Generation


  • Rear aerial view of of a data center being constructed in Ashburn, VA
    Image attribution tooltip
    Gerville via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Utilities should develop data center tariffs to protect consumers, decarbonize: SWEEP

    Rising data center electricity demands threaten utility decarbonization efforts, potentially requiring fossil fuel generation and pulling renewables away from other electrification efforts, per a Southwest Energy Efficiency Project report.

    By March 28, 2025
  • A forest fire burns under a high voltage transmission line in California.
    Image attribution tooltip
    My Photo Buddy via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Moody’s upgrades PG&E on reduced credit risks from wildfires

    “In the backdrop of the recent LA wildfires, we expect any legislative and regulatory actions resulting from the state's continued wildfire risk will remain supportive for utilities,” Moody's said.

    By March 28, 2025
  • High voltage transformers in an electrical substation.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Алексей Кравчук via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    Outsmarting outages: AI predicts disruptions before they happen

    As the energy landscape evolves with renewable resources and electric vehicles, the predictive outage model equips utilities with the agility needed to prioritize maintenance based on real-time data.

    By Michael Juchno and Zaki Arifulla • March 27, 2025
  • Energy thermal power station roof plant with white smoke cloud.
    Image attribution tooltip
    photovs via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    PJM fast-track interconnection process draws 26.6 GW in proposals

    LS Power offered 700 MW and AlphaGen proposed 450 MW in the grid operator’s Reliability Resource Initiative, the companies said.

    By March 27, 2025
  • Oklo Aurora Powerhouse reactor
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by Oklo
    Image attribution tooltip

    Oklo reveals 75-MW reactor design, eyes late 2027 commercial deployment

    A partnership with gas-fired “prime power” provider RPower will support “urgent” short-term needs for the advanced nuclear company’s data center customers, Oklo said Monday.

    By Brian Martucci • March 26, 2025
  • Power line towers crossing a scrubby field.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Cavan Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Deep Dive

    Trump executive order threatens transmission, interconnection initiatives: former FERC commissioners

    President Trump’s executive order compromises FERC’s independence, is “unhealthy, unwarranted, and unprecedented,” threatens power system reliability and is “plainly illegal,” the former commissioners say.

    By March 26, 2025
  • Two cooling towers at Constellation Energy's 2,300-MW Limerick nuclear power plant in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
    Image attribution tooltip
    aimintang via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Ratepayer advocates urge FERC to reject proposed Constellation-Calpine deal

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should require measures to prevent Constellation from exercising market power if the deal goes forward, PJM's market monitor said.

    By March 26, 2025
  • A worker watches as flared natural gas is burned off at Apache Corporations operations at the Deadwood natural gas plant in the Permian Basin in Texas.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Texas Senate passes bill to establish ‘dispatchable’ power credits trading program

    The scheme would incentivize new gas and other “dispatchable” generation at the expense of renewables and batteries, which constitute the vast majority of recent capacity additions in ERCOT.

    By Brian Martucci • March 24, 2025
  • FERC headquarters
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by Esme Howland
    Image attribution tooltip

    FERC approves SPP’s RTO West, plus 4 other open meeting takeaways

    The White House has not directed the commission to bolster coal-fired generation, and the agency is eyeing reorganization possibilities, Chairman Mark Christie said Thursday.

    By March 21, 2025
  • Two electric utility workers in a cherry picker prepare to work on the wires of a power pole.
    Image attribution tooltip
    RiverNorthPhotography via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    Labor-industry collaboration is key to US energy security, dominance and job growth

    The power grid requires a workforce equipped to design, install and maintain a system that integrates increased energy production, new energy sources, smart grid technologies and energy storage.

    By Calvin Butler and Kenneth Cooper • March 20, 2025
  • MISO control room
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by Midcontinent Independent System Operator
    Image attribution tooltip

    MISO proposes framework to speed generation interconnection

    But the Clean Grid Alliance said the proposed Expedited Resource Addition Study process “overcomplicates an already complex system.”

    By March 20, 2025
  • LPO shows signs of life with $56.8M Palisades disbursement

    The disbursement under a $1.5 billion Biden-era loan guarantee restart the nuclear power facility furthers the Trump administration’s goal of promoting “affordable, reliable and secure” energy, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.

    By Brian Martucci • March 19, 2025
  • Nuclear power plant and transmission lines
    Image attribution tooltip
    zhongguo via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Industry groups, utilities encourage more ‘efficient’ Part 53 changes

    The Nuclear Energy Institute and other organizations weighed in last month on the latest version of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s technology-neutral Part 53 licensing pathway. 

    By Brian Martucci • March 18, 2025
  • A nuclear power plant with steam billowing from two cooling towers.
    Image attribution tooltip
    The image by Christopher Peterson is licensed under CC BY 2.0
    Image attribution tooltip

    PJM’s capacity ‘price collar’ proposal sparks market confidence concerns

    North Carolina regulators and others urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject the plan, partly because of its proposed price floor.

    By March 18, 2025
  • Electric power lines cross a scrubby desert with a mesa in the background.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Vitaly Edush via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Southwest Power Pool could need $263B generation investment by 2050: Brattle

    The Southwestern grid operator could need up to to 48 GW of new wind generation, 130 GW of solar and 59 GW of battery storage in the next quarter century.

    By March 18, 2025
  • Electric power lines cross a body of water.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Ed Williams via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    FERC reaffirms approval of Southeastern SEEM market

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected arguments made by Advanced Energy United, the Clean Energy Buyers Association and others that the market unfairly limits market access.

    By March 17, 2025
  • Unit 1 reactor containment and a steam turbine building at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station in Jenkinsville, South Carolina.
    Image attribution tooltip
    The image by DJSlawSlaw is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
    Image attribution tooltip
    Deep Dive

    Santee Cooper wants to sell its unfinished reactors. What happens next?

    Completing V.C. Summer Units 2 and 3 could spark a “nuclear renaissance,” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster says, but questions remain on the project’s scope, timeline and cost.

    By Brian Martucci • March 17, 2025
  • Nuclear power plant and transmission lines
    Image attribution tooltip
    zhongguo via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Some SMRs could bypass environmental review step under Arizona bill

    Utilities building SMRs in rural Arizona could skip a review step if the units are colocated with certain large industrial loads or built at power plants that previously received environmental certification.

    By Brian Martucci • March 14, 2025
  • EPA to end environmental justice programs, monitoring tools

    As part of the Trump administration’s end to environmental justice programs, the waste industry no longer has access to EJScreen, a monitoring tool used to track environmental justice metrics near facilities. 

    By Megan Quinn • March 13, 2025
  • A power plant with stacks of coal sits at a bend in a river.
    Image attribution tooltip
    halbergman via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    EPA aims to roll back power sector regulations in broad deregulatory push

    It would likely take several years — potentially into the next presidency — to revise at least some of the targeted regulations, according to analysts.

    By March 13, 2025
  • A man stands on a cart in an corridor between computer servers.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Google
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    Growing demand for electricity requires new policy solutions

    We need forward-thinking policies that allow public power utilities to finance and build critical infrastructure projects faster without raising costs for the communities they serve.

    By Tom Falcone • March 12, 2025
  • A gas-fired power plant with smokestacks overlooks a road.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Albert Pego via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Ontario suspends tariff on electricity exports to US

    The tariff spat may signal the Trump administration’s willingness to pursue “muscular interventions” to reopen coal-fired power plants, ClearView Energy Partners said.

    By March 12, 2025
  • Electric power lines cross a snow-covered field.
    Image attribution tooltip
    JPDworld via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Ontario imposes 25% tariff on power exports to US

    The Canadian province on Monday adopted a US$7/MWh fee on exports to Michigan, Minnesota and New York, which it expects will generate about $243,000 a day in U.S. dollars.

    By March 11, 2025
  • FirstEnergy's 1,100-MW coal-fired Fort Martin power plant in Maidsville, West Virginia, along the Monongahela River.
    Image attribution tooltip
    BackyardProduction via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    Proposed FERC price cap settlement will intensify looming electric capacity crisis

    Artificially deflating PJM's capacity prices by lowering the price cap does nothing to fix the grid operator’s power-supply problems and could lead to blackouts.

    By Anthony “Tony” Campbell • March 10, 2025
  • Aerial view of an Amazon data center in Oregon
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Amazon
    Image attribution tooltip

    Utilities may subsidize data center growth by shifting costs to other ratepayers: Harvard Law paper

    “The public faces significant risks that utilities will … profit from new data centers by making major investments and then shifting costs to their captive ratepayers,” the report’s authors said.

    By March 10, 2025