PV Magazine reports on the election results from Virginia and New Jersey, with a specific focus on unlocking new clean energy opportunities by making better use of existing interconnection capacity. United’s Virginia Director Jim Purekal emphasized that Virginia must make the most of existing energy resources to meet rising load growth, while United’s New Jersey Policy Lead Katie Mettle highlighted the need for siting and permitting reforms to get more projects online faster.
Topics: State Policy, Virginia, United In The News, New Jersey, Jim Purekal, Solar, Battery Storage, Interconnection, Katie Mettle
Topics: Virginia, Press Releases, New Jersey
Cape May County Herald reports on New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's recently signed legislation, which ensures state utilities disclose their votes on issues and proposals as members of PJM Interconnection. United’s Katie Mettle commended the Governor’s actions, stating that the new law will bring greater transparency to PJM and allows the public to hold utilities accountable.
Topics: Utility, United In The News, Transmission, New Jersey, Interconnection, Katie Mettle
The Garden State becomes latest to hold utilities accountable for decisions at PJM
TRENTON, NJ – Today, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation to shine a light on how New Jersey’s utilities vote at PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator serving the state. The new law, passed with broad bipartisan support, ensures state officials and the public have access to key information about utilities’ positions on decisions that directly affect electric rates and clean energy progress by requiring New Jersey utilities to report how they vote on matters before PJM, and to explain how those votes align with state policy.
Topics: Utility, Wholesale Markets, Press Releases, New Jersey, Katie Mettle
Committee Vote Marks Step Toward Greater Public Oversight of Utility Positions on Regional Grid Decisions
TRENTON, NJ – A bill to bring long-overdue transparency to how New Jersey’s utilities vote at PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator that serves New Jersey, cleared a key legislative hurdle today with a successful committee vote in the New Jersey Legislature. The legislation, sponsored by Committee Chair Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak, moved out of the New Jersey Assembly State and Local Government Committee with broad bipartisan support.
“If your electric bill is going up, you deserve to know who’s behind that and why,” said Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak. “This bill makes sure our utilities aren’t making those decisions in back rooms with no one watching.”
Topics: Wholesale Markets, Press Releases, New Jersey, Katie Mettle
New Jersey Monitor reports on President Trump's recent memorandum that will temporarily pause most of New Jersey's offshore wind projects, with the potential for long-term freezes if the administration rescinds previous approvals under the Biden presidency. United's Jeremy McDiarmid spoke with the publication, stating that while there may be some project delays depending on the length of the federal government's review, the offshore wind industry's overall strength remains evident.
Topics: United In The News, Offshore Wind, New Jersey
Electricity capacity prices skyrocketed 900% in latest auction
TRENTON, NJ –Today, New Jersey Assembly Members James Kennedy, Andrea Katz, Robert Karabinchak, and David Bailey released a joint statement on the 900% price increase announced last month by New Jersey’s electric grid operator, PJM. Prices in their annual capacity auction rose over 900 percent from $28.92 per megawatt-day to $269.92. By the end of 2025, New Jersey ratepayers will likely see electricity bill increases of as much as 29 percent.
Topics: Press Releases, Transmission, New Jersey
In an opinion piece featured in NJ Spotlight News, United's President and CEO Heather O'Neill writes about the storm of challenges the offshore wind industry faced in the last few post-pandemic year and highlights four key steps to getting the industry back to full power.
After a turbulent 2023, the new year brought some welcome news for the offshore wind industry. Power started to flow from New York’s South Fork Wind and Massachusetts’ Vineyard Wind soon followed suit, meaning that America’s first large-scale projects are now sending clean electricity to its shores for the first time. Meanwhile in New Jersey, the state granted two offshore wind solicitation awards in January, totaling 3,742 megawatts of capacity, enough to power 1.8 million homes when fully operational.
Topics: United In The News, New York, Heather O'Neill, Offshore Wind, Massachusetts, New Jersey
PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest electrical power grid operator, is struggling to connect new electricity projects to its system, threatening power reliability and clean-energy goals, according to a study.
Topics: Wholesale Markets, United In The News, New Jersey, Jon Gordon, Kristina Persaud
NJ Board of Public Utilities Announces Offshore Wind Solicitation Awards Totaling 3,742 Megawatts
TRENTON, NJ – The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities today granted two offshore wind solicitation awards, totaling 3,742 MW of capacity, enough to power 1.8 million homes when fully operational. The BPU announced awards for the Leading Light Wind project from Invenergy and energyRe, and the Attentive Energy II project from TotalEnergies and Corio Generation. Today’s awards were granted as part of New Jersey’s Third Solicitation for Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificates (OREC).
Topics: State Policy, Press Releases, Offshore Wind, New Jersey