Morning Brief: Indiana passes HB 1414, PG&E, FEMA agree to wildfire settlement

Also in the brief: NJR Clean Energy Ventures acquires the country’s largest floating solar array, a clean energy advocate has been named to Wisconsin’s PSC, a community solar farm proposed in Maine and more.

March 12, 2020 Tim Sylvia

PG&E's office in San Francisco

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Indiana passes HB 1414: A version of Indiana’s controversial House Bill 1414, tagged as being more akin to the original’s ‘tame’ senate version, has passed both chambers of the state legislature. That tame designation comes from the absence of a portion of the bill which would have allowed utilities to recover costs for up to 90 days of fuel supply. This stipulation was argued by critics, environmental groups and renewable energy proponents as a way for utilities to stockpile more coal they didn’t need. In response, Sierra Club has issued a statement calling on Gov. Eric Holcomb to veto the measure. To read more about HB 1414 and how it contradicts the energy revolution going on in Indiana, check out pv magazine’s previous coverage of the bill. Source: Sierra Club

PG&E, FEMA agree to wildfire settlement: Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has resolved its disputes with FEMA and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Under the agreement, FEMA will reduce its ask to $1 billion and have its claims subordinated to those filed by victims of the wildfires, while the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services will withdraw its claims of around $2.7 billion. There was concern that FEMA’s initial $3.9 billion over three claims would take money away from the $13.5 billion set aside for individual victims. Source: Wall Street Journal

NJR Clean Energy Ventures acquires country’s largest floating solar array: The largest floating solar array in the United States is under new ownership, as NJR Clean Energy Ventures has acquired the 4.4. MW installation. The array is located in Sayreville, New Jersey and was constructed by Ciel & Terre USA. This acquisition raises NJR Clean Energy Ventures’ portfolio of solar assets to nearly 300 MW. pv magazine USA covered the project’s completion back in October, which includes a nifty YouTube video about the project. Source: NJR Clean Energy Ventures

Clean energy advocate named to Wisconsin regulatory board: Gov. Tony Evers has raised engineer and director of Renew Wisconsin, a nonprofit organization for the advancement of renewables in the state, Tyler Huebner, to the state’s public service commission. This is Ever’s third placement on the commission, giving his placees majority control. Last year, Evers set a goal of making the state’s electricity supply carbon-free by 2050. Following suit, all five of the state’s public utilities have set carbon reduction goals of no less than 80% in that timeframe. Huebner’s appointment is effective March 17 and he will mark the first commissioner in more than two decades to not be an attorney, lawmaker or legislative aide. Source: Madison.com

Community solar farm proposed in Maine: A solar project that would represent roughly 8% of all solar installed in the state thus far has been proposed in Maine. The proposed 5-megawatt community solar farm would be located at 17 Perkins Road in Belfast. SunRaise Investments, the company proposing the project claims that it would be enough capacity to power roughly 1,400 households. SEIA currently estimates that the state can power 4,362 homes with solar. Maine also recently passed laws that aimed to add 375 MW of solar capacity via projects of less than 5 MW. Source: Bangor Daily News

The California Energy Commission is hiring a legislative analyst, with full details available here.

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