Focus
GREENTECH MEDIA - Jul 19 A new report and interactive map released this week by Environment America takes stock of U.S. clean energy progress to date. Today, the U.S. produces nearly six times as much renewable electricity from the sun and the wind as it did in 2008, and nine states now get more than 20 percent of their electricity from renewables. Last year, the U.S. produced a record amount of solar power, generating 39 times more solar power than a decade ago. In 2008, solar produced 0.05 percent of electricity in the U.S. But by the end of 2017, solar generation reached more than 2 percent of the electricity mix — enough to power 7 million average American homes. Wind has also seen dramatic growth over the last decade. From 2008 through 2017, American wind energy generation grew nearly fivefold. Last year, wind turbines produced 6.9 percent of America’s electricity, enough to power nearly 24 million homes.
PV MAGAZINE - Jul 16 One of the most important aspects of the solar power revolution is how it is making daytime electricity cheaper, and thus lowering wholesale electricity prices more broadly. Researchers from Carnegie Mellon and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have come together to present a new retrospective study of the market price response to distributed photovoltaic generation in California, focusing on the wholesale electricity market in California governed by the California Independent System Operator that represents about 80 percent of the electricity usage in the state. The research found that distributed PV reduced the hourly mean whole electricity price by up to 2.9-3.2 cents per kilowatt hour (8-9 percent) during the peak period of 12-1 PM. This extrapolated to mean that throughout the day, utilities spent between $650-730 million less procuring electricity to provide to their customers.
THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE - Jul 12 City officials said at a public hearing last Thursday that they are continuing to work with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to overhaul the utility’s proposal for getting San Diego to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035 — a target mandated by the city’s ambitious climate action plan. That frustrated some elected officials who are anxious to vote on whether to adopt the utility’s blueprint or embrace a government-run power program known as community choice aggregation. If the city adopts community choice, SDG&E will continue to deliver energy to residents, but elected officials would control the buying and selling of power. Last summer, an independent review of community choice found the program, as compared to SDG&E, would deliver more green energy to San Diegans while costing residents and businesses less over time. Then in June, the city’s Sustainable Energy Advisory Board issued a harsh review of SDG&E’s plan, saying the investor owned utility’s pitch “lacked sufficient detail.”
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER - Jul 18
A proposed network aimed at serving the electricity needs of California and other western states would lower energy costs, spur a greater use of renewable energy, and create another 10,000 to 20,000 jobs a year in California by 2030, an industry group claims. Next 10, a nonpartisan organization, reached that conclusion in “A Regional Power Market for the West: Risks and Benefits.” The report takes a fresh look at the pros and cons of the plan.
Projects
SOLAR INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - Jul 19 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has selected esVolta, a developer and owner of utility-scale energy storage projects across North America, to build an energy storage system in Santa Clara County. Under the proposal, which is pending approval by the California Public Utilities Commission, esVolta will develop, build, and operate the Hummingbird Energy Storage project, a 75-megawatt lithium-ion battery storage facility. The project is slated to be in service by December 2020.
LAS VEGAS SUN - Jul 17 A nearly $1 billion, 690-megawatt solar project is being planned for 25 miles northeast of downtown Las Vegas. The Gemini Solar Project will be constructed on 7,100 acres of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, according to Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, which will fund the project. The BLM still has to approve the project. The project at full build will have the capability to power 260,000 households annually, according to the BLM. The first 440-megawatt phase will connect to NV Energy’s Crystal Substation and generate renewable power for NV Energy’s grid. The second phase of 250 megawatts will connect at the South Crystal Substation and potentially serve power users in California, Nevada, and Arizona.at peak times of customer usage later in the day.
CNBC - Jul 19 Facebook’s Prineville Data Center in Oregon is to be supported by 100 percent solar power under a new partnership with Pacific Power. The solar projects will have a combined capacity of 437 megawatts, including two amounting to 100 megawatts in the Prineville area. Prineville is home to Facebook’s first custom-built data center, which opened in 2011.
