Incorporating solar generation in commercial building materials may finally become a mainstream practice, with both solar windows and solar panels used to create net-zero buildings. Evolving regulations in leading jurisdictions like California and Germany are driving the building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) with adoption deadlines as early as next year.
California’s investor-owned utilities are preparing to spend up to $100 million this year bringing solar to low income buildings, with an expected launch of the Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) program this spring or summer, says Somah Program Administrator Chris Walker.
Charging an electric truck or bus at a fleet depot—or an electric car at an apartment, workplace, or a public fast-charging station—should be far cheaper than filling up on gasoline or diesel. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case at sites that receive electricity under utility rates designed for commercial buildings and industrial operations that don’t reflect the flexible nature of electric vehicle (EV) charging. To remedy this mismatch, Southern California Edison (SCE) and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), two of the largest utilities in the nation, have developed an innovative suite of rates designed specifically for commercial EV charging, providing significant fuel cost savings to customers who charge EVs in a manner that supports the electric grid.
Central California electric utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is planning to replace three aging natural gas power plants in its network with stationary energy storage installations from Tesla.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has kicked off a new initiative geared at adding solar to multifamily housing. The Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing (SOMAH) Program will be administered by a coalition of established clean energy and affordable housing organizations in the state with $100 million annually for the first 10 years, provided by CPUC.
The California DMV has new rules allowing for self-driving vehicle testing on state roads even without the presence of “safety drivers” (as of this week). The California Public Utilities Commission has itself now issued a proposal that builds on those rules and further clears a path for commercialization.
Southern California electricity provider NRG Energy announced that it will retire three natural gas-fired power plants across Southern California over the next 10 months. The announcement comes as California residents ramp up opposition to fossil fuel fired power plants as the state continues to make progress toward its bold renewable energy generation goals.
A new report from the California Public Utilities Commission has concluded that the state’s major utilities have already met or will all soon exceed the state’s 2020 renewable energy target of 33%, and will likely meet the 2030 target of 50% by 2020.
Originally published on ilsr.org. In 2014, Chris Villarreal helped write the white paper, Microgrids: A Regulatory Perspective. As a regulatory analyst with the California Public Utilities Commission, he outlined the regulatory questions of microgrid development at a time when the state was mulling over how to allow more distributed, renewable energy … [continued]
The recent, massive Aliso Canyon natural gas leak led directly to the shutdown of the regionally important facility. In order to deal with the energy shortfall accompanying that shutdown (and stave off potential blackouts next summer), the state is reportedly pursuing a number of different strategies — including an energy … [continued]
