The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission on April 10 approved a proposal by Puget Sound Energy to use $11 million of the previous years’ unspent funds from the company’s Home Energy Lifeline Program to aid customers in need without affecting current programs or increasing rates. The agency also approved temporary changes to Avista Corporation’s Low-Income…
The Illinois Commerce Commission ended a three-year investigation into the possible adoption of a process that would allow non-retail electric suppliers to access the energy usage data of customers, according to an April 2 news release. While acknowledging the potential benefits of data sharing via grid modernization, the commission pointed to concerns that the proposal…
New York lawmakers passed legislation as part of the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 state budget to establish an Office of Renewable Energy Permitting, which will create a siting process specifically designed for renewable energy projects, according to an April 3 announcement from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The office, the first of…
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on April 6 ordered the closure of the Solar Renewable Energy Certificate, or SREC, program effective April 30, declaring that the state has attained the milestone set by the 2018 Clean Energy Act to phase out the program. The law directed the board to close the program when…
In just the last three months, almost a dozen states have advanced measures to ramp up support for electric vehicles (EVs), reflecting the important role of transportation electrification in achieving clean energy goals. However, transportation electrification, similar to other clean energy sectors, faces uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rollback of federal fuel economy standards.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities issued a report on March 31, forecasting that 5.1 percent of electricity sold in the state will be supplied by qualified solar generation facilities around or before May 2020. The forecast for the attainment of 5.1 percent, the threshold set by legislation enacted in 2018 to phase out…
The U.S. Energy Department announced $20 million funding for offshore wind projects focused on enhancing the ability to forecast production and demonstrating the application of new commercial-scale technologies. In a separate funding opportunity, the department’ Water Power Technologies Office announced up to $22 million for marine energy foundational research by continuing to build research capabilities…
The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management announced a proposal to offer 45 parcels of land, totaling about 67,244 acres located on Jackson, Las Animas, Rio Blanco, and Weld Counties, at the September quarterly oil and gas lease sale, according to a Mar. 31 news release. The agency is seeking public input on issues…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on March 26 announced a temporary policy relaxing its enforcement of environmental legal obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy gives more flexibility to power plants and other regulated entities on pollution control measures in a time of crisis. The measure allows the noncompliance as long as the entity provides…
DTE Electric Company proposed a 225-megawatt wind farm and two solar power purchase contracts of about 125 megawatts in its revised renewable energy plan filed with the Michigan Public Service Commission on March 31. The generation capacity, to be added over the next two years, would enable compliance with the 15 percent of the renewable…
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on April 1 approved the Public Service Company of New Mexico’s request to abandon the San Juan Generating Station and use securitization bonds through the Energy Transition Act, or ETA, to finance its remaining investment in the plant. The move follows the state Supreme Court’s ruling that the commission must apply the ETA to the closure and replacement…...
The U.S. Energy Department on April 2 announced a solicitation to make 30 million barrels of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s storage capacity available to oil producers amid an unprecedented drop in demand caused by the COVID-19 economic impacts, as well as the intentional disruption of oil markets by foreign actors. The agency said that a…...
