The New York State Department of Public Service will consider potential damages and harm suffered by ratepayers due to Consolidated Edison Company’s failure to ensure the reliability of its electric grid in July 2019. The company faces $25 million in penalties as well as possible license revocation for failure to respond to outages that left over 100,000 customers without power for two days. The potential penalty is in addition to the $15 million in revenue reductions already applied to the company due to the same outages. READ MORE

The New York Public Service Commission will discuss a whitepaper on standby and buyback service rates in its value of distributed energy resources proceeding. The paper describes findings and recommendations regarding utility filings on these rates and establishing optional demand-based rates. Specifically, the whitepaper considers the application of the “Allocated Cost of Service methodology,” or ACOS, as well as the appropriateness of imposing some of the resulting changes to stand-alone energy storage systems. Further, the paper identifies a proposed ACOS method for investor-owned electric utilities to apply in developing such rates and recommends that stand-alone energy storage systems be exempted from contract demand charges for injections under buyback service. READ MORE

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities will receive comments on electric utilities’ response to Tropical Storm Isaias. The board will discuss its comprehensive report on the topic including recommendations for utilities to enhance their preparedness and response protocols in multiple areas such as utility communications and outreach for customers and public officials, better vegetation management, and tracking and valuing infrastructure hardening and resilience projects. The meeting is the first in a new series of quarterly public comment meetings intended to provide the public and interested parties an opportunity to speak about matters relevant to the board’s jurisdiction. EO20090607

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is due to receive reply comments on Petroleum Fuels Company’s application for a pipeline to transport gas from a renewable natural gas processing facility, which would process landfill gas extracted from the Republic Services Pine Bend Landfill into Xcel Energy’s high-pressure gas system. The PFC Midstream subsidiary expects the project to come online by the end of June 2021. PPL-20-872

The California Public Utilities Commission will discuss Southern California Edison Company’s operations and performance during Public Safety Power Shutoff, or PSPS, events in 2020. The commission adopted additional PSPS guidelines last June to mitigate wildfire risk, ensure that utilities support customer-friendly communications before and during such events, and minimize the impact on customers. The meeting is intended to ensure that the commission has adequate information to take additional actions as necessary to mitigate severe risks to public health and safety ahead of future PSPS events triggered by the company.

The Nevada Public Utilities Commission will examine current regulations governing the state’s renewable portfolio standard to determine whether electric service providers should be allowed to utilize alternative methods including blockchain-based solutions to track and certify Nevada portfolio credits. The workshop is intended to provide information about how the blockchain technology works. Nevada enacted legislation in April 2019 that increased the RPS to 50 percent by 2030, and set a goal for achieving 100 percent of the state’s electricity from carbon-free resources by 2050. 18-09008

The Nevada Public Utilities Commission will discuss an application by Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company seeking approval of their energy supply plan update for 2021. In December, the commission approved an update to the plan recognizing the companies’ option to file an additional update to address the open positions for the summer of 2021. The companies seek a change in the power procurement plan, increasing Nevada Power’s open position to 928 megawatts and reducing Sierra Pacific Power’s long position to 27 megawatts, following record breaking temperatures in the state last August, which caused high demand on the electric system. 20-12020

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission is due to receive comments regarding its proposed rules establishing the filing of distribution system plans and the evaluation of non-wires alternatives in accordance with a 2019 law. The commission expects distribution system plans to provide quantitative and qualitative benefits, including integration of grid technologies that support, reliability and resiliency, emissions reductions, energy efficiency, demand flexibility, and load management. 20R-0516E