Renewable Energy Focus
Solar Industry Magazine - Feb 3 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) has officially launched its previously announced program to extend the option for 100 percent solar power to all customers, whether or not they are planning to install rooftop solar. Under PG&E’s Solar Choice program, customers can purchase half or all of their electric power from solar energy locally sourced in Northern and Central California for what the utility calls a modest charge.
SFGate - Feb 2 Federal and state officials in California and Oregon said Tuesday that they had reached an agreement to bypass Congress to remove four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River to solve a chronic water dispute among farmers, fishermen, and American Indian tribes. The dam removals had been part of a major settlement among water users in the Klamath Basin in Northern California and southern Oregon that was reached after more than eight years of complex and contentious negotiations. The pact was widely considered a model for resolving water disputes. Congress needed to sign off on the deal last year, but the GOP-led House failed to act. Now, California, Oregon, PacifiCorp, federal agencies, and Klamath tribes will ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to decommission the dams.
UtilityDive - Feb 1 The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved the San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) Electric Vehicle Grid-Integration pilot project, allowing the investor-owned utility to install up to 3,500 electric vehicle charging stations, 10 each at 350 businesses and multi-tenant residential sites. The commission reduced the original $103 million SDG&E plan, which called for 550 sites and 5,500 stations to test customer response to variable vehicle charging rates. It approved the $45 million pilot program after consumer advocates argued for a more limited trial program.
PV Magazine - Feb 3 U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and Senator Angus King (I-Maine) have filed an amendment to a wide-ranging energy bill to prevent state regulators from unduly altering state net metering policies. The amendment to the Energy Policy Modernization Act (S.2012) would add new language to PURPA, a landmark 1978 energy law, to require that state regulators include the benefits of distributed solar in any change to net metering valuations.
SolarServer - Feb 2 With the recent multi-year extension of the investment tax credit (ITC) in the U.S., solar photovoltaic installations are predicted to grow 60 percent year over year, reaching 15 gigawatts in 2016, according to IHS Inc. PV installations in the U.S. will reach record levels in 2016, primarily due to strong demand for utility-scale PV. The western and southwestern U.S. will account for 65 percent of total demand this year.
Los Angeles Times - Feb 3 State legislators are calling for a major overhaul of California's utilities regulator by striking it from the state Constitution and reassigning its sprawling portfolio in the wake of a series of controversies, including the natural gas leak in Aliso Canyon. Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) said his measure would decentralize the California Public Utilities Commission's oversight of myriad utilities, including electricity, railroad safety, and ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft. The proposal by Gatto, chairman of the Assembly's utilities committee, would give the Legislature two years to divvy up the functions of the commission among other agencies, which Gatto said would result in a more logical assignment of responsibilities.
Greentech Media - Feb 28 With the addition of 5,001 megawatts in the fourth quarter of 2015, total wind energy capacity in the U.S. is now just shy of 75 gigawatts, according to the latest market report from the American Wind Energy Association. Last year, the U.S. installed 8,598 megawatts of wind power, up 77 percent over the 4,854 megawatts installed in 2014. The 5,001 megawatts added in the fourth quarter of 2015 surpassed the entire previous year, and marked the second-best quarter ever recorded.
Reuters - Feb 2 French oil and gas company Total said on Tuesday that it had taken stakes in two solar power start-ups via its $150 million Total Energy Ventures venture capital fund as it expands in renewable energy. Total said the deals involved no more than 15 percent of Tanzania- and California-based Off Grid Electric, and California-based Powerhive. Total did not disclose the value of the deals, but a spokeswoman said they would typically be worth between $1 and $5 million.
