The Maryland Public Service Commission seeks comments to prepare a plan, with the help of the Department of General Services, Maryland Energy Administration, and other interested state units, to achieve the state’s goal of 8.5 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2031. The study is required to include a schedule of offshore wind procurements and proposed amounts through 2031 and recommendations on multi-jurisdictional and other procurement issues. The agencies seek input from the industry on several topics including procurement milestones and target capacity recommendations for each year leading up to 2031 and actions to balance the needs for competitive pricing to ensure project viability and developer commitments with ratepayer protections.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission will hold a workshop to discuss electric utilities’ climate change protection plans. Pursuant to legislation enacted in 2022, the state’s transmission and electric utilities are required to submit 10-year plans that include specific actions to address the expected effects of climate change on the utilities’ assets needed to transmit and distribute electricity to customers. The workshop will include presentations from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on work done in other states, potential best practices, and resources for utilities, particularly smaller utilities, to help them develop their plans. The discussion will also include mitigation strategies that could help small utilities and best practices for various threats. 2023-00282

The New York Public Service Commission will hold public statement hearings on a climate change resilience plan submitted by National Grid. The capital investment in resilience programs identified for the five-year period from 2026 to 2030 is estimated at $244 million. From 2026 to 2045, the cumulative investment would be approximately $1,390 million. The revenue requirements for the identified resilience investments are expected to result in total bill increases ranging from 0.02 percent in fiscal year 2026 to 0.66 percent in fiscal year 2030 when compared to current rates across all service classes. 22-E-0222

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is due to receive proposals in response to the eighth annual round of solicitation for large-scale renewable energy projects in the state. The objective of the solicitation is to obtain Tier 1 eligible renewable energy certificates from eligible facilities that started commercial operation between Jan. 1, 2015 and Nov. 30, 2026, unless extended to Nov. 30, 2029. The solicitation involves a two-step process: a qualifying step and a competitive bid proposal step. Proposers found eligible under the first step are permitted to submit a bid proposal.

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality seeks comments on a draft permit for Tallgrass High Plains Carbon Storage LLC’s proposed Class VI well for geologic carbon sequestration at a site located in Laramie County. The company proposes to inject carbon dioxide, for the purpose of storage, into the Lyons Sandstone at a depth of 9,128 to 9,194 feet below ground surface. The expected quantity of carbon dioxide for storage is about seven million metric tons. The Underground Injection Control Program regulates the storage of carbon dioxide in underground geologic reservoirs within the state. READ MORE

The California Public Utilities Commission will host its fifth annual post-season/pre-season public briefings for investor-owned electric utilities to present lessons learned from public safety power shutoff, or PSPS, events, whereby utilities temporarily turn off power to specific areas as a last safety resort to reduce the risk of fires caused by electric infrastructure. The utilities will provide updates on their efforts and coordination with public safety partners, critical infrastructure and facilities, and customers. In addition to presenting their efforts to mitigate customer impacts, the utilities will identify changes to PSPS processes or operations in 2024 based on lessons learned in 2023.

The California Energy Commission will host a workshop to explore the feasibility of wave and tidal energy resources, as part of an update to its 2024 Integrated Energy Policy Report, or IEPR. A 2023 law requires the commission, in consultation with other state agencies, to evaluate factors that may increase the use of wave and tidal energy resources in the state, including findings on technological and economic feasibility, transmission needs and permitting processes, and monitoring strategies to evaluate impacts to marine and tidal ecosystems. The workshop will discuss the status and next steps in meeting the requirements of the law and its inclusion in the IEPR update, and the presentation of a draft study findings on wave and tidal feasibility. 24-IEPR-04