General
Federal Support on Capacity Can Boost Regional Wind Goals
In December 2019, FERC, the federal regulatory body overseeing wholesale transmission and regulating regional transmission system/independent system operators, expanded the Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR), effectively prohibiting offshore wind and other state-supported resources from participating in capacity-market auctions. The rule made it difficult for offshore wind providers to participate in capacity market auctions. Now, to…
Read more...The Offshore Wind and Green Hydrogen Nexus: Exploring Europe’s Approach
The Clean Energy States Alliance recently released a new report that looks at the development of green hydrogen (H2) from offshore wind. Georgena Terry chatted with report author Val Stori to glean some of the highlights from the report. GT: How might green H2 fit into the energy system? VS: Traditionally, hydrogen has been industrially…
Read more...With Forward Capacity Auction Success, Batteries are Winning in New England
Clean energy advocates are celebrating a major energy storage milestone in New England: Plus Power, a San Francisco-based developer of grid-scale batteries, is building the two largest battery projects to date in the region — a 150-MW/300-MWh lithium-ion battery system at Carver, Mass., south of Boston, called Cranberry Point Energy Storage, and a 175-MW/350-MWh lithium-ion…
Read more...Connecticut Powers into the Lead with Breakthrough Customer Battery Program
With the long-anticipated approval of its new Statewide Electric Storage Program, Connecticut has just leapfrogged the rest of New England to become the new regional leader in distributed battery storage program development. The new program adopted by the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority is a massive 9-year initiative that combines up-front incentives with customer performance…
Read more...Clean Energy Group Announces Retirement of Lewis Milford as President; Seth Mullendore Named to Run Organization
Clean Energy Group (CEG), a national nonprofit that works on clean energy and climate, announced the retirement of Lewis Milford, its founder and president. His retirement will become effective on December 31, 2021. Lew Milford founded CEG in 1998, after working over several years on clean energy and utility restructuring dockets in New England while…
Read more...Five Months into the Biden Administration: A Whirlwind of Federal Action on Offshore Wind
In late March, President Joe Biden announced an offshore wind goal of 30 GW by 2030 in a manner that protects environmental assets and creates employment. Through a coordinated multi-agency approach, Biden plans to fast track the deployment of utility scale offshore wind. The focus will be on the creation of well-paying jobs, infrastructure investment,…
Read more...Solar for Manufactured Homes: The Next Frontier for Energy Equity
There is a growing movement in the clean energy field to bring the benefits of renewable energy to low- and moderate-income communities. A new report by the Clean Energy States Alliance explores the opportunities and challenges of bringing solar to an often-overlooked market that is ripe with potential: manufactured homes. Manufactured homes, formerly referred to…
Read more...State and Federal Initiatives Increasingly Promote Energy Equity
For clean energy to succeed on a broad scale, it must benefit all communities, not just affluent ones. Recognition of the environmental justice and equity components of clean energy is essential for the successful adoption of clean energy technologies in under-resourced communities. This was acknowledged at the federal level as long ago as 1994, when…
Read more...CESA and USCA Partner to Accelerate Progress towards 100% Clean Energy
The adoption of 100% clean energy goals by 17 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and has been an especially important positive climate change policy development. Together, these jurisdictions represent 42 percent of the US population and almost half of US GDP. In 2020, CESA launched the 100% Clean Energy Collaborative to…
Read more...Offshore Wind Solicitations Address Equity
Energy equity has become an increasing priority at both the national and state levels. As offshore wind moves into a major development phase, ensuring that it advances energy equity and environmental justice is essential. For the federal government, President Joe Biden elevated the importance of an “equitable, clean energy future” in his January 27, 2021…
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