Focus
California utilities commission won’t vote on controversial rooftop solar bill ‘until further notice’
The San Diego Union-Tribune – February 3
A vote on a controversial proposal that would dramatically change the state’s net energy metering (NEM) rules will not be held February 10 — the next scheduled voting meeting of the California Public Utilities Commission. Administrative Law Judge Kelly Hymes notified the many parties officially involved in the proceeding in an email last Thursday that the proposed decision “will not appear on the Commission’s voting meeting agenda until further notice.” California’s NEM rules have not been updated since January 2016. In December, the long-anticipated proposed decision was released. The officially named Net Energy Metering tariff called for a slew of changes, including altering how much solar customers are paid when they send power back to the grid.
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News
Presidessssnt Biden extends Trump-era solar tariffs, with several modifications
CNBC – February 4
The Biden administration said last Friday that it will extend Section 201 tariffs on imported solar cells and panels for another four years, but with several changes to existing provisions. The tariff rate quota for solar cells will rise from 2.5 GW to 5 GW, and the administration will also uphold the decision to exclude bifacial panels from tariffs. The Section 201 solar tariffs were announced by former President Donald Trump in January 2018.
California ISO sketches $30.5B draft transmission plan to meet state’s clean energy goals
Utility Dive – February 3
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) last Monday issued a 20-year draft transmission outlook plan for the first time. The draft outlook, developed along with the California Public Utilities Commission and California Energy Commission, assumes that the state will need to add around 120 GW of new resources — including utility-scale solar, energy storage, offshore wind, and out-of-state clean energy — to the system by 2040, in order to meet the rising demand for electricity.
Biden administration doubles down on greener energy for agencies, USPS electric vehicles
Federal News Network – February 4
The Biden administration is in the market for greener sources of electricity for the federal government, a significant step in a decades-long plan set into motion by a recent executive order. The Defense Department and the General Services Administration released a request for information last Thursday, asking energy suppliers how they expect to deliver on the administration’s goal of the federal government running 100% on carbon pollution-free electricity by 2030.
Turlock Irrigation District lands $20 million grant to study placing solar panels atop canals
The Modesto Bee – February 7
The Turlock Irrigation District (TID) plans to use a $20 million state grant to demonstrate the use of solar panels atop canals. TID would be the first water agency in the nation to try the method if its board votes Tuesday to accept the money. The panels would feed electricity into transmission lines already along the canals, helping TID boost the renewable sources for its 103,000 or so power customers. The pilot project grew out of a study last year at the Merced and Santa Cruz campuses of the University of California.
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Projects
Terra-Gen’s solar-plus-storage allows California energy supplier to get clean energy 16 hours a day
Energy Storage News – February 8
San Jose Clean Energy (SJCE), a non-profit electricity supplier, last week officially inaugurated the Kern Solar and Storage Battery Project, which was brought online by developer Terra-Gen in December 2021. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said at a press conference that the project’s 62 MW of power is equivalent to about 20% of SJCE’s demand, but more importantly the project addresses the intermittency, or variability, challenge that renewable energy brings to the grid.
CIM Group begins commercial operations on 250-MW California solar project
Solar Industry Magazine – February 3
CIM Group has completed Aquamarine, the 250-MW project within the 20,000-acre Westlands Solar Park (WSP). Construction began in 2020 and concluded at year-end 2021. WSP has the capacity to grow to more than 2,700 GW of renewable energy at full buildout and the potential to provide energy to more than 1,200,000 homes.
Two major microgrid solar-battery storage projects underway in Sonoma, Napa counties
North Bay Business Journal – February 4
The U.S. Coast Guard has broken ground on a microgrid solar storage project designed to power its 837-acre, 810,000-square-foot training facility near Petaluma, which will keep the facility operating in wildfires and planned power outages. The Coast Guard project is just one of several microgrid projects underway in the North Bay. Another is at Castello di Amorosa winery near Calistoga.
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