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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 54 percent from the first…

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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 trading market to balance electricity…

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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 Utah Public Service Commission gave…

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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 in the previous three quarters…

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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 would be installed by 2023.…

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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 million invested in more than…

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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, a drop of 1 percent…

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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 programs to large-scale arrays, is…

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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 the power sector accounting for…

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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 from coal-fired power plants, but…

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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 million are connected to a…

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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 electricity from June to August,…

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