The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority will hold a technical meeting to discuss stakeholder proposals and comments on its straw electric storage program design. The program is based on responses to the agency’s request for proposals for a storage program that provides positive net present value to ratepayers, allows for multiple types of grid benefits, and fosters sustained and orderly development of a state-based industry. Following Tropical Storm Isaias, which underscored the importance of grid resilience and the benefits of storage in this regard, the commission expanded the program objectives to include increased resilience for vulnerable customers. READ MORE

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority is due to receive briefs on a draft decision regarding tariff options for residential customers to buy products generated from a Class I renewable energy source located on their own premises. The decision would direct electric distribution companies to implement two tariff options for a term of 20 years effective Jan. 1, 2022 through Dec. 31, 2027. The options consist of a netting tariff with a monthly netting interval and an export rate at the applicable retail rates and a “buy-all” tariff with a fixed compensation rate over the term. The decision took into account the findings of a study focused on identifying and quantifying the benefits that distributed resources can provide to electric ratepayers, in an effort to inform future policies and initiatives that incentivize their deployment. 20-07-01

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities is due to receive reply comments on proposals concerning the agency’s investigation to promote and protect consumer interest in the retail electric competitive market. The department is examining proposals related to a range of issues discussed in an August 2020 meeting including license renewable applications, door-to-door marketing notifications, product information disclosure, and the display of renewable energy information on the Energy Switch MA website. The proceeding, initiated in 2019, identified initiatives intended to increase customer awareness of the competitive market, facilitate a proactive approach to oversight rather than reacting to complaints or reports about violations, and improve operational efficiency to optimize the value that the market can provide to customers. 19-07

The New York Public Service Commission is due to receive comments on New York Transco LLC’s proposed New York Energy Solutions Project, a 54-mile transmission line running between Rensselaer and Dutchess counties. Transco has proposed to construct and operate the project and exercise rights and privileges under certain municipal road use agreements. The project traverses 11 municipalities and Transco is in the process of securing agreements to obtain the permissions necessary to cross the relevant municipal roadways. Transco, working with National Grid, proposed the project through the New York grid operator’s competitive public policy transmission planning process. The transmission upgrade is designed to reduce grid congestion and boost renewable energy transmission from upstate to downstate. 20-E-0551, 20-02373

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission will discuss Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company’s application for adjustments of retail rates and charges applicable to natural gas services. The Vectren subsidiary seeks an increase in base revenues of $28.5 million, or 26.75 percent, with a return on equity of 10.15 percent. 45447 – NONE

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will consider an application by Big Bend Wind LLC and Red Rock Solar LLC, subsidiaries of Apex Clean Energy Holdings LLC, to construct what would be the state’s first wind-solar utility-scale hybrid renewable project. The 335-megawatt project would be located in Cottonwood, Watonwan, and Martin counties. The renewable energy generation would consist of 275 megawatts of wind and 60 megawatts of solar, or up to 308 megawatts of only wind. The wind project footprint would span about 43,523 acres while the solar project would occupy an area of 846 acres. CN-19-408

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission is due to receive comments on Puget Sound Energy’s draft integrated resource plan for electricity and natural gas service. The plan is designed to meet the 2019 Clean Energy Transformation Act, which requires the state’s electricity supply to be carbon-neutral by 2030 and carbon-free by 2045, and directs electric utilities to phase out coal from their generation portfolio by 2025. The electric resource plan would reduce carbon from the company’s electric supply by over 70 percent in direct emissions by 2029 and achieve the carbon-neutrality goal through energy transformation projects. The natural gas plan would emphasize conservation investment to eliminate the need to lock customers into lengthy contracts for expanding pipeline infrastructure. UE-200304