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Market Issues
Higher Natural Gas Prices Push up Grid Market Costs
A 50% increase in natural gas costs drove up the grid operator’s day-ahead market prices in the fourth quarter of...
Energy Agencies Strive to Advance Cost-Effective, Long-Duration Grid Storage
Significant amounts of energy storage with continuous output of eight hours and far longer will be needed to reach a...
Virtual Power Plants Gain Ground
Virtual power plants are beginning to help meet peak power demand in California and across the globe at an affordable...
DOE Strives to Lower Costs of PV Panel Recycling; CA Law may be a Model
The U.S. Department of Energy released a plan on Friday that aims to increase the recycling of photovoltaic panels heading...
As Closure Nears, Debate Over Diablo Canyon Persists
Calls to keep the half-century-old Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant from closing mid-decade are getting louder. During a Feb. 15...
CPUC Lowers Greenhouse Gas Target by 25%, with Big Storage Steadily Lining Up
Updated Feb. 15 The California Public Utilities Commission ratcheted down the greenhouse gas emissions cap for the electric sector to...
Emerging Technologies: Virtual Power Plants Advance in California
California regulators and utilities are finally beginning to seize the emerging virtual power plant (VPP) opportunity that allows aggregations of...
Ninth Circuit Says Some Rate Hikes on Solar Owners May Be Illegal
A stunning ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in an Arizona case indicates utilities may face limits on...
Energy Commission Frames R&D Decarbonization Budget
The California Energy Commission is taking a broad look at changes needed to reduce natural gas use. At a Jan....
New CPUC Chief Faces Barrage of Anger Over Solar Rooftop Pay Changes
Alice Reynolds’ first meeting as the new president of the California Public Utilities Commission was dominated by three hours of...
Hydropower Plant Back Online After Winter Rains
The Department of Water Resources’ Hyatt hydropower plant at Oroville Dam in Butte County is back generating electricity, thanks to...
Booming Clean Energy Highlights Transmission Needs
Record growth through the end of last September brought the combined installed wind, solar, and battery storage capacity in the...
CPUC Okays Expensive New SCE Battery Project
Investor-owned utilities in California have lobbied hard to reduce payments to people who feed their excess rooftop solar power back...
CAISO Regional Market Design Details Emerge, Big Questions Remain
The newly reinitiated stakeholder process to build a Western Day-Ahead Market took two steps forward that shows the California Independent...
Green Hydrogen Development Depends on Funding
Public and private financial support is critical to attaining a viable green hydrogen industry, which is considered a key strategy...
Inside the Beltway: FERC Goes After Market Violators
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recovered 14 times as much in penalties for energy market wrongdoings in 2021 than the...
CA Utilities Join Forces to Thwart Growing Utility Bill Scams
Customers increased reliance on home utility services has caused a rise in scammers preying on them and in increasingly nefarious...
West Coast Sets Up Clean Construction Task Force
Over the weekend at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the states of California, Oregon, Washington, the province of...
Sempra Energy’s Earnings Plummet
Like California’s other two investor-owned utilities and parent companies, Sempra Energy’s latest earnings also were in the red, not from...
Shorts
California’s community choice organizations signed agreements for 3,000 MW of clean energy supplies over the last year. “These projects reflect...