QUICK NEWS, July 22: IT’S RENEWABLES AND NATURAL GAS NOW; CA REGULATORS SAY PUT WIRES UNDERGROUND; TX REGULATORS WAIT FOR NEW ENERGY

IT’S RENEWABLES AND NATURAL GAS NOW Renewables Outpace Coal, Oil And Nuclear In The U.S. During First Half Of Year

July 19, 2013 (Renew Grid)

“Renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, biomass, hydro and geothermal, accounted for 24.93% of all new U.S. electrical generating capacity installed in the first six months of this year for a total of 2,144 MW, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) latest Energy Infrastructure Update report…[R]enewables provided more new generating capacity than did coal (1,579 MW - 18.36%), oil (26 MW - 0.30%) and nuclear power (0 MW - 0.00%) combined. However, natural gas dominated the first half of 2013 with 4,852 MW of new capacity (56.41%)…Among renewable energy sources, solar led the way…followed by wind…” click here for more

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CA REGULATORS SAY PUT WIRES UNDERGROUND Portion Of The Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project Going Underground

July 15, 2013 (North American Windpower)

“The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has granted a request from the City of Chino Hills to put underground a segment of Southern California Edison's Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project (TRTP)…The CPUC agreed with the City's assertion that the design of the above-ground line "ignores community values and places an unfair and unreasonable burden on residents."…Currently, the 3.5-mile segment of the 500 kV transmission line running through Chino Hills consists of massive transmission towers reaching nearly 200 feet tall and set in a narrow 150-foot right of way. The CPUC's decision…finds that it is in the public interest to construct an underground alternative…It will cost approximately $224 million…” click here for more

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TX REGULATORS WAIT FOR NEW ENERGY ERCOT delays vote on target; Chairman sees ‘some validity’ in concerns on electricity reserves. Laylan Copelin, July 16, 2013 (Austin American-Statesman)   Reacting to objections from industrial customers and others, [the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) the managers of the state’s primary electricity grid…postponed a vote on whether to increase the target for electricity reserves….The issue pits two cogs of the state’s robust economy against one another: Generators who say they are losing money and manufacturers who say capacity payments amount to a subsidy that would cost consumers billions of dollars…ERCOT is already below its current reserves target of 13.75 percent, but it is considering raising the target to 16.1 percent above the projected peak demand for electricity. The Texas Industrial Energy Consumers suggested a 15 percent target… click here for more

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