Arizona regulators at a Jan. 12 meeting took a step toward their stated goal of encouraging energy innovation and decarbonization in the state with the unanimous approval of an electric service contract rate schedule between a utility and a high-load-factor customer. The customer, integrated…
Colorado regulators on Jan. 11 filed their formal approval of Xcel Energy-Colorado's $110-million transportation-electrification plan that will bring around 20,000 electric-vehicle charging stations to the state and provide EV rebates for low-income customers.
New Mexico's largest utility advanced its effort to remove coal from its generation portfolio with a regulatory filing to abandon its stake in a second northwestern New Mexico coal plant.
Colorado regulators on Dec. 23 approved Xcel Energy-Colorado's $110-million transportation-electrification plan, but significantly reduced a late-addition $30-million rebate program to $5 million.
Xcel Energy-Colorado moved one step closer to a coal-free generation mix with a Jan. 4 proposal to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission for early closure of the two-unit, 441-MW coal-fired Hayden Generating Station in northwest Colorado.
Two advocacy groups on Dec. 15 filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Colorado alleging that the federal government and the U.S. Department of the Interior violated the law by failing to require a Colorado coal mine operator to conduct a thorough analysis of the mine's effects on near…
Members of the Arizona Corporation Commission on Jan. 4 bid farewell to longtime public servants, welcomed new commissioners, and bucked a tradition in electing a new chair during a special swearing-in ceremony held in multiple locations and shared via teleconference.
Renewable-energy developer Pattern Energy Group on Jan. 4 said it began construction on the first of four planned New Mexico wind farms and a 150-mile transmission line that will deliver more than 1,050 MW of clean power throughout the Southwest.
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on Jan. 6 approved extending the state's pandemic-related moratorium on utility disconnections for residential customers to coincide with public health orders. The commission also plans a Jan. 19 workshop to address the impact of the policy on smal…
Nearly 600 homes on the Navajo Nation were connected to the electric grid in 2020 thanks to coronavirus relief funding and utility line and construction crews that have worked 10-hour days—including weekends and holidays—for several months.
The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada on Dec. 22 approved an energy supply agreement between NV Energy and Google to power a Google data center entirely with renewable energy [19-12017].
Xcel Energy on Dec. 16 and 17 brought nearly 700 MW of wind energy on line in New Mexico and Colorado.
Colorado air quality regulators at a Dec. 16 meeting changed course from an earlier preliminary decision that would have closed three of the state's remaining coal-fired power plants by 2028.
Nevada's procedure for allowing large customers to exit bundled retail electric service from its sole regulated utility, NV Energy, might have exacerbated the conditions that led to the utility's calls to conserve energy on Aug. 18 and 19, according to staff at the state energy regulator.
New Mexico regulators at a Dec. 16 meeting unanimously denied El Paso Electric's request for a 228-MW expansion of the Newman Generating Station, a natural gas plant in El Paso County, Texas, that would serve ratepayers in both states.
The Arizona Corporation Commission at a Dec. 8 meeting approved a plan to alleviate ratepayer utility bill debt stemming from the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
NV Energy's general rate case application concluded on Dec. 9 with a final order from state regulators extending the earnings-sharing mechanism that resulted in a $120-million one-time bill credit to southern Nevada ratepayers in October.
Arizona's second-largest utility will take over 114 MW of capacity at the Palo Verde Generating Station when Public Service Company of New Mexico's leases expire in 2023 and 2024.
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on Dec. 2 approved power-purchase and energy storage agreements for a combined 430 MW of solar and storage resources, rounding out the replacement generation resources for Public Service Company of New Mexico's coal-fired San Juan Generating Statio…
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association will add a combined 1,850 MW of renewable generation and storage and retire its remaining Colorado coal units by 2030, if the wholesale cooperative's first electric resource plan filed Dec. 1 to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission is approved.
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association's largest member has again filed suit, this time alleging the Colorado wholesale cooperative broke state law when it admitted nonutility members as part of an effort to come under federal oversight. Separately, a Tri-State member in Nebraska …
The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada should revise its integrated resource planning process to prioritize demand-side management and include greenhouse gas emissions-reduction plans in order to meet its climate goals, according to a report published Dec. 2 by two state agencies.
Nevada regulators on Nov. 25 approved a new pricing structure for NV Energy's largest customers that will provide them with a reduced fixed energy price for a single five-year period.
San Jose and Los Angeles officials in recent weeks expanded their renewable energy resources by entering into power-purchase agreements for wind resources hundreds of miles to the east.
The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission on Nov. 20 approved preliminary rules that would accelerate the retirements of three coal-fired power plants by the end of 2028. The decision drew widespread praise from conservation groups, but the state's largest utilities and the Colorado Depart…
The first of three solar projects a French company plans to build in New Mexico is expected to be operational by mid-2022, the CEO of its U.S. subsidiary told members of the San Juan County Commission at a Nov. 10 meeting. The county, which is located at the northwest corner of the state and…
Colorado regulators criticized Xcel Energy-Colorado's plan to provide $30 million in ratepayer-backed incentives for electric-vehicle purchases, a new component of the utility's proposed 2021-2023 transportation-electrification plan. The plan is being discussed over five days of remote heari…
An Arizona regulator has asked the state's largest electric utility to work with intervenors in its pending rate case to achieve a rate decrease that she says will make the state more competitive economically.
Utah solar advocates are asking regulators to defer until January implementation of a recent decision that reduced the export rate for new solar installations by about 37 percent. The state's largest utility contends that all parties agreed on terms of the new rate's implementation years ago…
Arizona's largest utility in a Nov. 6 filing reduced its rate increase request and asked regulators to authorize more than $144 million to fund a "just transition" for communities affected by imminent coal plant closures. Beneficiaries of Arizona Public Service's Coal Community Transition fu…
The Arizona Corporation Commission on Nov. 13 voted to advance an update of the state's energy rules, which include a 100-percent carbon-free standard by 2050, to a formal rulemaking.
A renewables portfolio standard of 50 percent by 2030, which Nevada voters approved for the second time Nov. 3, is "a start" but insufficient to meet the state's legislative climate goals, according to a new report.
Attorneys for Nevada's only investor-owned utility in final comments filed to state regulators' resource-adequacy investigation reiterated that NV Energy avoided cutting power to any of its customers during an August heat wave in which wholesale power prices jumped 627 percent in a single day.
Utah regulators split the difference between a utility’s request to dramatically decrease rooftop solar export rates and environmental and solar industry advocates’ appeals to maintain or increase the rate that went into effect when Utah ended net metering in 2017.
Getting communities on board with costly wildfire mitigation strategies is a challenge in Colorado, where predictive modeling and drones are among the technologies utilities and state officials have begun employing to reduce wildfire risk.
The board of Platte River Power Authority, Colorado’s fourth-largest electricity provider, on Oct. 29 voted 7-1 to approve a new plan that would achieve a 90-percent carbon reduction by 2030, relative to 2005 levels. The 2020 integrated resource plan also adds nearly 400 MW of non-carbon gen…
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is considering two separate proposals from Reno-based Ormat Technologies that would bring an additional 88 MW of geothermal resources to Nevada.
Arizona is poised to become the next Western state with a goal of a zero-emissions power sector by midcentury. The Arizona Corporation Commission at an Oct. 28 special meeting voted to amend its staff's proposed energy rules to eliminate carbon emissions from regulated utilities by 2050, wit…
The Nevada Board of Examiners at a meeting on Oct. 13 approved a request from the state controller's office to write off $11.86 million in bad debt from eight clean-energy projects. The board, composed of Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, secretary of state and attorney general, is a governing body…
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission at a meeting Oct. 28 approved an energy-efficiency and load-management plan for Public Service Company of New Mexico that proponents say could increase customer energy savings by 50 percent compared with the previous plan.
Regulators at an Oct. 28 meeting of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission opened an investigatory proceeding into the continuing operations of the 750-MW Unit 3 of the coal-fired Comanche power plant in Pueblo. The 10-year-old unit has been nonoperational since June due to major damage to…
Colorado's regulated utilities, beginning in 2021, will need to submit a clean-energy plan with their electric resource plan filings to show their progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions below statutorily required levels.
Colorado officials say a regional transmission organization might be the most reliable and cost-effective way to achieve the state's climate goals, but that advanced transmission technologies that could be implemented immediately would deliver benefits sooner.
A Spanish energy conglomerate has made an all-cash offer for the parent company of New Mexico's largest electric utility.
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission at its weekly meeting Oct. 21 approved an order that will streamline its ability to respond to emergency orders from the state's governor.
Colorado regulators on Oct. 22 voted unanimously to dismiss complaints over exit fees filed by electric cooperatives United Power and La Plata Electric Association against Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, on the grounds that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has excl…
With no end in sight for Colorado's wildfire season, the state's rural electric cooperatives are busy repairing damage and securing equipment—all in the absence of legislation that would clarify liability or implement a statewide wildfire insurance program.
A next-generation nuclear resource is closer to becoming reality after a recent infusion of funds from the U.S. Department of Energy and the support of 32 Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems members that have committed to continue their participation in the Carbon Free Power Project, a 7…
Unprecedented market-purchase curtailments of up to 1.2 GW contributed to NV Energy's call to customers to conserve energy in August, the company said in an Oct. 21 filing to the Nevada Public Utilities Commission.
The Arizona Corporation Commission at an Oct. 14 meeting voted to increase the efficiency standard for the state's regulated utilities as part of its effort to revise Arizona's energy rules. The rules themselves, however, remain under consideration by the five-member commission, and must be …
