News

Utility Dive reported on the latest action — seven utilities (and AEE) urging a legislative committee to approve new Illinois Cloud Computing rules currently under review. They included a link to the letter to review committee leaders and AEE's filed comments about the rule. See excerpts below and the entire UD story here:

Seven Illinois utilities and Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) on Thursday asked state regulators to finalize accounting rules for cloud-based computing solutions. Current rules disincentivize some investments and have not kept pace with changes to technology, the utilities say. Those rules allow utilities to earn a rate of return on computing systems developed on-premises, but treat cloud-based systems as operating expenses. The Illinois Commerce Commission launched a rulemaking in December 2017 to consider the changes, citing a need to "level the playing field" between on-premise and cloud-based computing systems at a time when utilities focused on modernization are investing billions in new systems...

This Utility Dive article highlights a measure by bipartisan lawmakers proposed to extend federal EV tax credits to reduce carbon emissions by supporting the development of EVs. AEE is mentioned as a supporter of this measure.  See excerpts below and the entire Utility Dive story here:

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced a measure to extend the federal tax credit for electric vehicle (EV) purchases, citing the need to reduce emissions and continue to support development of the emerging technology and clean energy economy.

This Utility Dive brief discusses the push by a coalition of groups, led by the ESA and including Advanced Energy Economy, for Congress to clarify which technologies are eligible for tax credit incentives. Link to the full piece here.

Utility Dive covered state ballot initiatives for carbon tax/renewable energy investments, deregulation and RPS measures inWashington, Nevada and Arizona. Commentary by J.R. Tolbert, vice president of state policy at AEE, was included. Link to the full article here.

This UtilityDive.com article reports on the latest national energy jobs report (USEER) and outlook by sector. Excerpts below. Read the entire article here. In reviewing report data, AEE calculates there are 3.4 million advanced energy jobs.

Robert Walton reports: as the Internet of Things merges with grid edge technology, experts say the power sector is both more vulnerable and more secure. Two evolutions are taking place around the power sector today, which could make it more difficult to defend from a growing cyber threat.

Dive Brief:

A brief in Utility Dive, "Maryland Gov. Hogan allows efficiency expansion to go into effect," quotes VP of Operations for Veolia North America in an AEE statement. From the article: