The Oregon Public Utilities Commission on Feb. 19 opened a proceeding to examine the implementation of the federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act, or PURPA, which requires utilities to purchase power from small independent electricity generators at the “avoided cost” or the cost the utility would spend to procure the electricity itself. The move stems…...
Policy changes are occurring faster than ever before, confounding efforts by utilities to plan for the future, causing a paralysis in decision making. The task of identifying all possible scenarios over a longer horizon is becoming more demanding as state renewable energy standards are changing more frequently. Utilities are grappling with the influx of distributed energy resources and new renewable generation under various state programs, coupled with the need to maintain fossil generation to manage the intermittency of these sources.
Wisconsin Power and Light Company is seeking approval of three new tariff options to expand its voluntary renewable energy options for customers, according to its Feb. 18 application filed with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. The proposal includes a subscription-based community solar program, renewable energy contracts targeted at large commercial and industrial customers, and a…...
Virginia lawmakers approved legislation on Feb. 18 that would make changes to the net metering program for customers of electric cooperatives, including increasing the cap from one percent of system peak to three percent for residential, four percent for not-for-profit and non-jurisdictional, and two percent for non-residential customers. The bill would allow electric cooperatives to…...
Democratic Governor Janet Mills signed an executive order on Feb. 14 ending a moratorium on wind turbine permits, authorizing state agencies to resume determining whether proposed projects qualify for approval. The move comes at a time when Northeastern states are planning large amounts of wind power to meet clean energy goals. Maine has a target…...
New York installed 744 megawatts of solar generating capacity through 2018, with an additional 883 megawatts in the pipeline under the NY Sun program, a $1 billion initiative that aims to add 3 gigawatts by 2023, according to a Feb. 14 report from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Expanding to include…...
Consumers Energy Company, in a Feb. 12 filing with the Michigan Public Service Commission, said that its avoided cost, which must be paid to small independent power producers under the federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act, should be rescinded as it was based on out-of-date information. The company asked the agency to approve new rates…...
The Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors on Feb. 14 approved the retirement of Paradise Unit 3 by 2020 and the Bull Run Fossil Plant by 2023, in order to better balance its generation system with changing demands. The vote reflects TVA’s commitment to replace less-efficient coal-fired plants with cleaner resources, despite President Donald Trump’s…...
The Virginia legislature approved a bill that would prohibit the governor or any state agency from participating in a regional carbon market, without a two-thirds majority vote from both the legislative chambers. The state is considering its own proposed cap-and-trade rule designed to link with the nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, the nation’s…...
South Carolina Electric & Gas Company proposed two resource plans based on the least cost options from 19 scenarios that were modeled for its 2019 integrated resource plan filed with the South Carolina Public Service Commission on Feb. 8. The plans, which detail resource needs from 2019 through 2033, reflect a shortage in base capacity…...
Delmarva Power & Light Company on Feb. 13 asked the Delaware Public Service Commission to approve its 2019 program for the procurement of solar renewable energy credits, or SRECs, to comply with the state’s renewable energy portfolio standard, which requires the percentage of retail energy supplied by renewable resources to increase over time to 25…...
Malmstrom Air Force Base, one of NorthWestern Energy’s main federal electricity customers, proposed the creation of a new tariff that would allow the base to utilize hydropower originating from the Western Area Power Administration’s Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, according to a Feb. 12 filing with the Montana Public Service Commission. The hydropower, which comes from resources…
