June 6
PSE&G Launches Summer Relief Initiative
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PSE&G is implementing a Summer Relief Initiative to protect its New Jersey residential electric customers from disconnection. Further, the company is seeking approval from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to provide its customers with some relief on their summer electric bills. The Summer Relief Initiative includes a Summer Moratorium, beginning July 1, 2025, which provides utility shut-off protection to low-income and qualified individuals.
The North Carolina public power cities of High Point, Lumberton, Morganton and Washington received $10,000 each from ElectriCities of North Carolina's Downtown Revitalization Grant program, ElectriCities said on May 29. The program is designed to help North Carolina public power communities spur downtown economic development and achieve their downtown revitalization goals.
Utilities have an imperative to deliver energy safely, reliably and affordably. While these three objectives have always had a compensatory relationship, lately it feels like they exist in a zero-sum game. In an era of load growth and extreme weather, maintaining safety and reliability often creates pressure on the affordability piece of this mandate. Cost drivers vary by jurisdiction, but nationwide, distribution costs in particular are steeply on the rise, forcing rates up.
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) last week approved the second Beneficial Electrification (BE) Plan for ComEd, which plans to invest roughly $168 million over a three-year period beginning in 2026 to advance electric vehicle (EV) adoption and to reduce emissions in northern Illinois. ComEd said it will invest an additional $168 million between 2026-2028 through BE Plan 2 to help residential and non-residential customers transition to and take advantage of EVs.
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Industry News
An affordable housing complex for older adults in Sacramento, California boasts some enticing features. Residents of the earth-toned, low-rise structures can cultivate gardens, swim laps in the pool and toss bocce balls. They can stroll to visit neighbors. And now, after an electric transformation of the buildings, Foothill Farms residents can also enjoy the cleaner air that comes with ditching gas appliances.
There’s nothing quite like the Midwestern United States, is there? Deep-dish pizza and pop, sunsets on the water, extreme driving distance tolerance, Bob Seger, long goodbyes… Although I confess to some bias as a Michigander, it’s easy to understand why the states surrounding the Great Lakes and their neighbors that segue into America’s heartland are among the best places on the planet. But it’s not all Faygos and friendly conversations for Midwest utilities right now.
Total utility-scale clean energy deployments in the first quarter of this year came in nine percent shy of the record-setting first quarter of 2024, when developers commissioned 8,089 MW of wind, solar and storage capacity, the American Clean Power Association (ACP) said. ACP’s data reflects the increasingly broad geography of utility-scale solar and storage deployments.
The 79th Street corridor is one of the busiest thoroughfares on Chicago’s Southeast Side. But many of its adjacent side streets are poorly lit at night, posing hazards ranging from inconvenient to dangerous. For instance, obscured house numbers can confuse both delivery drivers and emergency responders. But block by block, things are changing, in no small part due to Light Up the Night, administered by MECRO in collaboration with the energy efficiency program of ComEd.
