Massachusetts Grants $7.4M for Municipal Resiliency Projects

Massachusetts has awarded the first round of grants under the Community Clean Energy Resiliency Initiative for six municipal resiliency projects. On September 25, 2014, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) awarded $7.4M in the first round of project implementation grants under the Community Clean Energy Resiliency Initiative.  The funding will support six projects designed…...

Draft Renewable Energy Conservation Plan for California Desert

An innovative landscape-level renewable energy and conservation plan proposed for the California desert provides a roadmap to develop 20,000 MW on more than 22 million acres over the next 25 years. On September 23, 2014, the Department of Interior (DOI) and the California Natural Resources Agency released the draft Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP), an…...

Massachusetts’ Second Green Bond Sale Shows Strong Demand

Massachusetts’ second Green Bond sale resulted in orders exceeding $1B for $350M worth of bonds and $429M in refinancing transaction that will save taxpayers $45M. On September 22, 2014, Massachusetts Treasurer Steven Grossman announced that the Commonwealth’s second Green Bond sale generated more than $1B in buy orders for a $350M bond offering.  Retail investors placed…...

Senate Finance Committee Hearing on Energy Tax Policy Reforms

On September 17, 2014, the Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing titled “Reforming America’s Outdated Energy Tax Code” to discuss possible reforms to the U.S. energy tax policy. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) underscored the need for predictable, level playing-field tax policy that puts renewables on the same footing as other…...

Cape Wind to Stage Offshore Wind Project at Marine Commerce Terminal

Cape Wind has entered into a two-year lease agreement with MassCEC to stage the first U.S. offshore wind project at the South Coast Marine Commerce Terminal. On September 12, 2014, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced a lease agreement between Cape Wind and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) to stage the first U.S. offshore wind project from the South…...

Wind Turbine Prototype Receives DOE Grant for Full-Scale Deployment

The DOE has signed a $3.8M cooperative research agreement with the University of Maine to support full-scale deployment of the first U.S. grid-connected offshore floating wind turbine prototype. On September 5, 2014, the University of Maine (UMaine) announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) signed a $3.8M cooperative research agreement with UMaine to advance design…...

[Report] NY REV Straw Proposal Recommends Utility-Owned Distributed Energy Resources

The New York Department of Public Service (DPS) staff has issued a Straw Proposal on achieving the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) Track One goals. The straw proposal reaffirms the initial April 24 proceeding which identified utilities’ role in managing a distributed system platform (DSP) and growing the state’s existing Distributed Energy Resource (DER) assets. Despite…...

Hawaiian Electric Companies Propose Comprehensive Energy Plans

Hawaiian Electric Companies have proposed comprehensive electric energy plans with a goal to achieve more than 65 percent renewable energy by 2030.   On August 26, 2014, the Hawaiian Electric Companies – Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric, and Hawaii Electric Light Company – proposed electric energy plans in response to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC)…...