Capital Dynamics and Hoosier Energy, a generation and transmission cooperative, signed a long-term Power Purchase Agreement Hoosier Energy will buy 150 MW of the power generated by the $128 million Ratts 2 Solar Project, a Capital Dynamics-owned greenfield solar project that is currently being developed on 1,200 acres in Knox County, Indiana, southwest of Indianapolis. Arevon Energy Management and Tenaska are co-developing the project. Construction is expected to begin in 2022 with commercial operation anticipated in 2023.
EV market share growth
Electric vehicle registrations in the U.S. in 2020 reached a market share of 1.8%, demonstrating “increased consumer interest for electric vehicles,” according to new analysis from IHS Markit.
December represented the highest monthly share for EV new registrations, at 2.5% of the industry. The firm said that was a record monthly level since it began tracking new vehicle registration data by fuel type.
IHS Markit forecasts EV sales will pass 3.5% nationally in 2021, and continue to increase to more than 10% in 2025. It said that with more than 100 new EV options expected between 2021 and 2025, a continued increase in consumer acceptance and demand will grow as internal combustion engine options are displaced.
EV market share is highest in the Western Region, where 4.8% of all new vehicles registered are EVs. The share is 1.6% in the Northeast, 1.1% in the Southeast, 0.9% in the Southwest Region, and 0.8% in the Midwest region.
Texas thaws and the lawsuits begin
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chair Richard Glick called on Congress and the Texas state legislature to “rethink” the state’s grid operator’s “go it alone approach” in the wake of rolling blackouts that occurred as generating units failed as demand grew due to a winter storm.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is regulated by the Texas Public Utilities Commission, not by FERC. FERC and the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) opened an inquiry to assess what went wrong across the region. Glick was quoted as saying that grid operators such as ERCOT that find themselves “in a bind” may want to reassess their model.
And, in what may be the first of many legal actions stemming from the blackouts, a Dallas law firm filed a lawsuit alleging that ERCOT and electricity transmission company American Electric Power “consciously ignored repeated warnings about weaknesses in the state’s power infrastructure” and therefore are liable for property damage and business interruptions.
The lawsuit is Donald McCarley v Electric Reliability Council of Texas et al., case no. 2021CCV-60188-1, filed in the Nueces County Court at Law.
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