California and Massachusetts tied for first place in the 2016 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard published by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. This is the sixth consecutive year that Massachusetts led the nation.

Missouri, Maine and Michigan were the most-improved states, according to the study. The study identified Louisiana, Kansas, South Dakota, Wyoming and North Dakota as the states most in need of improvement.

“States are spurring efficiency investment through advancements in building energy codes, transportation planning and leading by example in their own facilities and fleets. These investments reap large benefits, giving businesses, governments and consumers more control over how and when they use energy,” said ACEEE Executive Director Steven Nadel.

More: ACEEE

ARIZONA

Utilities: Customers Subsidizing Rooftop Solar Homes

Arizona Public Service and the Salt River Project say that customers who have installed rooftop solar panels on their homes are increasingly burdening those who haven’t.

SRP recently told a local newspaper that its “demand charge” of about $50 on rooftop solar customers was necessary because they weren’t paying their fair share for the energy they consumed from the grid. APS said 96% of its customers pay more than they should because of state subsidies for rooftop solar installations. The utility is seeking a new rate plan from state regulators.

The solar industry in the state disputes these statements. SolarCity is suing SRP over the extra charge, while groups such as the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association and Solar Strong America say the utilities are trying to undermine net metering in the state.

More: Florence Reminder Blade Tribune

CALIFORNIA

Water District Installing Largest Public Energy Storage System

The Irvine Ranch Water District is installing a 7-MW, 34-MWh energy storage system using Tesla batteries in what is billed as the largest network of energy storage systems at a public water agency in the U.S.

Irvine Ranch is working with Advanced Microgrid Solutions to install the battery storage system at three water treatment plants, a deep aquifer treatment system, a desalinization plant and six large pumping stations. The district decided on the system after regulators called on utilities and municipalities to install systems to provide power in the event of service interruptions.

“In a region challenged by the closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station,” Irvine Ranch said. The project will allow it to reduce demand from the grid when requested by the utility without curtailing water treatment operations.

More: Irvine Ranch Water District

PG&E Responds to Public Comments on Diablo Canyon

Pacific Gas and Electric last week filed a response to public comments submitted to the Public Utilities Commission on its plan to retire its Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in 2025.

“We fully understand that elements of the joint proposal reflect important issues for the state and PG&E’s customers,” PG&E Electric President Geisha Williams said in a statement. “The near decade-long period ahead of us provides the time to plan and replace Diablo Canyon’s energy with new [greenhouse gas]-free replacement resources.”

The company, which reached a settlement over the plan with employees and environmental groups in August, said it did not expect rates to increase as a result of the closure.

More: PG&E

Brown Signs EE, PUC Transparency Bills

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill last week that requires participants in energy efficiency programs for heating and air conditioning to provide proof that their equipment has been properly installed.

“Research shows that many of these projects are not being installed correctly, meaning customers aren’t receiving the energy efficiency savings they paid for and could even be dealing with a significant safety hazard,” said State Sen. Lois Wolk, the bill’s sponsor. Wolk said the bill would also help the state meet its goals to combat climate change.

Brown also signed a package of bills designed to increase transparency and public participation in Public Utilities Commission hearings and proceedings. The bills were written after the deadly explosion of a Pacific Gas and Electric natural gas pipeline revealed off-the-record, private communications between the commission and the companies it regulates.

More: Daily Democrat; San Francisco Chronicle

CEC: NRG Plant Design Change May Delay Approval

Construction of a proposed NRG Energy power plant in Oxnard may be delayed after the company made some changes to its design, the state Energy Commission said at a public hearing last week.

NRG decided to change how the plant’s water discharge is routed. The commission said that means it will require more data from the company before it can give final approval to the plant, which has been sited at a local beach. A final staff report was expected by Oct. 14, but that may need to be pushed back, the commission said.

The plant, called the Puente Project, is intended to replace two aging generators in the area.

More: Ventura County Star

ILLINOIS

ICC Approves Ameren Smart Meter Expansion

The Commerce Commission voted unanimously to accept Ameren Illinois’ plan to expand the installation of smart meters to its entire service territory.

Currently, just 330,000 of the company’s 1.2 million customers have smart meters installed. Ameren had originally planned to expand to just 62% of its customers, but the utility decided to expand the program once it found that the meters reduced outages and saved money for both it and its customers.

The Environmental Defense Fund and the Citizens Utility Board both supported the plan. Installations will be completed by 2019.

More: Midwest Energy News

MANITOBA

Former PUB Member: Hydro Customers Facing Giant Rate Hikes

An over-budget transmission project, coupled with increased charges from dam construction, could double rates for Manitoba Hydro customers, according to a former Public Utilities Board member.

Graham Lane, a former PUB chairman and chartered accountant, said mounting debts from the Bipole III transmission line project and the Wuskwatim dam could spur Manitoba Hydro to seek major rate hikes.

“The losses [associated with the projects] are going to be huge,” he said. “By my own calculations, by the time it all ends, Hydro will have lost somewhere in the area of $5 billion to $10 billion, and that money will basically have to be covered by the ratepayers.”

More: CBC News

MARYLAND

State Touts ‘Most Stringent’ Fracking Regulations

State officials released proposed fracking regulations last week that would ban drilling in three watersheds in Western Maryland and require four layers of steel casing and cement around wells to prevent water, gas and other fluids from migrating.

Environment Secretary Ben H. Grumbles called the proposed regulations “the most stringent” in the country. However, the rules would allow drill sites closer to homes and private wells than proposed by former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D).

The state legislature imposed a moratorium on fracking that is due to expire in October 2017. Environmentalists say they will try next year to make the moratorium permanent.

More: The Washington Post

MONTANA

Suspended Solar Payments Lead to FERC Complaint

The Montana Environmental Information Center and Vote Solar filed a complaint with FERC claiming the Public Service Commission violated federal regulations when it suspended payments for energy projects while it reviews standard rates for small solar energy developers.

“That rate has now been taken off the table when projects were in their late stages,” said Brian Fadie, clean energy program director for MEIC. “It undercuts solar development in Montana at the moment.”

A hearing on new rates could come as early as January, PSC spokesman Eric Sell said.

More: The Associated Press

NEBRASKA

Committee Addresses Solar Energy, Financing

A special legislative committee on climate change is seeking to create a statewide climate action plan — addressing issues such as solar energy and financing energy improvement.

“Some of the public power districts have created their own, what I would say, goals. Nebraska Public Power District, I think their goal is 10%,” state Sen. Ken Haar said.  The districts’ goals “are fairly low compared to what other states are doing that actually have energy standards.”

Harr said the committee will issue a report to the Legislature by the end of the year.

More: Nebraska Radio Network

NEW YORK

Empire Center Critical of PSC’s Clean Energy Standard

The Empire Center for Public Policy has issued a report critical of the Public Service Commission’s Clean Energy Standard, passed in August, which calls for 50% of the state’s energy needs to come from renewable sources by 2030.

The think tank says that rather than subsidizing renewables, the PSC should set greenhouse emission standards and let utilities figure out how to meet them. The group, which promotes “free-market principles [and] personal responsibility,” also maintains that the cost of ramping up renewables will exceed the $2/month rate increase that the commission predicted and that it underestimated the difficulty of switching to solar and wind power.

PSC spokesman Jon Sorensen defended the plan. “Rather than support bold national leadership to combat the very real threat of climate change, this right-wing think tank denies reality and relies on bogus cost assumptions to argue for inaction,” Sorensen said in a prepared statement.

More: Times Union; The Empire Center

Long Island Sees 320% Growth in Solar Energy

Long Island has seen a 320% growth in solar energy over the past four years and just completed its 35,000th solar energy project, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.

Long Island, which is part of NY-Sun, the $1 billion initiative launched by Cuomo to advance the solar industry and create jobs, now saves 200,000 tons of carbon emissions per year.

“Clean energy is our future, and Long Island is leading the state in growing our clean tech economy and achieving our climate change goals,” Cuomo said.

More: Gov. Andrew Cuomo

NORTH CAROLINA

Two Sides Clash over Environmental Justice Reports

State regulators and environmentalists are clashing over reports that say new coal ash landfills at Duke Energy’s Sutton Plant in Wilmington and Dan River plant in Eden won’t unfairly affect anyone based on age, race, income or language.

The findings were the first two environmental justice reports issued by state regulators since announcing in April that they would start requiring environmental justice reviews before issuing permits.

Therese Vick, a community organizer with the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, said the reviews are not worth much because there is no mechanism to deny a permit on environmental justice grounds. “It’s an empty process,” she said.

More: WFAE

Duke Seeks to Build Solar Transmission Line

Duke Energy Progress is seeking to build a new 230-kV transmission line in Bladen County that would connect Innovative Solar’s new 40-MW solar power facility in Bladen County to Duke’s existing Cumberland to Delco 230-kV transmission line in Bladen County.

In its September application filed with the Utilities Commission, Duke said it will build a 230-kV breaker station adjacent to a new substation that Innovative Solar plans to build adjacent to the Cumberland to Delco 230-kV line.

More: TransmissionHub

OHIO

Regulators Approve Natural Gas-Fired Plant

The Power Sitting Board has given approval to Boston-based Advanced Power Services for a $1.1 billion, 1,105-MW natural gas-fired power plant in eastern Ohio.

The plant is expected to begin operating in January 2020.

More: Columbus Business First

Kasich Threatens Veto of Any Bill Killing Clean Energy Standards

Gov. John Kasich threatened to veto any legislation eliminating standards for renewable energy and energy efficiency, which could be a bad sign for proposals pending in the General Assembly.

Two years ago, Kasich placed a freeze on standards requiring electricity utilities to meet annual benchmarks for renewable energy and to help customers reduce energy use. The freeze will expire soon, and not all lawmakers would like to see it extended.

More: The Columbus Dispatch

OREGON

Solar-Project Completion Extended to 2017

Pacific Power announced last week that four solar power projects in central and southern Oregon from which it acquired future renewable energy credits would not be completed until the first quarter of 2017.

The company previously expected the developer, Coronal Development, to complete the projects by year-end.

If Coronal misses its completion date, it is contractually obligated to pay Pacific the difference if it has to buy power at a higher cost on the energy market.

More: The Bulletin

PENNSYLVANIA

Drillers, Landowners Dispute Royalty Payment Calculations

A dispute is raging in the state between drillers and landowners, who claim they are being cheated out of royalty payments for gas extracted from their land.

Although a 1979 law mandates a landowner royalty of at least 12.5% of the value of the gas, there are disputes over how the gas should be valued. Landowners contend they are entitled to 12.5% of what the gas sells for, while drillers say the proper calculation is market price, less post-production deductions for transportation and processing.

State lawmakers are scheduled to take up the issue Tuesday with a procedural vote on a bill that would prevent deductions from reducing landowner royalties to below the 12.5% state minimum.

More: The Associated Press

Supreme Court Strikes Down Pro-Industry Drilling Law Provisions

The state Supreme Court last week struck down provisions of a 2012 law allowing state utility regulators to punish municipalities financially if they enact drilling rules stricter than state law.

The provisions generally had not been used, but the decision gives municipalities “breathing room” to enact tougher ordinances on the natural gas industry, said Jordan Yeager, an attorney for the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

The high court also struck down two other provisions of the law. One pertained to a so-called “medical gag” rule; the other was characterized by one justice as illegal eminent domain for a private purpose.

More: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

State’s Pipeline Infrastructure not Keeping Pace with Gas Production

The state’s 60,000 miles of pipeline infrastructure is not keeping pace with natural gas production, industry leaders said in a conference call last week that addressed future gas pipeline expansion.

Some 25 to 30% of the state’s wells do not have full takeaway capacity, said Stephanie Catarino Wissman, executive director of Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania. The lack of pipeline infrastructure is hurting production from the Marcellus and Utica shales, Wissman said.

More: Pittsburgh Business Times

SOUTH DAKOTA

Largest Solar Facility in State Begins Operating

Pierre, state and company officials held a ribbon cutting ceremony last week for the state’s largest solar project, which has begun generating power under a testing period before it starts feeding the grid Oct. 7.

The $2 million, 1-MW facility is a joint venture between Pierre, Geronimo Energy and Missouri River Energy Services. It is located on about nine acres near the city’s airport. The companies chose Pierre because of easy access to a substation and available land that could not be used to grow crops.

With 4,280 panels, the facility only took two months to build, an MRES official said.

More: Capital Journal

VIRGINIA

McAuliffe Rejects Calls To Kill Atlantic Coast Pipeline

Amid protests from residents and environmentalists, Gov. Terry McAuliffe said last week that he lacks the authority to cancel construction of Dominion Resources’ Atlantic Coast Pipeline — and wouldn’t do so even if he could.

“I as governor do not have the right to call down to the Department of Environmental Quality and say, ‘Well I don’t like this,’” McAuliffe said on a local radio station. “I cannot deny an air and water permit as governor. I don’t have the authority. It’s done by statute. If you don’t like the regs and they get approved, then you need to talk to the legislature to change the law.” But the governor also said he supports the project, arguing that it will create jobs and is a safer alternative to transporting gas by train.

McAuliffe’s remarks come as about 150 people attended a public hearing of the Buckingham County Planning Commission to voice to their opposition to the pipeline. Because of the large turnout, the commission extended the public comment period to Oct. 17. The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is also planning a three-day protest outside the Executive Mansion in Richmond.

More: WVTF; Richmond Times-Dispatch

WASHINGTON

Gas Utilities Challenge Emissions-Reduction Rule

The state’s big gas utilities are filing legal challenges to a recent Department of Ecology rule that requires about two dozen large industrial emitters of greenhouse gases to reduce their carbon emissions by an average of 1.7% annually.

The rule applies to the state’s five oil refineries, Puget Sound Energy gas facilities in Sumas, Longview and Goldendale, and other large emitters, including the Grays Harbor Energy Center in Elma.

“Washington’s natural gas utilities believe that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a matter that needs addressing, but the [Clean Air Rule] is not the solution,” Avista said in a statement.

More: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

WEST VIRGINIA

Mayors, Consumer Groups Protest FirstEnergy Plant Sale

More than a dozen groups, including city officials, energy efficiency organizations, natural gas companies and consumer advocates, have sent a letter to the Public Service Commission to protest FirstEnergy’s sale of the Pleasants power plant to one of its subsidiaries.

The groups say FirstEnergy is trying to save the money-losing coal plant by selling it to either Mon Power or Potomac Edison, which can get a guaranteed rate of return for the plant’s power. They told the PSC the utilities should bid for the lowest cost power, and that FE should have to prove selling the plant to one of the utilities is the most affordable option for consumers.

More: Charleston Gazette-Mail

Fitch Downgrades State’s Credit Rating

Fitch downgraded the state’s credit rating from AA+ to AA, citing the failing coal industry and a slump in profitability from natural gas.

The agency did note the growth in the service, transportation and warehousing industries, but they were not enough to buoy the state’s economy, which still relies heavily on coal. The state is also steadily losing its population to other states, Fitch said.

“We must work continually to diversify our economy through projects like the Hobet mine site redevelopment, while also maintaining a balanced, smart budget without irresponsible cuts to critical programs,” Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said.

More: West Virginia MetroNews

WYOMING

Legislative Committee Kills Wind Production Tax Increase

A state legislative committee voted down a proposed increase on the state’s wind energy production tax, the only such tax in the country.

The legislature has been seeking a way to close a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall, caused in part by a decline in revenue from the fossil fuel industries. But after hearing five hours of testimony from wind companies and local communities, the committee voted against moving forward a bill that would have raised the wind tax from $1/MWh to $3. Everyone who spoke at the hearing on the bill was against it.

Rep. Michael Madden, a committee co-chair, supported the bill, pointing to a new wind project that would have raised $40 million alone. The state is facing a gap of $200 million. “I don’t know what we’re going to do now,” Madden said.

More: Los Angeles Times