The California Air Resources Board on Nov. 4 announced that all entities subject to the cap-trade emissions reduction system met their compliance requirements in 2018, which marks the first year of the program’s final three-year compliance period. Businesses covered by the program account for about 80 percent of the state’s emissions. The agency also reported…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Nov. 4 issued two proposals that would ease the Obama administration’s 2015 regulations governing the disposal of coal ash, a toxic product of coal combustion, and wastewater management from steam electric power plants. The first proposal sets a new date of Aug. 31, 2020 for facilities to begin closure…
The Trump administration has submitted a formal notification to the United Nations to withdraw the U.S from the Paris agreement on climate change, according to a Nov. 4 announcement from the State Department. The move initiates a one-year process to leave the 2015 pact that the U.S. joined during the Obama administration, committing to achieve…
The California Public Utilities Commission issued its annual Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) report showing that the program is on track and is helping to drive down renewable contract prices and increasing in-state procurement, according to a Nov. 1 press release. As of 2019, the state’s large investor-owned utilities have executed renewable electricity contracts necessary to…
The U.S. Department of Justice on Oct. 23 filed a lawsuit against California for unlawfully entering into a cap-and-trade agreement with the Canadian Province of Quebec in 2013. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, claims that the agreement interferes with foreign policy and the federal government’s full and…
State-level activity on emission-trading programs and carbon pricing is ramping up as more jurisdictions embrace policy goals to transition to a lower-carbon power system and economy.
The California Public Utilities Commission’s President Marybel Batjer ordered Pacific Gas and Electric Company to take a multitude of immediate corrective actions after it encountered significant problems with communication and coordination during the largest public safety power shut-off event in the history of California, which impacted an estimated 2 million people, according to an Oct.…
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities issued a final order on Oct. 7 approving National Grid’s electric rate request, with a $41.8 million or 32 percent cut to the company’s original application for a $132.2 million hike. Regulators also approved performance-based ratemaking proposals, storm cost recovery and a limited part of the company’s aggressive electric vehicle…
Democratic Governor Tom Wolf issued an executive order on Oct. 3, directing the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to develop rules to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, a nine-state compact that established the nation’s first mandatory emissions trading program. The move is significant in that it would bring a major fossil fuel…
Utility resource planning is becoming more complex in the fast-changing energy landscape, prompting intense scrutiny from regulators. State measures are transforming the way utilities procure energy in light of continued growth in intermittent large-scale energy, customer-sited generation, demand response, energy efficiency, and clean energy commitments.
The Illinois Commerce Commission will hold a policy session on October 1 to explore the current and future role of nuclear energy in fulfilling its commitments under the Paris climate agreement, according to a September 24 press release. The state became a member of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a 24-state coalition committed to reducing greenhouse…
DTE Energy Company plans to achieve net-zero carbon emissions from electric generation by 2050, building on its existing commitment to cut emissions 50 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2040, according to a Sept. 26 news release. The company said that achieving carbon neutrality requires technological advancements in carbon capture, large-scale storage, and modular nuclear…
