The Maine Public Utilities Commission opened a proceeding on Sept. 3 to revise consumer protection standards for electric and gas utilities in accordance with legislation enacted in the 2019 session. The measure amends rules addressing service standards for utilities, billing practices, record keeping, and customer complaints. In May, the state passed three bills amending rules…
Democratic Governor Ned Lamont on sept. 3 signed an executive order directing the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to evaluate pathways and recommend strategies to transition to 100 percent carbon-free power by 2040. The order expands the responsibility of the Governor’s Council on Climate Change, or GC3, which was tasked with developing strategies…
Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered the New York Department of Public Service to broaden its probe into National Grid’s gas connection moratorium and take action to ensure that the company immediately provides gas to customers who were improperly denied service, according to an Aug. 28 news release. Cuomo also directed the department to impose penalties…
California’s energy landscape is evolving rapidly driven by its ambitious clean energy and carbon reduction goals. Recent actions range from enhancing renewable integration to reforming carbon market rules, strengthening auto-emission standards, and revising energy efficiency policies.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 29 proposed to reverse regulations put into place in 2016 to limit the emissions of methane, a potent global warming pollutant, during oil and natural gas drilling operations. The move follows a sweeping executive order that President Trump issued in 2017 to undo the prior administration’s climate regulations…
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission established a work plan to carry out the requirements of energy legislation passed in the 2019 session, according to an Aug. 27 news release. Legislators passed a sweeping energy policy agenda, including a bill requiring the state’s electricity supply to be carbon-neutral by 2030 and carbon-free by 2045. The…
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Aug. 29 found that New York waived its water quality certification authority for Williams Co.’s Constitution Pipeline by failing to act within the one-year timeframe under the Clean Water Act. The decision reverses the agency’s 2018 order that upheld New York’s permit denial. The commission followed a recent ruling…
The Ohio Public Utilities Commission approved a settlement allowing Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio to raise its annual distribution rates by $22 million, according to an Aug. 28 press release. The agreement also resolves Vectren’s infrastructure replacement and capital expenditure programs, allowing the company to continue to replace aging pipelines through 2023. The company will…
The Maine Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 28 proposed rules governing the periodic procurement of distributed renewable resources in accordance with legislation enacted in June. The law directs the agency to conduct multiple solicitations to obtain 250 megawatts of distributed generation from shared resources and 125 megawatts from commercial and institutional accounts over the next…
California’s Climate Investments initiative has grown to include over 20 state agencies involved in the development and implementation of 60 programs focused on reducing climate pollution, according to an Aug. 26 press release from the Air Resource Board. The program funded $914 million in projects during the first six months of this year, compared to…
The expansion of the wind industry in the U.S. trailed only China in 2018, as soon-to-expire federal subsidies and state incentives helped propel turbine installations higher for a second straight year, a federal report showed. The nation added nearly 7,600 megawatts of wind power generating capacity in 2018, about 8 percent more than the previous…
The twentieth quarterly carbon auction held by California and Quebec sold all of the nearly 66.3 million carbon permits offered for current emissions at a price of $17.16 per credit, above the floor price of $15.62, according to the results released on Aug. 27 by the California Air Resources Board. This is slightly below the…
