Tag Archives: renewable energy

How a utility became the world’s largest renewable developer

By Kristi E. Swartz, E&E News Reporter, Energywire

“There’s going to be enormous change for this industry; I don’t think the industry
has come to grips with it.” – Jim Robo, NextEra Energy Inc. CEO

“We have been able to turn NextEra Energy Resources into a Fortune 500 company from scratch; that’s taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” John Ketchum, the company’s CEO, said at a June investor conference with Wall Street analysts. The company plans to have as much as 34 gigawatts of wind, solar and storage projects by the end of 2022, up from the 18 GW it has now, said Jim Robo, CEO of parent company NextEra Energy Inc.

The U.S. market for wind, solar and storage is at its strongest and showing little signs of a slowdown. The appetite for renewables is starkly different from when it took the company 15 years to sign deals for 10 GW of wind and solar. Now it can do that in just 24 months. And 40% of those solar deals are connected to storage. Read more here.

Small Missouri utility proposes big pivot to clean energy in latest resource plan

Written by Karen Uhlenhuth, Energy News Network

Missouri’s smallest investor-owned utility is charting a dramatically different course two years after being acquired by new owners. The Empire District Electric Co. in Joplin, Missouri, serves about 173,000 customers in southwestern Missouri and parts of Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Its current capacity consists of about 65% natural gas, 30% coal and 5% renewables in the form of wind and hydropower. Read more here.

Photo Credit: Lucia Bourgeois / U.S. Department of Energy

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

Boston, San Francisco and Seattle Rank Highest on National ‘Clean Energy Scorecard’, Energy Manager Today. For the first time, the ACEEE Scorecard tracks policy efforts to advance renewable energy in addition to energy efficiency, because both are needed to build a clean energy future and address climate change. It is the most comprehensive national report that tracks city progress toward climate goals.
Corporate Investment In Solar Energy Surges, Forbes
Behind Adobe’s bold plan to build an all-electric building, GreenBiz
RE100 Update: Adobe is among 191 RE100 companies that have made a commitment to go ‘100% renewable’. A growing number of them are encouraging their suppliers to do the same. Read about the actions they are taking and why.
Center Stage Podcast: Encouraging sustainability leaders to chase their moonshots, GreenBiz
Proposed legislation would extend solar investment tax credit 5 years, Utility Dive
Wholesale electricity market design for rapid decarbonization: A decentralized markets approach, Utility Dive
CEFC looks to energy storage, grid stability, after record spend on renewables, Renew Economy The federal government’s green bank says it will sharpen its focus on energy storage and other technologies to support the stability of the national grid, as it caps off another 12 months of record investment in renewable energy.
NextEra inks 700 MW wind + solar + battery project, largest in the US, Utility Dive
The false promise of nuclear power, Opinion Contributors Jay Lifton and Naomi Oreskes, The Boston Globe. The financial group Lazard recently said that renewable energy costs are now “at or below the marginal cost of conventional generation” — that is, fossil fuels — and much lower than nuclear.
Solar panels cast shade on agriculture in a good way, News Release, EurekaAlert

Expanding customer choices in a renewable energy future

By Ahmad Faruqui and Mariko Geronimo Aydin,
American Public Power Association Blog

This is part of a series of monthly posts reflecting different thought leader perspectives on utility rate design. All five opinion pieces appear in full in Leadership in Rate Design: A Compendium of Essays, which was designed to help public power utilities to rethink rate design strategies in the face of evolving technologies and customer preferences. The essays were developed as part of the Association’s Moving Public Power Forward initiative.

The number of states, cities and counties committed to 100% clean energy is growing dramatically. The 100% clean electricity supply that seemed impossible 10 years ago has now become a tangible and feasible future. With higher renewables penetration, planning for greener electricity becomes less about building individual resources and more about building a resource portfolio and system that — as a whole — is tuned to take advantage of clean power when it is available. One key challenge is what to do about the hour-to-hour and minute-to-minute mismatch between renewables output and electricity consumption. Continue reading here.

Ahmad Faruqui is an internationally recognized energy economist. He has analyzed the efficacy of a variety of tariff structures and carried out a meta-analysis of experimental results. His areas of expertise include demand response, energy efficiency, distributed energy resources, advanced metering infrastructure, plug-in electric vehicles, energy storage, inter-fuel substitution, combined heat and power, microgrids, and demand forecasting. He has worked for nearly 150 clients on five continents and testified before commissions in several states and provinces.

Mariko Geronimo Aydin is an economist with almost fifteen years of experience in analyzing the policies and economics of electricity system planning, regulation and de-regulation of electricity supply, and wholesale electricity markets across the U.S. Mariko specializes in helping clients meet their potential in a changing industry, by evolving utility business models and by developing customer choice, resource planning, and wholesale market refinements that can make the best use of clean, distributed, and customer-driven power supply resources in synergy with more traditional resources.

Photo Credit: American Public Power Association

Papillion’s Facebook data center, now officially online, part of company’s global infrastructure

By Reece Ristau, Omaha World-Herald

On Thursday, two years after construction began, a portion of the data center officially came online, connecting Papillion with Facebook’s network of similar centers that allow 2.38 billion monthly active users to share photos with friends, post life updates and stay connected from thousands of miles apart.

Facebook also is investing in Nebraska’s alternative energy sources. Committed to using 100% renewable energy to power its data centers, the company is buying wind power from the Omaha Public Power District, which in turn is purchasing it from the Rattlesnake Creek Wind Project in Dixon County, about two hours north of Omaha. Read more here.

Enel Green Power’s Photo of the Rattlesnake Creek Wind Farm in Dixon County, Nebraska

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING & VIEWING

Facebook formally launches Papillion data center, unveils STEM initiative, WOWT
RE100: Facebook and Adobe are among 179 companies that have made a commitment to go ‘100% renewable’. An increasing number of them are also encouraging their suppliers to adopt the same goal.
Dixon County wind farm providing boost to area economy, Norfolk Daily News
According to Imanol San Martin, director of wind operations and maintenance of Enel Green Power North America, “the farm will generate over $85 million in taxes and lease payments in the area and will employ 20 permanent positions at the site.”
Previously Posted: The Rattlesnake Creek Wind Farm Paves the Way for Renewable Energy, Enel Green Power News Release

MORE NEBRASKA NEWS & OPINION

APPA’s National Energy Innovator Award presented to NPPD, NPPD News Release
Columbus, Neb. – Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) was recognized with the Energy Innovator Award from the American Public Power Association at the Association’s national conference held in Austin, Texas. NPPD was one of nine public power utilities recognized for service to APPA and the public power industry during the conference.

Innovation now NPPD’s calling card, Kearney Hub Editorial
NPPD has been on an innovative trajectory for at least the past 10 years, diversifying the ways in which it generates electricity, opening doors for innovation in communities such as Norfolk and Kearney, and re-purposing resources for experimental projects, such as the Sheldon Station plant that’s being retooled to burn hydrogen in a process that produces no greenhouse gases. In recent years, NPPD has been investing more in wind energy, and it’s helping local communities to explore how to broaden the use of new clean energy — including Norfolk with a battery storage experiment and Kearney with its 53-acre solar farm.

LES CEO receives national public power award, LES News Release
AUSTIN, TX — Kevin G. Wailes, chief executive officer of Lincoln Electric System, received the Alan Richardson Statesmanship Award at the American Public Power Association’s national conference in Austin, Texas, on June 11, 2019. This award honors public power leaders who work to achieve consensus on national issues important to public power utilities.

Kennedy’s role involves exploring energy solutions

By Laura King-Homan, The Wire, OPPD Blog

Courtney Kennedy doesn’t just tour wind farms. Kennedy, OPPD’s manager for alternative energy programs, and her team also research new alternative energy technologies, explore partnerships with large customers and work with system planning groups on how to best meet OPPD’s future load needs with alternative energy solutions. In short, Kennedy and her team are where the utility, and customers, can turn to get answers about renewable energy. Continue reading here.

Photo Credit: Omaha Public Power District

NEWS FROM OTHER STATES

Sedgwick County school now has Kansas’ largest privately-owned solar power system, The Wichita Eagle
In Michigan: Consumers Energy gets nod to embark on 5-GW solar plan, phase out coal, Renewables Now
Google plans $17M expansion in Michigan to add ‘significant’ number of jobs, FOX Business
N.J. offers initial blueprint for shift to 100% clean energy by 2050, American Public Power Association. The draft Energy Master Plan is available here.
World’s largest battery system planned for Nevada solar plant, PV Magazine
Five Texas Electric Coops Sign Collective Solar Power Purchase Agreement, Solar Magazine
Though small, the collective negotiation and purchase marks a first for the Texas solar power market, as well as a first for Rocky Mountain Institute’s (RMI) SHINE distribution-scale, community solar energy program.
Six Flags Great Adventure Now Powered by Solar Energy, Finger Lakes Times
This Virginia city is rooted in tobacco, but its revival is drawing power from solar, Energy News Network
Walmart, US Solar Announce Agreement for 36 Community Solar Gardens, PR Newswire

Companies Exploring Solar Energy, Establishing Foothold in Hot Industry

Network News Wire Editorial, PR Newswire

With climate change a hot topic and the Green New Deal providing a possible pathway for progress, solar power may be a more viable — and profitable — source of energy than ever before . . . Network News Wire holds no shares of any company named in this news release.
Read more here.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING

Texas’ largest solar project, a behemoth of national scale, breaks ground, PV Magazine
Texas is about to enter into a prolific solar boom and this project is just the start.
North Dakota’s first commercial solar energy project gets OK, Grand Forks Herald
The [200MW] Harmony solar project, 15 miles west of Fargo, is estimated to generate $24 million in direct economic impacts over 20 years, including $5.7 million in revenues to school districts and $2 million to the county over the period, according to Geronimo Energy of Edina, Minn., a renewable energy developer.
‘Committed to sustainability:’ Common Council approves solar energy systems at 3 libraries, Fox6 Now. Alderman Nik Kovac, primary sponsor of the legislation and member of the Milwaukee Common Council’s Public Works Committee said the city would own 100 percent of the solar systems and use an existing capital appropriation from the Better Buildings Challenge capital account and Focus on Energy rebates to fund the construction.
Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy
Solar arrays to be built in three Illinois municipal-run electric territories, Energy News Network
Demonstration solar projects like the ones just announced — which incur minimal cost for the agency and municipalities — are a chance for the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency and its members “to get real experience in developing a project and studying the solar energy output of the facilities.”
Maryland Advances “Customer-Centric” Solar & DER Planning, CleanTechnica
Donated solar power system to help local food bank, Mohave Valley Daily News
The system is expected to cut the food bank’s summertime power bills by $500 a month.
California Solar Rights Bill Up for March Hearing, CleanTechnica
UI issues request for bids for Solar Farm 2.0 project, Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette
The University of Illinois has issued a request for proposals for a second large solar array to help meet its clean-energy targets.
Northwest campus to add solar panels, Northwest Missourian
Deloitte sees drivers for continued renewable energy growth, American Public Power Association
The green new deal that the market loves, Axios

Wind energy, tax breaks sought to bring Google to Becker, Minn.

By Kirsti Marohn – Collegeville, Minnesota, Minnesota Public Radio News

Google proposes to build the 375,000-square-foot data center on roughly 300 acres owned by Xcel Energy next to the Sherburne County Generating Station, the largest coal-burning plant in the Upper Midwest. Xcel will retire two of Sherco’s three generators in the next seven years. Google is working with Xcel to ensure that electricity used to power the data center will come from renewable sources. Continue reading here.

Previously Posted

Google announces plans to build data center in Nebraska; signs point to Omaha area, Omaha World-Herald
Google And Apple Lead The Corporate Charge Toward 100% Renewable Energy, Forbes
Emerging Green Tariffs In U.S. Regulated Electricity Markets, World Resources Institute
Nebraska – Omaha Public Power District, Page 17.

HAPPENING IN OTHER STATES

Have You Heard The Buzz? Displaced Coal Workers Follow In Tradition of Appalachian Apiculture, CleanTechnica

Appalachian Headwaters operates the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective, continuing a long-standing tradition of Appalachian apiculture. They say the Beekeeping Collective has the potential to bring millions of dollars into the region, offering job options and supplemental incomes for hundreds of people.

IL’s Adjustable Block Program Meets Staggering Interest, Natural Resources Defense Council
The Illinois Adjustable Block Program recently began accepting project applications, launching what has the potential to be a massive build out of distributed generation and community solar projects bolstered by the program’s Renewable Energy Credit (REC) incentives.
Adjustable Block Program Website
Adjustable Block Program Guidebook
State incentives have solar energy surging in Illinois, Chicago Daily Herald
Proposal aims to juice incentives for energy storage systems, Deseret News
A proposal before Utah legislators to incentivize the purchase of battery storage systems for solar and/or wind-powered energy systems would be a boon for those who want to become energy independent while lowering their carbon footprint.
Ford signs deal with DTE for 500,000 megawatt hours of wind energy, Daily Energy Insider
Just Ask Alaska: Yes, Diesel-Killing Solar Panels Work In The Cold, CleanTechnica
Shine touts success of Fort Hood solar farm, wants more alternative energy for state, The Kileen Daily Herald. Alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power could turn Texas into an energy-exporting state, according to state Rep. Hugh Shine, R-Temple.
The Golden State is officially a third renewable, and it’s not stopping there, PV Magazine
California has passed its 33% renewable energy target two years before the 2020 deadline. The state’s next renewable milestone is at 44% by 2024, a 33% growth in just over five full years.
Solar energy system installers expect 2019 will be a good year, The Ledger
This is the final year American consumers can receive a 30 percent federal tax credit for having a residential solar energy system installed. That credit will drop to 26 percent in 2020, and 22
percent in 2021, before dropping altogether for residential customers.

ADVICE ON GOING SOLAR

Column: Here’s why I went with solar, by Alan Youngblood / Star-Banner photo editor.
Published by The Ledger

Solar is pretty much a no-brainer. You reduce your carbon footprint while saving money or eliminating your power bill. The federal government has also extended the 30 percent tax credit on everything connected to the installation of residential solar panels through 2019. That means that 30 percent of what you spend on a solar installation comes right off the taxes you owe. Click image to watch YouTube video of the installation in fast motion.

Residential & Business Incentives
Federal Investment Tax Credit for solar systems and small wind turbines: 30% through 2019. Small wind: 100 kilowatts or less. Source: Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE)

EV / ETHANOL NEWS

Daimler, BMW ink $1B joint mobility deal, Smart Cities Dive
Automakers Daimler AG and BMW Group announced they have signed a $1 billion-plus deal to merge their ride-hailing, parking and electric vehicle (EV) charging services to create what the companies call “a new global player providing sustainable urban mobility.”
As Electric Cars Shift Into Mainstream, The Corn Belt Begins To Ponder A Post-Ethanol Future, Harvest Public Media

Working Toward A Renewable Energy Future in Rural CO

Julesberg Advocate

MEAN projects are increasing the percentage of our energy mix that comes from coal generation through 2030. A Gunnison based research organization, Sustainable Development Strategies Group (SDSG), has identified growing concern in MEAN’s service communities about this reliance on coal. This spurred a study of MEAN’s system in Colorado, and whether their policies encourage or inhibit renewable energy generation at the local level. SDSG’s study is now public.

Recommendations from the study, A Renewable Energy Future For Colorado Communities Served by MEAN, include “that MEAN move away from its policy currently limiting municipal generation to a maximum of 2% of their energy requirement.” Read more here.

Related Article: Lights shined on city power, by Kate Gienapp, Gunnison Country Times

About MEAN
The Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) is the not-for-profit wholesale electricity supply organization of NMPP Energy. Created in 1981, MEAN provides cost-based power supply, transmission and related services to 69 participating communities in four states: Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming. MEAN members/participants

More Colorado News
Ski industry climate change efforts shift to electric utilities and their regulators, Clean Cooperative
The ski industry is increasingly focusing its sustainability efforts on decarbonizing the electric grid, by engaging with their power suppliers, regulators, and state policymakers. In the latest move, a group of Colorado ski resorts are supporting Delta-Montrose Electric Association’s efforts to end its contract with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and pursue more renewable energy.

Previously Posted
Colorado co-op seeks exit from coal-heavy Tri-State to pursue renewables, Utility Dive
Tri-State is a generation and transmission provider that supplies power to more than 40 rural cooperatives across Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming. While it has increased renewable energy in recent years, coal is still its largest source of electricity — around half its capacity
— and member co-ops are required to purchase all but 5% of their power from the company.

Flickr Photo

Decarbonizing enterprise: The path to 100 percent corporate renewable energy

Center Stage Podcast, GreenBiz

It’s clear that 100 percent renewable energy is imperative to fight climate change. And it’s already starting. Chris Clark, president at Xcel Energy; Bill Weihl, former sustainability and energy efficiency manager at Facebook; and Neha Palmer, head of energy strategy at Google talked about how to push and pull all companies, utilities and the public toward accessible 100 percent renewable energy. Listen to the Podcast
More Center Stage Podcasts

ALSO IN THE NEWS

Utility of the Year: Xcel Energy, Dive Awards
“Sun in a box” Stores Renewable Energy & Delivers It On Demand, SciTech Daily
Watertown Becomes 1st Town In New England To Require Solar Panels On New Commercial Constructions, WBUR

HAPPENING IN OTHER STATES

Solar energy companies flocking to Metro East, Illinois
St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The solar industry in Missouri is actually larger than in Illinois, producing a total of 167 megawatts versus 90 in Illinois. But experts say that Illinois, ranked 34th nationwide in solar capacity, is poised to grow to 1,856 megawatts in the next five years, putting the state in 11th place and well on its way to meeting the legislation’s goal to get to 3,000 megawatts by 2030.
City Council pledges to operate on 100 percent renewable energy by 2035, WCPO Cincinnati. With a resolution passed last week, City Council made Cincinnati the 100th U.S. city to pledge to neutralize its carbon footprint by 2035.
Solar energy co-op sells subscribers energy — and a piece of the business, Minneapolis Star Tribune. Cooperative Energy Futures develops arrays and then seeks subscribers who also essentially become shareholders.
Stanford University’s Electricity Will Be Completely Carbon-Free 24 Years Ahead of California’s 100-percent Goal, Solar Magazine
Solar energy initiative brings green jobs in Harlem, Metro USA
Rhode Island looks to spare green space with brownfield solar projects, Energy News Network
A new state incentive offers money to developers that build solar projects on polluted properties instead of forests or farmland.
Duke solar solicitation nearly 6x over-subscribed, PV Magazine
78 proposals ranging from 7 MWac to 80 MWac are vying for spots under the 680 MW solicitation, which has been issued as part of a compromise between Duke and the solar industry.
Exxon’s Power Play Points to Texas’ Future, Bloomberg
The oil giant’s big bet on Permian renewables shows how the economics of the electricity market are changing.

SOLAR MODULE NEWS

Solar module lifetime predictions are getting better, PV Magazine
NREL has proposed a new methodology for determining solar module degradation rates, taking into account measurement challenges such as sensor drift, inverter nuances, soiling and others – keeping the focus on the solar modules themselves. Image: NREL, Hit me with your SunShot

ENERGY SECURITY

100% Renewable Energy As Catalyst For Achieving Peace & Justice
By Rob van Riet, Director of the Climate Energy Program at the World Future Council and a regular contributor to The Beam
Unlike fossil fuels, which are characterized by the uneven geographical distribution of natural reserves, RE is abundant across regions and countries. Photo by Justin Holzgrove, DOE’s Hit me with your SunShot

HOW DOES THAT WORK? SERIES

Mutual Aid, by Jason Kuiper, The Wire, OPPD Blog

WHAT IS IT? Mutual aid is an agreement through which other utilities offer their restoration services after natural disasters strike and cause widespread power outages. OPPD has been on both sides of the aisle. Photo: OPPD trucks line up in Tampa, Florida, part of the mutual aid deployed to help restore power following a hurricane.

Akon Launches “Akon Lighting America” in Effort to Assist the United States in Becoming a Leader in the Global Sustainable Development Goals

News Release Posted by the Solar Energy Industries Association

NEW YORK– Philanthropist, business mogul and five-time Grammy nominated artist Akon has initiated a partnership to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030 and assisting participating US states to meet their renewable energy goals . . . As of January 2019, Akon Lighting America will begin developing utility scale renewable energy projects throughout the United States and constructing renewable energy solutions for rural and low-income housing communities. Read more here.

100% RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWS

Four Members of Congress back movement calling for 100% renewables by 2030, Green New Deal, PV Magazine. The 100% renewable energy movement is gaining steam, even in the U.S. Congress. Image: Sunrise Movement
Five new governors aim for 100% renewables, PV Magazine
Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 – An Update. With ten more recently joining in, 99 cities have now committed to 100% renewable energy in Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 initiative. The Sierra Club, founded in 1892, has 3.5 million members and supporters nationwide. Recently Released: 2018 Case Studies Reports featuring 10 new cities that are ready for 100% clean energy!
CommBank becomes first Australian business to join RE100, PV Magazine Australia
Commonwealth Bank of Australia will source 65% of its power from renewable energy by next year and will go completely green by 2030, as Australia’s first business to join 154 international companies that signed up to the global initiative RE100.
Spain Unveils ‘Groundbreaking’ Plan to Slash Emissions and Transition to 100% Renewable Energy by 2050, Common Dreams
AES Unveils Ambitious Portfolio Transition That Could Result in 100% Renewables, Greentech Media. The power producer says it is “climate-transition ready.” AES also plans to incorporate storage with many of its future renewables projects.

MORE GOOD NEWS

Battery Energy Storage Is A $1 Trillion Opportunity As Costs Continue To Crash, Forbes
Solar Costs Now Lower Than Coal and Even Natural Gas, SEIA
Greenlots and Volvo to partner on charging infrastructure for electric trucks, Utility Dive
Solar panels increase grasses for sheep and cows by 90%, PV Magazine

NEW GLOBAL REPORT

Renewable Energy Market to Garner $2,152 Billion by 2025, Reveals Report, Interesting Engineering

A new report published by global market consultancy Allied Market Research is revealing a very promising future for the renewables industry with hydro and ocean power leading the way.

FEATURED EV INITIATIVE

The EV Drive Coalition is working to urge Congress to reform the federal electric vehicle (EV) tax credit so automakers can continue producing, workers can continue building, and consumers can continue buying vehicles that produce zero emissions. Supporters of EVs and the tax credit have formed this coalition to ensure that EVs remain viable in the United States. Supporters include consumer advocates, environmental groups, free market advocates and automakers, among others. See Also: Fact Sheets

Nebraskans for Solar