Morning Brief: Planners reject $40M, 140-MW battery storage project for fire risk, New York adopts net metering alternative
Also in the brief: Minnesota solar installers say they’re waiting too long for Xcel Energy grid connections, lower solar costs lead to new installations in metro Atlanta and financing for two large projects in Texas.
Morning Brief: Renewable-energy spending will edge oil and gas for the first time ever in 2021
Also in the brief: Repowering older wind and solar plants is big business and getting bigger, Xcel accelerates $3 billion in spending, particularly on large renewable-energy projects, Highview gets more funding for long-duration energy storage.
Arcadia embarks on Colorado community solar push
Arcadia has partnered with Pivot Energy to develop community solar projects for homeowners and renters across Colorado, including in Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins and Grand Junction
Boulder, Pueblo, San Francisco pursue city utilities for clean energy, lower costs
Boulder sees a public utility as a way to reach 100% renewables, while San Francisco aims for 100% clean energy, and Pueblo expects 10% to 14% savings.
Xcel plays the waiting game
The utility’s long-term plan for Minnesota shows that it plans to delay building any large-scale solar for six years, and to kill the state’s distributed solar market in the interim.
Xcel dismantles Boulder’s attempt at a city utility
After a lengthy court battle, Xcel has emerged the victor: A settlement has been reached which eliminates the on-paper municipal utility established by the City of Boulder. However this is not the end for of the utility entirely, as there is still an election to be held that could result in the creation of one.
Xcel to build 3 GW of MN solar by 2030 – if it gets to own 50% or more
The deal that Xcel has reached with environmentalists and labor includes caveats maximizing the utility’s ownership of the large-scale solar that it is promising.
Colorado to go carbon-free
With the presumed signing of SB19-236 by Governor Polis, the state will begin the steps to becoming carbon free by 2030, which is likely followed closely by increased renewable development.
Platte River Power to go 100% zero-carbon by 2030
The Colorado generation co-op has one-upped Xcel Energy, as the 100% renewable energy movement grows even in the energy industry. However, there are some sticky caveats.
Colorado trades away coal and gas for solar+wind+storage
The Colorado PUC has voted to provide initial approval of a plan to retire 660 MW of coal early and not build any new gas, instead constructing over 1 GW of wind, 700 MW of solar and 275 MW / 1.0 GWh of energy storage.
