The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada at its meeting Dec. 4 approved power-purchase agreements for three new solar facilities that will add 1,190 MW of solar capacity and 590 MW of associated storage to NV Energy’s portfolio [19-06039]. The utility plans to bring the resources on line by…
As solar energy on the Arizona grid increases, the state's largest utility is working with the U.S. Department of Energy and national laboratories to bring down the cost of operating its baseload generation, the nuclear-powered Palo Verde Generating Station.
IKAV, a Hamburg, Germany-based renewable-energy company, confirmed in an email that it recently purchased BP's oil and natural gas assets in the San Juan Basin of southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico. BP has been the largest operator in the Colorado portion of the San Juan Basin, on…
The Arizona Corporation Commission could settle an old score at its upcoming meeting as it decides whether to revise the state's policy regarding the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act by standardizing contract terms between utilities and PURPA qualifying facilities.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak on Nov. 22 moved forward with the state's goals to decarbonize its economy and reduce emissions by expanding and accelerating Nevada's climate ambitions.
The 2,250-MW, coal-fired Navajo Generating Station officially powered down Nov. 18, just days after operator Salt River Project revealed investments in two large solar-plus-storage facilities, one of which will be Arizona's largest.
S&P Global Ratings on Nov. 14 downgraded Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association's long-term credit rating from A to A- and lowered the association's short-term rating from A1 to A2, according to a release on the S&P Global website.
Dallas, Texas-based GridLiance, an independent transmission utility that operates more than 600 miles of transmission lines and substation facilities in Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas, marked its foray into Western energy projects with the opening of the Sloan Canyon Switching Station in Boul…
Both sides have promised to return to court if a ruling from the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission regarding whether the state's Energy Transition Act should apply to the abandonment, financing and replacement resources for the San Juan Generating Station doesn't go their way [19-00018…
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer on Nov. 12 made clear that the nation would not back bonds that allow the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. to operate recently purchased coal mines in Wyoming and Montana.
NV Energy has hired former Fire Marshal Mark Regan as the company's first-ever fire mitigation specialist. Regan will work as part of a team at Nevada's largest investor-owned utility to implement a natural disaster protection plan as required by Nevada's SB 329, signed into law by Gov. Stev…
Two Colorado electric cooperatives filed complaints this week at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission seeking regulatory intervention in their efforts to obtain acceptable exit charges from their wholesale power supplier, Westminster, Colorado-based Tri-State Generation and Transmission …
Montana's Spring Creek Mine resumed operation following an Oct. 25 agreement between Navajo Transitional Energy Co. and Montana's Department of Environmental Quality that allows NTEC to operate the mine under an interim waiver of sovereign immunity for 75 days.
The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada at its meeting Oct. 30 approved a 180-MW southern Nevada solar project in the works for seven years and a 149-MW solar project in the central part of the state. The commission extended schedules and pulled other projects from the agenda to be conside…
Arizona Public Service on Oct. 31 filed to the Arizona Corporation Commission a rate case seeking to raise customer rates by 5.6 percent to cover a $184-million revenue deficiency. The request includes a 2.2-percent hike for federally mandated improvements at the Four Corners Generating Stat…
The Navajo Nation Council at its fall session Oct. 21-23 in Window Rock, Arizona, approved legislation to boost the debt ceiling of the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, and tabled other bills likely to shape energy policy on the Navajo Nation.
A Colorado legislative committee drafted a bill that would direct state regulators to explore the potential effects of community choice energy programs, also known as community choice aggregation, in the state. CCE programs allow local governments to procure power on behalf of ratepayers in …
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission at an Oct. 15 public hearing explored options for regulating resource planning for Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the state's wholesale power supplier serving 43 rural distribution cooperatives in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and …
Arizona utilities reported millions of dollars in overdue customer bills linked to a summer moratorium on residential disconnections that ended Oct. 15 [E-00000A-19-0128 and RU-00000A-19-0132].
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association of Colorado will revise and resubmit its July rate and tariff filings to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission "as quickly and expeditiously as possible," a company spokesman said [ER19- 2440, -2441, -2442, -2443, -2444, -2470 and -2474].
A global solar-development company that received a $737-million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2011 and $4 million in subsequent awards is now suing DOE and its own subsidiary for interfering with its "right to participate in the management" of Tonopah Solar Energy, the…
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Oct. 3 denied without comment a petition filed by Public Service Company of New Mexico that had asked the court to make clear that the state's newly passed Energy Transition Act applies to its application for abandonment, financing and replacement resources fo…
The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission at its Oct. 2 meeting unanimously approved Public Service Company of New Mexico's purchase of the 140-mile, 345-kV-capacity Western Spirit transmission line from Pattern Development and the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority. The de…
Regulators and stakeholders discussed permanent rules limiting utility disconnections for nonpayment during extreme weather at a special meeting of the Arizona Corporation Commission Sept. 30.
Three Arizona cities have adopted fire codes with specific provisions for battery energy storage systems at both residential and commercial sites following a fire and explosion at an Arizona Public Service battery facility in April that remains under investigation.
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association will have to wait until early November for its status as a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-jurisdictional public utility to become official.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission on Sept. 18 joined four other Western utility commissions in signing a memorandum of understanding that addresses climate change through cooperation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Arizona Corporation Commission voted against reinstating restrictions on new natural gas projects in the state after considering amendments to its previous "moratorium" Sept. 19 at a special open meeting focused on resource planning and procurement. Representatives from the regulated Ari…
Unit 1 of the largest coal plant in the western U.S. has ceased to hum. The 2,250-MW Navajo Generating Station in Page, Arizona, shut down the first of its three 750-MW units Sept. 20.
The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada at a special session Sept. 18 voted to open an investigation and rulemaking docket to consider increasing safety regulations for gas utilities that would involve annual leak-detection surveys of all distribution pipelines [Docket Nos. 19-08021 and 19…
A federal Bureau of Land Management geothermal lease sale in Nevada on Sept. 17 attracted more than three times as many bidders as a similar auction held last year. The auction was the largest, by acreage, of any geothermal lease sale BLM has ever held, according to a news release.
The U.S. Department of Energy on Sept. 13 awarded $55.4 million in federal funding for cost-shared research and development to nine projects that will receive grants for front-end engineering design, or FEED, studies of carbon-capture systems across the country.
The 100-MW Nucla Station coal-fired power plant in Colorado closed Sept. 19, just two months after Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association announced its retirement by early 2020 to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's implementation plan for regional haze visibility.
The Southwest Power Pool on Sept. 9 announced commitments by three regional utilities to join its Western Energy Imbalance Service Market as charter participants.
The Arizona Corporation Commission will not reinstate its moratorium on new natural gas-fired generation facilities—yet. At its monthly meeting Sept. 10, the commission opted to consider the moratorium, which expired Aug. 1, during a special open meeting to be held in conjunction with a Sept…
New Mexico and Colorado are pursuing and updating methane rules for their states as the Trump administration rolls back federal regulations adopted in 2012 and 2016 (see CEM No. 1554 [19]).
Executives for Arizona Public Service offered their perspectives on company policies regarding disconnection for nonpayment at a special open meeting of the Arizona Corporation Commission on Sept. 4. APS disconnection policies are being eyed as playing a role in the September 2018 death of a…
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association of Westminster, Colorado, on Sept. 3 announced the identity of the new member that will bring the wholesale power provider under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission jurisdiction for the first time in its history. In a filing to FERC, Tri-Sta…
New Mexico's newest wind farm, the 220-MW Grady Wind Facility in Curry County, began operation Sept. 4 according to a press release from San Francisco-based Pattern Development, an affiliate of Pattern Energy, which is likely to acquire the facility. Grady completes a 544-MW suite of New Mex…
An environmental and consumer advocacy organization on Aug. 26 filed suit at the New Mexico Supreme Court challenging "unconstitutional provisions" of the state's flagship Energy Transition Act, signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham March 22 [S-1-SC-37875]. The law includes a mandate for 100…
Colorado and New Mexico regulators filed protests at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding Westminster, Colorado-based Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association's recent application to come under FERC jurisdiction.
The City of Farmington, New Mexico, on Aug. 16 signed an agreement with Enchant Energy to transfer a 95-percent ownership interest in the 847-MW San Juan Generating Station to Enchant when the plant's remaining owners exit in 2022.
Don Brandt, CEO of Arizona Public Service, the state's largest utility, will retire this fall as the company he leads comes under increasing regulatory scrutiny.
Colorado is implementing a new zero-emission vehicle standard aimed at bringing ZEV sales in the state to more than 5 percent of the total sold by 2023, which increases in 2025.
Navajo Nation leaders and other tribal delegates made clear to the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission that they are anxious for a decision on whether regulators will apply the state's newly passed Energy Transition Act to Public Service Company of New Mexico's abandonment of the San Jua…
Tucson Electric Power will replace coal-burning units with new natural gas generators as it brings 446 MW of renewable resources and a 30-MW battery to its system in 2020.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she intends to work with legislators to reform the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission prior to next year’s legislative session.
The Arizona Corporation Commission at its Aug. 6 meeting approved changes to regulated utilities’ disconnection policies, flowing from the commission’s June 20 decision that adopted emergency rules to prevent shut-offs for nonpayment during the hottest months of this year.
The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada on Aug. 1 approved an agreement among its regulatory operations staff, NV Energy and the state Bureau of Consumer Protection that will result in a $21.9-million rate decrease for northern Nevada residential electric customers and a $15.7-million rate…
NV Energy filed a complaint seeking slightly more than $45 million in damages and demanding a jury trial with the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada against a bushings manufacturer with operations in France and Canada.
