The Maryland Public Service Commission will hold a work group meeting to discuss proposals on cost-recovery, bill impacts, and funding as it examines a new goal structure for EmPOWER Maryland, the state’s energy efficiency program. The current goal structure is mandated by legislation through the end of the 2021-2023 program cycle and the commission is required to provide the General Assembly with recommendations on future goals and cost-effectiveness tests by July 1, 2022. An order issued in December 2020 authorized the transition to the next three-year program cycle and approved various proposals by the program administrators to continue operating the core energy efficiency programs in 2021-2023. 9648

The District of Columbia Public Service Commission will hold a meeting of the Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation Task Force to discuss the implementation of the Whole-Building, Deep Energy Retrofit Program. The initiative is designed to assist affordable multifamily building owners with energy efficiency retrofit financing and other initiatives that would help minimize their buildings’ energy usage. In November 2020, the commission approved the task force’s recommendation to select the International Center for Appropriate & Sustainable Technology to implement the initiative. The program is funded by $11.25 million plus interest contained in the Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation fund that was reserved after the authorization of the Pepco-Exelon merger. FC1148

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority will hold a webinar to discuss a white paper on community choice aggregation, or CCA, released by the Public Service Commission in April 2021. The webinar will focus on issues outlined in a November 2021 order on the whitepaper’s proposal for opt-out community distributed generation, or CDG, program operation. Commission staff and interested stakeholders will also identify potential solutions to establish an opt-out program that will benefit all ratepayers. To provide a path forward that ensures uniformity, transparency, and clarity, the whitepaper recommended standardized program filing requirements and provisions to reassure participants that appropriate protections are in place to participate in opt-out CCA programs. To facilitate investment in local distributed resources, the whitepaper proposed the addition of a statewide CDG program on an opt-out basis. 14-M-0224, 14-01211

The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority is due to receive comments on the Office of Consumer Counsel’s notice of retention of experts and consultants to assist in the proceeding regarding the annual review of rate adjustment mechanisms of the United Illuminating Company. The counsel seeks to complement its existing staff expertise in areas related to the annual reviews, which include regulatory accounting, auditing of utility companies, transmission revenues and expenses, ratemaking mechanisms and adjustments clauses, revenue requirements, and rate design and cost allocation. 22-01-04

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection will hold a public meeting to discuss the scope of its 2022 Comprehensive Energy Strategy to plan for the effective management of the state’s energy supply, distribution, and demand. The plan will identify strategies to lower costs, ensure reliable energy supply, incorporate energy equity, maintain the state’s economic competitiveness, and alleviate public health and environmental impacts of energy use. Key topics that the agency expects to address include thermal decarbonization and energy affordability of buildings, greenhouse gas accounting for biofuels, and updates to the electric vehicle roadmap and integrated resource plan.

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission will hold a prehearing conference on Avista Utilities’ proposal to increase its electric and gas delivery revenues. The company proposed a two-year rate plan, starting from December 2022, with a return on equity of 10.25 percent. The plan proposes to increase annual electric delivery revenues by about $52.9 million, and $17.1 million in the first and second years, respectively. Gas delivery revenues would increase by $10.9 million, and $2.2 million in the respective rate years. The company proposes to return about $25.5 million in residual tax consumer credits related to its electric business and $12.5 million attributable to its gas business over the two-year period. The proposal would result in residential monthly bill increases of up to 7.4 percent for electric customers and up to 2.5 percent for gas customers in the first year. UE-220053, UE-220054

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is due to receive reply comments on Dodge County Wind LLC’s application for a site permit, a certificate of need, and a route permit to build an up to 259-megawatt wind project in Dodge, Mower, and Steele Counties. The NextEra Energy Resources subsidiary proposes to construct the project over an area of approximately 28,348 acres with up to 79 turbines, at an estimated cost of $300 million to $400 million. Dodge County Wind has entered into a power purchase agreement with Great River Energy for the full output of the project for a 30-year term. CN-20-865

The California Air Resources Board and Québec’s Ministry of the Environment and the Fight against Climate Change will hold their 30th joint carbon auction, which will offer allowances for current and future years. The current auction will offer years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022 vintage allowances totaling nearly 58.53 million. The advance auction will offer 2025 future allowances totaling about 7.94 million. The auction results will be published on Feb. 24. The previous auction sold all of the nearly 68.6 million current allowances at a price of $28.26 per allowance and over 8.3 million future allowances at $34.01 each. California’s cap-and trade program, which places an economy-wide cap on major emitting sources, is a central part of the state’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

The Oregon Department of Energy is due to receive initial feedback on a draft literature review as part of its floating offshore wind study. The agency published the draft after reviewing a number of existing studies and reports. The study stems from a law enacted last year directing the agency to examine the impacts of integrating 3 gigawatts of offshore wind into the region’s electricity system by 2030. The agency is required to submit a report to the legislature by Sept. 15 summarizing key findings from literature review and stakeholder feedback, including opportunities for future study and engagement. READ MORE