LITTLE ROCK, AR -- Yesterday, the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) approved Southwest Electric Power Company’s (SWEPCO) request to provide renewable wind energy to its customers. The approval could provide up to 464 MW of power for SWEPCO customers in Louisiana and up to 268 MW for customers in Arkansas. Arkansas and Oklahoma already approved the project. The wind energy will be distributed to Arkansas and Louisiana from wind farms in Oklahoma.
A second owner of the Colstrip coal plant will pay off their outstanding debt by 2027, paving the way for an earlier closure of the largest single source of climate pollution in the American West.
Puget Sound Energy (PSE), the largest utility in Washington State, reached a proposed settlement today to pay down all of its debts on Colstrip by 2027. Initially the utility had planned to pay off the coal plant in 2045, but as coal continues to get more expensive compared to cleaner alternatives like solar, wind and energy efficiency, holding onto coal assets is getting harder to justify. The proposal is part of PSE's rate case process and still needs approval of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.
In the most recent of the six State of the State addresses scheduled throughout the week, Governor Cuomo announced to a Long Island audience today that New York is committed to building 2,400 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind power by 2030 – enough to power 1.25 million homes.
The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) voted today to formally approve the development of New York’s first ever, and the nation’s largest, offshore wind farm, located off the east end of Long Island.
Oklahoma City, Ok. -- Oklahoma Governor Fallin proposed a 0.5 cent per kilowatt hour tax on wind production and is invested on fast tracking the phasing out of tax incentives for the wind industry.