Since Massachusetts established their interconnection standards for distributed generation projects in February 2004, 105 projects have been approved and about 40 others are under review.
PORTLAND, ME [June 28, 2005]—Hundreds of Maine workers employed by Wal-Mart are enrolled in the state’s public assistance programs, including Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, according to data released by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Continue reading
A new analysis from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance concludes that the Minnesota 1994 biomass mandate, rather than jump-starting a new industry using new energy crops, has become little more than a very costly waste-to-energy program.
Under a new law, utilities in Nevada will now be able to count electricity savings from energy conservation programs as meeting the state’s renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS).
More than 40 percent of the towns surveyed for a new report by the London-based New Economics Foundation are so overrun by chain stores that they have lost their local identity and become little more than "clone towns." Continue reading
Preferring the term “gas-optional” vehicles rather than plug-in electric hybrids, Austin Energy has adopted a strategy to diversify and grow its electric utility operations and hopes to convince cities nationwide to follow their lead.
Roger Duncan at Austin Energy is traveling the country promoting the idea that the time is ripe for a convergence of municipally owned electrical operations with the transportation sector. The fit becomes natural through the increased use of gas-optional vehicles (GOVs).
Grassroots groups that form to fight big-box development proposals often dissolve after winning or losing on that particular project. But a citizens group in Charlevoix, Michigan, called This is Our Town, kept on working. Now, one year after successfully pressuring Wal-Mart to drop plans for a supercenter, the group is celebrating new zoning rules that will limit future big-box development. Continue reading
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has adopted standard rules for interconnecting distributed generation (DG) projects of 20 MW or less with the electricity grid. These new rules will operate alongside FERC’s previously issued rules that govern interconnections of DG projects larger than 20 MW. FERC also has an ongoing proceeding that is developing special rules for interconnecting wind energy projects with the grid [see FERC's Generation Interconnection web site].
Two proposals unanimously passed by the legislature and signed into law earlier this month by Washington’s Governor, Christine Gregoire, should put distributed generation and renewable energy on the fast track in the state. The first bill (SB 5101) establishes a renewable energy production incentive that is larger if the equipment comes from in-state manufacturers. The second bill (SB 5111) provides corporate tax breaks for solar energy businesses in the state based on their sales.
On May 10th, Minnesota’s Governor signed a bill into law that could result in a requirement that the state’s gasoline supplies contain 20 percent ethanol (E-20). If the rules go into effect, it would double the current 10 percent ethanol blends that are now standard throughout the state.
Under the legislation, a new E-20 mandate would take effect in 2013 unless ethanol has already replaced 20 percent of the state’s motor vehicle fuel by 2010. The rule would expire at the end of 2010 if Minnesota is not granted federal approval to use E-20 gasoline blends.
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