This is a first. Utility commissioners in South Dakota, desperate for some national attention apparently, are investigating the impacts of solar policies on their customer’s rates. Only problem is that the solar policies are in another State! You can’t make this stuff up even with the nuance that the project the regulators are worried about is owned by NextEra, one of the largest utilities in the Country.
Climate policy impact explained. From the business as usual scenario where we do nothing and roll every policy back to the goal of the Paris agreement. New York Times takes you through each policy to show you the environmental impact of each. These things are wonky and complicated but creating a visual representation is always a good idea for mainstream consumption.
More details, this on the Illinois market. We’ve covered the energy bill in Illinois before but now more time has gone into reading the fine print. First off, the bill was there to save the nuclear power plants, all other items were the price of admission to get that done. One of the biggest items is that the RPS has been fixed and it could create a 1.35GW solar market by 2020. From essentially zero, that is a really great place to aim towards.
EU crafts its energy future. With Europe on deck to lead the world towards accomplishing the Paris agreement, it has released the outline of the energy package. This is at the EU level which means that it is diversified to meet the political needs of member nations. Some Countries, like Germany, have already taken many policies in their own hands but others need to be pulled along.
- Utility Dive: South Dakota regulators pause Xcel fuel rider request to mull Minnesota solar costs
- New York Times: How Trump Can Influence Climate Change
- Vox: Illinois passes huge, bipartisan energy bill, proves democracy still works
- CleanTechnica: What The EU Energy Package Means For Coal, Renewables, & Efficiency
- PV-Magazine: Global inverter shipments to contract 5% in 2017 before steady recovery, says GTM Research
- Greentech Media: States Are Decoupling Their Emissions From Economic Growth—Federal Policy Be Damned
- EDF: Groundbreaking Study Shows New Coal Plants are Uneconomic in 97 Percent of US Counties
- Economist: How clean is solar power?
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann