The Maryland Public Service Commission is due to receive comments on a request from the Maryland-DC-Virginia Solar Energy Industries Association seeking expedited approval of interconnection applications of customer generator systems. As the COVID-19 pandemic has already caused significant operational disruption to the residential solar industry, the association sought an emergency measure to mitigate the impacts. The group requested an order requiring utilities to give permission for Level 1 systems to operate within two days of application submission over the next six months.

National Grid will conduct online meetings to gather public input on its long-term capacity report analysing available options to meet natural gas demand in its service territory. The report follows a November 2019 settlement under which National Grid agreed to lift the moratorium on gas service in Long Island, Queens, and Brooklyn. The settlement required an analysis of long-term options, subject to a public review process, to meet natural gas supply constraints. The company imposed the moratorium in May following the Department of Environmental Conservation’s decision to deny a water permit for Williams Co.’s Northeast Supply Enhancement project, which would provide service to the utility. READ MORE

The Florida Public Service Commission will hold a conference to consider electric infrastructure storm hardening rules with regard to the proposed repeal of duplicative requirements as the agency adopted new rules with more stringent reporting requirements for storm restoration costs and rate impacts. A 2019 law directed utilities to file 10-year storm protection plans to reduce restoration costs and outage times associated with extreme weather events and enhance reliability. The commission will also consider storm restoration costs for Florida Power & Light Company, Peoples Gas System, and St. Joe Natural Gas Company. Public participation will be telephonic or by written comment. READ MORE

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities is scheduled to receive the 2019 grid modernization reports from the state’s electric distribution companies. In December, the agency issued directives that the companies — National Grid plc, Unitil Corp., and Eversource Energy — must follow in their annual reports and established reporting templates based on input from stakeholders to ensure that they provide a clear picture of each company’s progress. Last July, the department approved the companies’ revised performance metrics to be used in evaluating the progress under their individual grid modernization plans, as well as statewide goals. 15-120

The California Public Utilities Commission will hold a telephonic conference to consider Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s application for interim rates to address costs associated with wildfire mitigation and response. The company seeks to recover, on an interim basis, $899 million in revenue over a period starting from August 2020 and continuing through 2021. PG&E said that the amount is calculated as 85 percent of the revenue requirement associated with the costs already incurred through the end of 2019, mainly since 2017, in wildfire- and catastrophe-related memorandum accounts. A2002003

The Nevada Public Utilities Commission will conduct a videoconference to discuss NV Energy’s first natural disaster protection plan that outlines measures to protect the public from the impacts of natural disasters on the utility’s electric infrastructure. The plan includes protocols to inspect electrical infrastructure, vegetation management measures, preventive steps to mitigate disaster risks, and de-energization protocols for electric assets in the event of fire weather conditions. The company forecasts a total cost of nearly $350 million from 2020-2023 to implement the plan. 20-02031