The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Court on June 6 ruled in favor of TC Energy’s proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, vacating a lower court decision that halted construction of the project after determining that the environmental review of the project was incomplete. The appeals court found that the injunction no longer…
The Michigan Public Service Commission on June 7 approved Consumers Energy Co.’s integrated resource plan, which calls for the addition of 5 gigawatts of solar capacity through competitive bidding by 2030 and phase-out of coal from its generation portfolio, putting the utility on a path to achieve 90 percent emissions reductions by 2040. The plan…
The Missouri Public Service Commission authorized Invenergy Investment Company LLC to acquire ownership of Clean Line Energy Partners LLC’s 780-mile Grain Belt Express transmission project, according to a June 5 press release. The $2.3 billion multi-state transmission line is designed to deliver 4 gigawatts of wind power from Western Kansas to Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and…
The Bureau of Land Management issued a revised environmental review for four major coal leases in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, finding that they would not have significant impacts beyond those already disclosed, according to a June 3 news release. The review responds to a 2017 court order, which ruled that the agency’s original analysis did…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on June 4 dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s consideration of greenhouse gas emissions in approving Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC’s $400 million Broad Run Expansion Project. The court ruled that the petitioners did not provide sufficient evidence to support their…
The Ohio Public Utilities Commission on June 5 set the alternative compliance payment for the non-solar portion of the state’s renewable portfolio standard at about $53 per megawatt-hour for 2019. Ohio has a target to procure 12.5 percent of electricity from renewables by 2027, with a solar carve-out of 0.5 percent. Electric distribution utilities or…
Democratic Governor Steve Sisolak signed legislation on May 29 directing the Public Utilities Commission to adopt regulations enabling electric utilities to file alternative rate-making plans, which include performance-based rates that are based on performance metrics that the commission may establish. The legislation also authorizes the commission to include a mechanism for earnings sharing with the…
Republican Governor Christopher Sununu on June 3 vetoed legislation that sought to expand the state’s net metering cap to 5 megawatts from one megawatt, saying that the measure would burden ratepayers with hundreds of millions of dollars in higher electric bills. (HB 365) In his veto message, Sununu explained that the bill is a “regressive…
Nuclear power is making its way into clean energy policies as more states embark on ambitious emissions reduction plans. The need to build up carbon-free energy resources in the fight against global warming is driving a number of policymakers to put nuclear power on equal footing with renewable resources.
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation certified the California Independent System Operator Corporation’s reliability coordinator service, named RC West, according to a June 3 press release. The RC will offer services for 16 balancing authorities and transmission operators in California, including one in northern Mexico from July 1. The grid operator expects RC West to…
The U.S. Energy Department authorized Freeport LNG Expansion L.P. and FLNG Liquefaction 4 LLC to export liquefied natural gas equivalent to up to 0.72 billion cubic feet per day from a fourth liquefaction train to be built at the Freeport Terminal on Quintana Island, Texas, according to a May 28 press release. The authorization allows…
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems and Magnum Development on May 30 announced plans to build the world’s largest storage project in central Utah. The project will incorporate 100 percent clean energy storage, deploying utility-scale technologies, which include renewable hydrogen, compressed air energy storage, large-scale flow batteries, and solid oxide fuel cells. Mitsubishi said it has developed…