Renewable Energy Focus
Los Angeles Times - Aug 29
Governor Jerry Brown is working on an ambitious plan for transmitting electricity across state lines and bolstering California's role in the region, according to energy officials. The plan would integrate PacifiCorp, a utility serving six Western states, into the electricity grid run by the California Independent System Operator, which is based in Folsom. If successful, it could make solar and wind energy available more widely throughout the West, a potential victory for Brown, who has sought partnerships beyond California's borders in his fight against climate change. The proposal has not yet been formally introduced as legislation, but it is part of the conversation as lawmakers debate measures for combating climate change in the final two weeks of the legislative year.
Greentech Media - Sep 2
The U.S. energy storage market had its best quarter in two and a half years. According to the latest edition of GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association’s U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, 40.7 megawatts of energy storage were deployed in the second quarter of the year, a ninefold increase year-over-year.
PV-Tech - Sep 2
SolarCity has secured a new $400 million round of funding bringing its total funds raised to over $9 billion. The company said that the new $400 million fund was created with an unspecified large financial institution. SolarCity recently reported second quarter 2015 installations of 189 megawatts, compared to 153 megawatts in the seasonally weak first quarter, up 77 percent year-on-year.
PennEnergy - Aug 31
WGL Energy, a WGL entity, and Conergy, one of the largest downstream solar companies in the world, have completed their joint venture to bring solar energy to Merced County, California. The newly constructed array will provide over 1,200 megawatt hours of energy to the City of Atwater annually, enough to power more than 100 Atwater homes each year.
Bloomberg - Sep 2
Southern Co. bought a controlling stake in its largest solar farm, a 300-megawatt project in Southern California, furthering the utility’s expansion beyond fossil fuels. The nation’s fourth-largest power company by market value bought the stake from First Solar Inc., which is building the project in San Bernardino County. The size of the interest and the price weren’t disclosed. Southern Co. is betting on solar and other clean sources as the cost of panels falls and new U.S. environmental rules discourage utilities from burning coal.
PennEnergy - Sep 2
A new solar project in California came online in August, providing power exclusively to the Silicon Valley city of Palo Alto. The Kettleman Solar Power Project in Kings County was built on about 264 acres of land on Highway 41 and began producing electricity on August 14.
