The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities seeks comment on its Community Solar Energy Program as part of a one-year review. The board seeks feedback on the performance of the program, including consideration of capacity blocks, the state’s performance in meeting its solar targets, and how registration requirements are affecting project participation. Further, board staff seeks comment on how the market has adjusted to the Successor Solar Incentive, or SuSI, program established in 2021 with two components: Competitive Solar Incentive program and Administratively Determined Incentive program, or ADI, which offers a fixed incentive for net-metered residential projects. The board seeks feedback on whether to adjust the incentive levels or capacity blocks in the community solar program within the ADI program and expectations for longer-term market prospects to refresh the ADI incentive levels for community projects. READ MORE

The Virginia Corporation Commission will hold a technical conference to discuss fast-emerging issues related to servicing new electric load resulting from the increased deployment of hyperscale retail electric customers. The commission has opened a proceeding to explore the current and projected future challenges presented by the growth of large-use, retail electric customers in a comprehensive manner, finding that the addition of these types of customers, which include data centers, could represent an unprecedented amount of new load for electric utilities. The proceeding may also examine issues related to the co-location of generation resources at new large-use customer load sites. READ MORE

The New York Department of Public Service staff will hold a virtual technical conference to discuss how to best engage stakeholders from disadvantaged communities in the Coordinated Grid Planning Process. The initiative is an iterative, multi-year planning effort that depends on electric system modeling to make projections for future transmission needs. The process is intended to inform decisions on transmission investments needed to support the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goals including attaining a carbon-free power system by 2040. 20-E-0197

The New York Public Service Commission will hold a technical conference to consider interoperability and universal accessibility of electric vehicle charger hardware, such as plug type, charger design, charging adapters, and software in the context of eligibility for the Make-Ready Program. The commission established the light-duty EV Make-Ready Program to support the buildout of a comprehensive charging network of Level 2 and direct current fast chargers across the state. The program provides incentives covering 50 to 100 percent of the eligible costs to make a site ready for EV charging. READ MORE

The California Energy Commission will host a workshop to discuss preliminary findings from an assessment focused on potential home charging access. This is the third assessment under Senate Bill 1000 of 2018, which directed the commission to assess distribution and access of light-duty EV charging infrastructure to help inform clean transportation program investments and equitable deployment of infrastructure. The assessment results will help the commission design programs that maximize charging availability, and enable higher EV adoption by providing the convenience, affordability, and reliability of charging an EV at home. Commission staff published the inaugural report in December 2020 showing the distribution of public chargers by income level, population density, and geographical area, and the second report in 2022 showing average drive times to public direct-current fast charging stations. The third report will be published in the second quarter of 2025. 20-TRAN-02

The California Public Utilities Commission is expected to consider a proposed decision authorizing the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility to continue its operation, subject to future review. The proposed decision finds that closing the facility at this time would be detrimental to ratepayers and system reliability and that the facility should remain in operation with the maximum working natural gas storage level set at 68.6 billion cubic feet until the commission modifies these outcomes. READ MORE