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State commissioners urge White House to name one of their own to FERC
The message to the Trump administration couldn’t be clearer from the nation’s utility regulators: Fill the upcoming vacancy at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission with another person with experience as a state official. A resolution to that effect is expected to be approved today by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners as it wraps up its summer policy meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., said NARUC President Jack Betkoski, also a member of the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. [ read more … ]
Mo. Supreme Court reverses rejection of $2.3B Clean Line project
Missouri’s highest court reversed a Public Service Commission order last year denying Clean Line Energy Partners a permit to build a $2.3 billion high-voltage transmission line across the state. In an 11-page order, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the PSC erred by basing its rejection of the project on an appellate court opinion regarding an unrelated transmission project in northeast Missouri. [ read more … ]
Policy & Politics
‘Night and day’ as Wheeler opens doors to press
Scott Pruitt got a reputation for stonewalling the press, but his successor is taking a new approach. In his first two weeks on the job, acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler has promised transparency to the press and to the public. He has published his daily calendars, has agreed to interviews with a range of news outlets and gave advance notice that his meeting Monday with business officials in Pennsylvania would be open press.
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New York State PSC releases plan for first phase of offshore wind procurements
The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) issued last week an order establishing a standard and framework for the first phase of procurement of offshore wind to support the state’s goal of 2,400 megawatts (MW) of new offshore wind generation by 2030. [ read more … ]
Offshore wind developer ramps up work on 3 more wind farms
The developer of the first offshore wind farm in the U.S. is ramping up work on projects to supply energy to several states. Deepwater Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski said Monday they’re beginning the next, larger phase of development for a wind farm to supply power to Rhode Island and Connecticut, another for Long Island, New York, and a third for Maryland’s Eastern Shore. [ read more … ]
Has FERC’s landmark transmission planning effort made transmission building harder?
Current and former FERC commissioners, along with two of the largest regional grid operators, are increasingly critical of Order 1000 — a landmark Obama era order on competitive transmission siting — and are pushing a new look at the initiative. Former commissioner Tony Clark said the red tape added to the planning process by Order 1000 has kept some developers from completing new projects. [ read more … ]
Big batteries at data centers could replace power plants
The cutting edge in American efforts to green the power sector can be found in a shipping container sitting in the parking lot of a sprawling Microsoft Corp. data center in southern Virginia. [ read more … ]
Duke nixes 500 MW wind buy over transmission cost concerns
Duke Energy has abandoned a request for proposals (RFP) to purchase 500 MW of wind energy for customers in North Carolina after the utility concluded proposals were “not attractive enough for us to continue to pursue,” a spokesman told Utility Dive. The wind RFP has been canceled, but Duke is still looking to add more renewables. While the purchased wind energy would have come from out of state, last week Duke filed an RFP for 680 MW of large-scale solar and other renewables in North Carolina and South Carolina. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.