Key Takeaways: The Department of Energy’s (DOE) $1B loan guarantee for distributed energy projects addresses market barriers to deploy innovative solar, storage, and flexible demand technologies The loan program aims to aggregate distributed energy projects that would be too small to be financed individually due to high transaction costs Large-scale distributed energy providers and aggregators…
Key Takeaways: Power generators will benefit from higher clearing prices in PJM’s 2018/2019 capacity market auction while facing higher penalties in case of non-performance Share of natural gas will remain significant through either new generation or uprates to existing generation Demand response, energy efficiency and renewables potentially have a larger role in subsequent auctions and…
Key Takeaways: Proposed ratemaking and utility model reforms under the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) seek to align the earning opportunities of utilities with customer value by incentivizing near-term activities that support full-scale markets A shift from traditional regulatory incentives to market-based earnings would align utility profits with market activities The utility industry will increasingly…
Key Takeaways: The Mercury and Air Toxics (MATS) rule represented one of the most significant air pollution regulations in U.S. history when it was announced in 2011 The Supreme Court rejected the rule, ruling that the EPA should have considered costs initially when assessing whether the rule was “appropriate and necessary” The specific nature of…
Key Takeaways: The Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative seeks a fundamental restructuring of New York’s centralized utility model in response to technology advancements and customer trends that favor decentralized power generation The 2015 New York State Energy Plan provides a roadmap to implement the REV strategy through increased renewable generation, energy efficiency, and emissions…
Key Takeaways: PJM’s forced generation capacity outages in the 2013/2014 winter, along with long-term distributed generation trend, prompted PJM to propose capacity market reforms to ensure system reliability After requesting additional information in April, FERC approved PJM’s approval, allowing for inclusion in August Forward Capacity Auction Capacity Performance will impose stringent operational requirements and non-performance…
Key Takeaways: Solar energy still only accounts for around 1% of total U.S. power generation but costs have fallen dramatically The BLM approved the first utility-scale solar development projects under the Western Power Plan By reducing non-hardware costs of solar energy, the BLM’s initiatives will soften the impact of Investment Tax Credit expiration Insight for…
Key Takeaways: Enhancing energy efficiency is seen as a vital component of U.S. effort to reduce emissions and combat climate change A lack of access to information and financing are seen as critical obstacles to increasing energy efficiency of buildings Seven Accelerators have been announced within the Better Buildings program in order to enhance energy…
During the 2000s, many companies positioned themselves for a prolonged period of U.S. natural gas import dependence and constructed multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals across the Gulf Coast. However, the shale revolution transformed the domestic energy landscape, with natural gas production increasing from 19 trillion cubic feet (tcf) in 2005 to 27…
Insight for Industry – FERC’s Push to Incorporate Reliability Safety Mechanism in the Clean Power Plan Increases Certainty for State Compliance Efforts On May 15, 2015, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) provided the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a letter signed by all five Commissioners that details its role in implementing a Reliability Safety…
Insight for Industry – Breakthroughs in Battery Storage Technologies Carry Impacts for Wind and Solar On April 30, 2015, Tesla Motors unveiled its Powerwall and Powerpack lithium ion batteries for homes and utility-scale applications, which could facilitate an increased role for wind and solar energy resources that have so far been limited by a need…
Insight for Industry – Energy Efficiency Improvement Act Will Reduce Energy Demand The Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015, which President Obama signed into law on April 30, will add momentum to falling energy consumption per capita in the United States by reducing energy demand from commercial buildings, manufacturing plants, and homes. The relatively uncontroversial…
