Electricity consumers would pay at least $1.1 billion more per year in the 13-state PJM grid region, says a new report, while 8.5 GW of capacity sales from new solar developments would be excluded from the capacity market, and corporate solar purchase agreements could cost 50% more — if courts uphold a federal regulation known as “MOPR.”

At least two renewable energy firms decided not to bid on the utility’s procurement, which calls for generation equipment with a 90% capacity factor. A former chairman of the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau also comments on the plan, and shares his vision of Puerto Rico reaching 100% renewables by 2030.

Regulators and community groups can use a new interactive resource to see the emissions impacts of existing and proposed peaker units. Storage developers may also find the tool helpful, to identify peakers likely to be replaced.

The project has obtained one county approval, as Rocky Mountain Power’s plan to increase its solar capacity and retire coal plants early has prompted an investigation by state regulators.

The global energy firm Wartsila found a least-cost renewables mix for the U.S. that involves overbuilding renewable capacity, but requires no seasonal storage, and needs only four to ten days of multi-day storage capacity. The analysis modeled meeting current uses of electricity, based on projected technology costs for 2030.

Adding enough distributed storage to reduce peak demand by 20% could defer up to one-fifth of the transmission and distribution expenditures in Texas for about 10 years, a study found. Other states may find the study’s analytical insights to be useful.

About 9.3 GW of solar projects have come online thanks to the law known as PURPA. The national solar association argues that federal rules implementing PURPA “should be strengthened rather than weakened,” to ensure that solar facilities up to 80 MW may compete in every region of the country.

Additional solar could help the ERCOT grid region in Texas meet its summer peak, after it faced “tight grid conditions” last summer. New task forces aim to improve ERCOT’s markets for ancillary services and battery storage.

The Conway, Arkansas municipal utility found that a solar project was “the best path,” of all options considered in an integrated resource plan that looked ahead to 2032. Coal plants serving the city will have retired by then.

The transit agency expects to save “several hundred thousand dollars a year, on average” through its fixed-price contract for solar power. The agency’s sustainability program “is a platform not just for environmental improvements, but for financial improvements,” said an executive.