The New York State Public Service Commission is due to receive comments on its distributed energy compensation program that expands the size of qualifying projects to five megawatts of generating capacity, up from the previous limit of two megawatts. The regulator seeks to make the changes to attract larger projects and lower costs to consumers. New York’s Clean Energy Standard requires 50 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources like wind and solar by 2030. (15-E-0751)

The California Independent System Operator Corp. is due to receive comments on updates to its reliability must-run and capacity procurement program. The operator relies on contracts under the programs to secure supplies from generators to ensure sufficient generation is available to meet system demand. The rule changes come as flagging power prices drives up retirements and leaves the system more vulnerable to supply shortages.

The U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina is expected to rule on South Carolina Electric & Gas Company’s lawsuit challenging legislation passed on June 27 to temporarily slash the utility’s electric rates by 15 percent to lower customer payments for the failed V.C. Summer nuclear expansion project. The SCANA subsidiary seeks an injunction blocking the rate cuts by the public service commission, arguing that they will cause irreparable harm. South Carolina Electric & Gas and state-owned utility Santee Cooper scrapped the Summer nuclear expansion project last July after spending about $9 billion. (3:18-cv-01795)

The Connecticut Green Bank’s requested date for the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to approve the creation of an affiliate in order to raise funds for its residential solar energy credit program. The bank said that it seeks expedited authorization of the affiliate to head off “liquidity constraints” that have emerged after lawmakers withdrew funds from the program last year. (16-05-07)

The Michigan Public Service Commission will discuss the planning processes and investments in the distribution systems for the state’s major electric utilities. The meeting will cover forecasting of growth in distributed generation, such as customer-sited renewables and electric vehicles; consideration of non-wire alternatives to minimize costs; standards to enhance renewable integration; and performance-based ratemaking. The commission will review proposals by Consumers Energy Co., DTE Electric Co. and Indiana Michigan Power Co. (U-20147)

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc.’s President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Magness and the independent monitor will provide presentations and reports on the market. The Texas grid recently saw record power demand, with electricity consumption topping 73,000 megawatts from triple-digit temperatures.

The California Public Utilities Commission will review a proposal by Southern California Edison Company to procure energy storage to shore up power supplies in the region. The disastrous blowout at the Aliso Canyon natural gas well has left generators in the area short of fuel reserves, putting the system at greater risk of outages.

The International Energy Agency will release its closely watched report on U.S. and foreign oil markets, looking at supply, demand, and prices, including forecasts for 2019. Last year, China surpassed the U.S. as the world’s largest gross crude oil importer, and became the second-largest destination for U.S. exports, next only to Canada. (Previous Report)