Focus
Landmark law that spurred growth of U.S. renewable energy market set for overhaul
Transmission & Distribution World – September 25
A 40-year-old law that has been key to the growth of renewable energy in the U.S. is set for a major overhaul that could change the way small solar and wind projects are developed. The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last Thursday proposed setting new limits on which energy projects fall under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA). The law requires utilities to purchase power from renewable energy projects under certain circumstances. If a developer can build a project for less than a utility can, then they can request a contract to sell power to the utility. The proposed changes include lowering the mandatory purchase obligation for utilities to 1 megawatt from 20 megawatts in some markets and giving states more authority to set the price at which small generators sell their power. The “one-mile rule,” which determines whether generation facilities should be considered to be part of a single facility, would also be amended. Utilities have long sought changes to the law, which they say saddles consumers with expensive contracts and power they don’t need. Solar and wind developers, meanwhile, say that PURPA is critical to giving renewables a leg up in states that aren’t green-leaning.
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News
Ninth Circuit voids geothermal leases on sacred tribal land
Courthouse News Service - September 19
In a decision hailed by some as a victory for tribal rights and ecological preservation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last Thursday upheld voiding 40-year lease extensions for geothermal energy production on 26 plots of California land deemed sacred by Native Americans. The rugged, volcanic landscape of the Medicine Lake Highlands in Siskiyou County has served as a revered site for ancient customs and rituals by Native American groups, including the Pit River Tribe, for the last 10,000 years. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) first leased the land for geothermal energy exploration in 1982. Houston-based Calpine Energy Corporation inherited those leases in an area where three national forests – Modoc, Klamath, and Shasta-Trinity – meet at the northern tip of the state. The Pit River Tribe and other groups sued the BLM in 2004, claiming that its 1998 decision to grant 40-year lease extensions was illegal because the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 only permits 40-year extensions if the potential for geothermal energy production has been proven.
Solar sector sees tax credit extension adding $87 billion to U.S. economy
Reuters – September 24
The U.S. solar energy industry will add an additional 113,000 jobs and generate $87 billion in investment over the next decade if U.S. lawmakers extend the sector’s key tax credit, according to a new forecast from the U.S. Solar Energy Industries Association trade group and energy research firm Wood Mackenzie. The report comes as the solar industry is lobbying lawmakers in Congress to pass an extension of the credit, which is worth 30 percent of the value of a solar energy system. The incentive is scheduled to drop to 26 percent next year and decline annually before settling at a permanent 10 percent in 2022 for utility and commercial projects.
CalCom launches fund to build solar and storage for California farmers
Solar Industry Magazine – September 25
CalCom Energy, a solar developer and energy services company focused on agriculture and water customers, has launched the Agriculture Energy Infrastructure Fund, a $100 million resource to build solar and energy storage projects to benefit farming communities in California. The fund, developed in partnership with Symbiont Energy and Live Oak Bank, will enable agriculture companies to build on-site clean energy projects in California over the next 24 months. It is specifically intended to assist agriculture companies and farmers hit hard by the impact of recent California wildfires, a lack of grid resiliency, and ever-increasing energy and water costs.
Imperial Beach and Santee go in different directions for community choice energy
The San Diego Union-Tribune – September 19
The growing movement to adopt community choice aggregation, or CCA, energy programs in the San Diego area gained additional momentum last Wednesday. As expected, the Imperial Beach City Council voted to become the fifth city in the region to officially join a CCA program led by the city of San Diego. But in Santee, council members unanimously voted to start negotiating an agreement backed by Carlsbad and Solana Beach to form a separate CCA. Imperial Beach now joins La Mesa, Encinitas, and Chula Vista in a joint partnership authority spearheaded by the city of San Diego that will govern a still-to-be-named CCA that is expected to become operational in 2021. The Carlsbad-Solana Beach program is also scheduled to be up and running in 2021.
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Projects
Intersect Power begins late-stage development of 1.7-GW solar portfolio in Texas and California
PV-Tech - September 24
Intersect Power has entered into late-stage development on a large portfolio of PV plants with a combined capacity of more than 1.7 gigawatts. The portfolio, consisting of five shovel-ready projects in California and Texas, will begin construction in 2020. The California projects are located in Riverside County. Intersect Power has already contracted with local utilities and other wholesale energy buyers on a number of power purchase agreements, as well as other renewable energy credit hedges. The total output from these projects will power the equivalent of nearly 357,000 homes and result in some 2.75 million tons of avoided carbon dioxide emissions annually.
ENGIE inks wind and solar deals with Microsoft
North American Windpower – September 24
Microsoft has announced a deal with ENGIE to purchase a total of 230 megawatts from Texas wind and solar projects. Microsoft will purchase the majority of the output from the new 200-megawatt Las Lomas wind project, which will be located in south Texas, and 85 megawatts from the 200-megawatt Anson Solar Center project, to be built in central Texas. Both projects are expected to come online in January 2021.
Standard Solar acquires 7-MW portfolio of California solar projects
Solar Power World – September 23
Standard Solar has acquired a 7-megawatt portfolio of distributed generation solar projects for the Lake Elsinore Unified School District in Lake Elsinore, California. The company will finance, own, and operate all eight projects which are currently planned for phased development, with all systems expected to be online in 2020. The projects include a 3-megawatt ground-mount array at the 75-acre capped West Riverside Landfill, which has been leased from the Riverside County Department of Waste Resources.
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