The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority updated its NY-Sun solar program to reflect changes in market conditions and the state’s transition to the new “value stack” solar compensation mechanism, according to the agency’s 2018-2024 operating plan filed with the New York Public Service Commission on June 14. The size cap on upstate and PSEG Long Island nonresident solar projects eligible for incentives under the “Megawatt Block” system was lifted to 750 kilowatts, while in Con Ed it was raised to 7.5 megawatts. The new rules also raise the statewide target for solar generating capacity to 3,180 megawatts, from 3,000 megawatts.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection selected Deepwater Wind LLC’s 200-megawatt Revolution Wind Project for the state’s first offshore wind procurement, according to the department’s June 13 press release. The 25-turbine project, to be located in federal waters halfway between Montauk, New York and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, is slated for construction in 2021, with power delivered to the grid by 2023. The procurement represents the full amount allowed under state law, which limits offshore wind to 3 percent of electric distribution companies’ total load. Rhode Island selected 400-megawatts from the same project last month. Deepwater, which developed the nation’s first offshore wind project in 2016 off Block Island, is owned principally by an entity of the D.E. Shaw group, with over $35 billion of assets under management, according to the project website.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board asked for approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on June 11 to acquire a nearly 50-percent interest in the 252-megawatt Cedar Point Wind farm in Colorado, and the 52-megawatt Silver State solar farm in Nevada from a unit of Alberta-based Enbridge Inc. Enbridge is one of the world’s largest gas and oil pipeline operators. The Toronto-based Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is an investment manager. The applicants seek approval by July 12.

Democrat Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and Republican Dean Heller of Nevada introduced legislation on June 7 that would repeal tariffs imposed on imported solar panels by the Trump administration, which are widely expected to curb growth in the industry. The Trump administration slapped tariffs on panels in January after bankrupt solar manufacturers Suniva and SolarWorld asked for relief, citing a flood of cheap, foreign imports. The tariffs will phase down from 30 percent in 5-percent increments over three years. The Senators said that higher rates will have a chilling effect on the industry and put billions of dollars of investment in domestic manufacturing in jeopardy. They note that 80 percent of solar jobs in the U.S. center on installation, sales and project development, and depend heavily on the availability of affordable panels. (S.3022)

The Maine Public Utilities Commission announced June 12 that it will take another look at the Maine Aqua Ventus offshore floating wind demonstration project, citing changing market conditions since approval was granted in February 2014. The commission said it wants to ensure the 20-year power purchase contract for the project, estimated to cost ratepayers over $200 million, is still in the public interest, given rapid changes that have seen some energy market projections fall as much as 80 percent. The project consists of two 6-megawatt floating turbines, 12 miles off the coast of Maine. The project, which is due to start operation in 2020, is being developed by Cianbro Corporation, the University of Maine, and Naval Energies.

New York state Assembly member Michael Cusick, a Democrat, introduced legislation on June 14 that would require the Public Service Commission and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to submit annual reports on the progress toward meeting the state’s Clean Energy Standard, which requires utilities to obtain half their electricity supplies from clean energy sources by 2030. It directs the commission to ramp up clean energy targets for the years 2021 through 2030, and strategies to achieve the goals including market-based rules and changes to generator eligibility. (A 11202)

The U.S. Energy Department is requesting information to advance research and development in hydrogen technologies under its Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program as it looks to promote the technology in transportation and to attract private sector investments in fueling stations, according to the department’s June 13 press release. The agency also asks for input on large-scale uses of hydrogen such as for energy storage, grid services, transport, and natural gas blending. The initiative aims to identify the cost of complying with federal and state laws, and recommend potential actions to address regulatory burden. The comment period will close on August 10.

CFE International LLC, a Houston-based energy trading firm owned by the Mexican government’s Comisión Federal de Electricidad, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on June 13 for authorization to sell power in U.S. wholesale markets starting in July. CFE International, which trades energy exclusively outside of Mexico, seeks license to sell ancillary services to all of the major regional wholesale markets in the U.S., excluding Texas. The CFE, owner of the trading unit, was the exclusive operator of the Mexican power sector, serving as a vertically integrated utility, until the government enacted reforms in 2013. CFE was since disbanded into thirteen independent generation, transmission, distribution, and commercial subsidiaries, and a competitive wholesale market, open to the private sector, was created.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved the reduced fees Duke Energy Indiana LLC may charge residences and businesses that wish to opt out of its advanced metering infrastructure, or AMI, program, following an agreement reached with consumer advocates. The settlement slashed the company’s originally proposed one-time fee to $75.00 from $104.96, and its recurring monthly fee to $17.50 from $28.59. Duke was prompted to create the opt-out program amid customer concerns over data security, data privacy, and health impacts from wireless radio frequency. Duke started deploying AMI meter as the standard meter in its Indiana service area in 2016, expecting to complete an estimated 836,000 meters by mid-2020. Duke Energy Indiana, a subsidiary of Duke Energy Corporation, serves about 817,000 customers in 69 Indiana counties.

The New York Department of State’s Utility Intervention Unit, which represents consumer interests, recommended that the Public Service Commission restrict the termination fees for mass market customers enrolling with distributed generation providers, establish a process to review and consider rules for energy production guarantees, and limit price escalation terms in all contracts. The watchdog said that long-term contracts with high termination fees would hinder customers’ ability to shop for suitable products, undermine motivation for innovative offerings, and also create opportunities for deceptive practices, according to a June 11 filing. The commission is developing a regulatory scheme designed to protect consumers and promote fair competition in the emerging distributed energy resources, or DER, market.

D.C. Energy, an investor and trader in commodity markets, lodged a complaint with federal regulators on June 4 over what it argued was PJM Interconnection LLC’s failure to impose sufficiently high collateral requirements in its financial transmission market, which it said leaves participants vulnerable to spreading defaults. PJM’s financial transmission market is used to hedge against wild swings in power prices that arise from bottlenecks in the transmission network, with a wrong bet leaving participants on the hook for sometimes lofty payments. D.C. Energy said that traders can acquire “indefinitely large” portfolios of hedges while posting no or minimal collateral, which raises the risk that a default by a trader spreads to other market participants. D.C. Energy said that participants in the auction should be subject to a 5-cent per kilowatt-hour collateral requirement.

Power marketers sold about 21 percent of the retail electricity provided in the U.S. in 2016, nearly double the amount from 2005, as suppliers have expanded their operations across more states, according to a June 12 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While Texas accounted for 98 percent of all U.S. power marketer sales in 2004, since then suppliers have become active in other states with retail competition, led by Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. The growth in market share by suppliers has come at the expense of rival utilities, already reeling from flat power consumption, with their sales falling over 15 percent over the period. Retail competition has spread to over a dozen states since regulators started to liberalize power markets in the U.S. in the 1990s.

The New York Public Service Commission issued an order finding that Manhattan-based energy supplier Premier Empire Energy LLC could have its license stripped after failing to make payments required under the state’s nuclear subsidy program. New York’s Clean Energy Standard mandates that energy services companies in the state purchase zero emissions credits from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority in proportion to the amount of electric supplies delivered to customers, with the proceeds of the program used to support the operations of in-state nuclear reactors. NYSERDA found that Premier was delinquent on payments of over $27,000 for the 12-month period starting April 2017. Premiere claims that its actual demand served during the period was significantly below what was calculated, and its payment obligations should be lowered accordingly. New York said that failure to pay could lead to Premiere’s suspension in the retail access programs and revocation of its license to provide energy service as an ESCO in New York.

Alberta, Canada-based AltaGas Ltd. announced June 13 that it’s selling a stake in its British Columbia hydroelectric projects for C$922 million as part of its plan to raise funds for its acquisition of WGL Holdings Inc. AltaGas reached an agreement with a joint venture owned by Axium Infrastructure Inc. and Manulife Financial Corporation to sell 35 percent of its interest in three hydro plants, with over 270-megawatts of generating capacity, located in Tahltan First Nation territory in the province. The funds account for almost half of the approximately C$2 billion in asset sales to be raised for the purchase. WGL Holdings is the parent company of Washington Gas which provides regulated gas distribution services across Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia.

A unit of Talen Energy Corp., New Harquahala Generating Company LLC, asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for authorization by July 26 to sell its stake in a one-gigawatt power generator in Arizona to Beal Bank USA, according to a June 11 application, as part of a broader bankruptcy restructuring of Talen’s subsidiaries. Beal, a financial institution, will transfer the New Harquahala plant to an entity that will use it for power generation.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved Georgia Gulf Generating LLC, a unit of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, to buy the 745-megawatt Washington gas-fired generator from Mackinaw Power LLC. Mackinaw Power is 75 percent owned by investment funds managed by The Carlyle Group LP, and 25 percent owned by the General Electric Co. The acquisition adds to CalPERs existing ownership of the 752-megawatt Calhoun Power plant, a facility under a long term power supply contract with Alabama Power Company, a unit of Southern Company.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must develop plans to address smog pollution in upwind states that impair the ability of downwind states such as Connecticut and New York to meet their ozone standards, according to a June 13 news release from the Connecticut Governor’s Office. In January, Connecticut and New York sued the agency for failing to comply with the “Good Neighbor Provision” under the Clean Air Act. That statute imposes pollution control requirements on upwind states that interfere with downwind states’ 2008 ozone attainment, including Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. The case is State of New York and State of Connecticut v. Pruitt and the U.S. EPA. (1:18-cv-00406)

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission seeks comments on the Hawaiian Electric Companies’ “Electrification of Transportation Strategic Roadmap,” a long-term plan for moving the island’s transportation system away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, according to a June 13 press release. The plan provides measures to boost electric vehicles, including incentivizing charging at certain times of day to help the grid meet the fluctuations in electricity supply and demand. The plan also calls for the use of smart charging to aid in the integration of intermittent solar generation. Comments will be accepted through July 16.

Consolidated Edison Company wants to electrify school buses across the New York area under a plan to have the fleet of vehicles double as energy storage batteries capable of helping the utility meet swings in power demand on its grid. The 8,000-odd school buses operating in Westchester County and New York City, if electrified, could provide about 450 megawatt-hours of energy storage, helping to lower peak demand on the system by as much as 112-megawatts, when prices are most expensive and the highest-emitting generators are dispatched. The seasonal use of school buses makes them ideal candidates for so-called vehicle-to-grid projects, soaking cheap, abundant electricity supplies during off-peak hours. Conversely, during the summer, when school is in recess, the buses will be widely available to discharge electricity when supplies are needed most to meet spikes in demand to run air conditioning. The mobility of the buses also allows them to be deployed in the highest demand areas. Con Ed’s Electric School Bus V2G project will start with five buses from the White Plains public school district, operating through the summer of 2021.

The New York Senate passed legislation on June 4 that would require the Long Island Power Authority to provide public notice of proposals to build utility transmission facilities to the concerned municipalities, legislators, and utility customers. The notice would describe the proposed facility, environmental review, location including any alternative location, and the reason for choosing the location. The legislation, if enacted, raises the prospect that developers of transmission lines will face more hurdles in getting projects built, even as the state looks to expand the grid to ship more power supplies to the southern part of the state. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, signed into law similar legislation on April 24, requiring utilities to provide notification to landowners who are within the vicinity of a proposed transmission line. (HB 869)(S 6861A)

Staff with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission said that a “sufficient foundation” of evidence exists to approve Enbridge Inc.’s Line 3 oil pipeline, and found that authorization of the project shouldn’t hinge on the route selected, according to June 8 briefs. Enbridge seeks a permit to replace its aging and deteriorating 50-year old oil pipeline, which spans over 1,000 miles to deliver crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the Midwest, and ultimately Eastern Canada, and the Gulf Coast. Staff said the safety and environmental risks posed by the cracking and corrosion on the pipeline is “more favorable” than not replacing it. Staff also said approval of the new line shouldn’t be contingent upon the project being routed along the same route as the old one, as was called for in April by Administrative Law Judge Ann O’Reilly to minimize the environmental impacts. The Alberta government, a backer of the project, said that it opposed an “in trench” replacement as it would require the pipeline to be shut down for an extended period of time, causing service disruptions to the Midwest markets, where the link provides 70 percent of supplies.

The U.S. Energy Department approved BP Energy Company to import liquefied natural gas by vessel, equal to 1,200 billion cubic feet of gas, for a two-year term starting Aug. 22, according to a June 8 order. The department found that the application met the federal requirement that deems exports and imports involving countries with which the U.S. has a free trade agreement to be consistent with the public interest. BP Energy is a subsidiary of BP PLC.

International trade of liquefied natural gas rose 10 percent to 38.2 billion cubic feet per day in 2017 from the prior year, posting the largest jump on record, according to a report by International Association of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers. Asian markets, led by Japan, China and South Korea, respectively, accounted for the bulk of LNG imports, and made up about three-quarters of the growth in trade. Major exporters Australia and the U.S. accounted for 2.7 billion cubic feet per day of the growth in trade. Production from vast shale reserves in the U.S. and Australia are beginning to be felt in international markets, as export terminals needed to ship out supplies come online.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission on June 14 approved Northern Utilities Inc.’s precedent agreement and the recovery of costs for securing firm pipeline capacity on the proposed Portland Express Project Phase III on the Portland Natural Gas Transmission System. The capacity would enable Northern to transport 10,000 dekatherms per day of supplies from the Dawn Hub in Ontario to the Granite State Gas Transmission Inc. in New Hampshire and other delivery points on the system for a 20-year period. Maine customers would receive about 5,800 dekatherms per day of the proposed capacity, boosting Northern’s long-term resource portfolio by about 13 percent, and providing “price stability” by drawing fuel from an area with increasing supplies. Phase III of Portland Xpress is scheduled to start in November 2020. TransCanada operates the Portland Natural Gas Transmission System. Northern Utilities and Granite State Gas Transmission are subsidiaries of Unitil Corporation.

Oil and gas production from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is possible only after 2030 because of the time required to buy leases, explore, and develop infrastructure, according to a June 14 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Legislation enacted last December required the U.S. Interior Department to establish a competitive program for oil and gas development in the coastal plain of the wildlife refuge, where drilling had been effectively banned. The agency projects a decline in domestic demand for Alaskan production because of crude oil quality issues and transportation limitations, causing more volumes to be exported to Asian markets. Last year, 80 percent of Alaskan oil was refined in Washington and California.