The Ohio Public Utilities Commission is due to receive reply comments on the proposed renewable portfolio standard compliance report for 2022. Electric distribution utilities and competitive retail electric service providers are required to to file a status report annually analyzing all activities undertaken in the previous calendar year regarding their compliance with the renewable energy requirements. The state currently has a goal of providing 8.5 percent of renewable energy sold by its utilities by 2026. 24-0081-EL-ACP

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority is due to receive comments on a proposed medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles fleet charging program. The state’s electric distribution companies filed a proposal last October to complement the current EV charging program. The commission issued an updated proposal that builds off of feedback received to further refine the concepts and scenarios raised in its procedural order. The iterative process is aimed to ensure that the program design provides appropriate support for fleet owners and operators electrifying their fleets while balancing ratepayer costs. The agency seeks input on several topics including whether multiple rate types should be offered to optimize for fleets in different stages of growth and whether a ten-year period is appropriate to calculate a customer-specific incentive cap. 21-09-17

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation is due to receive comments on draft guidelines to support projects funded through the Climate Smart Communities grant program under the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act. The competitive grant program aims to support local governments in the implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation projects. The grant will provide awards between $50,000 and $2 million each to support locally administered projects to adapt to climate change and mitigate greenhouse gas emission outside the power sector. The program supports the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emission by 85 percent by 2050, established under the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

The Montana Public Service Commission will hold a public hearing on a petition requesting a rulemaking to incorporate climate impacts in the commission’s decision making process. The proposed rule would require the commission to consider the impacts of its decisions on the environment and human health, and climate change in exercising its duties and powers with respect to electric and gas utilities, including oversight of integrated resource planning, approval of electricity supply and gas resources, and ratemaking decisions. The proposal recommends applying the higher of the social cost of greenhouse gasses established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Comments on the proposed rule are due by April 12.

The California Energy Commission is due to receive comments on a solicitation aimed at promoting research addressing location-specific aspects of long-term gas decommissioning. The solicitation will address knowledge and planning gaps that lie between long-term policy targets for transitioning off gas and ongoing decommissioning pilots. The commission recently held a workshop that included a staff presentation on current gas end use patterns and decarbonization challenges, and shared preliminary ideas for research topics for location-specific analysis of gas decommissioning. Pursuant to the 2015 Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act, California plans to significantly decrease its dependence on fossil fuels including through targeted gas system decommissioning and otherwise decarbonizing gas use. The act established a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent and 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2030 and 2050 respectively. 23-ERDD-02

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is due to receive comments on Xcel Energy’s 2023 Integrated Distribution Plan, or IDP, detailing planning processes and investments in areas such as system planning, non-wires alternatives, transportation electrification, and grid modernization. In August 2018, the commission directed Xcel Energy to file an IDP biennially beginning in November of that year. In a subsequent order, the commission identified a set of objectives for the IDPs including enabling greater customer engagement, empowerment, and options for energy services, and creating grid platforms for new products, new services, and opportunities for adoption of new distributed technologies. M-23-452

The California Energy Commission is due to receive comments on the proposed structure and requirements for the Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator, or EVC RAA, program grant funding opportunity. The initiative aims to fix or replace non-functional EV charging stations, as well as to bring older stations into compliance with recent minimum standards under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, or NEVI, program established by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The initiative is funded by the $5 billion NEVI formula program, which contains a 10 percent set-aside to make grants to states and localities that need additional assistance to strategically deploy charging infrastructure. In January, the Federal Highway Administration approved California’s EVC RAA initiative awarding $63.7 million to repair or replace an estimated 1,302 charging ports. 23-EVI-01