The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia will discuss costs and connection rules related to the growing share of community renewable energy facilities in the grid. The regulator will review interconnection procedures and consider how costs should be assigned for electric distribution system upgrades required to accommodate these distributed generators. The commission created new rules for community solar companies, covering licensing and registration, annual reporting, fees and consumer protection, following legislation passed in 2017 that seeks to promote local renewable energy. RM9-2015-01

The New York Independent System Operator Inc. may continue its discussion on pricing carbon in the operator’s wholesale electricity markets. NYISO has been discussing ways to implement a charge on the emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants. A previous analysis by the Brattle Group found that the charges would have a modest impact on customer costs as the state shifts toward renewables. A carbon charge of $42 per ton is projected to boost retail power rates by 2.2 percent, or about 0.38 cents per kilowatt-hour, over the baseline amount in 2020.

The New York Public Service Commission will discuss the impact analysis study from the state’s utilities looking at community distributed generation. The regulator proposed revisions to how utilities should pay for distributed energy generation to more accurately reflect the environmental and system benefit of the supplies. Staff with the agency also recommended revisions that they said could help drive an additional 1,000 megawatts of new community solar power. 15-E-0751

The Maine Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to receive comments on rules related to the reestablishment of net metering for consumers with solar installations. Democratic Governor Janet Mills signed legislation in March doing away with the previous Republican administration’s controversial gross metering policy, which sets a valuation for the entire output of a solar system, whether or not this electricity is consumed on site, on top of several fees for the transmission and distribution of that energy. Under the Democratic trifecta, Maine is set to boost its renewable energy policies and goals. 2019-00076

The Missouri Public Service Commission is due to receive requests to intervene on Ameren Missouri’s application to operate the nearly 300 megawatt Outlaw project in Atchison County. The wind farm project will be constructed by Tradewind Energy Inc, a renewables company owned by Enel Green Power North America Inc. on approximately 40,000 acres and is expected to begin operation in 2020. Ameren Missouri is a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation. EA-2019-0181

The Utah Public Service Commission will discuss the implementation of the Community Renewable Energy Act. Signed into law last month by Governor Gary Herbert, a Republican, the legislation will assist communities in achieving 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, setting up a framework between them and Utah’s largest electricity provider, Rocky Mountain Power Inc., a division of PacifiCorp. 19-R314-01

The California Public Utilities Commission will discuss PacifiCorp’s proposed net billing program for distributed generation customers, as a replacement for the company’s current Net Energy Metering policy, set to end in June 2020. The new program is designed to encourage the growth of renewable distributed generation in the utility’s service territory using a simplified system of crediting generators for avoided cost while charging the same rates as other customers for energy taken from the grid. A1904013

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to receive modifications to utility Conservation Improvement Programs mandated by the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007. All electric and natural gas utilities in Minnesota develop their own plan to offer a variety of energy saving opportunities for business and residential customers, helping to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and lessening the need for new utility infrastructure. CIP-16-116