Dive Brief:
Senate Democrats are retooling energy tax reform legislation that was first proposed two years ago but which failed to advance in a Republican-led Congress.
The Clean Energy for America Act could include technology-neutral incentives rather than wind- and solar-specific credits, and would aim to move beyond the current cycle of short-term incentive extensions to a more permanent approach, according to Bobby Andres, senior policy adviser to Democrats on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. We re actively working on updating that bill for reintroduction and very much view it as a cornerstone of the efforts on energy tax this Congress, Andres said Wednesday at the virtual American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) Policy Forum.
Dive Brief:
Hawaiian Electric (HECO) is defending its role in ongoing and potential delays to planned renewables projects that are key to Hawaii s longer-term clean energy goals, following the state Public Utilities Commission s decision last month to take a closer look at the company s interconnection processes and plans to retire and replace fossil fuel plants.
Last year, concerns were raised during status conferences hosted by the commission that HECO s interconnection processes are causing unnecessary delays and increasing costs to renewables projects currently under development. But in a filing on Friday, HECO said that these are not solely attributable to the company, and depend also on developers and their consultants.
Dive Brief:
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) completed its environmental review of the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project, the Department of the Interior announced Monday.
The 800 MW project will be the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. and is expected to start delivering energy in 2023, after developers pushed back the intended 2022 in-service date due to federal permitting delays.
The Final Environmental Impact Statement is the second to last step in the federal permitting process for the project. The Interior Department could greenlight the project as early as April, according to Environment America s Research and Policy Center.
The following is a contributed article by Adam Reeve, senior vice president at REsurety.
The deep freeze in Texas seems almost certain to be the top energy story of 2021. The meltdown of the ERCOT power grid had dramatic implications at the individual project level, as the financial performance of each project was driven by the weather conditions at its particular location. For example: iced blades caused some wind projects to shut down near the beginning of the cold weather event, missing out or causing their offtakers to miss out on a potential windfall due to the record-breaking $9,000/MWh pricing that was sustained for days during the event. Meanwhile, some solar projects exceeded expectations during key high-priced hours.
Share it
UPDATE: March 4, 2021: The New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting has published final rules governing how it will issue permits for major renewable energy projects. The framework sets standard operating conditions, streamlines the development process, and addresses recurring issues in siting and permitting. Renewables advocates say the final rules will help grow the state s clean energy economy and bring in tens of thousands of jobs. The updated process means projects will be able to move through the permitting process more quickly and efficiently, Julie Tighe, President of the New York League of Conservation Voters, said in a statement.