NRG Energy, through its wholly owned subsidiary NRG Solar, announced that two of the solar photovoltaic (PV) facilities the company acquired from Recurrent Energy earlier this year have reached commercial operation.
The California Public Utilities Commission has approved a series of revisions to the demand-side management (DSM) programs administered by San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE). The authorized changes are aimed at increasing DSM contributions to help the utilities mitigate the effects of ongoing outages at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).
The California Public Utilities Commission authorized two affiliated energy utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and Southern California Gas (SoCalGas), to increase their rates and charges over the four-year period 2012 to 2015. The approved increases are retroactive to 2012, with SDG&E authorized to raise its rates by $123.4 million compared to its 2012 revenue requirement, and with SoCalGas allowed to collect an additional $84.8 million in rates over 2012 levels.
Imperial Irrigation District (IID) chose Abengoa for a power transmission project that includes the upgrade of a 230kV transmission line, as well as substations in the state of California. The “Path 42” project is part of a plan to extend the power network being developed by Imperial Irrigation District in order to increase the capacity of the network and enable access to new sources of renewable energy in California.
Duke-American Transmission completed its previously announced purchase from Atlantic Power of 72 percent of the capacity of Path 15—an 84-mile, 500-kV transmission line in central California that connects the state’s northern and southern transmission grids. Pacific Gas & Electric owns 18 percent of the line's capacity through its ownership and operation of the connecting Los Banos and Gates substations. The remaining 10 percent is owned by Western Area Power Administration, which will continue to operate and maintain the line.
Why deregulation is easy and reregulation is hard.
Even with convincing evidence that deregulation has failed to deliver promised benefits, efforts to restore public oversight face tough resistance. The reasons involve policy inertia—and blind faith in free markets.
Engineers and constructors adapt to serve an industry in transition.
From gas pipelines to PV arrays, the nation’s contractors are seeing growth in utility infrastructure. Fortnightly talks with executives at engineering and construction firms to learn what kinds of projects are moving forward, where they’re located, and what lies over the horizon.
Free markets are not a fad.
Abengoa and BrightSource Energy signed an agreement to jointly develop, build, and operate what the companies say will be the world’s two largest solar power towers at a site in California. The companies expect jointly to permit and finance the 500-MW Palen Solar Electric Generating System. Abengoa will build the plants as the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor, and will lead the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the plants once online. BrightSource will provide the solar field technology and plant design.
Cupertino Electric is installing a new 230-kV transmission line to interconnect a new substation serving a 200-MW photovoltaic power plant in Imperial Valley, Calif. When complete in late 2013, the overhead line will span five miles and interconnect a new 230-kV substation on the 2,000-acre solar project site in California’s Imperial Valley.