Regulation & Policy: Page 16
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Federal agencies, including FERC and DOE, revoke environmental review rules
The agencies eliminated all references to consider climate change, environmental justice and other key environmental issues in their permit reviews, Earthjustice said.
By Ethan Howland • July 1, 2025 -
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OpinionTrump attacks on NRC independence pose health, safety risks
The exodus of key personnel at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will jeopardize its ability to oversee the nuclear power fleet and slow the licensing of new facilities to a crawl.
By Edwin Lyman • June 30, 2025 -
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TrendlineTop 5 Stories from Utility Dive
Power demand is rising amid dramatic shifts in federal energy policy, but technology and markets continue to push the grid toward cleaner, more distributed resources.
By Utility Dive staff -
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Affordability a ‘formidable challenge’ as load shifts to tech, industrial customers: ICF
The consulting agency expects electricity prices to rise as much as 25% in some regions through 2030 due to necessary grid expansion, wildfire hardening and other infrastructure projects.
By Brian Martucci • June 30, 2025 -
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State utility regulators urge FERC to slash ROE transmission incentive
Limiting the 0.5% extra return on equity to three years — or ending it — could lower utility income by millions annually, the utilities say.
By Ethan Howland • June 30, 2025 -
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FERC’s Christie calls for dispatchable resources after grid operators come ‘close to the edge’
“You never know about the next time, and there's going to be a next time,” Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie said about grid operators' ability to avoid blackouts this week.
By Ethan Howland • June 27, 2025 -
Permission granted by Consumers Energy
Eight utility regulators challenge DOE order keeping Michigan coal plant open
The department’s invocation of emergency powers to interfere with state and regional utility planning is unprecedented, according to the challenge.
By Ethan Howland • June 26, 2025 -
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$1.4B in new clean energy factories, projects canceled in May: E2
Nearly $15.5 billion in clean energy investments have been canceled since the beginning of the year, representing 30 canceled, closed or downsized projects.
By Lamar Johnson • June 25, 2025 -
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Utilities, energy developers back Senate’s more lenient tax credit timeline
A powerful coalition of trade associations and energy groups thanked senators for rolling back some of the House version’s deepest cuts, but the two chambers will need to agree on a final bill.
By Brian Martucci • June 25, 2025 -
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OpinionAs the GHG Protocol eyes the homestretch in its Scope 2 revisions, are the right voices being heard?
A requirement for hourly matching and the dramatic narrowing of the geographies in which companies can make clean energy investments could stifle the voluntary market.
By Roger S. Ballentine • June 25, 2025 -
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US, global cities tout emissions reductions
Local U.S. officials say they’re driving emissions goals from the ground up since the Trump administration’s withdrawal from key international climate events and agreements.
By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • June 24, 2025 -
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Nuclear regulators lighten microreactor restrictions
The new policy includes a broader set of directives to advance an emerging class of transportable, factory-made reactors.
By Brian Martucci • June 24, 2025 -
Courtesy of Duke Energy
DOE grants Duke Energy authority to exceed power plant permit limits during extreme heat
The emergency order will help reduce the risk of blackouts in the Southeast brought on by high temperatures, the department said.
By Ethan Howland • June 24, 2025 -
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Who should pay to keep Michigan coal plant running past its retirement date?
Groups told federal regulators that making MISO customers pay for a power plant that does not benefit them would violate the Federal Power Act’s cost causation requirement.
By Ethan Howland • June 23, 2025 -
Trump’s NRC firing raises alarms at pro-nuclear and watchdog groups alike
Commissioner Christopher Hanson’s sudden dismissal could make NRC less efficient — and less trusted — just as its workload explodes, advocates say. An industry watchdog warned nuclear safety could take a hit.
By Brian Martucci • June 23, 2025 -
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OpinionFrom backup to backbone: Why utility-led DERs must drive MISO’s resource adequacy plans
Jigar Shah says MISO states can use distributed energy resources to meet key goals: cost stabilization, faster time to power, community development and a reliable, resilient grid.
By Jigar Shah • June 20, 2025 -
Permission granted by Consumers Energy
Groups appeal DOE ‘emergency’ order keeping Michigan plant online
“There is no energy emergency in our country … and it is illegal to invoke a made-up emergency to overturn a long-planned plant retirement,” the Sierra Club’s Greg Wannier said.
By Ethan Howland • Updated June 20, 2025 -
Courtesy of X-energy
NRC speeds timeline for Dow/X-energy reactor permit review
The 18-month timeline halves NRC’s “generic schedule” for a construction permit application. But Dow is unlikely to greenlight the Texas project before 2028, a spokesperson said.
By Brian Martucci • June 18, 2025 -
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OpinionAI is coming for grid-decision making. Here’s why governance can’t be an afterthought.
In the 20th century, infrastructure decisions — where to put highways, site power plants or make upgrades — often reinforced inequities. AI threatens to replicate that pattern — at scale and at speed.
By Brandon N. Owens • June 18, 2025 -
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OpinionSenate: Don’t fumble the energy future
Ending clean energy tax deductions would limit power supply and raise electricity prices. It would be like sending a great football team to compete in the Super Bowl without cleats.
By Dean Granoff • June 17, 2025 -
NRG, LS Power ask FERC to approve $12B gas-fired power plant, demand-response deal
NRG’s capacity in the PJM Interconnection would jump to 9.5 GW from 2.1 GW under the deal, which doesn’t pose market power risks, the companies said.
By Ethan Howland • June 17, 2025 -
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States, ratepayer advocates urge FERC to reject MISO petition to limit market monitor oversight
The dispute grew out of Potomac Economics’ criticism of assumptions the Midcontinent Independent System Operator used to justify a roughly $22 billion transmission expansion plan.
By Ethan Howland • June 16, 2025 -
Wikipedia. (2024). "2024 RTO Map" [jpg]. Retrieved from WikiCommons.
Deep DiveWill ERCOT’s streamlined connect-and-manage approach work for other markets?
ERCOT’s single-state, energy-only interconnection process doesn’t include other markets’ deliverability requirements and generator cost certainty needs.
By Herman K. Trabish • June 16, 2025 -
Courtesy of DTE Energy
Michigan regulators order reliability improvements for Consumers Energy, DTE
The Public Service Commission ordered the utilities to tackle 75 recommendations identified in an audit completed last year, focused on reliability and storm restoration times.
By Robert Walton • June 16, 2025 -
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OpinionMeeting the challenge of FERC Order 881: Why open source matters for AAR implementation
With ambient-adjusted ratings compliance deadlines set for mid-July, TROLIE offers an open, vendor-neutral standard for the secure, efficient exchange of transmission line rating data.
By Tory McKeag • June 13, 2025 -
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State regulators, utilities support SPP fast-track interconnection plan
But NextEra Energy Resources, clean energy trade groups and others contend it would give utilities a pathway to exclude independent power producers from the process.
By Ethan Howland • June 13, 2025
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