Renewable Energy Focus
The Guardian - Feb 16 A bipartisan group of 17 governors has pledged to accelerate their efforts to create a green economy boosting renewables, building better electricity grids, and cutting emissions from transport. The agreement sets out commitments to expand renewable energy and energy efficiency and integrate solar and wind generation into electricity grids. The governors are from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
CleanTechnica - Feb 17 The U.S. wind energy industry installed more electric generating capacity in 2015 than any other electricity source. The news comes via the American Wind Energy Association, the country’s wind energy trade body, which revealed that the nation installed 8.6 gigawatts of new wind energy capacity in 2015, accounting for 35 percent of all new generating capacity, surpassing the 7.3 gigawatts worth of solar PV installed and the 6 gigawatts of natural gas.
Environment & Energy Publishing - Feb 12 President Obama last week established three new national monuments spanning 1.8 million acres of California's Mojave Desert, the largest monument designation of his presidency. The three monuments, Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow, and Castle Mountains, extend from just north of Palm Springs to the Nevada border. They include rolling desert lands, mountain ranges, Joshua and juniper trees, and prehistoric lava flows, as well as habitat for 240 species of birds and 12 threatened and endangered species. The designation shields the land from any new mining and other industrial activities, including solar and wind farms.
Portland Business Journal - Feb 16 Oregon's House members have signed off on the sweeping bill that supporters say "will move the state off of coal and on the road to cleaner, renewable energy." House Bill 4036, which has backing from both the utilities Pacific Power and PGE, as well as environmental groups, passed by a 39-20 count. The Clean Electricity and Coal Transition Plan essentially requires that 50 percent of PGE and Pacific Power energy comes from renewable sources by 2040. The Oregon Senate will take up the matter next during the state's short session, set to end in early March.
KPCC - Feb 12 The Antelope Valley Transit Authority says it will have the first entirely electric public bus system in the nation in two years. It's replacing diesel buses with an entire fleet of electric commuter and transit buses. Last week, transit officials announced that the board had approved a contract with BYD Motors to manufacture up to 85 electric buses over the next five years.
PennEnergy - Feb 17
SunPower Corp. joined NV Energy, U.S. Senator Harry Reid, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Miranda Ballentine, and 99th Air Base Wing Commander Colonel Richard Boutwell in dedicating a new 15-megawatt SunPower solar power system at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. SunPower designed and constructed the project. The Nellis Solar Array II Generating Station is the first large-scale solar resource that is owned by NV Energy, and the 11th large-scale solar generating resource serving NV Energy customers. The plant is the second large-scale solar project operating on the base. The first, also built by SunPower, is a 13.2-megawatt solar field that has been operational since 2007. Together, the two solar projects can meet the energy requirements of the base during daylight hours, according to NV Energy.
Disclosure: Allen Matkins is representing SunPower in connection with the Boulder Solar projects mentioned in this article.
Bloomberg - Feb 15 Solar Frontier K.K., a unit of Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K., sold a 20-megawatt solar power farm in California to Southern Power and Turner Renewable Energy LLC. The Calipatria plant, to be completed in the first quarter of this year in Imperial County, has a 20-year power purchase agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric Co., Solar Frontier said in a statement Monday.
Silicon Valley Business Journal - Feb 11 Clean energy finance startup Renew Financial raised $70 million in funding to move forward with a nationwide rollout. Angeleno Group, Apollo Capital Management, Claremont Creek Ventures, LL Funds, NGEN Partners, and Prelude Ventures participated in the round. The company has raised $102.2 million to date. The company has originated over $150 million in PACE-financed home improvement projects from its CaliforniaFIRST program and recently entered into a new partnership with SolarCity to provide medium-sized businesses financing for new solar systems.
