Focus
Newsom signs California climate package aimed at lowering gas and utility costs
Los Angeles Times – September 19
Gov. Gavin Newsom last Friday, September 19, signed into law a sweeping package of climate and environment bills. The bills include an extension of the state’s nation-leading cap-and-trade program through 2045. Through Assembly Bill 825, California is also laying the groundwork for an electricity market among Western states. The bill is designed to make it easier to share solar and wind power across state lines, meaning California can export excess solar energy while importing wind energy from gustier places like New Mexico and Wyoming.
News
Federal judge lifts BOEM’s halt of nearly complete offshore wind farm in New England
Associated Press – September 22
A federal judge ruled on September 22 that a nearly complete offshore wind project halted by the Administration can resume. Work on the Revolution Wind project for Rhode Island and Connecticut has been paused since August 22 when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a stop-work order for what it said were national security concerns.
Data center demand drives 33% jump in VPP deployments: Wood Mackenzie
Utility Dive – September 22
North American utilities are “increasingly looking to distributed resources” to meet data centers’ rapidly growing power demand amid ongoing challenges for large-scale generation deployment, according to consultancy Wood Mackenzie. The firm counted 1,940 North American virtual power plant deployments this year, up 33% from 2024. Its count of monetized VPP programs — which pay distributed energy resource owners to dispatch energy or curtail consumption — showed the number of programs rose 35% year over year, from 321 last year to 433 this year.
Projects
Solar microgrid powers LA Clippers’ brand-new home arena
Solar Power World – September 23
A sold-out event at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood seats nearly 18,000 people. The Los Angeles Clippers and headlining musical acts regularly play within its walls, and even if the grid goes down, the dome can keep the show going due to the facility’s solar microgrid. Solar PV installed on Intuit Dome’s curved roof and two neighboring parking garages produces 2.5 MW of power paired with 12 MWh of energy storage.
Enel and Mars ink a milestone Texas solar agreement
Electrek – September 15
Enel North America and food and snacks giant Mars have signed a clean energy deal that will power up Mars’ operations with Texas solar. The two companies completed a power purchase agreement for the full output – all 851 MW – of three Texas solar farms. Together, those plants are expected to deliver 1.8 TWh of electricity annually, the equivalent of enough electricity to power 150,000 homes.
Avangrid to supply power from Oregon Trail Solar Project to Amazon
Power Technology – September 24
Avangrid has announced a power purchase agreement with Amazon to supply energy from its new Oregon Trail Solar Project. The 57 MW facility, located in Gilliam County, Oregon, will provide renewable energy to power Amazon’s data centers in the region.
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