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Catherine Morehouse

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Utility Dive: New FERC Chair Danly cancels Chatterjee electric vehicle roundtable, nixes media briefings

Posted by Catherine Morehouse on Nov 18, 2020

Utility Dive reported FERC Chairman Danly is making changes at FERC, with canceled EV roundtable and no media briefings, quoting AEE's Jeff Dennis. Read excerpts below and the full piece here.

Newly-appointed Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman James Danly is already making it clear his chairmanship, however short, will be different from that of Neil Chatterjee's.


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Topics: United In The News

Utility Dive: Election 2020: Trump's FERC may need to shift course on clean energy, though Biden's road will not be easy

Posted by Catherine Morehouse on Oct 27, 2020

Utility Dive covered the impact of the coming presidential election on FERC, quoting AEE's Jeff Dennis. Read excerpts below and the full piece here.

The rapid evolution of the power grid will require the attention of one critical agency —  the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. And observers say no matter what happens Nov. 3, the agency will have no choice but to address the industry's transition, even if it means backing away from some of its more controversial policies.

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Topics: United In The News

Utility Dive: FERC Carbon Pricing Conference Shatters Attendance Records, but Where Were the State Voices?

Posted by Catherine Morehouse on Oct 5, 2020

Utility Dive reported on the FERC carbon pricing technical conference, noting the lack of state involvement and quoting AEE's Jeff Dennis. Read excerpts below and the entire article here.

A historic nine and a half hour discussion on carbon pricing attracted at least 2,000 viewers and broke previous attendance records for a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission technical conference, according to Chairman Neil Chatterjee.

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Topics: United In The News

Utility Dive: FERC Details Carbon Pricing Conference as Groups Blast Renewables, Consumer and Women Exclusions

Posted by Catherine Morehouse on Sep 9, 2020

Utility Dive reported stakeholder concerns about FERC's agenda for Sept. 30 Carbon Pricing Technical Conference, quoting AEE's Jeff Dennis. Read excerpts below and the entire UD piece here. 

Federal regulators on Friday announced details of a much-anticipated technical conference on carbon pricing, following a request from a broad group of renewable energy, gas and power groups for the commission to look at the issue more closely, but some stakeholders expressed disappointment with the lineup, decrying a lack of representation from renewable energy and consumer advocates, as well as lack of gender diversity...

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Topics: United In The News

Utility Dive: DC Circuit Upholds Landmark FERC Storage Order, Rejecting Claims it Violates State Authority

Posted by Catherine Morehouse on Jul 13, 2020

Utility Dive covered FERC's Order 841 upheld by a federal appeals court and its impact on energy storage and wholesale markets, quoting AEE's Jeff Dennis. Read excerpts below and the entire Utility Dive piece here. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Friday that a federal storage order does not encroach on states' authority over the distribution system. A three-judge panel of the court said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's 2018 Order 841, intended to expand the ability of storage to participate in wholesale power markets, does not surpass the commission's jurisdiction with its section preventing states from broadly prohibiting energy storage's participation in those markets...

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Topics: United In The News

Utility Dive: Utilities Stay Silent on Proposal to Federalize Net Metering as States Call it a 'threat' to Solar Policy

Posted by Catherine Morehouse on Jun 4, 2020

Utility Dive covered states' growing opposition to net metering challenge, quoting several commissioners on AEE's recent Net Energy Metering and State Authority webinar. Read excerpts below and the entire UD piece here.

Opposition is growing against a proposal that would effectively allow any customer-sited generation to be subject to federal regulation, and it's unclear who outside the petitioner will support the proposal. States have decried the move as an attack on state autonomy to regulate behind-the-meter generation such as rooftop solar and storage, one that represents a "threat" to state policies they have crafted. 

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Topics: United In The News

Oklahoma Energy Today: Regulators Come Out Against Federal Net Metering Plan

Posted by Catherine Morehouse on Jun 4, 2020

OK Energy Today reported on AEE's webinar on the net metering challenge filed with FERC, quoting speakers Ted Thomas (Ark. PSC), John McCaffrey (APPA). Read excerpts below and the entire OK Energy Today piece here. 

Some regulators across the U.S. are coming out in opposition to a federal plan for net-metering, a proposal affecting solar and wind power users who can be charged by utilities. One of those regulators is the head of the Arkansas Public Service Commission, Ted Thomas. He feels the federal “one plan fits all” proposal is a “threat” to state policies. “We have project developers with hundreds of hours coming up with innovative things that address some of these issues, and [NERA wants] a one-size-fits-all federalization. That’s what’s at stake and I obviously don’t like that,” Thomas said Wednesday in a speech to an Advanced Energy Economy webinar...

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Topics: United In The News

Utility Dive: State-federal tension 'at an all time high' between MOPR, net metering attack, says head Maryland regulator

Posted by Catherine Morehouse on May 22, 2020

Utility Dive covered commissioners from New Jersey, Michigan, Maryland, and Massachusetts as they discussed FERC's MOPR order in AEE's first session of AEN|EAST ONLINE. Read excerpts below and the entire UD piece here. 

Between a controversial proposal to nationally overhaul solar net metering policy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's highly-scrutinized minimum offer price rule (MOPR), federal and state tension "is at an all time high," according to Maryland's head regulator. 

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Topics: United In The News

Utility Dive: Nearly $2T Stimulus Package Omits Direct Renewable Sector Aid after Trump, McConnell Opposition

Posted by Catherine Morehouse on Mar 26, 2020

Utility Dive covered the omission of the advanced energy sector within the $2T stimulus package that was passed by the House and Senate, referencing AEE position that shift to direct pay would be no-cost. Read excerpts below and the entire UD piece here. 

Relief for the renewable energy sector was not included in the $2 trillion support package the Senate unanimously passed on Wednesday. Despite a push from Democratic Senators and clean energy leaders to include tax credit extensions and other provisions in the package, Senate leadership chose instead to focus on healthcare and broader economic aid. But industry stakeholders say several of the broader economic provisions could provide employment and other relief to the sector, and there is still opportunity for inclusion in inevitable future federal legislation that will be needed to address the industry-wide impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Topics: United In The News

Utility Dive: PJM MOPR Compliance Plan Allays Renewable Sector Concerns of Being Shut Out of Capacity Auctions

Posted by Catherine Morehouse on Mar 19, 2020

Utility Dive covered PJM Interconnection's compliance filing with FERC proposing implementation plans for FERC's  Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) order, quoting AEEs Jeff Dennis. Read excerpts below and the entire UD piece here. 

PJM Interconnection on Wednesday issued a compliance filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that largely satisfied some of the biggest critics of the regulatory body's controversial Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) order. FERC's December order attempted to effectively raise the floor prices for state subsidized resources bidding into the wholesale market, eliciting concerns that the new rules could effectively nullify state policies attempting to increase deployment of new zero-emissions resources.

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Topics: United In The News