The New York Department of Environmental Conservation and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority will hold a public hearing on draft criteria for identifying disadvantaged communities to guide the equitable implementation of the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Under the law, New York must reduce economywide greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030 and 85 percent by 2050 from 1990 levels, and attain a carbon-free power system by 2040. The draft provides an interactive map and a list of communities as well as criteria to direct initiatives that cut emissions, open economic development opportunities, and support investments in clean energy and energy efficiency. The department has scheduled 11 hearings during May and June to receive public input on the draft criteria based on geographic, public health, environmental hazard, and socioeconomic factors.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is due to receive responses to its request for information on the process involved in auctioning large-scale renewable energy projects to advance its “Build Ready” initiative under the 2020 Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act. The initiative is designed to identify sites and advance pre-construction development activities for large-scale renewable energy projects on underutilized lands before auctioning and transferring the sites to the private sector for final construction and operation. The program is in the process of developing a pipeline of projects on brownfields, landfills, and abandoned and existing commercial and industrial sites for eventual auction. The deadline, extended from the original due date of June 6, is structured around the first potential project under the initiative – the Benson Mines Solar Project.

The Maryland Public Service Commission will hold a prehearing conference on Delmarva Power & Light Company’s proposal to increase its electric retail rates. The company has proposed a three-year rate plan for the 2023-2025 period. The plan proposes an increase in electric delivery revenues of about $22.7 million for 2023, $30.6 million for 2024, and $37.5 million for 2025. The company also proposes to partially offset the increase by including the acceleration of certain tax benefits resulting in a 50 percent offset in 2023, and a 25 percent offset in 2024. Under the plan, a residential customer would see an average monthly bill increase of 2.11 percent for the first two years and 2.58 percent for the final year.

The California Energy Commission will hold a joint workshop with the California Department of Transportation to discuss the development of an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plan to avail funding under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, or NEVI, Formula Program. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides $5 billion in funding for the formula program and $2.5 billion for a discretionary grant program. The measure provides for the build out of the first national network of EV charging stations to progress towards the goal of deploying 500,000 chargers by 2030. California’s share will be $384 million over 5 years. Each state must submit a deployment plan to the new Joint Office of Energy and Transportation before availing the funds, describing how it plans to use the program funds, and ensuring it is in line with the Federal Highway Administration guidance.

The Nevada Public Utilities Commission will conduct a workshop to discuss regulations regarding its review of long-term natural gas procurement practices and requirements for long-term natural gas forecasting. The commission will discuss a staff report summarizing the outcome of an informal workshop held in February on the need to review long-term gas procurement contracts. The discussion examined several topics including cold weather peaks that utilities use for planning goals, forecasting tools and methodologies available to the state’s gas utilities, and whether upstream pipeline capacity is the only appropriate strategy to meet forecasted increases in peak demand. 19-12019

The California Independent System Operator Corp. is due to receive comments on a straw proposal for the Extended Day-Ahead Market initiative, or EDAM, a voluntary electricity market with the potential to deliver significant economic, environmental, and reliability benefits for participants across the West. The proposal seeks to extend the regional market into the day-ahead time frame, where the majority of energy transactions occur, in order to facilitate energy providers collaboration to share in the diversity of resources and system needs for enhanced reliability.