PURPA pummeled: Pro-solar law savaged before House committee
Before the House Energy & Commerce Committee Subcommittee, utilities and regulators argued for significant changes to the 1978 law that has helped propel solar forward in states across the country – and the SEIA’s sole representative valiantly tried to make solar’s case.
North Carolina governor signs PURPA overhaul bill
The bill will move most of the state’s market for large-scale solar to a competitive procurement model, and allow for leasing of distributed PV systems, while restricting the availability of fixed-price contracts. It will also institute an 18-month wind moratorium.
Big Sky, small solar, smaller terms
A Montana solar project that would have quadrupled the state’s installed solar has been bushwhacked in the regulatory process, putting solar and even any power plant development in the state in question.
North Carolina bill would revise PURPA procurement rules if signed by governor
House Bill 589, which overhauls the regulations surrounding utility procurement from independent power producers, passed in the wee hours this morning and heads to Gov. Roy Cooper for his signature.
Montana guts PURPA
A ruling by state regulators reduces contract prices significantly and secures these prices for only five years in the territory of NorthWestern Energy.
PURPA finds itself under siege in Wyoming
Rocky Mountain Power is asking the Wyoming Public Service to slash severely the reimbursement rates it is required to pay to qualifying facilities under the 1978 law, arguing falling solar and natural gas prices mean those rates are too high to sustain long term. (READ THE FULL FILING HERE)
NV Energy PURPA-sly requests 50 MW in solar proposals
Interested parties can submit plans from now until July 6, winners of the contracts will be announced on Oct. 19 and the projects are expected to be online in 2020.
Dominion moving further into solar with 79 MW project in North Carolina
The power giant’s plans to buy the project from Cypress Creek add to its utility arm’s ambition to sign contracts with 950 MW of solar projects in the state by 2021.
Soltage, Basalt acquire 57 MW of PURPA solar projects in North Carolina
The projects are expected to begin construction in May 2017, as Duke chafes under the growing PURPA pipeline in the state.
GUEST ANALYSIS: Getting the Price Right for Local Wind and Solar
This article originally posted at ilsr.org. For timely updates, follow John Farrell or Karlee Weinmann on Twitter or get the Energy Democracy weekly update.
