Vineyard Wind LLC’ proposed 800-megawatt offshore wind project has been selected to negotiate contracts with Massachusetts electric distribution companies as part of competitive solicitations required under 2016 legislation, which requires the state to secure 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind by 2027, according to a May 23 press release from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. The project, located in the waters south of Martha’s Vineyard, would be the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. The company expects to start construction in 2019 and become operational by 2021. The contract award is subject to successful negotiations and regulatory approval by the Department of Public Utilities. Vineyard Wind LLC is co-owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables. Avangrid is owned by Iberdrola SA.

The Oregon Public Utility Commission voted two-to-one not to acknowledge PacifiCorp’s procurement of 1,311 megawatts of wind power, finding that the company’s selection process was rushed and failed to demonstrate that the lowest-cost and lowest-risk projects were tapped, according to a May 22 press release. The commission said that while the decision doesn’t prevent PacifiCorp from advancing renewable procurements, it does subject the utility to additional scrutiny. The commission allowed PacifiCorp to start its competitive solicitation process before completing the analysis of its integrated resource plan due to the pending expiration of federal production tax credits. PacifiCorp is a unit of Berkshire Hathaway.

Ameren Missouri, a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation, announced that it has reached an agreement to buy a 400-megawatt wind farm which would be built by an affiliate of Terra-Gen LLC in in northeast Missouri, according to the company’s May 21 press release. The project has been made possible by the transmission capacity that would be available from Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois’ Mark Twain Transmission Project, which is scheduled to become operational in December 2019. The wind farm is part of the company’s plan to add at least 700 megawatts of wind generation by 2020 and advance its goal of reducing carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. The transaction is subject to approval by the state public utility commission and the Midwest grid operator.

DTE Energy Co. and Consumers Energy Co. unveiled new energy procurement targets May 18 that will require Michigan’s two largest energy companies to source half of their electricity from a combination of renewable energy and energy efficiency by 2030. The plan follows an agreement with advocacy group Clean Energy, Healthy Michigan to withdraw a ballot proposal to increase the state’s renewable portfolio standard, which currently requires utilities to get 15 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2021. Consumers Energy is a unit of CMS Energy Corp.

Northern States Power Company, a subsidiary of Xcel Energy Inc., said that its proposed portfolio of 1,550-megawatt of wind generation would be highly cost-effective and provide customer benefits even after incorporating the impacts of the federal tax overhaul, according to its May 18 filing with the North Dakota Public Service Commission to update its project application. The company said that it has taken efforts to cut in almost half the effect of the tax changes and expects the updated costs to result in system-wide revenue requirement savings of $1.4 billion and $75 million for North Dakota customers. By comparison, the initial application put forth savings of $1.6 billion with North Dakota’s share being $85 million. The proposed wind portfolio consists of seven projects in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa.

Tucson Electric Power Company, a subsidiary of UNS Energy Corporation, won approval from the Arizona Corporation Commission to lower the rate used to calculate payouts for excess energy exported from net metering facilities by about 25 percent to $0.01972 per kilowatt-hour from $0.026258, according to the agency’s May 22 order. The rates are effective as of May 1.

New Jersey state Assembly member Nancy Pinkin, a Democrat, introduced legislation on May 17 that would require electric public utilities to enter into long-term contracts of 10- and 20-year durations to buy Class I renewable energy certificates. Class I category comprises electricity produced from solar, wind, fuel cells, geothermal technologies, wave or tidal action, small scale hydropower, and biomass facilities. Utilities would be entitled to rate recovery of costs or revenue losses associated with the contracts. (A 4001)

About 40 percent of the 700 megawatts of large-scale battery storage capacity installed in the U.S. is found in the grid operated by PJM Interconnection LLC thanks to favorable market conditions, according to a May 21 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. PJM created a frequency regulation market in 2012 to provide better payments for fast-ramping generators including energy storage, although recent rule changes could undermine the profitability of the market. Installations in the grid run by California Independent System Operator made up about 20 percent of existing U.S. large-scale battery storage power capacity last year. In 2013, the California Public Utility Commission set a mandate for the state’s investor-owned utilities to procure 1,325 MW of energy storage by 2020.

The office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a Democrat, reiterated its opposition to a proposal by the Illinois Commerce Commission to let utilities recover the costs of cloud-based computing systems through higher rates to consumers, arguing that no change in accounting rules is necessary to spur investments in the technology. In December 2017 the commission ordered rule changes to permit utilities to rate base cloud computing costs, and earn a return on the investment, to “level the playing field” between on-premise and cloud computing systems and to eliminate disincentives for the adoption of the technology. The proceeding comes as utilities are seeking new streams of revenue as sluggish electricity demand and weak power prices squeeze revenue.

Energy prices across New York during the summer are projected to drop 9 percent to 12 percent below the five-year average, and as much as 14 percent below last year, thanks to a range of state programs geared toward cutting electricity demand, according to a May 17 announcement by the New York Public Service Commission. Demand on the system is expected to peak at 32,904 megawatts compared to the typical forecast of 33,300 megawatts. The commission attributes the lower demand and prices in part to the Reforming the Energy Vision, a state program that aims to put the state on a path to source half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

The New York Public Service Commission staff on May 22 proposed a process to expand the value stack compensation approach to resource types beyond net metering-eligible technologies. The commission adopted the mechanism last year to compensate distributed energy resources in a more accurate and granular manner, moving beyond traditional net metering, with the intent to expand the tariff to all distributed energy resources in a “technologically-neutral, value-focused manner.” The staff proposal said that the value-based compensation eliminates the need for limits based on customer type that were necessary under net metering when compensation was based on utility service class.

The Florida Public Service Commission is asking residents to use the planning tools on its website to prepare for the hurricane season that runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 including plans to evacuate, install carbon monoxide detectors, and deal with downed power lines, according to the commission’s May 21 press release. Last September, Hurricane Irma, the first major hurricane to hit the state since 2005, disrupted power for 64 percent of all customers. The hurricane prompted the commission to investigate electric utilities’ hurricane preparedness to ensure that storm response plans are designed to minimize outages and restore power quickly. After the record-breaking 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting a 75-percent chance that the 2018 season will be near- or above-normal.

The New England Power Generators Association on May 23 filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, protesting ISO New England Inc.’s plan to have Exelon Corp.’s Mystic generator bid at $0 in the next two capacity auctions. The generator association said that offering Mystic’s 1,400 megawatts of capacity at zero would displace up to 1,285 megawatts of otherwise economic resources and suppress prices by up to $642 million in the next auction alone. ISO New England, which sees the generator as critical for the region’s reliability, has requested waivers from federal rules in order to extend the operation of the plant through May 2024.

New York state Assembly member Jeffrey Dinowitz, a Democrat, introduced legislation on May 18 that would establish stiffer licensing requirements for competitive energy suppliers. The bill would require energy aggregators, brokers and consultants to demonstrate financial accountability through a bond or other methods to obtain a license. It would establish penalties for violation and authorize the public service commission to decline license renewal, and revoke or suspend licenses for any violations and fraudulent practices. Growing consumer complaints has led several states to examine whether customers are better off with competitive retailers or on the default service tariff. (A 10804)

Solar farms Cow Creek Solar LLC and Williams Acres Solar LLC lodged protests against Portland General Electric Company with the state utility commission on May 21, charging the utility with failing to honor power purchase contracts required under federal law. In the complaint, the solar farms say that Portland General may be declining to start the contracts because the utility plans to first have the Oregon Public Utility Commission approve a cut in the payout rates allowed under the agreement. Williams Acres is a 2.5-megawatt solar farm in Marion County, while Cow Creek is a 1.75-megawatt solar farm in Polk County. Under the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act of 1978, utilities must buy power from eligible small renewable energy and cogeneration facilities, known as qualifying facilities, at administratively-set costs. Utilities have chafed under the mandate amid a proliferation of renewable projects and slumping power demand.

The second joint carbon auction held by California, Quebec, and Ontario sold all 90,587,738 carbon permits offered for current emissions at $14.65, above the $14.53 floor price, according to the results released on May 23 by the California Air Resources Board. Almost half of the permits offered for 2021 emissions were sold at the floor price. The auction yielded about $681 million for California’s emissions reduction programs. The quarterly auctions are held under the cap and trade program which is a central part of California’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

The average auction clearing price for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative slipped 23 percent in 2017 from the prior year to $3.42, amid slightly less market participation and a surplus of allowances, according to a report released by the market monitor Potomac Economics. The report found that demand is dispersed broadly across entities and allowance holdings are consistent with competitive expectations, although participants decreased from 41 in 2016 to 39 in 2017. Surplus allowances that accumulated over the years continued, although it dropped significantly in 2017 due to interim adjustments in the emissions cap and is expected to be exhausted by 2025. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the first mandatory cap-and-trade program to limit carbon emissions in the U.S., sold 918 million carbon allowances for $2.8 billion through the end of 2017.

The North Carolina Utilities Commission issued an order on May 15 approving Duke Energy Carolinas LLC’s request to allow all individually metered multi-family apartments to participate in its residential energy efficiency program, lifting a restriction that limited the program to apartment buildings with at least four units. The move follows complaints from property managers who said that they are unwilling to have only a portion of their buildings fitted with energy efficiency measures. The program aims to achieve energy savings through energy efficient lighting and water saving measures. Energy efficiency is important to achieve Duke Energy’s climate goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030 relative to 2005 levels. Duke Energy Carolinas is a subsidiary of Duke Energy.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities will conduct an economic analysis to assess the costs and benefits of the state rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation’s first mandatory cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the board’s May 22 news release. The analysis will help regulators examine the potential economic impact on ratepayers and pursue discussions with the member states. The board said that the reentry will impact energy supply and demand, the generation portfolio, emissions, and carbon allowance prices. Democratic Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order in January directing the state’s environmental protection department and public utilities board to begin the process of becoming a part of the nine-member compact. Murphy’s predecessor, Chris Christie, a Republican, withdrew New Jersey from the program in 2012, citing the program’s lack of effectiveness. The Murphy administration has set a goal of 100 percent clean energy for New Jersey by 2050.

State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s order authorizing construction of the PennEast natural gas pipeline, arguing that the agency did not consider adequate environmental information and erred in relying on PennEast’s contracts with its affiliates to demonstrate the need for the project. The move comes after New Jersey filed an appeal with FERC challenging the agency’s order approving the project, and after the state denied a freshwater wetlands permit for the developers. The link is designed to ship 1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from rich shale deposits in Pennsylvania into New Jersey. The petition was filed on behalf of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission. PennEast is a joint venture owned by AGL Resources Inc., New Jersey Resources, South Jersey Industries, UGI Energy Services, and Spectra Energy Partners LP.

Southern Company announced the sale of subsidiaries Gulf Power Company, Florida City Gas and its stakes in two Florida gas-fired power plants for $6.475 billion as the Atlanta-based utility looks to cut debt, which has accumulated from cost overruns at a nuclear expansion project and coal-gasification project. The deal, valued at $5.1 billion when accounting for the assumption of $1.4 billion debt, comes as Southern faces mounting debt from its multi-billion dollar Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, and after it recently wrote off over $6 billion of capital costs incurred for the now-cancelled Kemper clean coal project in Mississippi. The Florida City Gas deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter, while the other sales are expected to be completed in the first half of 2019.

Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania Inc., a subsidiary of Nisource Inc., asked the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to approve a boost of $46.9 million, or about 8.2 percent, to its annual revenue, which would hike the average monthly bill for residents by 9 percent, according to a May 21 press release. The company said the higher revenue will fund upgrades and replacement of its underground natural gas distribution pipelines. From 2007 to 2017, the company said it invested over $1.6 billion to expand its distribution system, and plans to invest $274 million this year. The commission will hold a hearing on June 21 and make a final decision by Dec. 15.

The U.S. continued to hold onto its title as the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas last year as output of hydrocarbons has surged nearly 60 percent since 2008, according to a May 21 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The U.S. became the top natural gas producer when it surpassed Russia in 2009, and became the largest supplier of oil, after beating Saudi Arabia in 2013. Russia and Saudi Arabia have cut oil production in a bid to lower global inventories and firm up prices as part of an agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The dramatic rise of the U.S. as a top oil and natural gas producer has upended energy markets across the globe.