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Regulators should 'ask tough questions about carbon capture' before closing coal: Wyoming PSC Chair
Wyoming is in a uniquely precarious position as the country's top coal producer. Its head utility regulator says ratemaking should encourage utilities to profit from carbon capture and utilization outside their rate base.
By Catherine Morehouse • Dec. 3, 2019 -
FirstEnergy Solutions claims victory on nuke bailout referendum, but proponents push forward
The Ohio Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit challenging a potential referendum on the state's nuclear subsidies, while a separate proceeding brought by referendum proponents is ongoing.
By Iulia Gheorghiu • Dec. 3, 2019 -
Opinion
Too much wind and solar raises power system costs. Deep decarbonization requires nuclear
Once wind and solar provide around 40% of a region's electric power, costs begin to rise substantially, an author of a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology writes.
By John Reilly • Dec. 2, 2019 -
CAISO says resource adequacy order would cause market uncertainty, asks CPUC to reconsider
The system operator and other stakeholders urged regulators to "re-open the record" on an October decision clarifying the rules.
By Kavya Balaraman • Nov. 27, 2019 -
Inside the fight to overhaul PURPA: What three commissioners think of FERC's proposed changes
The 1978 law — largely credited with driving the small renewables market — is facing a potential major shift, and though most regulators agree the rule should be changed, they disagree with some of FERC's mechanisms.
By Catherine Morehouse • Nov. 26, 2019 -
Despite changes, commissioners see traditional utility system dominating over next decade: NARUC
U.S. utility commissioners agree that traditional fossil fuel generation will be an important aspect of grid reliability over the next decade, according to a NARUC survey.
By Iulia Gheorghiu • Nov. 26, 2019 -
Opinion
FERC is on the right track with resilience. Republicans can help by upholding conservative principles
Republicans in Congress and the administration should affirm local control, while ensuring a high threshold to justify the government favoring any one energy resource or generation technology over another, the author writes.
By Charles Hernick • Nov. 25, 2019 -
Wikimedia Commons
Cincinnati to build nation's largest city-led solar array
The project, which is predicted to reduce 158,000 tons of carbon emissions annually, will cover 1,000 acres with more than 310,000 solar panels.
By Katie Pyzyk • Nov. 25, 2019 -
ISO New England chief presses for carbon price in response to Sanders, Warren and others
A carbon price would be a "simple and easily-implemented mechanism" to speed renewables onto the grid, Gordon van Welie wrote, while noting that the region's states oppose its use within wholesale electricity markets.
By Robert Walton • Nov. 25, 2019 -
Novo Nordisk
Ohio denies AEP cost recovery for 400 MW proposed solar, but projects expected to proceed
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio concluded the utility had not shown a need for the additional generation, but its decision creates uncertainty for the future of solar development in the state, environmental advocates said.
By Robert Walton • Nov. 25, 2019 -
PNM: Carbon capture would raise San Juan transition cost to $6B, as PRC, legislator battle rages
A proposal to lengthen the coal plant's life through what would be the largest carbon capture project to date is deemed too expensive by its majority owner and raises environmental concerns.
By Catherine Morehouse • Nov. 25, 2019 -
Catherine Morehouse, Utility Dive
Deep DiveRoad to 100: How the shale boom broke Georgetown, Texas' renewables spell
In 2017, the city of about 50,000 became the largest in the U.S. able to claim it ran on 100% renewable energy. But after customer bills spiked last year, its utility department is facing an overhaul.
By Catherine Morehouse • Nov. 25, 2019 -
PJM, NYISO and ISO-NE pay $1.4B annually for excess capacity: Report
Resource adequacy in the Northeast region is determined by grid operators, not states, and it's leading to higher reserve margins, according to Grid Strategies.
By Iulia Gheorghiu • Nov. 22, 2019 -
Wikimedia
EPA estimates proposal to relax power plant wastewater standards will save utilities $312M a year
Groups like Earthjustice fear the agency's proposed standards will put at risk hundreds of millions of dollars in annual public health benefits stemming from a 2015 update to the limits that never went into effect.
By Larry Pearl • Nov. 22, 2019 -
New York's last coal plant expected online through winter, says NYISO, despite shutdown plans
The last coal plant in New York has filed paperwork to shut down in early 2020, but the state's grid operator must still determine whether the 685 MW Somerset facility is needed.
By Robert Walton • Nov. 22, 2019 -
Can carbon capture save the San Juan coal plant?
A proceeding before New Mexico regulators begs the question of when and how the 940 MW plant will retire, and the decision may leave mandates under the state's landmark clean energy law behind.
By Catherine Morehouse • Nov. 21, 2019 -
Catherine Morehouse, Utility Dive
Deep DiveRoad to 100: How one man's mission to power his hometown by wind created a Northwest Missouri boon
The town of 1,200 was the first in the country to be able to power all of its electricity from wind resources. Now, the county is booming in wind production.
By Catherine Morehouse • Nov. 21, 2019 -
Sanders, Warren join fellow senators in urging New England to speed clean energy transition
Lawmakers from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont want to see the New England grid operator incorporate market reforms that will accelerate the region's transition away from fossil fuels.
By Robert Walton • Nov. 20, 2019 -
House clean energy tax bill sees broad industry support, but Senate path uncertain
The draft legislative package, introduced Nov. 19, adds energy storage and offshore wind, while extending solar and electric vehicle tax credits.
By Iulia Gheorghiu • Nov. 20, 2019 -
Deep Dive
New money: Green banks and green bonds are bringing billions to utilities for the energy transition
The financial mechanisms are bringing investors to renewables and distributed energy as utilities, co-ops and munis move away from uneconomic legacy assets.
By Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 19, 2019 -
100+ hydro plants have greater warming impacts than fossil fuels: EDF study
Hydropower supporters countered the report, saying the facilities in question are not a major source of emissions and the "real story" is the industry’s role in decarbonizing the electric system to meet clean energy targets.
By Kavya Balaraman • Nov. 19, 2019 -
Generators call on PJM to expedite delayed capacity auction, once new rules are set
FERC still needs to approve capacity market reforms, leaving the grid operator in limbo with regard to its annual auction.
By Robert Walton • Nov. 18, 2019 -
Iulia Gheorghiu, Utility Dive
Senate approves energy secretary nominee who pledged support for baseload power
Dan Brouillette, former deputy secretary of energy, told senators he had no involvement with the Ukraine scandal that led to former Sec. Rick Perry's resignation.
By Kavya Balaraman • Updated Dec. 3, 2019 -
NRC explores streamlined environmental reviews to accelerate advanced reactor approvals
Several Republican senators have called upon the NRC to develop the expedited process, saying it would deliver on changes to nuclear regulation recently approved by Congress and signed by President Trump.
By Matthew Bandyk • Nov. 15, 2019 -
Opinion
To get to net zero, cities need to think wider than buildings
Solutions to climate change may lie in some old-fashioned values, like building strong communities, relying on neighbors and believing that design matters.
By Tom Sieniewicz • Nov. 15, 2019
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