manich@leaderherald.com
Fulton County Planning Director Scott Henze, right, discusses a solar project with the Board of Supervisors Public Works Committee Monday at the County Office Building in Johnstown. (The Leader-Herald/Michael Anich)
JOHNSTOWN A Fulton County Board of Supervisors’ committee recently heard a presentation on Nexus Renewables’ $5.6 million solar project adjacent to the Tryon Technology Park in Perth.
The committee also approved a proposed county subscription related to the project, which isn’t expected to be done until next year.
County Planning Director Scott Henze updated the panel on the project at the County Office Building.
“This is a community solar project,” he told supervisors.
manich@leaderherald.com
JOHNSTOWN The Fulton County Industrial Development Agency board recently reviewed a 2020 Payment In Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT report.
“Each year, we monitor the PILOTs,” said IDA Executive Director James Mraz. “We have to make sure the companies are making the payments we require them to make.”
The agency board monitors all PILOT agreements it has on projects to verify that PILOT payments are being made per the agreements. Each year, the IDA sends a letter to every company it has a PILOT with asking that they fill out a PILOT report. The IDA also sends a similar letter to all local taxing jurisdictions impacted by an IDA PILOT. The information from local taxing jurisdictions is used to compare against the information received from companies.
2020 forced most people into a more distributed and virtual way of life. But a segment of the grid edge industry has been trying to achieve that for years, installing controllable devices at homes and businesses that can work together to help the grid.
This concept goes by various names virtual power plants, flexible loads, behind-the-meter networks and encompasses tools like rooftop solar, batteries, smart thermostats, smart appliances and electric vehicle chargers. Though small individually, distributed energy resources are projected to grow to 387 gigawatts in the next five years, according to research by Wood Mackenzie.
Aggregated resources are still far from full integration into the workings of the grid. But virtual power plants hit several milestones this year and pushed their deal count higher than ever before.
New Projects Totaling 387 Megawatts of Capacity to Come Online by August 2023
SAN FRANCISCO (BUSINESS WIRE) Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has requested California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approval of six additional battery energy storage projects totaling 387 megawatts (MW) of capacity, intended to further integrate clean energy from renewable generation sources while helping to ensure future reliability of the electric system.
The six project agreements complete PG&E’s procurement requirements outlined in a November 2019 CPUC decision that identified potential electric system reliability issues beginning in summer of 2021. In that decision, the CPUC authorized PG&E to procure at least 716.9 MW of system reliability resources to come online between August 1, 2021 and August 1, 2023.
Pacific Gas & Electric is asking state regulators to approve another massive round of energy storage procurements, including its first large-scale contract for behind-the-meter batteries to serve grid needs.
The six projects announced Wednesday add up to 387 megawatts and 1,548 megawatt-hours of energy storage, including two utility-scale solar-storage systems in Southern California and three standalone battery installations across the state.
But the 27-megawatt/108-megawatt-hour behind-the-meter battery project represents a departure from PG&E’s current roster of utility-scale storage contracts. The 15-year agreement calls for Nexus Renewables Inc., a portfolio company of Ontario, Canada-based Nexus Energy, to deploy a fleet of batteries at multiple sites in PG&E service territory and provide them for grid services starting in August 2022.