The Delaware Public Service Commission on July 17 approved the second tranche of Delmarva Power & Light Company’s request for proposal to buy renewable energy credits, or RECs, from wind generation facilities of up to 80-megawatt capacity beginning in 2019-2020 for a 10-15 year term. The RFP is a result of a merger between Exelon…
Growing large-scale deployments of energy storage systems, driven by declining costs and evolving technology, has opened an opportunity for these systems to compete with traditional natural gas peaker plants. Standalone storage makes for a resource-agnostic solution that would enable utilities to charge up as required using the available energy mix. As improvements in technology allow battery systems to provide power for longer periods, utilities will benefit as they must manage a growing share of renewables while meeting peak demand.
Hawaiian Electric Company Inc., Hawaii Electric Light Company Inc., and Maui Electric Company Limited filed an integrated grid planning report that takes a new approach to advance the island’s clean energy goals, according to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission’s July 12 press release. The report proposes to combine “historically separate planning processes” for generation, transmission,…
Kansas electric utilities have enough capacity to meet the goal of 20 percent renewables by 2020 under the state’s voluntary renewable energy program, according to a July 11 report from the Kansas Corporation Commission staff. The staff said that compliance filings show that reporting utilities have surplus renewable energy credits to meet the 2020 goal…
The California Public Utilities Commission is weighing updates to the rules governing the power purchase contracts utilities must enter into with small producers under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, or PURPA, to reflect market changes, according to a July 11 proposed decision. The commission intends to adopt a new standard offer contract…
The California Public Utilities Commission on July 2 started a new rulemaking to continue oversight of the state’s renewable portfolio standards program. The commission will continue to review and monitor renewable procurement plans of retail sellers as well as procurements of investor-owned utilities, assess compliance, and take enforcement action. The new proceeding will consider improvements…
Virginia’s Office of Attorney General, in a July 10 filing with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, said that customers enrolling in Virginia Electric and Power Company’s proposed community pilot solar program would be paying a premium rate over standard customers and should be protected from any statutory framework that could be considered unfair as a…
Duke Energy announced it will solicit bids for renewable projects totaling 680 megawatts capacity under a new competitive solicitation program in North and South Carolina, according to a July 10 press release. Bids for the projects are due Sept. 11 and can be in the form of solar contracts, utility-developed facilities, or asset acquisitions, with…
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on July 10 issued a draft plan to advance in-state solar development, with a goal for the renewable power source to supply 10 percent of the state’s electricity by 2030. The state would have to install about 11 gigawatts of solar capacity to reach the target, up from the…
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission opened a proceeding to establish rules to spur the deployment of microgrids by the state’s main utilities. The initiative responds to passage of legislation that seeks to harness the systems to enhance integration of renewable generation and add resilience to the grid by providing backup generation during emergencies. Hawaii has…
Net metering reforms are becoming more common to keep pace with the evolution of solar and other forms of distributed generation. Regulators are increasingly pushing for adjustments to the valuation of distributed generation as higher levels of supplies begin to strain the grid. Rate designs that value solar-plus-storage could solve the growing concerns of cost shifts and approaching net metering caps.
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