The U.S. Energy Department on July 20 announced an investment of approximately $64 million in 2020 for 18 projects to support hydrogen research and development under the “H2@Scale” initiative. The program is focused on wide-scale hydrogen production and utilization across multiple energy sectors to support resilience in power generation and transmission. The funding will focus…...
The South Carolina Court of Common Pleas Thirteenth Judicial Circuit on July 21 approved a $520 million settlement to refund customers of state-owned Santee Cooper for costs incurred toward the construction of the abandoned VC Summer nuclear power project. The deal includes a four-year rate freeze by the utility, constituting an additional $510 million benefit…...
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, on July 21 announced solicitations seeking up to 4 gigawatts of renewable capacity, including 2.5 gigawatts of offshore wind and 1.5 gigawatts of land-based large-scale projects. In addition, a solicitation for $400 million in multi-port investment requires offshore wind generators to collaborate with any of the 11 prequalified…...
The New York Public Service Commission on July 16 approved the “Make-Ready Initiative” to expedite the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The initiative aims to deploy more than 50,000 charging stations by 2025, coinciding with the state’s goal of reaching 850,000 zero-emission vehicles by that year. The commission approved a budget of $701 million,…...
The U.S. Energy Department announced funding for cost-shared projects focused on developing the critical components required under its Coal FIRST initiative, according to a July 17 news release. The department selected seven projects to share the $37 million federal funding and released a new funding opportunity announcement for $81 million. The initiative aims to develop…...
The White House Council on Environmental Quality on July 16 updated regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, the first comprehensive revision since 1978. The move seeks to facilitate timely reviews under the law, which requires federal agencies to consider the environmental impacts of major actions. The rule creates a time limit of one year…...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 16 rejected a petition by the New England Ratepayers Association seeking federal jurisdiction over energy sales from rooftop solar and other distributed generation facilities on the customer side of the retail meter. The commission found that the association failed to identify a “specific controversy or harm” that should…...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 16 revised regulations implementing the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, or PURPA, which established requirements for utilities to purchase power from small independent electricity generators and cogeneration facilities. The final rule increases flexibility for states in establishing rates at which qualifying facilities sell their output and…...
U.S. electric generators experienced more delays in commercial operation dates in March and April partly due to the COVID-19 mitigation efforts, according to a July 15 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Restricted travel of specialized workers, along with supply chain disruptions and permitting challenges increased the risk of project delays. According to a…...
The New York Public Service Commission on July 16 adopted a successor to net metering for residential and small commercial customers, establishing monthly charges that will apply to customers who install solar on or after Jan. 1, 2022. The decision addresses cost shifts identified in a December 2019 whitepaper which recommends changes applicable to mass…
The California Independent System Operator Corp. on July 13 announced that the first phase of LS Power Group’s Gateway Energy Storage Project connected to its power grid, adding 62.5 megawatts of storage, the largest in the U.S. The entire project, expected to come online in August, will have a total capacity of 250 megawatts. The…...
The U.S. Energy Department on July 14 released a draft roadmap for its Energy Storage Grand Challenge initiative, a comprehensive program launched in January to expedite the development of next-generation storage technologies. By 2030, the program aims to establish and sustain U.S. leadership in energy storage utilization and exports, with a domestic manufacturing supply chain…...