The Virginia State Corporation Commission is due to receive comments on over a dozen questions as it examines the development and impacts of electric vehicle charging infrastructure on the state’s power grid. The commission opened the proceeding in March to explore the impact of increased electric vehicle deployment on the affordability and reliability of utility electric services. The agency seeks information on a broad range of issues including existing development and projected growth, rate design, storage-specific issues, and the role of utilities in deploying public charging stations. READ MORE

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will discuss regulations to reduce emissions from existing unconventional natural gas wells and infrastructure. The draft regulations would restrict the release of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, and also reduce methane as a co-benefit. The regulations would require additional controls at wells sites and related infrastructure, and are expected to reduce 4,404 tons of ozone-causing VOCs and 75,603 tons of methane annually.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission will consider an application by Rocky Mountain Power, a unit of PacifiCorp, to close the net metering program, which compensates rooftop solar customers at the retail rate of 12.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for excess generation sent to the grid. The company seeks to implement a new net billing service for new customers as of Sept. 1 that would provide compensation based on an export credit rate of 2.24 cents per kilowatt-hour. PacifiCorp proposes to close the current net metering program as of July 31, allowing existing customers to remain under the service for 10 years. PAC-E-19-08

The Arizona Corporation Commission will consider Southwest Gas Corporation’s application for adjustments of retail rates and charges applicable to its gas service. The Southwest Gas Holdings Inc. subsidiary asked for an annual revenue increase of $93 million, which would result in an increase of $7.01, for residential customers consuming, on average, 24 therms per month. G-01551A-19-0055

The California Public Utilities Commission will host a remote access meeting of the Wildfire Safety Advisory Board, which was established in 2019 to review mitigation plans to ensure that electric utilities are taking effective actions to reduce wildfire risk. The commission encourages the public to provide input on the board’s draft 2021 mitigation plan recommendations. The agency recently approved recommendations for 2020 wildfire mitigation plans, imposing additional conditions that utilities must meet to explain how their initiatives improve safety and decrease the likelihood of wildfires. Catastrophic fires in 2017, 2018, and 2019 resulted in billions of dollars in damage across the state, forcing Pacific Gas & Electric to declare bankruptcy last year.

The Nevada Public Utilities Commission will discuss a concept paper on the development of goals and outcomes by utility stakeholders to inform the implementation of alternative ratemaking. A 2019 law directed the commission to adopt regulations enabling electric utilities to file alternative ratemaking plans, which include performance-based rates based on performance metrics that the commission may establish. The legislation also authorizes the commission to include a mechanism for earnings sharing with the utility’s customers, and allows for waiving the current requirement for utilities to file a general rate case every three years. 19-06008