department on Oct. 21 granted seven applications extending the terms of long-term liquefied natural gas export authorizations to non-free trade countries through 2050, in accordance with a policy statement issued in July. The policy, which marks a change from the prior practice of granting 20-year export terms, also allows existing applicants to…...
The governors of five New England states – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont – issued a statement on Oct. 14 calling for reforms to the regional wholesale electricity market structure to support their decarbonization efforts. In light of the states’ commitment to reduce emissions by at least 80 percent below 1990 levels by…...
The Ohio Power Siting Board on Oct. 8 issued an order removing restrictions on nighttime operations of Icebreaker Wind Inc.‘s 20.7- megawatt offshore wind demonstration project in Lake Erie, paving the way for the nation’s first freshwater wind project to move forward. In a construction certificate issued in May, the board imposed 33 conditions including…...
The New York Public Service Commission adopted modifications to the state’s Clean Energy Standard to achieve the state’s goal of sourcing 70 percent of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030 under the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Achieving the goal is foundational to set the state on a path to carbon free…...
Natural gas-fired generators accounted for 43 percent of operating U.S. power generating capacity in 2019, according to an Oct. 16 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration based on the agency’s annual survey of electric generators. They provided 39 percent of generation last year, more than any other source. Most of the capacity added in…...
The Texas Public Utilities Commission on Oct. 16 issued an order allowing El Paso Electric to add a 228-megawatt natural gas-fired generating unit to its Texas-based Newman Power Station. The project is expected to come online in 2023 at an expected cost of $143 million. By the end of 2022, El Paso Electric plans to…...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Oct. 15 issued an order on PJM Interconnection LLC’s proposed revisions in response to a December 2019 order that directed the grid operator to expand the minimum offer price rule, or MOPR, effectively raising the bid price for state-subsidized resources to participate in the capacity market. Democratic Commissioner Richard…...