Renewables: Page 46


  • Installing solar photovoltaic panel system on roof of house.
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    Anatoliy Gleb via Getty Images
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    California needs to move on from net metering, advocates, industry and utility leaders say

    Although helpful to jump-start the solar industry, net metering has begun to interfere with the state’s broader climate goals, panelists agreed at the RE+ conference in Anaheim.

    By Emma Penrod • Sept. 22, 2022
  • Wind turbines stand over an array of solar panels.
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    hrui via Getty Images
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    Solar power constituted half of all global capacity additions last year, followed by wind: BloombergNEF

    However, coal-fired generation surged in 2021 to record levels, driving up the power sector’s carbon emissions by 7%, the research firm said Wednesday.

    By Sept. 21, 2022
  • High voltage power lines seen from below Explore the Trendline
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    Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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    Trendline

    Top 5 Stories from Utility Dive

    Power demand is rising amid dramatic shifts in federal energy policy, but technology and markets continue to push the grid toward cleaner, more distributed resources. 

    By Utility Dive staff
  • Wind is blowing pollution from a coal burning power plant.
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    DWalker44 via Getty Images
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    Microsoft partners with UK nonprofit on software to help coal plants transition to nuclear power

    Microsoft and TerraPraxis believe that more digital tools could help some 2,400 coal-fired power plants around the world decarbonize — and potentially transition to nuclear generation.

    By Emma Penrod • Sept. 16, 2022
  • Rows of blue solar panels stretch into the desert horizon.
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    Retrieved from BLM California.
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    Solar developer Prospect14 launches joint venture aiming for a 10 GW solar project pipeline by 2025

    Ampliform is backed by a consortium of investors led by the Jones Family Office along with Barings, the George Kaiser Family Foundation and others.

    By Larry Pearl • Sept. 15, 2022
  • Solar panel installer installing solar panels on roof of modern house.
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    Eloi Omella via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Taking the utility monopoly door down to put more solar up

    A proposal by Sunnova would end nearly a century of guaranteed monopoly for California utilities by letting other companies not just sell power but use an alternative delivery system to the utility's platform, the author writes.

    By John Farrell • Sept. 15, 2022
  • A McDonald's store is shown in Houston, Texas.
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    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
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    McDonald’s strikes 15-year solar energy deal with EDF Renewables North America

    The partnership is expected to meet the electricity consumption needs of over 1,200 McDonald’s restaurants. 

    By Emma Liem Beckett • Sept. 15, 2022
  • Solar panels at dusk
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    Justin Paget via Getty Images
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    Inflation Reduction Act could raise prices on clean energy, warns Bank of America

    Without additional transmission capacity, the law could incentivize inefficient development of renewables and result in higher price volatility.

    By Sept. 12, 2022
  • Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant
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    "Diablo Canyon Family Open House" by Tracey Adams is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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    California planned to close down its last nuclear plant by 2025 and replace it with clean energy. What went wrong?

    Efforts to replace the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant faced multiple challenges, including disruptions to global supply chains.

    By Kavya Balaraman • Sept. 9, 2022
  • A field of solar panels and windmills in the desert.
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    adamkaz via Getty Images
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    SEIA, WoodMac expect solar market rebound after Q2 installations drop 12% compared with last year

    Supply chain constraints persist despite President Biden’s executive order delaying tariffs, according to a new industry report, but the Inflation Reduction Act offers hope for improvement.

    By Emma Penrod • Sept. 8, 2022
  • Crane sitting ready to start building a new wind turbine.
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    PBouman via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    Accelerating renewable energy buildout faces big hurdles, even with Inflation Reduction Act: developers

    “It's really important that everyone understand how contingent that capacity expansion is going to be on state-level decision making,” said Tyler Norris, Cypress Creek Renewables vice president of development.

    By Sept. 6, 2022
  • A beautifully lit scene with sunbeams on an offshore wind farm turbine.
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    glegorly via Getty Images
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    5 New England states propose ‘modular’ transmission plan to incorporate 8.4 GW of offshore wind

    The states say they are “actively” considering high voltage direct current transmission solutions in 1,200 MW increments through 2040.

    By Sept. 6, 2022
  • California state flag and state capitol building in Sacramento
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    DustyPixel via Getty Images
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    California legislature aims for 90% clean electricity by 2035 as part of sweeping climate package

    The legislature also approved SB 846, a bill to extend the life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant’s two units through the end of the decade, based on a Newsom administration proposal.

    By Kavya Balaraman • Sept. 2, 2022
  • Workers installing solar panels on a residential homes roof.
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    Power of Forever via Getty Images
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    US solar shipments jumped 32% to a record 28.8 million peak kW last year: EIA

    Sharp increases in utility-scale and small-scale solar additions drove the shipments despite project delays, supply chain constraints and volatile pricing, the Energy Information Administration said Thursday.

    By Sept. 1, 2022
  • Electricity from solar panels, dams, and wind turbines. Environmentally-friendly renewable energy concept.
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    bombermoon via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    How states and utilities can capitalize on the biggest clean energy legislation in US history

    Utilities should use the IRA’s tax credits and reinvestment financing to accelerate their clean power ambitions, replacing risky fossil plants with renewables to boost profits and cut consumer costs, the authors write.

    By Dan Esposito and Kimani Jeffrey • Aug. 31, 2022
  • Exterior of Department of Energy building in Washington, DC.
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    Mingzhe Zhang via Getty Images
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    DOE begins accepting applications for $425M in major boost to state clean energy funding

    Department of Energy officials say the new funding will provide states flexibility and boost energy program budgets by nearly 10 times for fiscal years 2022 through 2026.

    By Aug. 29, 2022
  • Solar panels on a lobster pound in Maine.
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    vermontalm via Getty Images
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    FERC approves ISO-NE plan to bypass the grid operator and rely on state reviews for DER interconnections

    The proposal is expected to lower wholesale power prices by increasing distributed energy supplies, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said.

    By Aug. 29, 2022
  • Electricity from solar panels, dams, and wind turbines. Environmentally-friendly renewable energy concept.
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    bombermoon via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Wind and solar power aren’t enough to combat climate change. We need to incentivize firm renewables, too.

    For too long, federal U.S. policy has taken a siloed perspective and focused almost exclusively on developing popular intermittent renewable solutions, like wind and solar — and it’s not enough, the author writes. 

    By George Sakellaris • Aug. 26, 2022
  • Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm
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    "Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm" by chpv.co.uk/SSE/RWE is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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    Dominion threatens to abandon 2.6-GW offshore wind farm over performance guarantee

    The Virginia State Corporation Commission’s performance standard is “fatally overbroad and undefined,” a Dominion Energy utility said this week.  

    By Aug. 25, 2022
  • Turbines in Altamont Pass Wind Farm near Livermore, California.
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    yhelfman via Getty Images
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    New wind additions plummet in Q2, declining 77% from a year ago: S&P

    Despite a slowdown in wind additions and delays in utility-scale solar projects, renewable energy provided more than a quarter of U.S. generation during the first half of 2022, say analysts.  

    By Aug. 25, 2022
  • A person in a hard hat lifts a solar panel on a building in front of the city skyline.
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    Inflation Reduction Act has ‘direct impact’ on California net energy metering modeling, utilities say

    The new law comes as California regulators consider reforming their existing net energy metering framework. A previous proposal received sharp criticism from the solar industry.

    By Kavya Balaraman • Aug. 24, 2022
  • Deep Dive

    Why the energy transition broke the U.S. interconnection system

    Who or what is to blame for growing interconnection delays around the U.S.? Experts say the same processes that created the U.S. power system may now be preventing its transition to clean generation.

    By Emma Penrod • Aug. 22, 2022
  • Wind is blowing pollution from a coal burning power plant.
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    DWalker44 via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    DOE to attack CO2 emissions with billions in funding from inflation reduction, infrastructure laws

    The Energy Department wants big R&D spending to have CO2 reduction tools ready by 2030, but clean energy advocates see it delivering wealth and prolonged life to fossil fuels and slowing renewables deployment.

    By Aug. 22, 2022
  • Aerial view from a drone down to large solar thermal power station in the dry desert landscape to the horizon. Nevada, USA.
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    Mlenny via Getty Images
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    Sponsored by Enverus

    Inflation Reduction Act and the road ahead

    The economics of all energy evolution-related technologies is positively impacted and will incentivize adoption across all geographies.

    Aug. 22, 2022
  • Man installing alternative energy photovoltaic solar panels on roof
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    Elenathewise via Getty Images
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    Inflation Reduction Act could spur American solar manufacturing renaissance, advocates say

    New production capacity can dramatically reduce shipping and import costs, which will insulate the U.S. solar and storage industry from global supply disruption, according to SEIA.

    By Kavya Balaraman • Aug. 18, 2022
  • Midwestern retailer, Meijer, signed a renewable energy power purchase agreement (VPPA) with developer Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions*, which states Meijer will purchase a portion of all energy gene
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    Courtesy of Meijer
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    Rising fuel prices, Inflation Reduction Act incentives likely to spur rapid renewable energy growth: S&P

    The U.S. was already set to greatly accelerate its deployment of clean energy, but the Inflation Reduction Act introduced a multiplying factor, S&P Global Commodity Insights analysts said.

    By Emma Penrod • Aug. 18, 2022