Focus

California lowers incentives for rooftop solar panels

Associated Press – December 15

California utility regulators on Thursday approved major changes to the state’s booming rooftop solar market that they say will more evenly spread the cost of energy and help reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels in the evening. The policy approved unanimously by the California Public Utilities Commission lessens the overall payment for selling excess power. It also revamps electric rates to try to encourage people to build home storage systems alongside their panels, so they can tap that stored power at night or feed it back to the grid, either of which would help the system rely less on fossil fuels.

News

California approves sweeping climate change plan

KQED – December 16

California’s air board on December 16 unanimously approved a sweeping plan to battle climate change, creating a new blueprint for the next five years to cut carbon emissions, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and speed up the transition to renewable energy. The plan sets an aggressive target of cutting greenhouse gases by 48% below 1990 levels by 2030, up from the 40% by 2030 required by state law. To meet the plan’s targets, state officials project that California over the next 20 years will need about 30 times more electric vehicles, six times more household electric appliances to replace gas appliances, and four times more wind and solar generation capacity.

Pacificorp and California power giant take another step to reshape the Western electricity grid

The Salt Lake Tribune – December 14

Wyoming wind powering Nevada? Oregon hydropower in Arizona? Utah coal power in Idaho? California solar in Utah? It’s all happening now, and two of the largest power providers in the Western states want to encourage more of it. Pacificorp, parent of Rocky Mountain Power and electricity provider in six states, has joined with the California Independent System Operator to set up the “Extended Day-Ahead Market,” where utilities across 11 states can sell their excess power or buy excess from others as needed to supply their customers.

DOE to offer $750M to spur hydrogen electrolyzer, fuel cell development

Utility Dive – December 16

The U.S. Department of Energy plans to dedicate about $750 million set aside by the infrastructure spending signed into law in 2021 by President Joe Biden for projects that would build out supply chains for electrolyzer and hydrogen fuel cell manufacturing. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the initiative will help scale up and reduce the cost of clean hydrogen production, a “versatile fuel” necessary for the transition to clean energy.

Projects

A solar project to restore prairie and pollinators

UC Davis – December 15

California prairie once proliferated across the Central Valley before it was converted to cropland. A new project involving solar power, pollinators, native plants, Native people, and even a salamander is shaping ways to help restore the ecosystem while also advancing clean energy. EPRI and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District launched the collaborative project last week to test the restoration of pollinator habitat on 20 acres of a decommissioned nuclear generating station near Sacramento. Researchers and students from the UC Davis Wild Energy Center will use the site as a testbed to evaluate the ideal native plant mix to grow beneath the site’s solar panels.

Central Oregon energy project could become one of the state’s largest

The Bulletin – December 16

Northern Lake County is a patchwork of farms and a couple of small communities roughly 50 miles southeast of La Pine. Within a couple of years, it could also be home to Oregon’s largest solar power plant. The 400 MW Obsidian Solar Center, to be built by Lake Oswego-based Obsidian Renewables LLC, is still in the blueprint stage but when complete could produce a considerable chunk of the state’s utility-scale solar power.

Spearmint Energy breaks ground on 300 MW ERCOT battery storage project

Energy Storage News – December 19

Battery storage developer Spearmint Energy has started building a 150 MW/300 MWh unit within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid. The company announced the start of construction of the two-hour duration ‘Revolution’ energy storage project in West Texas last week. The new developer acquired the project, which will be located next to a 279 MW wind farm, in July.

Los Angeles City Council delays final vote on Scattergood ‘green hydrogen’ plan

Los Angeles Daily News – December 14

The Los Angeles City Council delayed until next year a final vote on a much-debated plan to shift the Scattergood Generating Station, a power plant in Playa del Rey, to be powered by green hydrogen instead of natural gas. According to a resolution approved by the Board of Water and Power Commissioners in August, the shift to green hydrogen would help the department reach its goal of transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2035.

Chevron looks to Nevada for a geothermal energy opportunity

Renewable Energy World – December 14

Chevron New Energies and Sweden-based Baseload Capital announced a joint venture to develop geothermal projects in the United States, with an initial project slated for Weepah Hills, Nevada. The companies said they will pursue development opportunities in Esmeralda County where previous geothermal research and advanced exploration already exist.

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