The Wyoming Public Service Commission approved a contract term of 15 years for Rocky Mountain Power’s power purchase contracts with independent electricity generators under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 1978, or PURPA. The commission denied the company’s request to reduce the contract length to seven years, finding that there is no evidence that qualifying…...
Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak on June 22 announced the Clean Cars Nevada initiative to consider the adoption of low- and zero-emission standards for light-duty vehicles. The program will help advance the state’s goal of reducing emissions by 28 percent by 2025 and 45 percent by 2030 relative to 2005 levels. Nevada would join 14 other…...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on June 24 authorized a transaction allowing Denver-based Southwest Generation Operating Company LLC to acquire the 760-megawatt Mankato Energy Center, a natural gas power plant, from Xcel Energy Inc. Xcel Energy purchased the facility from Southern Power for $650 million in January through a non-regulated affiliate after Minnesota regulators rejected…...
Petroleum accounted for 37 percent of total energy consumed in the U.S. last year, with motor gasoline representing nearly half the petroleum products consumed, according to a June 22 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The U.S. consumes more petroleum than it produces, with the remainder supplied by imports and domestic stock inventories saved…...
The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Fossil Energy selected eleven projects for cost-shared research and development of carbon utilization technologies, according to a June 16 press release. The projects will receive $17 million to support the agency’s Carbon Utilization Program, which aims to cut emissions and convert waste carbon streams into valuable products. The program’s…...
In a move commended by offshore wind advocates, federal regulators released a much-awaited environmental analysis of the $2.8 billion Vineyard Wind project, which would be the first U.S. large-scale offshore wind project, and other facilities planned along the East Coast. The review is a step forward in the project’s permitting process and critical for the future offshore wind industry as it braces for challenges from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged permitting timelines.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects coal production to fall by 25 percent to 530 million short tons this year from 2019 levels in its Short Term Outlook released on June 9. The projections are subject to uncertainty as mitigation and reopening efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to evolve, the agency said. Production in…...
New England’s average wholesale electricity prices dropped by 40 percent to $28 per megawatthour during the 2019-2020 winter from $47 per megawatthour in the previous winter, according to a June 10 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Natural gas-fired generators set the price of electricity more often compared with previous winters because of the…...
Gasoline and jet fuel demand fell by near-record amounts because of the stay-at-home orders and travel limitation since the breakout of COVID-19, according to a June 9 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The gross inputs into refineries fell by 4 percent from February to March to an average of 15.8 million barrels per…...
U.S. summer electricity demand, from June through August, is expected to total 998 billion kilowatthours, a 5 percent drop compared to 2019 and the lowest value since 2009, according to a June 10 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Retail electricity sales in the commercial and industrial sectors are expected to decline 12 percent…...
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on June 10 issued an order directing the state’s utilities to establish energy efficiency and peak demand reduction programs, taking a significant step towards clean energy transition. The board set a five-year goal to reduce energy usage by 2.15 percent for electric distribution companies and 1.1 percent for…...
