FERC pressed for bigger public role, deeper environmental justice analysis in energy infrastructure reviews

“Environmental justice has always been and will be a part of my public interest determination,” FERC Acting Chairman Willie Phillips said about his reviews of gas and other infrastructure projects.

By Ethan Howland • March 31, 2023

AES, Exelon, others urge FERC to reject West Virginia PSC push to open confidential PJM committee

Public Citizen on Tuesday urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to explore governance reforms for all regional transmission organizations.

By Ethan Howland • March 29, 2023

Explore the Trendline➔

Sustainability

Companies are pursuing increasingly ambitous sustainability goals around clean energy, but integrating rising amounts of renewables, minimizing environmental impacts, and achieving carbon reduction targets can be challenging.

By Utility Dive staff

Avoiding a ‘clean power divide’  — creating national electrification co-ops for a just energy transition

If all Americans can participate, we can achieve the speed and scale required to decarbonize electricity and transportation and save the planet.

By Audrey Zibelman and Victoria Harmon • March 28, 2023

PJM plans capacity auction delays as it develops market reforms to bolster resource adequacy

“Despite the implications of auction delay, reforms are necessary to the capacity market design in order to conduct an effective Base Residual Auction,” the PJM Interconnection said Monday in an email to stakeholders.

By Ethan Howland • March 28, 2023

House panel eyes R&D directives for DOE on grid security, hydrogen, pipelines

Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., cast doubt on hydrogen’s usefulness for energy storage because of its low round-trip efficiency. “I don’t see how that math works,” he said at a Thursday hearing.

By Ethan Howland • March 24, 2023

DOE cyber chief gets bipartisan grilling as senators question US reliance on China for grid equipment

U.S. lawmakers on Thursday pressed the head of DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response Preparedness for details about foreign-manufactured components but got few answers.

By Robert Walton • March 24, 2023

Not ‘sick or dying or dead’: The great benefit of RTOs

To argue that some regional transmission organizations have imperfections is somewhat akin to saying, “nobody is perfect.”

By Scott Miller • March 23, 2023

FERC approves incentives for NV Energy’s $2.5B Greenlink project despite ratepayer concerns

“If the commission determines it is appropriate to channel risks to consumers, those risks must be carefully weighed and considered,” FERC Commissioner Mark Christie said.

By Ethan Howland • March 23, 2023

The EPA’s hydrogen push is a federal endorsement of greenwashing

Burning hydrogen in power plants is no silver bullet for meeting decarbonization goals, in part because leaks could lead to higher levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

By Abbe Ramanan • March 22, 2023

DOE charts commercialization paths for long-duration storage, advanced nuclear, clean hydrogen

With about $260 billion in spending needed this decade, the reports released Tuesday highlight possible solutions to the challenges facing the technologies and routes to commercializing them.

By Ethan Howland • March 22, 2023

FERC approves canceling NextEra transmission project blocked by Texas right-of-first-refusal law

The agency rejected NextEra Energy’s argument the $129 million project should be kept alive because litigation over the law is ongoing.

By Ethan Howland • March 21, 2023

Democrats press Interior secretary to direct more money to BOEM to reach US offshore wind goals

The rapid growth of the offshore wind industry will create a need for more staff at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the legislators argued in a March 15 letter.

By Emma Penrod • March 21, 2023

Transmission link between Puerto Rico, US mainland wouldn’t trigger FERC jurisdiction, agency declares

The clarification issued Friday could affect Alternative Transmission’s proposed undersea cable project that aims to bolster Puerto Rico’s grid.

By Ethan Howland • March 20, 2023

ISO-NE overvalues fossil fuel plants, reducing grid reliability, Sierra Club says, citing Synapse report

The coldest Christmas Eve in New England since 1975 has become a flashpoint between the Sierra Club, which opposes fossil fuel plants, and ISO-New England, which says the region was protected by an operating reserve.

By Stephen Singer • March 20, 2023

Biden ‘EV revolution’ delayed as utilities, carmakers await critical IRS guidance on Inflation Reduction Act

A domestic EV industry and a national charging network buildout await federal agency interpretations of complex IRA tax credit and supply chain requirements. 

By Herman K. Trabish • March 17, 2023

PJM, MISO, ISO-NE. ‘The capacity markets are not all right,’ FERC’s Christie warns.

In New England, quick action is needed to ease ‘knife’s edge’ winter-time operations, Commissioner Allison Clements said Thursday.

By Ethan Howland • March 17, 2023

Treasury Department guidance urgently needed to tap IRA’s clean energy ‘gold mine,’ analysts say

Clarifications defining Inflation Reduction Act provisions on labor, domestic content, energy community, and clean hydrogen are urgently needed to put the “boldest action” by Congress to work, they say.

By Herman K. Trabish • March 16, 2023

Power plant owners in 22 states face tighter NOx requirements under EPA’s final Good Neighbor rule

The rule released Wednesday includes flexibility for power plant owners to help maintain grid reliability, according to EPA Administrator Michael Regan.

By Ethan Howland • March 15, 2023

NRC commissioner criticizes agency’s finances, citing rising spending, falling workload

“So far the agency’s transformation efforts have seemed to achieve the opposite of what was expected,” Commissioner Annie Caputo said.

By Stephen Singer • March 15, 2023

Construction begins on Idaho Power’s first energy storage projects as it faces growing capacity shortfall

State regulators said “public convenience and necessity” require Idaho Power to acquire 120 MW of dispatchable energy storage.

By Stephen Singer • March 14, 2023

NRC chair defends reactor licensing changes: “We are in the middle of the rulemaking process, not at the end.”

Christopher Hanson’s upbeat message comes as nuclear energy enjoys rising support as an energy source that can help states and the federal government meet increasingly stringent greenhouse gas emissions limits.

By Stephen Singer • March 14, 2023

Confidential PJM meetings hinder state energy policy, oversight: West Virginia PSC, Maryland lawmaker

Efforts are underway to increase transparency at the largest U.S. grid operator, with Exelon and FirstEnergy opposing a bill to require annual voting reports of PJM meetings.

By Ethan Howland • March 14, 2023

ISO-NE: Annual capacity auction closes with sufficient power system resources for 2026-2027 capacity year

Nearly all of the new resources securing capacity supply obligations were wind, solar, energy storage or demand-reducing resources.

By Stephen Singer • March 13, 2023

NRC clears NIST nuclear reactor to restart following 2021 radiation escape, shutdown

NIST blamed the failure on inadequate training and qualification for operators, plant procedures, equipment and “inadequate management oversight.”

By Stephen Singer • March 13, 2023

EPA, DOE issue framework for maintaining grid reliability during energy transition

The agencies will consider “short-term interventions” to address emerging reliability risks, according to the agreement released Thursday.

By Ethan Howland • March 10, 2023