Senate Bill 1221 passed the California legislature, and now awaits Governor’s signature.
SACRAMENTO, CA— The California legislature passed a groundbreaking, first-in-the-nation Senate Bill 1221, sponsored by Senator David Min, that will enable state-supported projects to affordably transition to clean buildings. The bill now awaits Governor Newsom’s signature.
Topics: State Policy, Press Releases, California
Senate Bill 1006, Assembly Bill 2779, and Senate Bill 1374 passed the California legislature, now await Governor’s signature.
SACRAMENTO, CA – As California’s 2024 legislative session reaches its final days, significant progress is still being made with the passage of key clean energy bills. Among them are Senate Bill (SB) 1006 and Assembly Bill (AB) 2779, which accelerate the deployment of grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) and advanced reconductoring technologies, and SB 1374, which aims to make solar energy more accessible for schools and apartment buildings. These bills now move to Governor Newsom’s desk for signature.
Topics: State Policy, Press Releases, California
Los Angeles Times reports on the electricity affordability plan aimed to reduce Californians’ soaring energy costs. The article quotes United's Edson Perez, who urges decision-makers to support critical distributed energy resources programs like SGIP and SOMAH, which offer long-term benefits for disadvantaged communities and ratepayers.
Topics: State Policy, United In The News, California, Edson Perez
Canary Media reports on California AB 3121, an electricity affordability package that proposes significant cuts to critical energy programs. The article quotes United's Edson Perez, saying that these cuts would undermine distributed energy resource programs that help both rural and disadvantaged communities.
Topics: State Policy, United In The News, California, Edson Perez
RTO Insider reports on United's August 2024 webinar, Reforming State and Local Policies to Accelerate Clean Energy Deployment, which explored core policy principles decision-makers and stakeholders should consider when reforming state policy frameworks that govern the siting and permitting processes of large-scale renewable and energy storage projects. The article quotes both United's Trish Demeter and Jim Purekal, who led the webinar discussion.
Topics: State Policy, United In The News, Trish Demeter, Permitting and Siting, Jim Purekal
Utility Dive reports on a the release of a new report, co-commissioned by United, that calls for grid interconnection reforms to advance cost certainty and transparency, speed and schedule certainty, and remove barriers to market access. The article quotes United's Caitlin Marquis, who emphasizes the importance of reshaping the interconnection process as electricity demand increases.
Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News, Caitlin Marquis, FERC
Renewable Energy World reports that Southwest Power Pool (SPP), one of nation's largest regional transmission organizations, has requested that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) postpone 2024 interconnection requests and hold off on accepting new ones until the grid operator can catch up on previous clusters. In the article, United's Lisa Barrett categorizes SPP pausing its queue as disappointing.
Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News, FERC, Lisa Barrett
Reforms needed to expeditegenerator interconnection amidst growing demand for electricity
WASHINGTON, DC – Amid growing demand for electricity, a new report from Grid Strategies LLC and The Brattle Group recommends additional reforms to “generator interconnection,” the process by which new, large-scale energy resources are connected to transmission grids. The report, Unlocking America’s Energy: How to Efficiently Connect New Generation to the Grid, calls for new approaches to interconnection that can move new generation projects more quickly to completion while providing up-front cost certainty.
Topics: Wholesale Markets, Press Releases, FERC
In an opinion piece for the Houston Chronicle, Matthew Boms of Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance (United's state affiliate), shares how President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act has transformed Texas' energy portfolio, with Texas now ranking as the nation's wind energy leader and a top state for utility-scale solar.
Topics: State Policy, Federal Policy, United In The News, Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance, Texas, Matthew Boms
Organizations classify cuts to SGIP, SOMAH, and CalSHAPE as short-sighted decision that would exacerbate costs
SACRAMENTO, CA – California decision-makers are considering cuts to key energy programs that benefit school children, low-income communities, and California ratepayers. In response, a coalition of more than 25 clean energy, environmental, education, and affordable housing organizations submitted a letter calling on state leaders to reject potential cuts to the California Schools Healthy Air, Plumbing, and Efficiency (CalSHAPE) program, the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP), and the Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) program.
Topics: State Policy, Press Releases, Energy Efficiency, California
Renewable Energy World reports Maryland State Senator Ron Watson and five state delegates released a joint statement condemning the recent spikes in electricity prices within the PJM territory. The article cites United’s Generator Interconnection Scorecard, which assigned PJM with a “D-,” one of the worst scores across the nation, for its management of generation interconnection.
Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News, Maryland
Electricity capacity prices skyrocketed 900% in latest auction
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Today, Maryland State Senator Ron Watson and Maryland Delegates Adrian Boafo, Lorig Charkoudian, David Fraser-Hidalgo, and Natalie Ziegler released a joint statement on the skyrocketing electricity prices announced last week byMaryland’s electric grid operator, PJM. Prices in its annual capacity auction rose over 900 percent, from $28.92 per megawatt-day to $269.92. The price increase was most significant in Maryland, rising to $466.35. Next June, most Maryland ratepayers will likely see electricity bill increases well over 30 percent.
These prices are driven in large part by the grid operator’s years-long issues in getting more generating resources connected to the grid. At the end of 2023, PJM had 3,309 projects – mostly solar and battery storage – waiting to connect to the grid and provide cheaper power to the region. PJM earned a national-worst “D-” in a recent scorecard from Advanced Energy United of all grid operator interconnection processes earlier this year, with developers forced to wait longer in PJM than any other region in the country. These clean energy projects together have enough capacity to replace all the generation currently operating in the PJM system, even after planned fossil fuel plant retirements. Because of this backlog, new renewable projects cannot even apply to bring power to Maryland consumers until 2026.
Topics: Advanced Transportation, Press Releases, Transmission, Maryland
Approval marks a significant development for the West, says Advanced Energy United
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) approved the first step of the West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative’s straw proposal. Step 1 of the straw proposal increases the independence of the existing CAISO real-time and day-ahead markets’ governance by providing more autonomy to the existing Western Energy Market Governing Body.
Topics: Wholesale Markets, Press Releases, Leah Rubin Shen, Western RTO, California
CHICAGO, IL – Without rapid investments in clean energy storage, Illinois consumers will pay up to $30 more per month for energy, and the state will face energy shortfalls and a higher risk of blackouts, according to a newly released study.
The study, “Cost and Benefit Analysis of Energy Storage Resource Deployment in Illinois,” found that deploying at least 8,500 MW of clean energy storage would provide $3 billion in consumer cost savings, save $7.3 billion in blackout-related costs through increased grid reliability, and generate up to $16.3 billion in economic activity in Illinois by 2050.
Topics: Press Releases, Illinois
United’s Emilie Olson and Harry Godfrey talk to The Nevada Independent about the bipartisan Energy Permitting Reform Act and highlight how it aims to streamline permitting processes for energy projects in Nevada.
Topics: State Policy, United In The News, Harrison Godfrey, Emilie Olson, Nevada
In an opinion piece for The East Bay Times, United's Leah Rubin Shen discusses the looming energy affordability crisis in California due to rising natural gas bills, urging state lawmakers to take decisive action for a sustainable energy transition.
Topics: United In The News, Leah Rubin Shen, California
Canary Media covers the recent U.S. Department of Energy funding allocated from Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program to New England states, which will revolutionize offshore wind development. The article quotes United's Jeremy McDiarmid, who emphasizes the importance of improving the power grid to meet the increasing load growth demands.
Topics: United In The News, Offshore Wind, Transmission, Jeremy McDiarmid, New England
The Boston Globe covers the recent federal funding allocated to New England for grid upgrades to support clean energy goals. The article quotes United's Jeremy McDiarmid who highlights the importance of interstate cooperation, adding that state coordination should save money for New England ratepayers in the long run.
Topics: United In The News, Massachusetts, Jeremy McDiarmid
Canary Media discusses a recent spike in electricity prices by PJM, the largest power market in the country. The article quotes United's Jon Gordon, who speaks to how PJM's interconnection queue delays are exacerbating market issues and negatively impacting energy costs.
Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News, Jon Gordon
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Grid Deployment Office of the U.S. Department of Energy announced the second round awardees of the Grid Innovation Program, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (IIJA).
“With these awards the Energy Department is addressing some of the most acute challenges facing our energy system, including the need to connect more clean energy to the power grid and making the grid more efficient,” said Harry Godfrey, Managing Director of Federal Investment & Manufacturing at national business association Advanced Energy United. “The best way to cost-effectively meet growing energy demand is with advanced energy technologies, including advanced transmission technologies, long-duration storage, microgrids, and more. The continued success of this program, for which DOE received far more applications than there are dollars available, demonstrates the continued, bipartisan appeal of building an affordable, reliable, and clean grid to power America’s homes and businesses into the 21st century.”
Topics: Federal Policy, Press Releases, Manufacturing and Infrastructure
E&E News reports on an announcement by PJM, the largest U.S. power grid operator, to increase 9-fold in capacity price for electricity across its 13-state footprint. In the article, United's Jon Gordon speaks to how PJM's poor planning and insufficient electric transmission build-out will leave consumers paying the price.
Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News, Jon Gordon