Republican Governor Christopher Sununu signed legislation on Aug. 2 that allows municipalities and counties the option of implementing aggregation programs, in which retail electric customers will be automatically enrolled unless they opt out. Previously, community choice aggregation was allowed only for residents who consent to being included in the program. Municipalities can also operate energy…
The District of Columbia Public Service Commission is paving the regulatory path forward in the district’s clean energy policies with “PowerPath DC,” the next phase of its grid modernization efforts, according to an Aug. 2 press release. The new initiative will replace MEDSIS that was launched in 2015 to “modernize the distribution energy delivery system…
The California Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 1 revised a 1992 energy efficiency policy to allow funding for electrification efforts, paving the way for new programs that use electric technologies powered by emissions-free resources. The decision modifies the “three-prong test” that was originally adopted to avoid encouraging programs that involved substituting one fuel for another,…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Aug 2 upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company’s Atlantic Sunrise Project, finding that the agency acted lawfully under circuit precedent. The court rejected arguments that the agency improperly conducted its environmental assessment, failed to substantiate the…
The Maryland Public Service Commission has taken action against the retail energy supplier Smart One Energy LCC for enrolling customers without their consent, a practice known as ‘slamming’ and other violations of state law, according to an August 2 press release. The Commission suspended Smart One’s 2011 license to operate as a natural gas supplier in…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on July 30 proposed changes to remove restrictions from a 2015 rule, which limited coal ash use to 12,400 tons per site. The proposal is the agency’s latest effort to weaken the the Obama-era rule governing the disposal of coal ash, a toxic byproduct of coal-fired power plants. EPA is…
Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo on July 31 announced the launch of a 15-year modernization and digitization program to extend the life of the Niagara Power Project, the largest source of zero-carbon electricity in the state. The program centers on the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant, a 2.4-gigawatt hydroelectric plant, which began operating in 1961. The…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 1 proposed a rule to simplify the New Source Review program, which governs emission permits for building new or significantly retrofitted industrial facilities including power plants. The proposed rule clarifies that both projected emissions increases and decreases from a project can be considered during the first step of…
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, signed a measure on Aug. 1 requiring the levelized price of offshore wind contracts resulting from subsequent solicitations to be lower than the initial procurement if the price is adjusted for federal tax credits, inflation, and incentives. The legislation takes into account the decline of federal tax credits in…
State renewable portfolio standards are a key driver behind the torrid expansion of wind and solar generation across the U.S., responsible for about half of the nation’s deployment of the clean energy sources over the last couple of decades, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Over three dozen states, territories and the nation’s capital…...
Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat, released a report on Aug. 1 showing that Massachusetts electric customers who switched to a competitive electric supplier paid about $76 million more on their bills from July 2017 to June 2018 than they would have if they remained with their utilities. Healey underscored the need for legislation to…
The U.S. Energy Department authorized Kinder Morgan Inc. to export liquefied natural gas equivalent to up to 1.53 billion cubic feet per day from the proposed Gulf LNG Liquefaction Project, which will be built at the site of an existing import terminal in Mississippi, according to a July 31 press release. The export permit comes…
