Managing NuScale, other SMR waste will be ‘roughly comparable’ with conventional reactors, DOE labs find

The Argonne and Idaho national labs say managing nuclear waste from small modular reactors would have no additional ‘major’ challenges compared with other reactors.

By Stephen Singer • Nov. 23, 2022

MISO power prices could remain high, go higher for years: Chatterjee, other Voltus panelists

“This isn't a short-term thing that's just going to last into next year or the year after,” said Neil Chatterjee, former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman and a senior advisor at Hogan Lovells.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 23, 2022

Dynegy manipulated MISO’s 2015/16 capacity auction, driving up Illinois prices: FERC enforcement office

The Illinois attorney general and Public Citizen contend FERC should order Dynegy to disgorge $428.6 million. Vistra, which bought Dynegy, denies the allegations.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 22, 2022

AEP’s Public Service Co. of Oklahoma proposes buying 995 MW of wind, solar from Invenergy for $2.5B

PSO expects the renewable energy facilities will produce $1 billion in tax credits and increase rates by 2.1%.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 21, 2022

DOE conditionally awards PG&E’s Diablo Canyon nuclear plant $1.1B to forestall shutdown

Meanwhile, Holtec said that its application to DOE’s Civil Nuclear Credit Program for funds to reopen the Palisades nuclear plant was rejected.

By Stephen Singer • Nov. 21, 2022

Identify investment opportunities amid ERCOT congestion

With ERCOT’s frequent congestion in West Texas, getting the precise area (or line) when trading, managing or assessing congestion is crucial.

By Rush Milam • Nov. 21, 2022

Inflation Reduction Act upends utility resource planning tenets: NARUC panelists

“These [IRA] incentives …. are transforming how we think about electricity procurement because these resources are going to be so cheap,” Evolved Energy Principal Jamil Farbes said.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 17, 2022

Cross-border power trade can help leaders at COP27 facilitate emissions reductions

Enhancing cross-border power trade can help achieve global greenhouse gas reduction goals by efficiently integrating low-cost renewable resources while improving electricity affordability and security.

By Jennifer Chen, Edmund Downie and Noah Kittner • Nov. 16, 2022

Rising steel prices, interest rates could push NuScale Utah project cost to $100/MWh, but support remains

NuScale executives say they are lobbying Congress to maintain more than $1 billion in federal support for the Utah advanced nuclear project.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 16, 2022

Thermal energy systems could boost global long-duration storage capacity to 8 TW by 2040: McKinsey

Thermal energy storage would draw cumulative investment in long-duration storage of between $1.6 trillion and $2.5 trillion by 2040, per a report by the Long Duration Energy Storage Council and McKinsey.

By Stephen Singer • Nov. 15, 2022

US can reach 100% clean power by 2035, DOE finds, but tough reliability and land use questions lie ahead

New aggressive planning is needed to identify the long-duration storage technologies and find the land to grow enough resources to reach the Biden administration’s net zero emissions goals, a DOE national lab reports.

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 15, 2022

Gas utilities look to hydrogen, renewables integration while facing ‘existential threat’ of decarbonization

Alternative fuels like hydrogen and renewable natural gas can help local distribution companies to reduce emissions but come with higher costs, the ratings agency said.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 15, 2022

‘A sobering assessment’: Large parts of US at risk of outages during extreme weather this winter: NERC

The Southeast and parts of Canada have joined other areas facing elevated winter reliability risks, according to Fritz Hirst, NERC director of legislative and regulatory affairs.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 14, 2022

Texas regulators weigh $460M ‘performance credit mechanism’ to ensure electric grid reliability

The performance credits would require “anyone who sells power to a household or business in ERCOT to guarantee that they are buying that power from a reliable source,” Chair Peter Lake said.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 14, 2022

DOE touts nuclear-powered hydrogen production projects with Xcel, Constellation, 4 other partners

The clean hydrogen demonstration projects also involve Bloom Energy, Energy Harbor, Arizona Public Service and PNW Hydrogen and will take place at four nuclear plants around the country.

By Rod Kuckro • Nov. 10, 2022

Vistra’s coal-to-battery storage projects receive FERC waiver from MISO interconnection transfer rules

The agency should reconsider “nonsensical” limits on a generator’s ability to transfer interconnection rights, which are a roadblock for new generation at power plant sites, Commissioner Allison Clements said.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 10, 2022

Fossil fuel, renewable trade groups explore potential paths to energy bipartisanship in a divided Congress

Energy permitting reform, increasing access to rare earth minerals and domestic clean energy manufacturing are areas for compromise, said Scott Segal, a partner at the energy-focused law firm Bracewell.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 10, 2022

Government electricity price forecast ticks higher, as consumer advocate warns there is little relief in sight

“Underlying fuel prices for natural gas and coal remain high and could go higher next month,” said National Energy Assistance Directors Association Executive Director Mark Wolfe.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 10, 2022

NiSource to sell minority share of NIPSCO subsidiary to fund $15B 5-year growth plan, 2040 net-zero goal

Natural gas will continue to play a major role in the utility’s portfolio. Some 350 MW to 400 MW of gas-peaking capacity may be necessary to meet electricity demand, company officials said.

By Robert Walton • Nov. 9, 2022

Avangrid, Eversource call for more efficiency, DR to avoid New England outages amid potential fuel crunch

ISO New England’s upcoming capacity auctions should be delayed to better reflect the region’s wintertime needs, the grid operator’s market monitor said.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 8, 2022

As FERC’s transmission proposal sparks clashes, potential solutions emerge from MISO, elsewhere

Federal transmission planning reforms must decide who builds and where, who benefits and pays, who balances state and national interests, and who enforces the rules, stakeholders said.

By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 7, 2022

FERC interconnection reform proposal poses a barrier to Colorado joining an RTO: PUC Chair Blank

“I'm really concerned that this [proposal] would undermine our transition, and the effective working of our resource planning and acquisition process,” Colorado PUC Chair Eric Blank said.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 7, 2022

CAISO avoided outages in September heat wave – a ‘remarkable outcome’ – with 4 GW storage, conservation

The state’s gas-fired plants were “critical” during the worst of the heat wave, but some were unavailable at times, California’s grid operator said in a report.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 4, 2022

DTE Electric proposes $9B spend on 5.4 GW renewables, 760 MW storage, coal-to-gas power plant switch

The Detroit-based utility aims to exit coal in 2035, with carbon capture and small nuclear reactors as replacement options.

By Ethan Howland • Nov. 4, 2022

PacifiCorp, TerraPower to assess feasibility of adding up to 5 more Natrium nuclear reactors by 2035

The companies announced plans last year to bring a Natrium demonstration plant to Kemmerer, Wyoming, where two coal units of PacifiCorp’s Naughton power plant are scheduled to retire in 2025.

By Larry Pearl • Nov. 2, 2022