E&E News reports on the key takeaways from the highly anticipated West-Wide Governance Pathways Initiative proposed framework that could help create a new electricity market. The article quotes United's Brian Turner on the progress Nevada and Colorado are making in joining an RTO.
E&E News: Western Power Market Plan Would Reshape Grid Oversight
Topics: United In The News, Western RTO, Brian Turner
Advanced Energy United expresses disappointment in Nevada’s latest IRP amendment to move forward with natural gas plant, a missed opportunity for clean energy
LAS VEGAS, NV —National business association Advanced Energy United (United) expressed disappointment todaywith the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (PUCN) decision to approve NV Energy’s Fifth Amendment to its 2021 integrated resource plan (IRP). The decision allows NV Energy to backtrack on plans to retire existing coal and gas plants in Northern Nevada. Instead of replacing them with clean energy as they proposed in 2021, NV Energy candoubledown on these plants for decades longer at a direct cost to ratepayers of at least $100 million, and hundreds of millions more per year in imported fuel costs.
Topics: State Policy, Press Releases, Nevada, Brian Turner
Utility Dive: Nevada regulators set to approve NV Energy’s $2B IRP amendment, including new gas resources
Nevada regulators could vote today to approve about $2 billion in spending for NV Energy, including new gas, solar and battery resources which critics say should have received more scrutiny and could have been cheaper.
Topics: Regulatory, United In The News, Nevada, Brian Turner
Utility Dive: Colorado Regulator’s Vision for Xcel Virtual Power Plant: Tariff-Driven, 50 MW and Online by This Fall
Utility Dive reports on the Colorado Public Utilities Commissioner’s vision for Xcel Energy to roll out a 50MW Virtual Power Plant this fall to improve grid reliability. The article quotes Brian Turner on what a viable VPP program would look like and the time it would take to implement.
Xcel Energy would roll out a 50-MW virtual power plant, or VPP, utilizing a new “prosumer tariff” by the end of this year under a vision laid out by a Colorado Public Utilities Commission regulator. While the utility has some concerns about the timeline, it said in a Jan. 25 filing that aspects of the VPP could be included in an upcoming request for proposals in the first quarter.
Topics: United In The News, Colorado, Brian Turner
Canary Media: Bill Would End California Experiment with Income-Based Electric Bills
Topics: United In The News, California, Brian Turner, Edson Perez
PUC Decision On Xcel Resource Plan Lays Groundwork For More Clean Energy
Advanced Energy United reacts to ERP decision, highlights the benefits of clean energy and the opportunity for continued transformation of the electric grid
DENVER, CO— The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) voted to move forward with an amended version of Xcel’s Phase II of their 2021 Electric Resource Plan (ERP). While the newly approved ERP invests less in new renewable energy sources than was initially proposed by the utility, and commits to new gas generation, it continues steady progress toward a zero-carbon grid and makes important reforms for the future.
Topics: State Policy, Press Releases, Colorado, Brian Turner
New market approval a significant development for the West, says Advanced Energy United
WASHINGTON, DC – The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the creation of a new extended day-ahead market (EDAM) by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), a significant development for the region. As CAISO notes in its news release, FERC’s action represents a major advance toward greater coordination of Western electricity markets.
Topics: Wholesale Markets, Press Releases, Western RTO, California, Brian Turner
Nevada Current: NV Energy Not Looking Out for Customers, Say Energy Industry Reps
NV Energy is failing to get the best deals for its customers, resulting in higher than necessary rates, according to experts who say compared with other electric utilities in the west, the company is lagging in leveraging the lowest-cost, and most environmentally friendly options.
In September, an NV Energy executive told Clark County commissioners that fulfilling a legislative mandate to ensure half of its energy is from renewable sources by 2030 “is going to be a challenge.”
Topics: PUCs, United In The News, Nevada, Brian Turner
PV Magazine: RE+Storage Better Than a Colorado Utility’s Proposed 400 MW Gas Unit: Strategen
Storage and renewables projects already offered in response to an RFP from the Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo) would be more economic and provide greater capacity than a 400 MW gas peaker unit proposed by the utility, found the consulting firm Strategen in an analysis of the utility’s proposed resource plan.
Topics: State Policy, United In The News, Energy Efficiency, Colorado, Brian Turner
Report: Xcel Energy’s proposed gas plant in Colorado is more expensive than clean energy options
Topics: Press Releases, Colorado, Brian Turner