The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on March 20 proposed revisions to its electric transmission incentive policy to spur investment in the infrastructure needed to support the evolving generation mix, increasing number of new resources seeking transmission service, and changes in load patterns. The commission proposes a shift in its incentive analysis to grant incentives based…...
Solar and wind developers are faced with tough challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts the global supply chain, affecting project timelines. Delays have the potential to threaten power purchase contracts and federal tax credits that are crucial for project economics. The crisis has triggered an economic slowdown as governments take measures to curb the advance of…
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission issued a permit allowing Crowned Ridge Wind II LLC to build a 301-megawatt wind energy facility in Codington, Deuel, and Grant counties, according to a March 18 press release. The $425 million project consists of 132 wind turbines spanning about 70,000 acres east of Watertown. The developer has entered…...
The Tennessee Valley Authority issued a request for proposals to develop 200 megawatts of renewable energy projects that can begin commercial operations by the end of 2023, according to a March 16 news release. The seven-state power agency said it does not have a need for more base-load energy and is investing in renewables in…...
The 47th quarterly carbon auction of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation’s first mandatory cap-and-trade program to cut power sector emissions, sold about 16.2 million carbon allowances at a clearing price of $5.65, according to a March 13 news release. New Jersey participated in the auction for the first time in almost a decade…...
Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo on March 16 announced the selection of 21 large-scale solar, wind, and energy storage projects totaling 1,278 megawatts in the state’s latest annual solicitation for large-scale renewable energy capacity. The awards, which represent $1 billion in state investment, include projects that offered bids 23 percent lower than those received three years…...
The New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment on March 13 granted a permit, allowing Canisteo Wind Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Invenergy LLC, to construct a 290.7-megawatt wind generating facility in Steuben County. The project is expected to generate up to $60 million in local property tax revenues over 20…...
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems on March 10 announced a contract with Utah’s Intermountain Power Agency for the first advanced class gas turbines designed to facilitate the transition of a power plant in central Utah from coal, to natural gas and ultimately to renewable hydrogen fuel. The transition will begin in 2025, with a fuel mix…...
Indiana lawmakers approved legislation on March 10 that requires utilities to provide at least three years advance notice to the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission before retiring a legacy generation resource. A public utility may not retire otherwise transfer the ownership of a reliable capacity resource before May 2021 without receiving regulatory approval. The measure comes…...
Democratic Governor Kate Brown signed an executive order on March 10, setting a goal for the state to achieve 45 percent emissions reductions by 2035 and 80 percent by 2050, relative to 1990 levels. The order, which comes after the legislature failed to pass a cap-and-trade bill for the second year in a row, directs…...
The final version of Virginia’s Clean Economy Act cleared the state’s House of Delegates and Senate on March 7, and now awaits Democratic Governor Ralph Northam’s signature. The legislation codifies the 2050 clean energy goal that Governor Northam laid out in an executive order issued last September. The bill calls for more wind and solar…...
Democratic Governor Phil Murphy on Feb. 28 announced the state’s offshore wind procurement schedule, which calls for the next 1.2-gigawatt solicitation to be opened by September, with an award made by the second quarter of 2021. The plan calls for four more rounds in 2022, 2024, 2026 and 2028 to achieve the state’s 7.5-gigawatt offshore…