The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on Jan. 22 proposed a framework to administer energy efficiency and peak demand reduction programs following a 2018 law that established annual energy use reductions of at least 2 percent for electric utilities and 0.75 percent for gas utilities. The Clean Energy Act of 2018 directed the board…
The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management will offer 25 parcels of land, totaling about 32,700 acres located on Uintah County, at the March quarterly oil and gas lease sale, according to a Jan. 23 news release. The bureau will hold the lease sale online on March 10. The agency will conduct an additional…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved two reliability standards developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation to enhance transmission planning and cybersecurity, according to a Jan. 23 news release. The commission also accepted NERC’s performance assessment, endorsing the continued work of the corporation, now in its 13th year as the Electric Reliability Organization. In…
Republican lawmakers introduced legislation on Jan. 16 that would allow all hydroelectric generating facilities in operation as of Jan. 1, 2021, and nuclear power plants to qualify for California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard program. The legislation would also suspend the renewable power mandates, and direct the savings from the temporary pause to investor-owned utilities’ infrastructure investments to…
The U.S. Interior Department issued a decision allowing the Bureau of Land Management to offer a right-of-way grant for TC Energy to construct the Keystone XL pipeline across 44 miles of federal lands in Montana, according to a Jan. 22 news release. The decision brings the $8 billion project a step closer to construction despite pending…
About 42 gigawatts of new power generating capacity is expected to come online in 2020, with solar and wind accounting for almost 32 gigawatts of the capacity, according to a Jan. 14 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Wind represents the largest share at 44 percent, followed by solar at 32 percent and natural…
The U.S. Energy Department revised its current rulemaking method for considering new or modified energy efficiency standards for consumer appliances and some industrial equipment, according to a Jan. 15 news release. The rule, which updates a procedure that was developed in 1996, defines a significant energy savings threshold that must be met before the agency…
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality reached a settlement with Duke Energy and community groups represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center to clean up coal ash at six facilities in the state, according to a Jan. 2 news release. Duke agreed to move about 80 million tons of coal ash, a toxic byproduct…
U.S. exports of crude oil and petroleum products exceeded imports by 89,000 barrels a day in September, a turning point from only a decade ago, when imports surpassed exports by 10 million barrels a day, according to a Dec. 31 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The agency attributed the trend to changes in…
Year-over-year increases in U.S. proved reserves resulted in record-high levels of crude oil and lease condensate, up 12 percent, and natural gas up 9 percent in 2018, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves, Year-End 2018 report. Strong oil and natural gas prices in 2018 drove the increase in…
The Public Service Commission of Maryland has issued its annual report on the implementation of the Maryland Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard with data for calendar year 2018. According to the report, published on Dec. 10, Maryland RPS obligations were almost entirely fulfilled through the submission of the appropriate level of Tier 1 and Tier 2 Renewable Energy Credits…
The 46th quarterly carbon auction of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation’s first mandatory cap-and-trade program to cut power sector emissions, resulted in a price of $5.61 per short ton for the 13.1 million tons of carbon allowances sold. The clearing price was almost the same as the June 2019 price, which was the…
