The Washington Utilities Commission on June 28 approved Puget Sound Energy Inc.’s solicitation process for demand response, as well as other resources including electric generation sources, energy storage, and renewable energy credits. The company’s resource acquisition process follows its integrated resource planning analysis, which establishes capacity and renewable energy needs on a biennial basis. The resource plan forecasts a modest capacity need until 2021, but grows to 272 megawatts in 2022 following the retirement of two units of the Colstrip plant. The plan seeks to have enough resources to meet 671,000 renewable energy credits from 2023. Puget Sound is a subsidiary of Puget Energy Inc.

The Delaware Public Service Commission on July 17 approved the second tranche of Delmarva Power & Light Company’s request for proposal to buy renewable energy credits, or RECs, from wind generation facilities of up to 80-megawatt capacity beginning in 2019-2020 for a 10-15 year term. The RFP is a result of a merger between Exelon Corporation and Pepco Holdings Inc. and the resulting change in control of Delmarva Power. The merger agreement contains a commitment for Delmarva Power to issue competitive solicitations to buy wind renewable energy credits in three tranches. The first tranche issued in February last year selected a bidder but did not result in a 40-megawatt contract as required, resulting in an option for bidders to propose that additional amount in the second tranche for a total of up to 80 megawatts.

The Georgia Public Service Commission on Sept. 6 approved Georgia Power Company’s sixth batch of power purchase agreements for 4.3 megawatts of customer-sited generation under its Renewable Energy Development Initiative, or REDI. The program, designed to procure 50 megawatts of customer-sited solar, was approved last October as part of the commission’s order adopting the company’s integrated resource plan. The company assigned 11.62 megawatts from the unsubscribed portion of the Advanced Solar Initiative-Prime program that concluded last year, bringing the REDI program total to 61.62 megawatts. From December 2017 through April, Georgia Power selected 43 projects that collectively represent about 58 megawatts of customer-sited solar under the REDI program. Georgia Power is a subsidiary of Southern Company.

Congress approved legislation on Oct. 11 that would promote hydropower by extending preliminary permit terms and deadlines for commencing construction of projects. The bill would support the development of conduit facilities – projects that generate power from water distributed for agricultural or industrial consumption – by requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to determine within 30 days whether a proposal meets licensing criteria, and also expanding the size of eligible projects to 40 megawatts from the current five-megawatt limit. The legislation would direct the commission to establish an expedited process for issuing licenses for hydropower projects at existing, non-powered dams within two years of application. The bill would similarly require a two-year licensing process for closed-loop pumped storage projects. (S.3021)

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Oct. 2 authorized Minnesota Power’s agreement with Cypress Creek Renewables LLC to procure energy and capacity from the 10-megawatt Blanchard Solar LLC generation facility for a 25-year term. The state’s solar energy standard requires 1.5 percent of utilities’ retail sales to come from solar resources by 2020. Minnesota Power’s 2015 integrated resource plan estimated a need for about 33 megawatts of solar power to meet the standard. The commission approved the plan in July 2016 setting interim targets and also found that procurement of up to 100 megawatts of solar by 2022 would be economic for the company’s system. The Blanchard project, expected to come online by July 2020, would add about 18,000 megawatt-hours of renewable power and 5 megawatts of capacity accredited by the Midwest power market annually. Minnesota Power is a division of ALLETE Inc.

The number of individual installations producing electric power under Michigan’s distributed generation program grew by nearly 28 percent last year, according to the Michigan Public Service Commission’s annual report released on Oct. 15. The number of installations increased from 2,684 in 2016 to 3,427 in 2017 representing a total capacity of 29,571 kilowatts, which is 35 percent higher than the previous year. Program participation has been steadily increasing year after year since 2006. Public Acts 341 and 342 of 2016 required Michigan regulators to phase out the net metering program and create a new distributed generation program to replace it. Electric utility rate cases filed after June 1, 2018 are now required to include distributed generation program tariffs.

The California Public Utilities Commission approved Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s energy storage contracts totaling 165 megawatts with six storage resources including a 20-megawatt project that would provide distribution deferral services, according to an Oct. 19 decision. The commission also authorized a 10-megawatt contract proposed by Southern California Edison Company. The contracts stem from request for offers following commission direction in 2016 and count towards storage procurement targets established under 2010 legislation for the state’s investor-owned utilities. Although Southern California Edison met its target under the law, the commission noted that the company’s 2016 solicitation intends to keep up the momentum in transforming the storage market. The commission authorized recovery of project costs from customers.

The New York Public Service Commission updated the Standardized Interconnection Requirements for renewable distributed generators including energy storage systems. With these revisions to the application and technical study process, the regulator wants to achieve a more transparent and faster interconnection process, allowing the utility to analyze and process a high volume of applications and helping developers manage construction and application costs.

The U.S. Energy Department’s Argonne National Laboratory signed an agreement with 14 members of the Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium to explore the next generation of lead batteries making it more attractive to the automotive industry and the power grid, according to an Oct. 19 press release. Lead battery makers have largely focused on the feasibility of processing methods and additives, but the interactions inside the battery remain unclear even after 159 years of the technology’s invention. The initiative will utilize the national lab’s resources and expertise to improve the performance of lead batteries and help the industry meet market demand for existing and new applications. Over 80 percent of U.S. large-scale battery power capacity currently comes from lithium-ion chemistries, according to the Energy Information Administration.

New Jersey state Assembly member Harold Wirths, a Republican, introduced legislation on Oct. 15 that would require the board of public utilities to establish mechanisms for electric suppliers and utilities to procure energy storage as part of their distribution and transmission system planning process. The legislation would require the board adopt rules and regulations that facilitate increased integration of energy to the utility grid, enhance grid reliability, reduce the need for additional generation during peak demand periods, and defer investments. The bill would allow energy service providers to file proposals for up to 15 megawatts of energy storage, and would exempt existing systems from the new provisions. (A 4525)

New York Independent System Operator Inc.’s 2018 reliability needs assessment issued on Oct. 18 identifies no resource adequacy related reliability need for the 10-year period from 2019 through 2028. The grid operator also said the assessment identifies no reliability need resulting from the transmission security evaluations for the same period. NYISO said that a transmission security need identified in eastern Long Island in preliminary evaluations was addressed with an update. The report indicates the summer peak baseline load forecast to be 1,464 megawatts lower in 2023 compared with the previous 2016 assessment. Recent state policies including the Clean Energy Standard, Offshore Wind Master Plan, Large-Scale Renewable Program, and Zero Emission Credits Program have the potential to alter the resource mix. The assessment is used to develop a 10-year reliability plan to maintain system reliability and document solutions to meet any reliability needs.

PJM Interconnection LLC’s board of managers initiated an independent investigation into GreenHat Energy LLC’s default in the grid operator’s financial transmission rights or FTR market, according to an Oct. 16 news release. FTR is a financial product that allows market participants to hedge the costs of day-ahead transmission congestion. GreenHat, a Texas-based financial trading company, acquired a substantial 890 million megawatt hour FTR portfolio. When the company started acquiring them since the 2015 long-term FTR auctions, clearing prices indicated the portfolio would be profitable and the company had a low credit requirement in accordance with the credit policy in effect at the time. PJM declared the default in June, and since then, has taken efforts to strengthen credit rules, including collateral requirements, and has requested the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to revise liquidation requirements. PJM said it has formed a special committee composed of three board members and retained independent third-party experts to assist the committee in examining the facts and circumstances that led to the default and make recommendations for future changes.

The Illinois Commerce Commission announced that Sperian Energy Corp., an alternative retail electric supplier, would return $2.65 million to Illinois consumers as a result of a multi-agency enforcement action for violations pertaining to marketing of retail electric products, according to an Oct. 15 news release. The agency initiated a proceeding against the company in July 2015 in response to customer complaints filed with the Consumer Services Division regarding door-to-door sales and telephone solicitations. In 2017, the Attorney General filed a separate lawsuit against the company in a circuit court. In addition to the refund, the settlement details marketing restrictions to which the company would be subject for the next five years.

Electric generation capacity losses resulting from nuclear plant outages spiked in early September as a result of earlier than expected maintenance, adverse weather conditions and early retirement, according to the EIA’s latest data. Hurricane Florence caused a nine-day unscheduled outage at the 1,870-megawatt Brunswick Nuclear Plant in North Carolina, which was forced to safely shut down before hurricane force winds and flood waters reached the site. Also in mid-September, the 625 MW Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Plant in New Jersey, expected to retire on December 31, permanently shut down after the retirement timeline was accelerated by more than a year to coincide with the end of the plant’s final fuel and maintenance cycle.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Oct. 17 authorized National Grid LNG LLC to add natural gas liquefaction facilities at the company’s existing Fields Point facility in Providence, Rhode Island. National Grid proposed the project, which seeks to add a 20 million standard cubic feet per day capacity, at the request of its customers Narragansett Electric Company LLC and Boston Gas Company to enable them to deliver gas to the facility by pipeline in a bid to diversify their supply sources. National Grid owns a 600,000-barrel storage facility and provides LNG storage, vaporization, and redelivery services. Currently, customers truck LNG to the facility for storage, and National Grid redelivers gas via truck or Narragansett Electric’s distribution pipelines and Algonquin Gas Transmission’s interstate pipeline. With the new project, this flow would be reversed, enabling Algonquin to transport gas that Narragansett Electric would deliver to Fields Point for liquefaction and storage. Commissioners Cheryl LaFleur and Richard Glick reiterated their concerns that the environmental review of such projects should include greenhouse gas emissions. The companies are subsidiaries of National Grid plc.

Mexican state oil company Pemex placed a bond of $2 billion in the international debt markets in line with operating and marketing measures unveiled in September to lower the company’s budget deficit for this year by about 38 percent, according to the company’s Oct. 16 news release. The bond, with a 10-year maturity period, yields an interest rate of about 6.5 percent for investors. In addition to supporting the company’s investment program and liquidating or refinancing debt to its favor, Pemex said the operation improves the company’s cash level through this year and ensures liquidity for the start of 2019. Investors who took part were largely from the U.S., Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Mexico, with the transaction having a demand of 5.9 times the amount placed, Pemex said.