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New York DPS Staff Proposal Closes the Door on Utility Ownership of Large-Scale Renewables, Mostly

 March 1, 2016

On January 25, 2016, the New York Department of Public Service (DPS) Staff issued the “Staff White Paper on Clean Energy Standard.” The white paper is the latest Staff filing in what has been considered Track 3 of New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV). Initially, Track 3 was focused solely on Large-Scale Renewables (LSR), and was kicked off in the summer of 2015 when New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) released a LSR Development Options paper followed by a technical conference and comments from stakeholders. On January 21, 2016, the proceeding was expanded to also include the development and implementation of a Clean Energy Standard (CES) in order to more comprehensively meet the goals outlined in the New York State Energy Plan.


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A Lifeline for New York’s Troubled Nukes?

 February 24, 2016

On January 25, 2016, the New York Department of Public Service Staff issued a white paper on the Clean Energy Standard (CES), as part of a REV-related proceeding (Reforming the Energy Vision). As directed by Governor Andrew Cuomo in late 2015, the white paper addresses four policy objectives of the CES, which are to:


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Net-Energy Metering 2.0 in California

 February 24, 2016

With the original Net-Energy Metering (NEM) tariff due to expire, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) filed a decision regarding the successor tariff. The number of installations permissible under the initial NEM tariff is approaching the cap (398K of 410K as of September 2015), thus requiring a successor tariff in the midst of several related ongoing proceedings. The NEM successor tariff proposal extends the NEM policy for new interconnections through at least 2019, with some notable modifications to reflect costs to the utility and better align payments across the rate base.


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Dominion Resources to Buy Questar Corporation

 February 17, 2016

In February 2016, Dominion Resources announced the acquisition of Questar Corporation for $4.4 billion. Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion operates electric utilities in Virginia and North Carolina, local gas distribution companies (LDCs) in Ohio and West Virginia, and electric transmission and electric generation businesses. Dominion also is the general partner and majority owner of Dominion Midstream, a master limited partnership with storage assets and gas pipelines on the East Coast. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Questar is a natural gas distribution, pipeline, storage, and cost-of-service gas supply company that serves nearly one million homes and businesses in Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho. Questar also owns about 3,400 miles of gas transmission pipeline and 56 billion cubic feet of working gas storage.


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SEPA Fact-Finding Missions: Exploring the Energy Market

 February 16, 2016

Supreme Court Grants Stay of Clean Power Plan

 February 15, 2016

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay in West Virginia et al. v. EPA et al, a lawsuit filed by dozens of states and industry groups challenging the constitutionality of the Environmental Protections Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan. By granting a stay, the U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited the EPA from engaging in actions to implement or enforce the Clean Power Plan, pending the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which currently has jurisdiction over the case. To obtain the stay, the opponents of the rule had to show that their case had a legitimate chance of succeeding based on the facts of the case and that irreparable harm would occur if the stay was not granted.


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What’s the True Cost of Clean Power Plan Compliance?

 February 15, 2016

We previously wrote about a November study conducted by the National Economic Research Associates (NERA)1, which found that compliance with the Clean Power Plan (CPP) under optimized least-cost scenarios2 will result in average energy sector expenditure increases between $29 and $39 billion per year relative to projected baseline conditions (i.e., without the CPP). The effect, in turn, is a reported average annual increase in electricity rates of 11%–14%.


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U.S. Supreme Court Affirms FERC Primacy over Demand Response in Wholesale Power Markets

 February 12, 2016

On January 25, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in a 6-2 decision the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Order 745, which requires wholesale market operators to pay the same compensation to demand response (DR) providers for conserving energy as paid to generators for producing it. In doing so, the Court found that under the Federal Power Act, FERC can regulate wholesale markets and other matters “directly affecting” wholesale rates if it “affects—even substantially—the quantity or terms of retail sales.” While this ruling does not necessarily clarify the “bright line” between federal and state regulation of the power grid, it expands the area inside the line where federal regulation constitutes the final word.


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NV Regulators End Retail Net Metering; Consider Grandfathering Existing Solar Customers

 February 10, 2016

In December 2015, the Nevada Public Utility Commission approved a new tariff structure that increases fixed charges and lowers compensation for net excess generation for new and existing solar customers. After considerable backlash, the Commission announced it would reconsider grandfathering existing solar customers who are currently under previous net metering tariffs.


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Saudis Are Going Solar

 February 4, 2016

Saudi Arabia is turning to renewable energy, especially solar, in an effort to move domestic energy consumption away from fossil fuels. With domestic oil consumption rising at a seven percent annual rate (three times the rate of population growth), Saudi Arabia is facing the prospect of domestic consumption eating into the country’s oil exports by 2021 and the country becoming a net oil importer by 2038.


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States Lean Toward Mass-Based Clean Power Plan Approach

 February 4, 2016

As states continue to evaluate the Clean Power Plan, a support for mass-based implementation approach seems to be gaining momentum. Mass-based approaches can be simpler than rate-based approaches to administer as well as enable more well-known emissions-style trading schemes.


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Allowance Allocation Options Under the Clean Power Plan

 January 26, 2016

Released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in August 2015, the Clean Power Plan (CPP) sets state-level emissions goals to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants beginning in 2022. Under the CPP, each state has the opportunity to choose the form of its emissions goal (rate-based vs. mass-based) and how the goal will be met. For states choosing a mass-based approach, the method used to distribute emission allowances will impact how emissions goals are accomplished and who will bear the cost of the program.


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