Center for Biological Diversity sues FEMA to disclose funding for renewables versus fossils
With billions of dollars of federal disaster relief funding having been allocated to restore energy infrastructure, the Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit to obtain federal records on how that money has been spent.
North Carolina carbon plan favors gas over solar-plus-storage
The carbon plan includes substantially less solar and storage than the amounts called for by a North Carolina trade group and a citizens’ group, and similar amounts proposed by technology firms.
U.S. Senate confirms six Biden appointees to TVA board
With the new appointments, Biden appointees constitute the majority of the TVA board of directors. Key decisions on TVA’s generating mix are in the works.
Reducing interconnection time to one year is a draft long-term goal of DOE’s i2X initiative
For the near term, the initiative has a draft goal of reducing interconnection schedules and costs for large-scale renewable and storage projects by 50% within five years.
Let California farmers opt in to dynamic pricing of electricity, says trade group
A pilot project that enables farmers to shift irrigation pumping to hours with low-cost electricity has saved them money, and in theory has reduced renewables curtailment. The pilot should be expanded to reach farmers statewide, said CalCCA.
A year of solar industry proposals to clear interconnection queue logjams
Industry participants proposed many solutions this year to speed interconnection studies. Although federal regulators included key solutions in a proposed rule, for now the logjams and cost allocation problems continue.
To make room for more distributed solar and storage, New Mexico to require smart inverters
Requiring smart inverters will enable more customers to install rooftop solar and storage without paying for grid upgrades. New Mexico also enabled interconnection of more storage by following guidance in the Interstate Renewable Energy Council’s BATRIES report.
Free GenX model recommended for renewables advocates to conduct utility resource modeling
As trade groups and citizens’ groups advocate for low-cost renewables in state proceedings, they can make a stronger case by preparing their own utility resource plan, for example by using the free GenX model developed at MIT, says nonprofit group RMI.
NREL projects renewable generation could approach 70% by 2035
Solar and wind deployment would increase sharply under the forecast from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Transmission needed to carry wind power from the central U.S. eastward, DOE finds
To cost-effectively reach a high level of renewable generation, additional transmission will be needed to connect the wind belt in the central U.S. to eastern grids, according to early results from a Department of Energy study.
