Business Wire: NRG and NRG Yield Establish New Residential Solar Partnership
NRG Energy, Inc. and NRG Yield, Inc. have formed a partnership that will invest in and hold operating portfolios of residential solar assets developed by NRG Home Solar, a subsidiary of NRG. This partnership will hold interests in an unlevered and tax-equity-financed residential solar portfolio. As part of the agreement, NRG will periodically monetize its residential leases through NRG Yield's upfront equity investment and still retain a residual economic interest in the portfolio, while also providing NRG Yield with additional cash available for distribution.
Oregonian: FBI Joins State Probe Into Tax Credits for University Solar Projects
The FBI has joined state investigators probing the award of $12 million in state tax credits to SolarCity Corp. and its investors last year after the company completed six solar arrays for the Oregon University system.
The Oregon Department of Justice launched criminal and civil investigations last month into the solar projects after The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that the projects should not have been eligible for state tax credits.
Greenwire: FERC Employees Negotiate for Industry Jobs Under Agency's Eye
Employees at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission have deep ties to the industry they regulate, according to agency documents detailing their job negotiations and stock holdings.
Ethics records throughout 2014 show agency staff seeking employment with grid operators, law firms and utilities that the agency has jurisdiction over and often meets with as it sets new orders and rules. In addition, FERC employees have held stock in or remain part of pension plans from companies that can be affected by the agency's work. Greenwire obtained the 88 ethics documents under the Freedom of Information Act.
The disclosures reflect how FERC, which oversees the interstate transmission of electricity and permitting of gas infrastructure, is regulating an industry that many of its staffers are well suited for and often courted to work in.
Bloomberg: California Utility to Make Gas From Solar for Pipeline Storage
Southern California Gas Co. has started two pilot projects that will test the feasibility of using solar energy produced when power demand is low to split hydrogen from water and store the gas in pipelines.
The projects, backed by U.S. government funding, will either ship the hydrogen for use as an automotive fuel or combine it with carbon dioxide to form methane that can be used to generate electricity when demand is stronger.
Green Car Reports: 5,600 Fiat Electric Cars to Be Checked for Software Fault
Roughly 5,600 Fiat 500e electric cars will be recalled by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to fix a potential software problem with the cars' Limp Home mode.
In a notice issued Saturday, the company said that "incompatible software between the Electric Vehicle Control Unit and the Battery Pack Control Module may cause the electric propulsion system to fully shut down."