The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection selected Vineyard Wind LLC’s 804-megawatt Park City Wind Project as the winner in its offshore wind solicitation, according to a Dec. 5 news release. The project represents Connecticut’s largest renewable energy purchase, and will provide the equivalent of 14 percent of the state’s electricity. Vineyard will now…
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Dec. 3 granted Xcel Energy Inc.’s proposal to modify the value of solar, or VOS, methodology to arrive at a more stable and reasonable rate. The commission agreed that the avoided distribution cost component is the cause for the volatility in the VOS rate, which is used to calculate…
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission opened a docket to develop rules requiring investor-owned utilities to file distribution system plans, according to a Dec. 3 news release. Distribution planning would help ensure that grid modernization allows for continued safe, reliable and cost-effective utility operations, according to the agency. The move stems from legislation enacted in June…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced changes to the New Source Review (NSR) permitting rules, simplifying the pollution control requirements for companies that build or modify a power plant, according to a Dec. 3 press release. Among the changes, the guidance document revising the EPA’s definition of “ambient air” under the Clean Air Act is…
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has approved a proposed settlement with Avista Utilities that reduces annual base electric revenues by $7.18 million, or 2.84 percent, according to a Dec. 2 press release. According to the settlement, which takes effect Dec. 1, 2019, a residential electric customer who uses an average of 900 kilowatt-hours per month…
Coal-fired power plants with higher operating and maintenance costs are more likely to retire, with about 66 percent of units in the highest operating cost group expected to close between 2019 and 2030, compared to 36 percent in the lowest cost group, according to a Dec. 3 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The…
The Southwest Power Pool Inc., the grid operator for 14 states in the central U.S., launched its western reliability coordination service for almost a dozen western entities, according to a Dec. 3 news release. The launch makes SPP the first regional transmission organization to provide the service in both the Eastern and Western Interconnections. The…
The Ohio Supreme Court on Nov. 27 dismissed FirstEnergy Solutions Corp.’s complaint against a referendum effort by Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts to repeal legislation enacted in July to subsidize nuclear and coal plants. The court rejected the case for “lack of a justiciable controversy.” The company argued that the rate increase resulting from the law constitutes…
Duke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy Corp., completed a $700 million green bond transaction to finance renewable energy projects, including solar generation and utility-scale battery storage deployments in the state, according to a Nov. 26 news release. This is the third green bond transaction by Duke Energy utilities over the past year, following…
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission on Nov. 27 granted a permit allowing Tatanka Ridge Wind LLC, a subsidiary of Avangrid Renewables LLC, to construct and operate a $216 million wind generation project in Deuel County. The developer has entered into two power purchase contracts, one with Google for 98 megawatts of the output, and…
Nearly a year had passed before net electricity generation in Puerto Rico approached levels similar to those in the months before Hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged the territory’s electricity grid in September 2017, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest annual Power Plant Operations Report. When Hurricane Irma passed near Puerto Rico in early September 2017,…
The Ontario Energy Board has received an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) from Elexicon Energy Inc. stating the company is committed to paying a series of fines after it admitted to disconnecting customers, according to a November 28 press release. The OEB’s inspection found, and Elexicon admitted, that during the period from May 1 to July…