California requires utilities to develop and post hourly retail electric rates
Hourly pricing is intended to shift some load to periods of high renewables generation, when wholesale power prices are lower. Some customers are expected to opt in to hourly rates with the support of automated demand-shifting technology.
South Carolina electric co-op pursues batteries and other alternatives to a proposed gas unit
Utility-scale batteries are being pursued by many utilities, the generation and transmission co-op utility said in explaining its decision, while aggregated distributed resources “can be counted on as predictable generation capacity.”
Distributed resources to earn compensation from Texas grid operator ERCOT
ERCOT’s pilot project, designed in less than a year, will support grid reliability and is expected to be ongoing. Some other grid operators have already launched or announced similar programs.
Tesla proposes enabling renewables developers to estimate a project’s interconnection costs
With access to grid models, Tesla said it could estimate a project’s interconnection costs with an informational study in less than two weeks. Trade groups SEIA and AEE renewed their call to allow third-party interconnection studies.
Proposed regional clean hydrogen hubs to compete for $7 billion in DOE funding
Several teams plan to propose regional hubs in which large-scale clean hydrogen production would be paired with industrial and other end-uses for hydrogen. DOE gave examples of technologies that could meet its draft standard for “clean” hydrogen.
Artificial intelligence could speed interconnection, says Amazon executive
Grid operator SPP is in discussions with Amazon Web Services about using AI to speed interconnection studies for utility-scale solar. A NextEra executive is bringing the idea to other grid operators.
Rooftop solar adoption rises sharply as system value to homeowners increases
Annual rooftop solar installations more than double when each homeowner’s long-term “profit” on a system increases from zero to $1,000, a study found. Based partly on that study, a Minnesota utility must now evaluate distributed solar incentives as a means to save all customers money.
New York needs 20 GW of new renewables by 2030, plus transmission, says grid operator
Even adding 9.5 GW of renewables will increase transmission congestion, said NYISO, in a report that also called for development and commercialization of dispatchable emission-free resources.
New Jersey considers regional clean energy market in PJM footprint, to speed renewables
New Jersey would grant clean energy credits to solar and wind project owners and require the state’s utilities to buy them to meet clean energy targets, under a proposal by New Jersey regulatory staff. Other states could join in the proposed market.
Grid operator MISO is making progress on renewables interconnection, says trade group leader
The Midwestern transmission operator MISO is moving to increase transmission and otherwise facilitate interconnection, said a regional trade group leader, yet she also recommended further improvements by MISO and neighboring grid operators.
