Texas could add 3.5 GW of solar this year
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.
Philadelphia-area transit agency expects six-figure annual savings from 44 MW solar project
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.
Solar beats gas when utilities use all-source procurements
With an all-source procurement, a utility solicits bids to identify the costs of solar, wind and storage, which can be “significantly less expensive than new gas,” as an Indiana utility found. A clean energy group calls for state regulators to require all-source procurements, for the vertically integrated utilities that serve half the country.
Los Angeles to explore solar partnership with the Navajo Nation
The partnership would pursue cost-effective solar projects that benefit ratepayers and provide “environmental justice and economic equity to the Navajo Nation,” after the city received power from the coal-burning Navajo Generating Station for decades—and paid less than fair value for coal, land leasing, and water, say advocates.
Navajo Power CEO sees 10 GW renewable potential across the Navajo Nation
While an Arizona utility solicits bids for a 200 MW solar project within the Navajo Nation, the near-term potential is 10 GW, says Navajo Power CEO Brett Isaac.
Kentucky city of 28,000 selects 50 MW of solar to help lower electric bills
Henderson, Kentucky’s municipal utility selected 50 MW of solar, which will provide 15% of its annual electricity. “In western Kentucky we do have a pretty good solar resource,” says the utility’s general manager.
Solar and storage advocates call for real-time pricing option in California
Real-time pricing of electricity can help integrate renewables, reduce costly and polluting peak-period generation, and save customers money, the trade groups say. They call for California to make real-time pricing an option in the San Diego area.
States expand rooftop solar potential with smart inverter rollout
Maryland is the fourth state to require that rooftop solar use smart inverters, to allow more solar on the grid. States aiming for high renewables should do likewise, says a consultancy. A looming question: will smart distributed resources be compensated for providing grid services?
NEXTracker CEO challenges solar projections from Energy Information Administration
“EIA’s projections greatly underestimate the growth of solar and significantly overestimate coal’s persistence in the energy mix,” says Dan Shugar, CEO of NEXTracker.
Victory for solar as Kansas Supreme Court blocks fixed fee for distributed power
The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that a fixed fee for distributed solar customers violates state law. Vote Solar and Sierra Club brought the case, with representation from Earthjustice.
