Focus
Rooftop solar bill would halt 2023 CPUC restrictions
The Independent – September 5
A bill that would enable schools, shopping centers, and landlords of multi-unit residential buildings to use the electricity they collect with their own rooftop solar systems has passed the California Legislature. If signed into law, Senate Bill 1374 will reverse a California Public Utilities Commission decision last year that required solar panel owners with multiple meters on their properties to sell the electricity they generated to utility companies, instead of utilizing it to offset what they were purchasing from power companies.
News
U.S. power use expected to reach record highs in 2024 and 2025, EIA says
Reuters – September 10
U.S. power consumption is on track to rise to new records in 2024 and 2025, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a new report. With growing power demand from data centers, manufacturing, and the electrification of transportation and buildings, EIA projects that power demand will rise to 4,101 billion kWh in 2024 and 4,185 billion kWh in 2025, compared with 4,000 billion kWh in 2023 and a record 4,067 billion kWh in 2022. U.S. power supply, meanwhile, is expected to rise 3% this year from 2023 to meet growing demand, with solar and natural gas-fired power making up the bulk of new generation, the EIA said.
DOE injects $430M to revitalize, modernize U.S. hydropower fleet
Power Magazine – September 5
The Department of Energy has selected 293 hydroelectric projects across 33 states that will receive up to $430 million in incentive payments for capital improvements directly related to grid resiliency, dam safety, and environmental improvements. California facilities received the most incentives, with a combined $72 million allocated for 39 projects, followed by Washington State, which received approximately $48.6 million for 12 projects.
Projects
Avangrid begins module installation at Camino Solar
Solar Industry Magazine – September 9
Avangrid has begun installing the first of 105,000 solar modules at its 44 MW Camino Solar project in California. The project is being built next to the company’s 189 MW Manzana wind farm, located on a combination of private land and 200 acres of public lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
BLM approves NV Energy’s Greenlink West transmission, Arevia’s $2.3B solar + storage project
Utility Dive – September 10
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has issued final decisions approving NV Energy’s Greenlink West transmission project and Arevia Power’s $2.3 billion, 700 MW solar, plus 700 MW/2.8 GWh battery storage Libra Solar project. The two projects “unlock” 4.7 GW of renewable energy in Nevada, according to the BLM. The BLM’s “efficient” environmental reviews of the two projects started last year, the agency said, noting the Biden administration has been working to speed up the federal permitting process.
DOI approves 10th offshore wind project
North American Windpower – September 5
The U.S. Department of the Interior has approved the 2 GW Maryland Offshore Wind Project, the nation’s tenth commercial-scale offshore wind energy project approved under President Joe Biden. With the approval, the department has approved 15 GW of offshore wind.
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