Most of US faces elevated risk of blackouts in extreme heat this summer, NERC warns

All areas are expected to have adequate resources for normal summer peak load, but extreme weather could create widespread challenges, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said May 17.

By Robert Walton • May 17, 2023

Bipartisan Senate bill aims to preserve hydropower fleet, spur gigawatts of pumped storage

“We're optimistic that this can get through Congress this year, which is important because we do have that growing risk of license surrenders looming on the horizon,” Malcolm Woolf, National Hydropower Association CEO, said.

By Ethan Howland • May 17, 2023

Elliott Management urges leadership, operational changes at NRG after ‘meaningful underperformance’

The activist investment company projects that the changes it’s recommending to NRG Energy could create $5 billion in shareholder value.

By Diana DiGangi • May 16, 2023

NERC urges power plant, transmission owners to prepare for winter in highest-level alert ever issued

The “essential actions” alert issued Monday follows several winters when power plants failed to run in cold weather, hurting grid reliability.

By Ethan Howland • May 16, 2023

FERC’s Christie pushes review of power markets, deregulation ahead of agency’s PJM, ISO-NE scrutiny

The Electric Power Supply Association defended power markets, saying their shortcomings are driven by federal and state energy policies, not the markets themselves.

By Ethan Howland • May 16, 2023

EPA proposes power plant greenhouse gas limits with carbon capture, ‘green’ hydrogen main compliance options

The proposal won’t hurt grid reliability, with an estimated 22 GW of coal-fired capacity retirements offset by roughly the same amount of gas-fired additions, the agency said.

By Ethan Howland • May 11, 2023

Provisional winners of Pacific offshore wind auction call for procurement, port plans

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s lease sale last December drew $757.1 million in winning bids for lease areas the agency estimates can generate around 4.6 GW of offshore wind energy. 

By Kavya Balaraman • May 10, 2023

Hawai’i leads the way on advanced rate design with default time-of-use rates, fixed charge innovations

Hawai’i’s planned granular cost study still must prove to other states that the new TOU rates, fixed charge framework and new way of defining costs will allocate costs accurately, analysts said.

By Herman K. Trabish • May 9, 2023

Texas House weighs Senate-approved plan to incentivize new gas plants as grid faces dicey summer

The legislation would create a state-backed fund to offer zero-interest, 20-year loans to companies building primarily gas-fired power plants.

By Robert Walton • May 9, 2023

Why contracts among cooperative G&T owners ensure equity and fairness

Central to the success of the cooperative G&T model are the promises each member makes to work together with their fellow members to secure a reliable, affordable and responsible power supply for the communities they together serve.

By Dave Frick, General Manager, Morgan County Rural Electric Association • May 8, 2023

Westinghouse Electric announces new small modular reactor borrowing from its AP1000 nuclear technology

“It’s leveraging a proven technology, a very efficient and reliable techology that’s already in operation around the world,” said Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse president and CEO.

By Stephen Singer • May 4, 2023

Dominion Energy projects adding up to 9 GW of gas-fired capacity in Virginia to bolster reliability

The plan, filed Monday with state utility regulators, calls for adding more natural gas and renewables to Dominion’s portfolio, along with up to 4.2 GW of small modular reactors.

By Diana DiGangi • May 4, 2023

York Energy Storage aims to build $2.1B, 858-MW pumped storage project in Pennsylvania

The 1,000-acre hydroelectric project on the Susquehanna River in York County has gotten pushback from residents.

By Julie Strupp • May 3, 2023

State regulators, others urge FERC to reject PJM plan to delay upcoming capacity auctions

“Halting the markets before the commission has all of the facts before it may actually serve to delay the energy market transition … and raise prices for consumers,” the Organization of PJM States said.

By Ethan Howland • May 3, 2023

West Virginia PSC report calls for disallowing $203M in AEP cost recovery over low coal plant usage

Appalachian Power Co. and Wheeling Power failed to take steps to run three coal plants at a 69% capacity factor, a level set by state regulators, according to a report released Friday.

By Ethan Howland • May 3, 2023

Coming EPA power plant rules will put carbon capture to the test, but better oversight is needed, critics say

New CCUS has the policy, private sector and regulatory support to end claims it underperforms, but only if new EPA rules require verification through strong federal oversight, advocates and opponents agreed.

By Herman K. Trabish • May 2, 2023

FirstEnergy West Virginia coal plant purchase would lead company to retire another one, official says

“We don’t see it as a viable option for Mon Power to operate three coal-fired power plants in West Virginia,” Jon Taylor, FirstEnergy chief financial officer, said Friday.

By Ethan Howland • May 1, 2023

Idaho National Lab’s open-source microreactor design and test bed spur start-up interest

Making an open-sourced microreactor design available is “much more resilient than a centralized approach,” said Yasir Arafat, chief designer of the MARVEL reactor at the Idaho National Lab.

By Stephen Singer • April 26, 2023

Efforts to accelerate permitting could learn a thing or two from nuclear energy

In the past, the implicit assumption was that it was OK for it to take years or even decades to build energy projects because the status quo was acceptable. We know now that the status quo is not, in fact, acceptable.

By Jessica Lovering and Judi Greenwald • April 24, 2023

State regulators urge PJM to speed interconnection for new generation in face of power plant retirements

“We're rattling the foundations here,” Mike Jacobs, Union of Concerned Scientists senior energy analyst, said Friday. “And everything PJM is calling for in this moment of crisis is strengthening the status of the existing supply.”

By Ethan Howland • April 24, 2023

Bechtel nixes $1B power plant after years of permitting battles

The company said ongoing environmental lawsuits are the main reason it scrapped plans for a gas-fired electric-generating facility in Pennsylvania.

By Sebastian Obando • April 20, 2023

House hearing highlights rising bipartisan support for nuclear energy amid wave of policy actions

Nuclear advocates hope bipartisan support can advance the industry, which "has stagnated over the past decade," Rep. Jeff Duncan said.

By Stephen Singer • April 19, 2023

Cooperative utility leaders urge Congress, federal agencies to bolster grid reliability

“Demand is going up and supply is going down, and that's not a good trend if you want to maintain system reliability,” Jim Matheson, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO, said.

By Ethan Howland • April 18, 2023

FERC rejects Southwest Power Pool plan for utility self-funding of network upgrades

The self-funding proposal would create uncertainty for interconnection customers, possibly leading to canceled generating projects, the federal agency said Friday.

By Ethan Howland • April 17, 2023

NRC to regulate fusion energy systems as commercial interest grows despite ‘uncertain’ future

The private sector is developing pilot-scale commercial fusion designs even as the technology’s “precise future in the United States is uncertain,” NRC Chair Christopher Hanson said.

By Stephen Singer • April 17, 2023