The Microgrid Alliance (MGA) and the Association for Demand Response & Smart Grid (ADS) joined forces, with MGA becoming part of ADS. The Microgrid Alliance was established in early 2014 to bring together companies and individuals involved in or interested in the microgrid space so that they could exchange information and expertise, and collaborate on activities.

NRG Renew, a wholly owned subsidiary of NRG Energy and SunShare, are partnering to finance and build 8.2 MW of community solar projects along the Front Range of Colorado. Once completed and online in mid-2015, this will be one of the largest operating community solar portfolios in the nation, comprised of five ground-mount sites, four in the Denver area and one in nearby Colorado Springs. The renewable electricity generated through this alliance will be available to residential, municipal and commercial subscribers spanning five counties.

Babcock & Wilcox’s Denmark-based subsidiary, Babcock & Wilcox Vølund A/S, was awarded contracts by Margam Green Energy Ltd. for more than $200 million to engineer, procure and operate a state-of-the-art biomass power plant in Margam, Wales. B&W Vølund's consortium partner, Interserve Construction Ltd., will build the plant. The plant will be designed to burn 335,000 tons of wood waste biomass annually and generate approximately 40 MW of electricity.

Florida Power & Light (FPL) plans to build substantially more solar energy capacity as part of its ongoing strategy of advancing clean energy while keeping electricity affordable for customers. Before the end of 2016, FPL intends to build three new solar PV power plants that are being designed to cost-effectively complement other major system improvements, which include the retirement of some of the company's oldest fossil fuel-burning units and the continued investment in clean, fuel-efficient, 24-hour

Siemens received an order for three SGT6-5000F gas turbines from Peru. The turbines will be used in the project Nodo Energético del Sur - Planta N° 2 Región Moquegua consisting of three simple cycle power plants. The customer is the power utility EnerSur, the contractor being Técnicas Reunidas and JJC. The commercial operation date is scheduled for March 2017. The three new plants will be installed in Ilo, which is a seaport in the Moquegua region, the southern part of Peru.

sPower, developed an agreement with Hecate Energy, a leading power developer, to develop and own/operate solar PV projects. The first joint initiative is the sale to sPower of a 162-MW portfolio comprised of three projects named Beacon 1, Beacon 3 and Beacon 4. The utility scale projects, near Mojave, Calif., in Kern County, will be designed and built by Hecate, then jointly owned and operated by sPower and Hecate. Groundbreaking is scheduled for Q3 2015, with COD from March to July 2016.

Alstom recently released its latest demand response management system (DRMS) to NV Energy to provide new, advanced functions for the utility's demand response (DR) programs. The latest version of e-terraDRBizNet provides advanced functions to interface with both proprietary and industry standards-based customer devices; this includes the likes of Cooper Power Systems, Carrier/United Technologies, and Corporate Systems Engineering for existing operational load management systems, and Building

Emera closed the sale of its 49% interest in Northeast Wind Partners II (Northeast Wind) to First Wind Holdings (First Wind) has closed. The proposed sale was announced in November 2014. Northeast Wind owns and operates 419 MW of wind generating assets located in the northeast United States. First Wind purchased Emera's interest in Northeast Wind for $223.3 million. Emera's carrying value of its 49% interest as of December 31^st, 2014, was $204.4 million.