Renewables, storage and energy efficiency may get a stronger foothold in Mississippi after utility regulators last week took an unprecedented move to create a formal long-term energy planning process for the electric companies they regulate.
Nevada lawmakers on May 23 passed legislation to modernize how electric utility rates are set, directing the Public Utilities Commission to develop regulations enabling a performance-based regime.
Nevada joined a growing number of states that are increasing their mandated renewables generation targets and aiming for more ambitious long term goals.
A proposal making its way through the Iowa legislature would impose new monthly fees on homes and businesses that own solar power systems, adding years to the payoff period before customers' utility-bill savings would cover the cost of adding solar.
The Green New Deal that some Democrats are now championing is unlike anything this country has ever done before. But scientists have been studying policies like these for decades. And their research can tell us a bit about what might happen if we pass this sweeping new vision for climate action and economic equality.
Though still an industrial metropolis, Chicago is actively becoming a clean energy innovation hub for microgrids, electric cars and next generation battery research. But the startup momentum in the energy sector isn’t matched with enough venture capital enthusiasm.
The Green New Deal means different things to different people. In some ways, that’s part of its appeal. On the other hand, a Green New Deal can’t mean anything anyone wants it to, or it will come to mean nothing at all.
The promise of a Green New Deal has become a galvanizing force in United States politics, inspiring climate activists and building much-needed pressure behind a sweeping federal climate plan.
