Cape Wind developers call it quits

Project opponents are celebrating after more than 15 years of fighting the 468 MW offshore wind proposal.

By Robert Walton • Dec. 4, 2017

Report: Delays on Summer nuke expansion timeline raised costs, 2nd study says

Media outlet The State revealed a report, conducted in 2016 by Fluor Corp., that said Summer's construction timeline was too ambitious.

By Robert Walton • Dec. 4, 2017

Disruptor of the Year: Westinghouse Electric Co.

As the primary contractor for two prominent nuclear construction projects, Westinghouse's bankruptcy caused the demise of one nuclear project and may have doomed new nuclear builds in the U.S. for the foreseeable future.

By Krysti Shallenberger • Dec. 4, 2017

Mississippi Power reaches settlement over Kemper costs

The settlement with the Public Utilities Commission staff ensures customers will not see a rate increase related to the failed Kemper integrated gasification combined-cycle project.

By Robert Walton • Dec. 4, 2017

Senate passes tax bill, teeing up mad lobbying rush in conference committee

Clean energy interests will push for removal of the Base Erosion Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) provision, while coal and nuclear lobbyists are reportedly planning a push to secure billions in tax credits for at-risk plants.

By Gavin Bade • Dec. 4, 2017

DOE NOPR costs would reach $263B, cause 27,000 premature deaths, study finds

Preventing the retirement of just nuclear capacity, instead of nuclear and coal, is the only simulated variation that Resources for the Future found to produce overall net benefits.

By Robert Walton • Dec. 4, 2017

Chatterjee blames national environmental groups for delaying pipeline approvals

Concerns over climate change have given rise to a "national keep-it-in-the-ground movement resisting any natural gas project as a matter of principle," Chatterjee said in a speech before gas executives Thursday.

By Gavin Bade • Dec. 1, 2017

FERC approves Millennium pipeline expansion in New York

The Eastern System Upgrade Project in Orange, Sullivan, Delaware and Rockland counties, N.Y., will provide up to 223,000 dekatherms/day of firm transportation service.

By Robert Walton • Dec. 1, 2017

Younicos to provide first battery linked to floating wind farm

The 1.3 MWh storage device will be connected to the Hywind project off the coast of Scotland and is expected to be operational in the second quarter of 2018.

By Robert Walton • Dec. 1, 2017

A tale of 2 states: Massachusetts and California provide different lessons on growing community solar

The Golden State has no privately developed community solar while the Bay State has the second most in the U.S. — why?

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 30, 2017

West's largest coal plant to stay open through 2019 with new approval

Arizona utility Salt River Project announced Wednesday it secured approval to keep the 2,250 MW Navajo Generating Station open for more than a year. 

By Gavin Bade • Nov. 30, 2017

California stakeholders push for community settlement, clean energy in Diablo Canyon oral hearing

At least 21 different organizations and municipalities testified in the final oral arguments on Tuesday. A final decision is expected by Dec. 14. 

By Krysti Shallenberger • Nov. 30, 2017

Senate committee advances controversial EPA, White House CEQ nominees

Andrew Wheeler, nominated for the No. 2 slot at EPA, was present for the crafting of the DOE NOPR as a Murray Energy lobbyist. Kathleen Hartnett White has compared a belief in climate change to paganism.

By Gavin Bade • Nov. 30, 2017

Amid criticism, Chatterjee claims 'no politicizing' in interim NOPR fix

The acting FERC chairman said his decision to float a plant subsidy plan with the press before presenting it to colleagues was "in no way trying to preempt" normal rulemaking procedures.

By Gavin Bade • Nov. 29, 2017

Familiar battle lines drawn in first day of EPA's single hearing on Clean Power Plan repeal

Coal barons, environmentalists and coal miners showed up at the agency's two-day hearing on the Clean Power Plan repeal in the heart of coal country. 

By Peter Maloney • Nov. 29, 2017

SoCal reliability assessment raises prospects of winter gas curtailments

The loss of three gas pipelines and reduced capacity at the Aliso Canyon storage facility means customers in southern California will be asked to reduce their usage by even more than last year.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 29, 2017

We Energies to shut Pleasant Prairie coal plant, increase renewables

According to the Sierra Club, it is the 266th coal-fired power plant in the United States to close down. The utility cited economic pressure from lower cost gas-fired power.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 29, 2017

Updated: Glick sworn in at FERC; McIntyre arrival remains uncertain

It's taken more than three weeks for the FERC regulators to take their seats, but Acting Chairman Neil Chatterjee said there are no "Machiavellian games" in the works to see him retain the gavel.  

By Gavin Bade • Nov. 28, 2017

Top energy storage projects driving the sector in 2017

From transmission deferral to hybrid generation, 2017 has seen a number of notable projects done by or for regulated utilities.

By Peter Maloney • Nov. 28, 2017

Gas rush: FERC's pipeline approvals underline persisting controversy over permitting

The federal agency has approved 8 Bcf/d of pipeline capacity in recent months, resisting calls to expand its evaluation procedures.

By Gavin Bade • Nov. 28, 2017

Updated: New audit shows utilities knew of schedule problems at V.C. Summer nuclear expansion

A 2015 draft audit of the project showed utilities would have missed a 2020 deadline to qualify for $2 billion in federal tax credits, but that information was scrubbed in the final 2016 report. 

By Peter Maloney • Nov. 28, 2017

TVA audit reveals Bechtel overcharged by $7M for Watts Bar Unit 2 work

The allegedly excessive costs focused mainly on labor and material handling expenses in constructing the reactor, which began operation last year as the first new nuclear unit in the U.S. in two decades. 

By Robert Walton • Nov. 28, 2017

Whitefish Energy resumes work in Puerto Rico after 'good faith' payment

The Montana company had ceased work to repair the island's electric grid over an unpaid $83 million bill for work that was completed in October.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 27, 2017

NRC preparing new rules for nuclear decommissioning

The agency intends to update requirements next year, as increasing numbers of plants are under financial pressure from cheaper gas generation.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 27, 2017

Dynegy strikes deal to sell Brayton Point, once New England's largest coal plant

Buyer Commercial Development Co. tells Utility Dive it wants to turn the site into an industrial port and hub for offshore wind power. 

By Peter Maloney • Nov. 22, 2017