Member states of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, will hold their 61st quarterly auction of carbon allowances. The auction clearing prices will be posted on Sept. 8. The previous auction, held in June 2023, sold all of the more than 22 million allowances offered at a clearing price of $12.73, and generated about $280.4 million, bringing the total proceeds to nearly $6.5 billion. READ MORE

The Maryland Public Service Commission will hold a hearing to discuss Columbia Gas of Maryland’s 2024-2028 Strategic Infrastructure Development and Enhancement, or STRIDE, plan. The NiSource Inc. subsidiary’s investment plan accelerates cost recovery of eligible gas system infrastructure replacements and is estimated to range from $17 million to $22.4 million a year to be collected over a five-year period from the start of 2024. The estimated monthly surcharge under the plan would be approximately $2 for a residential customer.

The New York Public Service Commission is due to receive comments on a proposed amendment to a certificate authorizing the construction and operation of the Champlain Hudson Power Express, a 1,250-megawatt transmission line that will supply hydropower from Canada to New York city. The proposed changes, which include a routing change to authorize the removal of portions of the project from some local roadways, are intended to address engineering constraints and to minimize construction impacts to stakeholders. The endeavor is one of two contracts for transmission projects by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority representing the largest renewable energy and transmission projects contracted for the state in the last 50 years. The other contract is with Clean Path NY to deliver solar and wind energy from upstate New York through a 1,300-megawatt power line.

The California Energy Commission is due to receive comments on the findings and recommendations from the SB 100 joint report for 2021. Enacted in 2018, the legislation increased California’s renewable portfolio standard to 60 percent, and set a goal of procuring 100 percent of the state’s retail electricity supply from renewable and zero-carbon resources by 2045. The commission recently held a joint workshop with the Public Utilities Commission and the Air Resources Board which included an overview of the 2021 report with a highlight on developments that occurred in the last two years, and presentations and panels to provide stakeholder input on the state’s path towards the goal established by the law. SB 100 requires the agencies to address the findings and recommendations as the 2025 joint agency report is developed. 23-SB-100

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will hold a prehearing conference to review the status of Dodge County Wind LLC’s application to build an up to 259-megawatt wind project in Dodge, Mower, and Steele Counties and to establish a procedural schedule. The NextEra Energy Resources subsidiary proposes to construct the project over an area of approximately 28,348 acres with up to 79 turbines. Dodge County Wind has entered into a power purchase agreement with Great River Energy for the full output of the project for a 30-year term. CN-20-865

The Washington Department of Ecology will issue a summary report of its third greenhouse gas allowance auction under the state’s cap-and-invest program. The auction offered 8,585,000 allowances from the current year 2023 at a floor price of $22.20. Washington joined the Western Climate Initiative in December 2021, which provides an auction platform for linked programs in California and Québec, and a stand-alone program in Nova Scotia. The second auction, held in May, sold all allowances offered and generated more than $557 million, bringing the total proceeds to about $857 million. READ MORE

The California Energy Commission will hold a workshop to discuss the potential adoption of hydrogen to help decarbonize the electric generation and transportation sectors as part of the 2023 Integrated Energy Policy Report, or IEPR. Commission staff will present initial findings and perspectives on preliminary analysis of the potential adoption of hydrogen to support decarbonization. Staff will also solicit feedback and identify priority areas of future analyses including in the 2025 IEPR. The commission’s Energy Research and Development Division will also give a presentation on hydrogen-focused research and development projects being funded through the Gas R&D, Electric Program Investment Charge, and Clean Hydrogen programs. 23-IEPR-06