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July 3, 2024

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Calif. Lawmakers Consider $10B Climate Resilience Bond

California lawmakers are poised to place on the November ballot a $10 billion climate resilience bond measure that would provide $850 million for clean energy projects, including offshore wind. 

Senate Bill 867, which would send the bond measure to voters, must be passed by July 3 to meet the deadline for the November ballot. The legislature’s monthlong summer recess starts July 4. 

Lawmakers from the Senate and Assembly announced June 30 that they had reached agreement on the language of the bill, known as the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024. 

On July 1, the bill was ordered to a third reading in the Assembly. It needs a two-thirds vote of each house and a majority vote at the ballot. 

An earlier version of the bill proposed a $15.5 billion bond measure. Even at the lower $10 billion amount, lawmakers are calling it “the single largest investment in public funding for climate resilience in California’s history.” 

The bond measure would provide: 

    • $3.8 billion for safe drinking water, drought, flood and water resilience. 
    • $1.5 billion for wildfire prevention and forest resilience. 
    • $1.2 billion for sea level rise and coastal resilience. 
    • $1.2 billion for biodiversity and nature-based climate solutions. 
    • $850 million for clean energy. 
    • $700 million for park creation and outdoor access. 
    • $450 million for extreme heat mitigation. 
    • $300 million for climate-smart farms, ranches and working lands. 

At least 40% of the funds would go to projects that benefit vulnerable populations or disadvantaged communities. 

Clean Energy Projects

Of the $850 million earmarked for clean energy projects, $475 million would go to the California Energy Commission to support the development of offshore wind. That would include building or upgrading port facilities to accommodate the manufacturing, assembly and staging of offshore wind equipment. 

An additional $325 million would go toward clean energy transmission projects. And $50 million would be available for long-duration energy storage, zero-emission distributed energy backup assets, virtual power plants or demand-side grid support.

The $1.5 billion for wildfire prevention and forest resilience would include $35 million to reduce wildfire risk related to electricity transmission. 

The proposed bond measure comes as the state faces an increasing sense of urgency over the climate crisis. 

“We are already seeing the devastating effects of climate change — more extreme heat waves, catastrophic fires and floods, coastal erosion, and severe droughts,” Sen. Ben Allen (D), a lead author of SB 867, said in a statement June 30. “Unless we take action now, the cost to address these impacts will become increasingly overwhelming.” 

The California Natural Resources Agency’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment predicts that climate change will cost the state $113 billion a year by 2050 unless action is taken. 

Every dollar spent on resiliency saves $6 in disaster relief, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates cited in the bill. 

Bond Fatigue?

The Assembly Natural Resources Committee held an informational hearing on the bill July 2. 

Assemblyman Josh Hoover (R) said that while there are “great things” in the bill, “I do remain concerned that there’s a bit of bond fatigue among the electorate.” 

Other lawmakers noted that budget cuts made for the new fiscal year in response to a $46.8 billion shortfall had hit climate programs. 

“We’ve got some pretty gloom-and-doom budget circumstances before us. There might not be other resources in front of us to be able to make these investments,” said Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia (D), one of the bill’s authors. 

Garcia said the bill would also provide an economic stimulus to parts of the state with high unemployment rates or where impacts of climate are felt disproportionately. 

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Federal Judge Stays Biden’s LNG Export Application Pause

The U.S. District Court for Western Louisiana on July 1 issued a stay on the Biden administration’s pause in considering new applications for LNG export facilities. 

The decision from Judge James Cain approved a motion from 16 Republican state attorneys general, led by Louisiana’s Liz Murrill. 

President Joe Biden announced the pause in processing new applications to export gas to non-free-trade-agreement (FTA) countries this January in order for the Department of Energy to update its approval process and study the impact of additional LNG export facilities. 

The pause did not impact applications that were already moving through the process, including Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 project being planned for Cameron Parish, La., that FERC approved last week at its monthly open meeting (CP22-21, CP22-22). The project, which still must be approved by DOE, would be able to export 20 million metric tons per year. Commissioner Allison Clements dissented from the approval because she said the commission had failed to fully consider the project’s greenhouse gas emissions and its impact on the local fishing industry. 

Cain noted in his decision that the pause in processing new applications was done without any publication in the Federal Register that explained or justified it and that DOE has not opened any rulemaking related to it. 

“The defendants’ choice to halt permits to export natural gas to foreign companies is quite complexing to this court,” Cain wrote. “Defendants remark that the purpose is to update its information as to how these exports to non-FTA countries might affect the economy and inherently consumers of natural gas here in the United States, and the effect on the environment. However, … DOE has made updates to its studies on several occasions without the president making an announcement of an unprecedented climate change action, and without … DOE declaring a wholesale ‘pause’ on pending current and future applications of exports to non-FTA countries.” 

Cain wrote that “it is undisputed that natural gas is cleaner than coal” and that gas being cheaper leads to reduced coal use around the world. Thus, “it appears that … DOE’s decision to halt the permit approval process for entities to export LNG to non-FTA countries is completely without reason or logic and is perhaps the epiphany of ideocracy,” he wrote. 

The court agreed with the AGs that their states would face irreparable harm from the pause because of lost revenue and market share. They were also deprived of a procedural right because the policy was not properly announced under the Administrative Procedure Act’s processes, it found. 

Murill welcomed the court’s ruling. 

“As Judge Cain mentioned in his ruling, there is roughly $61 billion of pending infrastructure at risk to our state from this illegal pause,” Murill said. “LNG has an enormous and positive impact on Louisiana, supplying clean energy for the entire world, and providing good jobs here at home.” 

The Sierra Club noted that the stay does not require authorization of new facilities, but DOE will have to continue its review of pending projects that were paused. DOE can also continue working on its review of what analysis the “public interest determination” requires for approval of LNG facilities. 

“Deciding whether or not to approve LNG export applications has serious consequences for how much Americans pay for energy and whether there is clean air and water to support healthy local communities and ensure thriving local industries, like fishing,” Sierra Club Staff Attorney Louisa Eberle said. “DOE has the authority — and obligation — to adequately review the true impacts of LNG exports, and we believe they will come to the same conclusion we have, which is that expanded LNG exports are not in the public interest and the pending applications should be denied.” 

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Portland General Electric Formalizes EDAM Commitment

Portland Gas and Electric (PGE) on July 2 formalized its commitment to join CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM), making it the second entity in the Western U.S. after PacifiCorp to sign an implementation agreement.

CAISO CEO Elliot Mainzer commented on PGE’s move in an announcement.

“Portland General Electric has been an excellent partner in our real-time electricity market and has been very engaged in our work with stakeholders to design the Extended Day-Ahead Market,” Mainzer said. “PGE’s formal commitment to join EDAM provides more positive momentum for building a fully integrated Western day-ahead market that will benefit all market participants and their customers.”

PGE serves 1.9 million customers in Oregon with a peak load of nearly 5,000 MW. The utility announced its intent to join EDAM in March, which will “enable greater access to lower-cost renewable energy resources that are available from a more geographically diverse system,” CAISO’s announcement said.

The implementation agreement, which CAISO and PGE signed June 28, marks an important step in efforts to shift the “joint” authority that the Western Energy Imbalance Market’s (WEIM) Governing Body shares with the ISO’s Board of Governors over WEIM and EDAM matters to “primary authority,” which would require FERC approval but not a change to California law.

Tariff provisions to make that change won’t be triggered until EDAM obtains implementation agreements from a “set of geographically diverse” WEIM participants representing load equal to or greater than 70% of CAISO balancing authority area annual load in 2022. (See Pathways Initiative to Act Fast on ‘Stepwise’ Governance Plan.)

Tariff Waiver Sought

In a related move, CAISO on July 1 filed with FERC for a limited tariff waiver to facilitate PGE’s entry into the market.

The ISO’s tariff requires that an EDAM implementation date not be less than six months or more than 24 months after the date the EDAM entity implementation agreement becomes effective. Because PGE isn’t expected to begin participating in EDAM until fall 2026, CAISO requested a limited tariff waiver from FERC to support the utility’s participation more than 24 months after the effective date of the agreement.

“The complexity of enabling PGE’s transmission and technology to work in a compatible manner with the CAISO systems may require additional efforts over a period of slightly longer than 24 months, meaning it is not possible for PGE to implement its participation as an EDAM entity until the fall of 2026,” the ISO said. “Granting the waiver will provide additional time to allow the CAISO and PGE to effectively synchronize and coordinate their onboarding and readiness activities with PacifiCorp’s spring 2026 schedule and vendor engagement activities.”

The ISO and PGE agreed to perform parallel implementation work with PacifiCorp. (See PacifiCorp Fully Commits to CAISO’s EDAM.)

“Keeping PGE and PacifiCorp on the same EDAM implementation schedule is more efficient and creates the opportunity for joint implementation meetings and workshops and early vendor engagement that would otherwise not be available,” CAISO said. “Granting this petition will benefit all customers participating in the day-ahead market by facilitating PGE’s participation in EDAM.”

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Busy Summer Ahead for Pathways Initiative

Participants in the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative face a busy meeting schedule this summer as the group’s leaders look to advance on parallel fronts to develop a “regional organization” (RO) to assume governance of CAISO’s Western Energy Imbalance Market (WEIM) and Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM). 

The Pathways Initiative hit a key milestone last month when CAISO commenced a stakeholder process to adopt the effort’s “Step 1” proposal for the ISO to elevate the “joint” authority the WEIM’s Governing Body shares with the ISO’s Board of Governors over WEIM matters to “primary” authority. (See CAISO Kicks off Stakeholder Process for Pathways Initiative.) 

“The CAISO board will be taking up the final recommendation with the EIM Governing Body sometime later this summer, or early fall, and then we’ll be working on the tariff language that will be required to actually make these changes,” Western Freedom Executive Director Kathleen Staks said during a June 28 meeting of the Pathways Initiative’s Launch Committee, of which she is a co-chair. 

Step 2 of the group’s efforts will be more complicated, said Launch Committee member Evie Kahl, general counsel at California Community Choice Association (CalCCA). That step, part of “Phase 2” of the committee’s work, deals with both the legislation needed to transfer WEIM/EDAM authority to the RO and the issues around forming the RO. 

Step 2 will consist of eight separate workstreams dealing with: the stakeholder process for an RO; CAISO-related issues such as the financial liability associated with governing an electricity market; analysis of the existing CAISO tariff; public interest issues; RO formation issues, such as form of incorporation; RO governance issues, such as board nominations and funding sources; California legislative issues; and other legal issues. 

Kahl emphasized that the CAISO tariff analysis is a “really important” workstream that will “cross over” into other streams. 

“The objective really is to define the portions of the tariff that will fall within the RO’s new scope of authority,” Kahl said. “And what it’s requiring is this foundational analysis that the team has started, looking at the existing CAISO tariff and looking at what sections are uniquely market functions, [and] which are uniquely [balancing authority] or transmission operator functions.” 

The “most challenging question” is how to handle sections of the tariff that touch on both the market and BA functions, she said. 

Kahl also said the public interest workstream will incorporate input from the state regulators who initiated Pathways a year ago, as well as work from consumer advocates and other “important voices.” 

“It’s going to be examining things like, ‘What are the public interest obligations that are going to be a part of the RO’s responsibility?’ For example, a responsibility to minimize consumer costs and, in undertaking market design, to respect state and local authority,” she said. “It’s also going to be looking at the role for state regulators and consumer advocates in the process of designing the market and tariff approval process.” 

Kahl set out the public workshop schedule for many of the workstreams, including: 

    • July 25 — RO formation and governance, which will discuss issues such as the RO’s state of incorporation, principal place of business and entity formation status. The workshop will also cover the nominating and selection process for the RO board and number of board seats; RO and CAISO board joint sessions for areas of shared authority; the potential for reserving board seats for particular sectors; and the transition from the WEIM Governing Body process to that of the RO.
    • July 31 — Public interest, to discuss the roles for a states committee and consumer advocates. 
    • Aug. 2 — Tariff analysis and CAISO issues, which will deal with what authority might be retained by CAISO; RO compliance, financial obligations and liability; and RO/CAISO staffing structure. The workstream will also cover RO authority matters. 

Special Process for Stakeholder Process

Staks said the Pathways Initiative is undertaking a different approach for the largest workstream, the stakeholder process, for which the Launch Committee has retained nonprofit group Gridworks to facilitate four meetings. This workgroup will also include some non-committee members, she said. 

Matthew Tisdale, executive director at Gridworks, said his company received funding from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation to support its work with Pathways. The workstream will focus on comparing how other RTOs/ISOs in the country, as well as the Western Power Pool’s Western Resource Adequacy Program (WRAP), engage with stakeholders. It will examine seven key elements: 

    • Among competing priorities, who selects the policy topics for stakeholder attention? 
    • Who among stakeholders frames and presents a policy problem and proposes a range of solutions? 
    • In stakeholder workshops, who is responsible for facilitating discussion and advancing an agenda? 
    • Will the stakeholder process include voting, and if so, how frequently should sector-based voting occur? 
    • How should sectors be defined and weighted for voting purposes? 
    • What kind of forums and committees use to organize themselves? 
    • How often and through what nomination process should topics be subject to a stakeholder process? 

Gridworks’ role in the workstream is to “organize” and “summarize,” not to “editorialize,” Tisdale said. It aims to provide stakeholders with a summary in early September. 

The stakeholder process work group will hold virtual workshops July 11, July 24, Aug. 2 and Aug. 28, all starting at 9 a.m. PT. 

Budget Update

The Pathways Initiative raised about $500,000 to complete its Phase 1 work (mostly committed to developing Step 1) but underran its budget by $150,000. That money will be carried over and applied to Phase 2, according to Jim Shetler, general manager of the Balancing Authority of Northern California and co-chair of the Launch Committee’s Administrative Work Group. 

The budget for phase 2, which the committee expects will run from this month to the fourth quarter of this year and produce a Step 2 proposal, remains about $450,000, for which the committee is seeking funders, Shetler said. 

Phase 3, which is intended to implement Step 2 and will likely run from this fall to the first quarter of 2026, has a budget of $636,000.  

“I will note that we are seeking and plan on going in for additional requests to [the U.S. Department of Energy] for DOE funding for that Phase 3 effort, and we’re hoping we’ll be able to get that to help defray those costs,” Shetler said. 

DOE in April rejected the Pathways Initiative’s first attempt to secure $800,000 in agency grants. But later that month, Launch Committee Co-Chair Pam Sporborg, of Portland General Electric, said that, based on DOE feedback, the group would likely reapply with a “more detailed and specific proposal” on how it would spend the money. 

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BOEM Approves NJ’s Atlantic Shores OSW Project

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has given the go-ahead to New Jersey’s foremost offshore wind project, the 1,510-MW Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind. 

The approval of Atlantic Shores, which would serve 700,000 homes, boosts the state’s ambitious offshore wind plans nine months after Danish developer Ørsted abandoned two of the state’s first three projects off the New Jersey coast, Ocean Wind 1 and 2.  

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) approved Atlantic Shores and Ocean Wind 2 in 2021, following the agency’s backing of Ocean Wind 1 in 2019. Ørsted’s decision not to follow through on its two projects means Atlantic Shores likely will be the state’s first offshore wind project to come online, estimated between 2027 and 2029. 

BOEM’s approval also covers a second phase of the Atlantic Shores project, with capacity of about 1,300 MW and serving about 300,000 homes. However, that also would require approval from the BPU in a future solicitation. 

U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland called the BOEM approval a “milestone” and “yet another step toward our ambitious goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore energy by 2030.”  

“Our clean energy future is now a reality. … We are addressing climate change, fostering job growth and promoting equitable economic opportunities for all communities.” 

BOEM granted the Record of Decision (RoD) to the two Phases of Atlantic Shores based upon the agency’s compilation of an environmental impact statement (EIS). The agency held four public hearings on the EIS, which the agency said resulted in several measures designed to “minimize or mitigate the potential impacts of the project, including visual impacts and potential impacts to marine life and to existing ocean uses such as fishing.” 

While the EIS concluded the project would have a “major” impact on commercial and for-hire recreational fishing, the view from the shore and on-ship traffic, it found the impact would be moderate or minor on most of the 19 categories studied. These included recreation and tourism, land use and coastal infrastructure. (See BOEM FEIS Cites ‘Major’ Impact from NJ OSW Project.) 

Atlantic Shores said in a statement the developer expects a decision on the project construction and operations plans (COPs) to be made in the fall and all reviews and permits to be completed by October. The project should be “shovel ready” by the end of 2024, the company said. 

“We recognize the significance of this milestone,” Joris Veldhoven, CEO of Atlantic Shores, said in a statement. “And we’re excited to work with our supply chain partners to continue making near-term investments and creating great-paying union jobs.” 

The Oceantic Network, which works to advance the offshore wind sector, noted that BOEM’s approval of Atlantic Shores follows the agency’s granting of COPs for Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind, both offshore New York, and New England Wind 1 and 2, off the coast of Massachusetts. Those projects, along with Atlantic Shores, will have a combined capacity of 8,200 MW, enough to power 3 million homes, the organization said. 

“BOEM’s consistent efforts to move projects through the regulatory process are pushing the offshore wind industry forward,” Sam Salustro, vice president of strategic communication at Oceantic Network, said in a statement. 

Clean Energy Future

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D), noting that Atlantic Shores ultimately could provide power for 1 million homes, said in a message on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the approval is “bringing us one step closer to a 100% clean energy future.” 

Murphy has set a state target of installing 11 GW of OSW capacity by 2040, and the state has aggressively pursued that goal. Since the termination of Ørsted’s projects, the BPU has concluded its third solicitation with the endorsement of two new projects — the 1,341-MW Attentive Energy Two project and the Leading Light project, with two phases of 1,200 MW each. The capacity of BPU approved projects now is 5,251 MW. 

In April, the BPU opened a fourth solicitation, which will close at 5 p.m. July 10. And in May, Murphy directed the BPU to advance the opening of the fifth solicitation by 15 months, to the second quarter of 2025.  

The state also has sought to position itself as a key hub for the growing industry, spending $600 million on the New Jersey Wind Port, in South Jersey, which has heavy-lift wharfs and space for manufacturing and marshaling. The first phase is expected to open this year. 

Paulina Banasiak O’Connor, executive director of the New Jersey Offshore Wind Alliance, which represents wind developers and other sector members, called BOEM’s announcement a “critical” development. 

“As the most mature project positioned to serve New Jersey, the Atlantic Shores South project is in many ways the vanguard of New Jersey’s offshore wind industry and all the benefits our industry will bring to the state,” she said. 

Diverging Responses

Environmental groups welcomed the project’s advance. 

“The momentum for offshore wind in New Jersey is only growing as we continue to lead the region in our transition to a cleaner, greener future for our communities,” said Sierra Club New Jersey Director Anjuli Ramos-Busot. 

Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey, called the decision a “clear win for offshore wind and another step forward to making offshore wind a reality off the Jersey Shore” after the “gut punch” of Ørsted’s withdrawal. 

“Offshore wind remains the best strategy for New Jersey to generate clean, renewable energy and reduce climate pollutants from fossil fuels,” he said. “This is the strongest sign that offshore wind is back.” 

With as many as 195 turbines planned and located 8.7 miles off the New Jersey coast, the project is the closest to the shore and faces local opposition. The project plans include 10 offshore substations with subsea transmission cables potentially making landfall in Atlantic City and Sea Girt. 

Commercial fishermen fear their catch will be sharply diminished by the wind projects, and local governments, the tourist sector and residents fear a loss in the quality of life and in tourist visits due to the visibility of wind turbines. 

Save Long Beach Island, which opposes the project, did not respond to a request for comment. It said in a June 28 email that it has been preparing for the approval of Atlantic Shores.  

“We have created a strong technical base and intend to file a number of lawsuits against the Atlantic Shores South project soon,” group president Bob Stern said in the email, which included a request for donations. “So, this fight is far from over. It is, in fact, just beginning with intensity.” 

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Avangrid Details Progress on NECEC Tx Line

Construction on Avangrid’s hotly contested New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC) transmission project has made significant progress following a two-year pause, according to a filing submitted to the Maine Public Utilities Commission on July 1. 

NECEC is a 1,200-MW transmission line intended to send power from the Québec border to Lewiston, Maine, a city in the southern part of the state. The project is the result of a competitive Massachusetts clean energy solicitation and ultimately will be funded by ratepayers, as well as by Hydro-Québec. 

The project includes about 145 miles of new 320-kV HVDC transmission line, a new converter station, an upgrade to an existing substation and an AC line connecting the converter station to the substation. It also requires a series of upgrades to the local grid once it reaches the substation, including a new 26-mile 345-kV line and rebuilds of several other line segments. 

According to the July 1 filing (PUC docket 2017-00232), Avangrid said it has installed 504 pole bases, 441 poles, and wires on 178 poles for the HVDC line. The project’s website says the line will require 829 structures, with most structures being monopiles.  

This marks significant progress from the update filed at the beginning of this year, which indicated 187 pole bases had been set with 128 poles installed. 

Regarding the AC network upgrades needed to support the line, “since construction activities resumed in December 2023, access is approximately 81% complete, foundations are 41% complete (294 complete), pole setting is 31% complete (217 complete) and wire work is 34% complete (36 circuit miles),” Avangrid wrote.  

Work also is underway at the new converter station, where the foundations are in place, the company noted. 

The filing indicated the total taxable investments for the project as of April 1 have reached $904 million, an approximately $200 million increase compared to April 2023, after construction resumed in October 2023. These costs represent “actual construction work in progress and an applicable allocation of overall development costs as appropriate,” the filing noted.  

While the project initially was expected to cost about $1 billion, the delays have led to an approximately $500 million cost increase. In late 2023, Massachusetts passed a budget bill enabling its electric distribution companies to recover costs associated with the construction delays.  

When in service, the Maine PUC’s permitting approval indicates the line and its associated power contracts will help lower energy and capacity costs in New England, bolster grid reliability and fuel security, and help reduce carbon emissions by increasing hydropower imports.  

According to the project website, the line is tracking to be in-service “by 2025.” Avangrid declined to provide further comment on the status of the project. 

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FERC Denies Missouri River Complaint Against SPP

FERC has denied a complaint by Missouri River Energy Services (MERS) that SPP violated its tariff by failing to give the utility any firm transmission rights in every annual allocation since 2016, resulting in more than $25 million in overcharges.  

In its June 27 order, the commission said Missouri River did not meet its burden to prove that SPP’s implementation of the allocation process violated the tariff, filed rate doctrine or two FERC orders or that the allocation process is unjust and unreasonable (EL24-3). 

MRES, an SPP load-serving entity, filed a complaint with FERC under several sections of the Federal Power Act. It alleged SPP violated its tariff, filed rate doctrine and commission Orders 681 and 890 by not awarding any long-term congestion rights (LTCRs) to the utility. MRES also claimed the RTO’s lack of transparency into its LTCR allocations violated the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and Order 890. 

The utility asked FERC to order SPP to refund the overcharge and allocate LTCRs from the date of the complaint. 

The commission found MRES did not identify specific tariff language it believed the grid operator had violated and said SPP’s tariff does not support its argument that the utility is entitled to receive its nominated LTCR allocation. It said the RTO didn’t deviate from its filed rate because the tariff’s LTCR process does not require it to allocate nominated rights. 

FERC also said Order 681 gives flexibility to grid operators in how they design their long-term FTRs and allows them to limit the amount available to ensure feasibility. It noted LSEs would not necessarily be able to obtain all of the long-term FTRs they request. 

“As an initial matter, we note that the commission accepted SPP’s LTCR tariff process, including how it determines feasibility and the amount of LTCRs to allocate, as compliant with Order 681,” FERC wrote. “Thus, the commission has already determined that SPP’s tariff meets the requirements of Order 681.” 

The commission said MRES did not support its allegation that SPP violated Order 890’s transparency requirements by not supplying the utility with certain data and calculations used in the LTCR allocation process. Instead, FERC found that Order 890’s transparency requirements do not require SPP to provide MRES with either the shift factor data or SPP’s specific software implementation of the simultaneous feasibility test. 

FERC pointed out that there are several reasons the LTCR allocation process could result in MRES not being allocated the congestion rights.  

“Contrary to Missouri River’s contention, the fact that Missouri River was not allocated LTCRs is not in and of itself proof of an implementation error,” the commission said. 

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Company Briefs

SCE, Fervo Energy Agree to Geothermal Deal

Fervo Energy last week announced it has secured power purchase agreements with Southern California Edison (SCE). 

SCE has agreed to buy 320 MW of power from Fervo’s $2 billion Cape Station geothermal project currently under construction in Utah. The project is expected to generate nearly 400 MW when it reaches full production in 2028. 

The agreement will play out over two 15-year contracts. 

More: Canary Media 

Ameren Purchases its Largest Solar Facility

Ameren last week announced the purchase of the Cass County Renewable Energy Center in Illinois. 

The 150-MW project, which Ameren bought from Savion, is expected to come online later this year. 

Ameren is also in the process of adding two other solar facilities to its portfolio: the 200-MW Huck Finn in Northeast Missouri, and the 150-MW Boomtown in Southern Illinois. Both are expected to start up this year. 

More: St. Louis Public Radio 

American Battery Factory Moving Forward on New Arizona Factory

American Battery Factory last week said it is still on track to start construction this fall on its $1.2 billion advanced battery “gigafactory” in Tucson, Ariz. 

The company said the factory will use Honeywell’s latest artificial intelligence with automated manufacturing equipment to produce the startup’s proprietary lithium-iron phosphate battery cells. 

With a targeted completion in 2025, the first ABF gigafactory will include the company’s headquarters, a research-and-development center, and a 1,500-foot-long factory module capable of producing 20 GWh worth of battery cells annually, the company said. 

More: Arizona Daily Star 

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Federal Briefs

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Discrimination Case in Georgia PSC Elections

The U.S. Supreme Court last week said it will not hear a case challenging Georgia’s system of electing utility regulators. 

The high court rejected claims that the power of Black voters was illegally diluted because the five members of the Public Service Commission are elected statewide. A lower court said such statewide votes were discriminatory and would have mandated elections by district, potentially sparking challenges to statewide elected bodies in other states with large numbers of Black voters. However, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling in November, saying Georgia was free to choose its form of government for the commission. 

The PSC has gone years without having elections because votes were paused during the lawsuit. 

More: The Associated Press 

Vineyard Wind 1 Becomes Largest Operating OSW Farm in US

Five more wind turbines recently came online at Vineyard Wind 1, making it the largest operating offshore wind farm in the U.S. 

Vineyard is now delivering more than 136 MW to Massachusetts with 10 turbines in operation. New York’s South Fork Wind, the U.S.’s first complete utility-scale offshore wind farm, is at 132 MW. 

Vineyard currently has 47 foundations and transition pieces installed, as well as 21 turbines, with the installation of the 22nd underway. Once completed, the project will consist of 62 turbines. 

More: Electrek 

Trump Would Withdraw US from Paris Climate Treaty Again, Campaign Says

Donald Trump would pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement for the second time if he wins the presidency again in November, Karoline Leavitt, campaign press secretary, said last week. 

Another possible order would remove the U.S. from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is the underlying framework that serves as the basis for the global climate talks. Removing the nation from the 1992 U.N. treaty would require Senate approval for the U.S. to rejoin and might freeze the U.S. out of the system indefinitely. 

More: POLITICO 

USDA Puts $375M Toward Rural Renewables

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week announced $375 million in funding for renewable energy projects, predominantly through the Inflation Reduction Act, for rural areas. 

The two largest awards will go to battery energy storage systems in Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Soldotna Substation in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, both of which will receive $100 million; $55.2 million will go toward three battery storage projects in Benson, Ariz.; $16.6 million for a hydroelectric plant on the Kentucky River; and $3.6 million toward a community solar facility in Madison, Neb. 

USDA will also award $100 million in grants and loans across 39 states and Puerto Rico. 

More: The Hill 

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State Briefs

CALIFORNIA 

Lawmakers Approve Newsom’s $400M Loan to Diablo Canyon

State lawmakers last week agreed to loan Pacific Gas and Electric an additional $400 million to extend the life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, ceding to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s push after initially refusing the money in a budget spat. 

Legislative leaders questioned the necessity and cost-effectiveness of keeping the plant open, initially rejecting the loan out of concern that taxpayers and ratepayers could end up footing the bill for substantial parts of $1.4 billion in loans. But the budget deal released last week after weeks of negotiations between the governor and lawmakers includes the $400 million allotment, along with a requirement for the Department of Water Resources to report on how the money will be spent and unpaid balances. 

Diablo Canyon contributes roughly 9% of the state’s energy on a given day. 

More: Fresno Bee 

Tesla Ordered to Stop Releasing Toxic Emissions at San Francisco Plant

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District last week ordered Tesla to fix air quality problems at its electric vehicle manufacturing facility in the San Francisco Bay Area after racking up 112 violations for allegedly releasing toxic emissions into the atmosphere over the last five years. 

The board ordered Tesla to hire an independent consultant and develop a proposed implementation plan for approval, which it then must execute to stop the toxic emissions. 

More: The Associated Press 

COLORADO 

Xcel Requests $1.9B for Wildfire Prevention

Xcel Energy last week filed a $1.9 billion wildfire mitigation plan with the Public Utilities Commission aimed at preventing future wildfires. 

The utility is facing nearly 300 lawsuits over the Marshall Fire that destroyed 1,084 homes and killed two people at the end of 2021. 

The request would increase the average residential bill by $8.88 (9%) per month. 

More: The Colorado Sun 

IOWA 

Utilities Board Approves Summit Pipeline Permit

The Utilities Board last week approved the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline and will allow the company to use eminent domain to acquire landowners’ property. 

The pipeline, which would be the largest of its kind in the world, would carry liquified carbon dioxide from ethanol plants in Iowa and surrounding states to a site in North Dakota. Summit hopes for reconsideration and approval of a previously denied permit. The company says it has signed voluntary easement agreements with 75% of the Iowa route’s landowners. However, it cannot begin construction until the necessary permits are secured in South Dakota and North Dakota. 

The company expects the pipeline to operational in 2026. 

More: Iowa Capital Dispatch 

MARYLAND 

OPC Report: Spiking Utility Bills Linked to Gas Infrastructure Spending

A new report by the Office of People’s Counsel linked growing residential utility bills to massive gas infrastructure spending by state utilities. 

According to the report, state utilities are spending an average of more than $700 million a year on gas infrastructure. Spending on gas infrastructure investments has been steady since 2023 and is expected to remain so in 2025, as “utilities will be recovering around $2.5 billion from customers against that level of investment in the coming decades.” 

The report states that gas delivery rates for some utilities, particularly Baltimore Gas & Electric and Columbia Gas, have more than tripled since 2010. That has correlated to spiking delivery costs for customers. 

More: Inside Climate News 

MASSACHUSETTS 

Easthampton Seeks Comment on Climate Action Plan

Easthampton, which has been working on a Climate Action Plan, recently made a draft available to the public and sought comment on the final product. 

The plan contains 46 actions the city can take to combat climate change, which are classified into four areas: municipal actions, actions to support residents, actions to support businesses, and state and regional collaboration. The city is aiming to be 100% emission-free by 2050. 

Public comments on the plan had to be submitted by June 28. 

More: Daily Hampshire Gazette 

Senate Approves Bill to Expand Reliance on Renewable Energy

The Senate last week approved a bill aimed at expanding the adoption of renewable energy and help the state meet its climate goals, including reaching net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050. 

Supporters say the proposal will help lower utility bills by directing providers to offer discounted rates to consumers with low and middle incomes and give the state more flexibility to negotiate contracts with providers. The bill would also ban “competitive electric suppliers,” which cost consumers more than $577 million over the past eight years, according to a report from the attorney general’s office. It would also expand electric vehicle infrastructure. 

The bill now heads to the House of Representatives. 

More: The Associated Press 

OHIO 

HB 6 Updates: Regulators Continue Piecemeal Review

The Public Utilities Commission last week said it will continue to consider four FirstEnergy cases related to HB 6 separately, despite requests by the utility, customer advocates and others to combine the cases. 

FirstEnergy wanted issues in three HB 6 cases to be considered together next year, and would have split a fourth case over whether the company improperly used ratepayer money to subsidize affiliated businesses. The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, Ohio Manufacturers’ Association Energy Group and several other parties urged the PUC to consolidate all four cases. Regulators stayed all four cases in mid-2022 after a request from the federal prosecutor’s office. Administrative Law Judge Jacky St. John ruled last week that the commission would not order further consolidation beyond its combination of the two rider cases when the stay was lifted in late February. 

The PUC set schedules that call for testimony in the rider cases to be filed in early August, with an evidentiary hearing set to start later that month. 

More: Energy News Network 

VIRGINIA 

Corporation Commission Approves Appalachian Power Tx Project

The State Corporation Commission last week approved Appalachian Power’s three-phase, $423.5 million Stuart Area Improvements Project. 

The plan aims to replace aging equipment with a more reliable system by building 25 miles of new 138-kV line and upgrading 48 miles of line in Carroll, Floyd, Henry and Patrick counties, as well as retiring 20 miles of line in Franklin County. 

Appalachian hopes to begin construction on phase 1 in 2026 and for the project to be in service in 2031. 

More: Cardinal News 

Lawsuit over State’s Withdrawal from RGGI

Circuit Judge Randall Lowe last week denied a request by the Attorney General’s Office to throw out a lawsuit that accuses the state of illegally withdrawing from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. 

Lowe’s rulings on preliminary motions — which were essentially the same as those made by another judge who later recused himself over a potential conflict of interest — moved the case toward a final decision. Lowe later scheduled a Sept. 16 hearing on the ultimate issues. 

The lawsuit, filed by the Association of Energy Conservation Professionals, alleges the State Air Pollution Control Board and the Department of Environmental Quality acted illegally in pulling out of RGGI at the behest of Gov. Glenn Youngkin. 

More: The Roanoke Times