The Nevada Public Utilities Commission announced that it’s lowering the credits that it awards to customers for excess generation exported onto the grid to 88 percent of the retail electricity rate, from 95 percent, after new and existing solar capacity on the system topped 80 megawatts. Legislation passed in June 2017 that reinstated net metering…
The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources reached a compromise proposal with stakeholders regarding ownership capacity rights of facilities under net metering and, Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target or SMART programs participating in the ISO New England Inc.’s forward capacity market. The agreement would allow owners of storage facilities to retain their rights to bid capacity into…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 31 rejected challenges to ISO New England Inc.’s rules that provide an exemption to the minimum offer price rule, or MOPR, for certain renewable resources participating in the capacity market. In 2014, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved revisions to allow up…
Massachusetts lawmakers approved legislation on July 31 to strengthen the state’s renewable portfolio standard by requiring a 2 percent boost in procurement of the supplies each year from 2020 to 2029, up from the current 1 percent annual increase. The current goal requires 15 percent by 2020, followed by a one percent increase each year.…
The California Independent System Operator Corporation proposed enhancements to demand response resources participating in its markets, including new bidding and real-time dispatch options. The proposal also includes an energy storage load-shift product that would allow a resource to be dispatched for both load consumption and curtailment. The changes represent the third phase of the grid…
The U.S. offshore wind industry is picking up pace as eastern states are pushing aggressive wind energy procurement goals. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut recently contracted for offshore wind capacity totaling 1.4 gigawatts. New York and New Jersey are making progress towards project solicitations.
NRG Community Solar LLC lodged a protest over the lower-than-expected credits Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corp. and Orange and Rockland Utilities Inc. said that they will award for power from community solar projects, with the developer arguing that the reduced rates jeopardize the viability of its renewable facilities. NRG said that it was recently…
The New York Department of Public Service called on members of the state utility commission to revise rates to more accurately and efficiently compensate distributed energy generation, in a move that staff said could help drive an additional 1,000 megawatts of new community distributed generation. The staff recommends options that would allow developers and customers…
New Jersey has enacted legislation expanding the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 50 percent by 2030 and phasing out the solar renewable energy certificate (SREC) program by 2021 to establish a new or modified framework to support solar development. The move addresses an impending oversupply of SRECs, providing a near-term boost to keep the solar industry growth while the state crafts a long-term plan.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on July 20 authorized a subsidiary of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to acquire a 49-percent stake in Cedar Point Wind LLC and Silver State Solar Power North LLC from Enbridge Holdings (Power) LLC. Cedar Point owns a 252-megawatt wind farm in Colorado, while Silver State owns a 52-megawatt…
