The infrastructure that supports our ability to generate and move critically needed electrons relies heavily on a regulatory environment that offers some consistent level of predictability, says columnist Peter Kelly-Detwiler.
The California Energy Commission approved $42 million for five offshore wind projects at ports in the state, despite recent federal policy changes that have left the future of the renewable resource in limbo.
Construction of new wind, solar and energy storage facilities will decrease significantly over the next five years, a BloombergNEF analyst said in an presentation to the California Energy Commission.
The California PUC is recommending the state build an additional 68.5 GW of new solar generation resources by 2045, despite new tariffs on imports and the planned elimination of federal tax credits.
Energy experts and officials stressed the importance of proactive transmission planning, interconnection reform and increased demand-side flexibility at Raab Associates’ New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable.
Ontario environmental groups panned the Canadian government’s inclusion of small modular reactors among infrastructure projects selected to receive fast-track regulatory treatment, saying renewables would be a far cheaper way to expand generation capacity.
PJM and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities are in discussions on how the transmission and interconnection facilities planned for the state’s offshore wind aspirations can be put on ice in the wake of all the generation developers pulling out of their projects.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has terminated $679 million in funding commitments for a dozen port and shoreline infrastructure projects planned to serve the offshore wind sector.
The addition of 3,500 MW of offshore wind capacity would have reduced ISO-NE energy market costs by about $400 million over the past winter, according to a recent study by Daymark Energy Advisors.
