Gov. Brown Signs Sweeping Energy Bill
Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill setting a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, which means that residents can expect to feel more of what Brown has called the “coercive power of government.” Businesses will likely face more restrictive rules, and taxpayer and ratepayer money will be needed to subsidize cleaner technologies.
“California is doing something that no other state has done,” Brown said.
Business will be encouraged to cut emissions, including adopting better fuel economy for trucking companies to meet new highway-related standards, and farmers will need to cut methane emissions. Another bill signed last week will expand the state’s cap-and-trade system, which Brown is counting on to provide more emissions reductions.
More: Los Angeles Times
MARYLAND
Worcester County Approves 2 Utility-Scale Solar Projects
The Worcester County Commissioners unanimously approved two utility-scale solar projects totaling 35 MW in Berlin and Snow Hill, west of Ocean City. Longview Solar, the company developing the solar farms, has already received approval from the Public Service Commission and needed the county’s approval to go forward.
Longview is developing the projects even though the commissioners earlier denied tax abatements for the facilities. The 20-MW Heron Project will have 85,670 solar panels. A 15-MW project, with 63,320 panels, will be built near Snow Hill.
Community members were generally supportive at a public hearing on the projects, though several area residents expressed concern about the effect the facilities will have on the value of their properties.
More: The Dispatch; Ocean City Today
MASSACHUSETTS
Offshore Developers to Use Terminal
Three offshore wind developers will use the state’s $113 million New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal port as a staging area for wind farm construction.
Deepwater Wind, OffshoreMW and DONG Energy signed the agreement, which calls for a $5.7 million annual payment to the state’s Clean Energy Center. All three have secured leasing rights to federal waters off the state’s coast.
Negotiations have gone on for months. The announcement comes a month after Gov. Charlie Baker signed legislation that requires utilities to secure 1,600 MW of wind energy in about a decade.
More: The Boston Globe
MICHIGAN
New DEQ Director Addresses Concerns over Appointment
Gov. Rick Snyder’s appointment to director of the Department of Environmental Quality, former BP lobbyist Heidi Grether, told the Senate Natural Resources Committee last week that she should be defined by more than her previous employment.
During a confirmation hearing, Grether tried to allay concerns over her controversial credentials. She told a packed hearing that she was the “product of much more than my past two or three jobs.”
The committee declined to vote at the hearing. Under state law, Grether is considered the director unless the Senate votes to reject the appointment. They have 60 session days after her Aug. 1 appointment to decide.
More: MLive; Detroit Free Press
Upper Peninsula Rates 2nd Highest in US
Customers of Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) pay an average 23 cents to 25 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity, a rate that’s 67% higher than the state average, and higher than any average rate in the country, outside Hawaii.
UPPCO is currently asking the Public Service Commission for a 6 to 12% rate increase.
Officials from the commission and UPPCO say the utility’s rates are high because of costs associated with serving 54,000 customers that are thinly distributed over 4,460 square miles. “The region is sparsely populated, much of it densely forested, with weather often adding to the challenge of providing energy to this region,” CEO Keith Moyle said.
More: Detroit Free Press
MISSOURI
PSC Approves Empire, Liberty Utilities Merger
The Public Service Commission last week unanimously approved the proposed $2.4 billion merger between Empire District Electric and Liberty Utilities, a subsidiary of Canada-based Algonquin Power & Utilities. Hearings over the merger were canceled after negotiations between the companies and intervening parties led to a settlement.
The merger still requires approval from regulators in Kansas and Arkansas. Oklahoma regulators and FERC have already given their go-ahead. The companies expect to close the deal in the first quarter of 2017.
More: The Joplin Globe
NEW JERSEY
NJ Natural Gas Agrees to Slash Rate Request
New Jersey Natural Gas has agreed to cut its rate-increase request from 24% to 7.4% after it received a storm of disapproval from residents and business owners.
Under a settlement reached with Board of Public Utilities staff and consumer advocates, a typical customer’s monthly bill will go up by about $7.11. The original rate filing would have boosted bills by $21.69/month. “We are confident the ultimate outcome will serve the best interests of our customers and company,” CEO Laurence M. Downes said.
The settlement requires formal approval by the BPU.
More: NJ.com
NORTH CAROLINA
Duke Coal Ash Issue Big in Governor’s Race
The controversy over whether Gov. Pat McCrory pressured a state toxicologist to retract drinking water warnings for residents living near Duke Energy coal ash storage sites has become a major issue in the governor’s re-election battle.
State Attorney General Roy Cooper, who is running against McCrory in November’s election, used the issue to frame a television ad harshly critical of McCrory and his administration. The ad included Dr. Megan Davies, who resigned as state epidemiologist in protest after the administration accused one of her subordinates of lying when he testified under oath that he was pressured to downplay the risks of drinking water near coal ash sites.
McCrory, however, struck back with his own ad, accusing Cooper of failing to oversee the entire coal ash issue while occupying the state’s highest law enforcement position and criticizing him for accepting more than $325,000 in campaign contributions from the energy industry.
More: The News & Observer
OHIO
OCC Asks Supreme Court to Deny FirstEnergy Rate Request
The Consumers’ Counsel is challenging FirstEnergy’s latest attempt to obtain subsidies to keep two of its older generating stations open. The consumer advocate told the state Supreme Court that the subsidies “violate the law and this court’s recent decisions that protected customers.”
The suit, filed last week by the OCC and the Northwest Ohio Aggregation Coalition, is the latest challenge to FirstEnergy’s attempts to get guaranteed rates for the W.H. Sammis coal-fired plant and the Davis-Besse nuclear generating station.
FERC quashed FirstEnergy’s first attempt at subsidies, which had been approved by the Public Utilities Commission. The company submitted a revised plan to PUCO, which the commission provisionally approved.
More: The Plain Dealer