The New York Public Service Commission will hold the first meeting of the Energy Affordability Policy, or EAP, working group tasked with developing priorities and objectives for EAP improvements and specific COVID-19 relief. In an order issued last month, the commission directed staff to establish the EAP working group and adopted changes to improve the low-income energy bill discount programs administered by the major electric and gas utilities. Notably, the changes increased the EAP annual budget by $129 million to $366.7 million. The commission is striving to reach a goal of no more than six percent energy burden for low-income consumers. 20-M-0266, 20-01253

The Maryland Public Service Commission will consider applications submitted by MarWin II LLC, owned by US Wind Inc., and Skipjack Offshore Wind LLC, a subsidiary of Ørsted A/S, for offshore wind projects. The agency initiated a multi-part review to evaluate and compare the proposed applications filed under its Round 2 Year 1 offshore wind application period which concluded on June 21. The 2019 Clean Energy Jobs Act, which raised Maryland’s overall renewable portfolio standard to 50 percent by 2030, also increased the offshore wind carve-out to 10 percent of in-state electricity sales. The law directed Maryland to procure at least 1,200 megawatts of capacity through new rounds of offshore wind procurement. An additional hearing will be held on Sept. 30. 9666

Potomac Electric Power Company is due to submit a detailed plan to the District of Columbia Public Service Commission for implementing its “Climate Change Commitment,” a strategy designed to achieve the district’s clean energy and emissions reduction goals. The climate policy proceeding commenced in November 2020 to examine how utilities and energy companies are addressing energy and climate goals, and take necessary action to guide them in the right direction. The Exelon Corp. subsidiary’s plan must include multiple scenarios with proposed projects to support the development of effective decarbonization strategies, detailed cost and investment projections, as well as specific reliability performance standards for different scenarios. The commission is advancing its efforts to help the district meet its carbon neutrality goal by 2050, and renewable energy goal of 100 percent by 2032. FC1167

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission is due to receive feedback on the legal and policy questions concerning the conservation potential assessments, or CPAs, filed by Cascade Natural Gas Corporation, Puget Sound Energy, Avista Corporation, and Northwest Natural Gas Company. Under state law, each gas company is required to identify cost-effective conservation measures and establish acquisition targets every two years, with the initial target required to take effect by 2022. Utility targets must be based on commission-approved CPAs and cost-effectiveness analyses must include the costs of greenhouse gas emissions. The commission is seeking responses to questions regarding the incorporation of the social cost of greenhouse gases, analyses of conservation availability, and inclusion of gas transportation customers’ measures. UG-210094, UG-210450, UG-210461, UG-210462

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will consider Hayward Solar LLC’s application for a site permit and a certificate of need to build an up to 150-megawatt solar project in Freeborn County. The final design is expected to occupy about 1,272 acres within an overall project area of nearly 2,000 acres. A generator interconnection agreement with the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, expected in the first quarter of 2022, would to provide a sufficient outlet to accommodate all of the solar energy generation. The company is working towards securing power purchase agreements, and intends to sell the project output to wholesale customers, including Minnesota utilities and cooperatives that have identified a need for additional renewable energy and capacity, and commercial and industrial customers that have set clean energy goals. CN-21-112