The California Public Utilities Commission on April 29 proposed a decision adopting short-term actions to expedite the deployment of microgrids and related resiliency strategies that would mitigate the impacts of safety power shutoff events to avoid the risk of power lines starting wildfires. The proposal would direct the state’s large investor-owned electric utilities to streamline…...
The Arkansas Public Service Commission on May 5 approved a settlement agreement, allowing Southwestern Electric Power Co. to acquire up to 810 megawatts of wind energy from three projects in Oklahoma. The company will invest $1.01 billion to own 54.5 percent of a 1,485-megawatt portfolio of wind projects, which it plans to buy with Public…...
Dominion Energy Inc. on May 1 filed its 2020 integrated resource plan with the Virginia State Corporation Commission, reflecting the targets of the Clean Economy Act, which requires the company to produce its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2045. Under the proposal, the company proposes to add 6.7 to 18.8 gigawatts of solar over the…...
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on April 29 proposed regulations to advance the state’s portion of the 30 percent emissions cap reduction from 2021 to 2030, under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, which established the nation’s first regional program to cap and reduce power sector emissions. Following the program update,…...
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities on April 27 proposed to amend its solar energy rule and create a Transition Incentive Program to replace the Solar Renewable Energy Certificate, or SREC, initiative. The board ordered the closure of the SREC program effective April 30, declaring that the state has attained the milestone set by…...
New Jersey and Maryland filed a lawsuit with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s order directing PJM Interconnection LLC to extend the minimum offer price rule, or MOPR, to state-subsidized resources, according to an April 27 news release. Several states have criticized the move, citing its potential to harm…...
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on April 29 put off a decision on the Public Service Company of New Mexico’s plan for two solar-plus-battery projects to partially replace the generation from the San Juan Generating Station scheduled for retirement by 2022. In a March 27 recommended decision, hearing examiners suggested that the commission approve…...
The New England grid operator has proposed a long-term, market-based solution to the region’s energy security problem as the power generation fleet moves towards a mix of energy-limited resources. With the retirement of resources with stored fuel, the system is increasingly reliant on facilities that run on just-in-time natural gas deliveries and weather-dependent wind and solar energy. To address the ensuing challenge, the grid operator proposes to improve the current market structure by creating incentives for the region’s fleet to invest in the energy supply arrangements and technologies on which the region depends.
Skipjack Offshore Energy LLC revised the estimated commercial operating date for its 120-megawatt offshore wind project from November 2022 to the end of 2023, according to an April 21 filing with the Maryland Public Service Commission. Orsted said it is receiving its federal notice of intent for the project later than expected as the “federal…...
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Board of Public Utilities, and Economic Development Authority on April 17 released a three-year plan to invest the proceeds from the carbon auctions held under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI. The state plans to invest an estimated $80 million each year in clean energy and climate…
The U.S. Energy Department on April 24 announced $46 million funding for cost-shared research and development projects that capture and store carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources. The department also selected five projects to receive $85 million under a previously announced funding opportunity to accelerate wide-scale deployment of these technologies. While carbon capture, utilization, and…...
California’s Climate Investments initiative funded nearly $2 billion in clean air and low-carbon projects implemented statewide in 2019, according to an April 22 press release from the Air Resource Board. Last year marked the program’s single largest annual investment in the state’s priority populations, with more than $1 billion of new projects benefiting disadvantaged and…...