In authorizing Detroit Edison Company, now operating as DTE Electric Company, to implement a new power supply cost recovery (PSCR) rate plan, the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) declined a request that it declare it unlikely that it would allow full recovery in the future of the utility’s requested PSCR costs due to the company’s continued operation of its aging coal plants. Instead, the commission endorsed the company’s continued participation in a so-called “reduced fuel emission” (REF) project with a corporate affiliate.

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission has authorized three affiliated electric utilities (Hawaiian Electric Company, Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc., and Maui Electric Company, Ltd. [the HECO companies]) to implement a pilot program designed to provide the utilities with the tools necessary for developing the requisite infrastructure for encouraging the growth and viable development of the electric vehicle (EV) market.

Citing changes in the regional electric market related to the mandated addition of renewable generating facilities, and alluding to such other factors as tightened water resource regulations and the possibility of merchant power plant shut-downs, the California Public Utilities Commission has approved an interim “flexible capacity” framework as a further component of its annual Resource Adequacy (RA) requirements process.

In its sixth annual report, the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Office of Retail Market Development (ORMD) provided an update on the status of the state’s competitive electric market, which shows a second straight year of dramatic increases in the number of residential users who are switching to competitive power suppliers as well as concomitant increases in the cost savings enjoyed by consumers who make the switch.

Duquesne Light signed a contract with Itron for the deployment of Itron’s smart metering solution across the utility’s entire service territory. The contract signing follows approval from Duquesne Light’s board of directors and Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PAPUC). Itron will replace the utility’s existing 625,000 electricity meters, implement back-office data collection software, supply critical network communications infrastructure, and provide comprehensive professional services.

As part of its efforts to develop a voluntary framework to improve cybersecurity in the nation's critical infrastructure, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) posted a draft outline of the document to invite public review and gather comments. The executive order calling for NIST to develop the framework directs the agency to collaborate with the public and private sectors.

ComEd selected GE to deliver approximately four million smart meters from 2013 to 2021 in a deal worth more than $200 million.

REC announced three new utility scale installations in North Carolina. The projects, developed, engineered and constructed by Strata Solar are Rock Farm, 6.65-MW, Mt. Olive Farm, 6.65-MW, and AM Best Farm, 6.4-MW. Collectively these farms are powered by 81,000 high-performing REC 250 Peak Energy solar panels and generate 31,320 MWh’s of solar energy annually. These ground-mounted installations each cover an approximate area of 16 hectares and were commissioned in the first half of 2013.  

ClearSign Combustion executed a letter of intent to enter into a multi-phase commercial development agreement with a waste and energy services company. Phase one of the anticipated three-phase agreement began in July with testing in ClearSign's Seattle combustion test facility. Subsequent phases would include full-scale testing and evaluation at a larger US-based facility. Additional contract details will be disclosed upon execution of the definitive agreement.