Energize Weekly, August 22, 2018 Corporate purchases of renewable energy worldwide in 2018 have reached 7.2 gigawatts (GW) and already surpass the all-time record set in 2017 by 33 percent. Long-term contracts to purchase wind and solar resources have been signed in 28 markets as the number of industries seeking…
Industrial air pollution cut 60 percent as a result of federal clean air rules
Energize Weekly, August 22, 2018 Air pollution from U.S. manufacturing fell by 60 percent between 1990 and 2008 even as industrial output increased by 30 percent as a result of environmental laws and regulations, according to a study by University of California-Berkeley economists. The researchers analyzed newly available data on…
Wind industry will be cushioned by five trends when key tax credit expires, WoodMac says
Energize Weekly, August 22, 2018 The federal wind production tax credit, which has been a key driver in the development of U.S. wind power projects is set to expire, but energy consultant Wood Mackenzie says there are five factors that will cushion its loss. The production tax credit (PTC), which…
Michigan utilities propose $20 million in programs to boost EV charging stations
Energize Weekly, August 22, 2018 Michigan’s two largest utilities are proposing electric vehicle (EV) charging programs totaling $20.5 million that would add thousands of stations in the state, according to filings with the Michigan Public Service Commission. Both plans also tie development of residential charging stations to time-of-use rates (TOU)…
PG&E battery project hits snag as it draws consumer and business protests
Energize Weekly, August 22, 2018 Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) battery program, which would be the world’s largest, has run into opposition from a California consumer advocate, and industrial and commercial customers. The California Office of Ratepayer Advocates and the Direct Access Customer Coalition, which represents “commercial, industrial and…
Coal consumption by U.S. utility industry hit a 34-year low in 2017
Energize Weekly, August 15, 2018 U.S. coal consumption for electricity generation slipped to its lowest level in 34 years in 2017, continuing a four-year skid, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). The utility industry used 661 million short tons of coal in 2017, as consumption and shipments by…
A third of gas-fired plants on the California grid could be closed without a reliability impact, study says
Energize Weekly, August 15, 2018 Nearly a third of the natural gas-fired power plants on the California grid could be retired without impairing reliability, according to an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). There are 89 natural gas plants on the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) grid. Modeling…
Tri-State G&T co-ops pressure for lower prices and more renewables
Energize Weekly, August 15, 2018 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, which serves 43 electric cooperatives in four Western states, is getting pressure from some of its co-ops, which are seeking better electricity prices and more renewable energy. The Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, in Taos, New Mexico, has already paid $37…
Community banks and credit unions are playing a large role in residential solar financing
Energize Weekly, August 8, 2018 Community banks and regional financial institutions are becoming a bigger force in the financing of residential and small commercial solar installations, according to a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). These community banks and credit unions represent a new source of capital for…
Ethanol production capacity rises in 2017 as Trump administration seeks a new policy
Energize Weekly, August 8, 2018 Ethanol fuel production capacity rose an estimated 5 percent in 2017 to 16 billion barrels a year as the Trump administration continues to try to strike a comprise between the refiners and agricultural interests on ethanol-treated gasoline. Between the beginning of 2018 and the start…
Wind power installations have a strong second quarter led by big projects in Texas, Michigan and Nebraska
Energize Weekly, August 8, 2018 A total of 626 megawatts (MW) of new wind generating capacity was installed in the second quarter of 2018—a 75 percent increase over the first quarter of 2017, according to the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) quarterly market report. The second-quarter figure was also up…
Western Energy Imbalance Market posts a record quarter, cutting costs, providing benefits
Energize Weekly, August 8, 2018 The western Energy Imbalance Market, which serves seven utilities and the California grid operator, posted a record $71.2 million in benefits to its members in the second quarter of 2018, according to the organization. The market, known as the EIM, is a real-time bulk power…
PacifiCorp gets green light from state regulators for $3 billion Wyoming wind plan
Energize Weekly, August 1, 2018 PacifiCorp, which serves 1.9 million people in six western states, has received state approvals to move ahead with its $3 billion plan add and wind generation and transmission lines to its system. The Idaho Public Utilities Commission approved the project on July 20 after the…
Residential storage sets a record in the first quarter of 2018
Energize Weekly, August 1, 2018 A record 36 megawatt-hours (MWh) of home energy storage systems were installed in the first quarter of 2018, according to the U.S. Energy Storage Monitor report from GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association. That was as much residential storage capacity as had been installed…
Dominion Energy offers a $918 million grid modernization plan to Virginia regulators
Energize Weekly, August 1, 2018 Dominion Energy has submitted a $918 million plan to modernize its Virginia grid to state regulators following passage of a new law overhauling utility oversight and investment. The plan seeks to install 1.4 million “smart meters” between 2019 and 2021. An additional 600,000 smart meters…
Blockchain could help manage rooftop solar, electric vehicle and energy trades, study says
Energize Weekly, July 25, 2018 Blockchain—the decentralized digital ledger most often linked to cryptocurrencies—could have a major impact in managing rooftop solar, electric vehicle charging and energy trading, according to an analysis by the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI). The EFI study estimates there has already been $100 million to $300…
Global investment in solar falls while wind financing soars in first half of 2018
Energize Weekly, July 25, 2018 Global solar investment faltered in the first half of 2018, as the Chinse government cut back on subsidies, but financing for wind projects soared, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Overall, clean energy investment for the first six months of 2018 was $138.2 billion,…
Rural co-ops are adding solar generation at a breakneck pace, survey finds
Energize Weekly, July 25, 2018 Solar generating capacity at rural electric cooperatives is growing rapidly and expected to reach 1 gigawatt in 2019—a twenty-nine-fold increase in 10 years, according to a report by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). “The surge in cooperative solar energy, from local community solar…
Global energy investment dropped in 2017 and isn’t keeping pace with needs, IEA says
Energize Weekly, July 25, 2018 Global energy investment dropped 2 percent in 2017 to $1.8 trillion in 2017—a sign it is “failing to keep up with energy security and sustainability goals,” according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). It was the third consecutive year of declines in global investment with…
Utility industry urges EPA to keep mercury emissions rule in place and speed reviews
Energize Weekly, July 18, 2018 The electricity power industry—from cooperatives to municipality utilities to investor-owned utilities—is urging the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to keep in place the mercury pollution rules it had for years opposed. The industry had launched legal challenges of the 2012 rule to reduce mercury emissions…
Growing off-grid renewable energy powering farms and factories in developing countries
Energize Weekly, July 18, 2018 Off-grid technologies bring electricity to farm fields and remote villages in developing countries around the world, reaching more than 133 million people, according to an assessment by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). An estimated 100 million are using solar lights, and at least nine…
Natural gas-fired generation shoulders the biggest load during summer heat
Energize Weekly, July 18, 2018 The sizzling summer that is rolling across the country is being cooled by natural gas, which is supplying the biggest share of electricity generation, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA projects that natural gas-fired generation will supply 37 percent of the…
Cost of energy efficiency programs vary widely across the U.S., Lawrence Berkeley study finds
Energize Weekly, July 18, 2018 Utilities across the country are investing in energy efficiency programs, and the average cost of saving a kilowatt-hour in these programs is 2.5 cents—though there are sharp regional differences, according to a Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory study. The study is the most comprehensive effort to…
PG&E proposes world’s largest battery storage project to replace natural gas plants
Energize Weekly, July 11, 2018 Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has proposed the world’s largest battery storage project—2.3 gigawatts—to replace three natural gas plants. The San Francisco-based utility filed its request for approval with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which in January had given PG&E a green light to…
World’s biggest reinsurer will no longer deal with companies with high exposure to coal
Energize Weekly, July 11, 2018 Swiss Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, said that it will no longer provide services to companies with a more than 30 percent exposure to thermal coal. The thermal coal policy applies to existing and new thermal coal mines and power plants, and will be implemented…
Venezuelan oil production propped up by foreign joint ventures in 2017, EIA says
Energize Weekly, July 11, 2018 Venezuelan oil production is increasing, being held up by its joint ventures with foreign oil companies from Russia, China and the U.S. Even with that, production and exports have plummeted, according to an assessment by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Output has been falling…
Nation’s oldest nuclear power plant to close, but total decommissioning will take 60 years
Energize Weekly, July 11, 2018 The Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, the oldest operating nuclear facility in the nation, will shut down in September and be decommissioned at a cost of $1.4 billion. Oyster Creek began operations on Dec. 1, 1969, and is to close after more than 48 years…
Nuclear industry faces a bleak future without new technology or market changes, study says
Energize Weekly, July 11, 2018 The U.S. nuclear industry faces a bleak future with existing plants uncompetitive in wholesale electricity markets and no technological relief likely for another 50 years, according to analysis by university researchers. “For entirely predictable and resolvable reasons, the United States appears set to virtually lose…
Moody’s downgrades U.S. regulated utility sector as cash flow is reduced by tax cuts
Energize Weekly, June 27, 2018 Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the U.S. regulated utility sector to negative from stable due to lower cash flows and the highest debt leverage since 2008 as a result of changes to the federal tax laws. While steps are being taken by some regulators and…
Utilities spent $3.6 billion on energy efficiency, saving enough electricity to power 2.5 million homes
Energize Weekly, June 27, 2018 U.S utilities reported spending $3.6 billion on energy efficiency incentives for customers in 2016 and saved 27.5 billion kilowatt-hours, enough electricity to power 2.5 million homes for a year, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). Nearly half of those funds were directed at…
Methane leak rate at oil and gas operations 60 percent higher than federal figure, study says
Energize Weekly, June 27, 2018 The leak rate of methane emissions from oil and gas operations is about 60 percent higher than federal estimates, according to a study published June 22 in Science magazine. The findings are based on measurements taken at more than 400 well pads in six basins…
Energy storage market posts a decline in the first quarter of 2018, but residential installations were robust
Energize Weekly, June 27, 2018 Quarter-over-quarter the U.S. energy storage market dropped 30 percent to 43.6 megawatts (MW) in the first quarter of 2018 and was down 39 percent compared the same quarter in 2017, according to an industry market report. This was in part due to a large number…
Clean electric generation technologies take the lion’s share of investment dollars to 2050
Energize Weekly, June 27, 2018 The pace for global investment in renewable energy will continue to grow—totaling an estimated $8.4 trillion in the next three decades—so that by 2050, half of all electricity generation will come from renewables, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). BNEF’s New Energy Outlook projects…
U.S. solar market has a good first quarter in 2018 but sales expected to be flat for the year
Energize Weekly, June 20, 2018 The solar industry posted a 13 percent year-over-year increase in the first quarter of 2018 as 2.5 gigawatts (GW) were installed, according to the U.S. Solar Market Insight report. Installations for the year, however, are projected to be flat compared to 2017 with a total…
Forecast of global oil demand trimmed by IEA on rising prices, economic uncertainty
Energize Weekly, June 20, 2018 The International Energy Agency (IEA) has trimmed its forecast for the increase in world oil demand for 2018 to 1.4 million barrels a day as supply, economic and price uncertainties could still roil the global market. “Rapidly rising prices in recent months have raised doubts…
Canadian investor and Texas solar developer team up for $100 million in projects
Energize Weekly, June 20, 2018 A Canadian real estate investment company is teaming up with a Texas solar developer for $100 million in solar projects in Austin and San Antonio. Toronto-based Fengate Real Asset Investments will provide the financing for projects developed by PowerFin Partners, which has offices in Austin…
Energy consumption and carbon emissions rise in 2017, the power sector lags, BP review says
Energize Weekly, June 20, 2018 Energy consumption grew worldwide 2.2 percent in 2017, about an 80 percent increase year-over-year, and the fastest growth in four years as emission of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide also rose for the first time since 2014. Consumption of natural gas and oil rose, and…
NREL study finds western grid held up as it lost 5.5 gigawatts of generation during solar eclipse
Energize Weekly, June 13, 2018 The western grid solar energy output dropped by nearly 5.5 gigawatts (GW) during last August’s solar eclipse, but the loss did not have a great impact on grid operations or costs, according to an analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). “The 2017 total…
Many shale plays are profitable, but there may be a rough patch for some high-price areas
Energize Weekly, June 13, 2018 Oil companies have cut the costs of shale drilling, leading to the resurgence of activity even without oil prices rebounding to pre-recession levels, though some of the high-priced plays are vulnerable to market forces, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). The key to the…
NV Energy $2 billion solar program hinges on November “energy choice” ballot measure
Energize Weekly, June 13, 2018 NV Energy announced a $2 billion plan to add more than 1 gigawatt of utility-scale solar and battery storage projects, but said the investment depends upon whether Nevada voters support an “energy choice” ballot measure in the fall. On June 1, NV Energy, a subsidiary…
New York State embarks on a $250 million statewide EV charging station expansion
Energize Weekly, June 13, 2018 New York State has launched a $250 million expansion plan for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and infrastructure with the aim of having 10,000 stations in place by 2021. The program—EVolve NY—will include initiatives by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and private sector partnerships…
Xcel proposes a $2.5 billion plan to reorient its Colorado market to wind, solar and storage
Energize Weekly, June 13, 2018 Xcel Energy, Colorado’s largest electricity provider, submitted a plan to state regulators June 6 seeking to invest $2.5 billion in wind, solar and energy storage projects while closing two coal-fired power plants. The proposed Colorado Energy Plan (CEP) would add 1,100 megawatts (MW) of wind…
High levels of wind and solar on the power grid could lower wholesale electric prices
Energize Weekly, June 6, 2018 High levels of wind and solar on regional power grids can decrease electric wholesale prices by $5 to $16 a megawatt-hour (MWh), according to a study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “Increasing penetrations of variable renewable energy (VRE) can affect wholesale electricity price patterns and…
Fossil fuel consumption in the power sector falls to a 23-year low in 2017
Energize Weekly, June 6, 2018 The power sector’s consumption of fossil fuels dropped in 2017 to levels not seen since 1994, as a result of closing aging coal plants and adding more efficient natural gas turbines, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). For the last four years, fossil…
New Englanders used more grid electricity while sleeping than at noon on a sunny, mild April day
Energize Weekly, June 6, 2018 In a regional first, on a mild, sunny April day, New Englanders used more electricity from the grid while they were sleeping than they did at midday, according to grid operator ISO New England (ISO-NE). The game changer on April 21 was the 2,400 megawatts…
Carbon pricing growing around the world as a way to cut emissions, World Bank says
Energize Weekly, June 6, 2018 The use of carbon pricing mechanisms by countries and regions, as a way to control greenhouse gas emissions, has tripled in the past decade and is poised to be more widely used in the coming years, according to the World Bank. Seventy jurisdictions—45 nations, 25…
Energy sector employment grew in 2017, led by natural gas generation and energy efficiency jobs
Energize Weekly, May 30, 2018 U.S. energy sector employment increased by 2 percent to 6.5 million jobs in 2017. While power generation posted big numbers, energy efficiency and biofuels were the fastest-growing areas, according to a report by the National Association of State Energy Officials. The U.S. Energy Employment Report,…
PJM capacity auction sees renewables, coal and natural gas rise while nuclear plummets
Energize Weekly, May 30, 2018 PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid, saw prices jump more than 80 percent to $140 a megawatt-day across most of its grid in the annual capacity market auction. But even with the hike, many nuclear power plants couldn’t successfully bid. The price increase was expected…
Falling renewable energy prices could make $112 billion in gas-fired generation a stranded asset, RMI study says
Energize Weekly, May 30, 2018 Coal-fired generation is being supplanted, for the most part, by cheaper natural gas turbines with $112 billion in new gas-fired power plants proposed or under construction, but those plants could face the same market fate as coal, according to an analysis by the Rocky Mountain…
Buses and trucks ready to roll as the next big electric vehicle markets
Energize Weekly, May 30, 2018 When it comes to electrical vehicles (EV), the focus has been on cars from Chevrolet’s Bolt EV to Tesla’s Model S, but the future of the EV market may rest with buses and trucks, according to new studies and initiatives. By 2030, Bloomberg New Energy…