The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is scheduled to receive comments on its proceeding to examine whether the state can achieve its long-term clean energy and environmental goals under the current resource adequacy procurement paradigm. The board is assessing alternatives to the state participating in the regional capacity market administered by PJM Interconnection LLC as the means to ensure sufficient generation resources for ratepayers. The investigation responds to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision last December to expand the minimum offer price rule in the capacity market, supporting fossil fuel generation and making it expensive to meet clean energy targets. READ MORE

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will host a virtual meeting of the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board. Topics of discussion include coal-gas coordination for the process of hydraulically fracturing wells that are close to active or sealed areas of coal mines and surveys to determine a safe distance involving offsets between mining and unconventional wells. The board will also consider the state’s proposal to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a market-based collaboration among ten Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states to limit emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants. READ MORE

The Maryland Public Service Commission will discuss revisions to regulations governing construction of certain fossil fuel generating stations. The revisions aim to align with federal requirements to ensure that affected communities have the opportunity to participate in the permitting process involving the construction of large fossil fuel-fired power plants.

The Vermont Public Utility Commission is scheduled to receive testimony on Green Mountain Power’s Climate Plan, which proposes targeted investments to address the growing impacts of storms, and thereby improve the resiliency and reliability of its power grid. The plan also aims to prepare the grid to serve as the backbone to achieve the state’s emissions reduction goals and transition off of fossil fuels. Green Mountain Power’s existing multi-year regulation plan, approved last year, authorizes the company to seek approval of a climate plan to pursue resiliency projects. 20-0276-PET

The North Dakota Industrial Commission’s Oil and Gas Division will discuss how to determine the oil price at which production in excess of transportation or market demand constitutes a waste of resources. The hearing will also consider what relief may be appropriate to prevent the waste. The commission has asked industry to provide input on a range of issues including price volatility, oversupply and reduced demand, and challenges of curtailing or shutting in production from the state’s wells. Oil producers are dealing with excess production under the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that has resulted in an unprecedented drop in demand.

The California Public Utilities Commission will vote on a proposal to approve Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s bankruptcy reorganization plan, with conditions, including changes to the company’s governance structure, enhanced oversight, and creation of local operating regions. The new oversight tools and changes to the reorganization plan are designed to ensure that PG&E will emerge from bankruptcy as a fundamentally changed company that has a commitment and ability to provide safe and reliable service while improving measures to mitigate wildfire risk and achieve the state’s climate goals. READ MORE

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission will hold a virtual workshop to discuss equity provisions across utilities’ integrated resource plans and the clean energy implementation plan, a new planning requirement created under the 2019 Clean Energy Transformation Act. The commission is currently drafting rules to guide investor-owned electric utilities’ planning efforts to meet the requirements of the legislation, including public engagement in utility planning. The law requires the state’s electricity supply to be carbon-neutral by 2030 and carbon-free by 2045. The act directs the state’s electric utilities to phase out coal from their generation portfolio by 2025. UE-190698