Regulation & Policy: Page 36
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Financial Accounting Standards Board takes up environmental credits, carbon offsets
The U.S. standard setter's move to upgrade environmental credits to its technical agenda signals another new priority for FASB.
By Maura Webber Sadovi • May 31, 2022 -
Deep Dive
'Dramatic shift' in utility regulations, better pilot designs needed to propel energy transition, DOE report finds
Electric industry players call for innovations in the way regulators handle pilots of new utility and private sector technologies and system operations in a new Department of Energy paper.
By Herman K. Trabish • May 31, 2022 -
Trendline
The Energy Transition to Renewables
New policy and business actions are giving a significant boost to renewable energy in the U.S., but opposition is growing and grid interconnection, permitting, labor and other challenges remain.
By Utility Dive staff -
MISO industrial customers petition FERC to avoid sky-high capacity charges if they cut electricity use
The proposal would help the Midcontinent Independent System Operator address a projected power supply shortfall this summer, according to a May 26 complaint filed with federal regulators.
By Ethan Howland • May 27, 2022 -
Biden taps FERC Chairman Glick for a second term, potentially providing consistency amid energy transition
FERC's natural gas review policies will likely be an issue during Chairman Richard Glick's confirmation process, former agency head Neil Chatterjee said.
By Ethan Howland • May 23, 2022 -
FERC commissioners respond to elevated power outage risks across two-thirds of US
Two commissioners pointed to the renewable energy shift as a key culprit in the "reliability crisis," while others called out extreme weather and drought.
By Ethan Howland • May 20, 2022 -
FERC to monitor gas, power markets for manipulation as forward summer electricity prices jump up to 233%
Summertime forward power prices are up between 77% and 223% from a year ago, driven by higher gas prices, FERC staff said Thursday.
By Ethan Howland • May 20, 2022 -
Deep Dive
California's 'affordability crisis' attracts innovative ratemaking and regulatory proposals
Double-digit year-on-year spikes in electricity rates are leading California regulators and stakeholders to search for ways to protect climate goals and rate affordability.
By Herman K. Trabish • May 19, 2022 -
Opinion
Calls for increased natural gas production ignore US infrastructure needs
While the President has recently shifted his narrative to support American natural gas, his administration continues to introduce and implement policies that impact our industry through added delays and costs, the author writes.
By Amy Andryszak • May 16, 2022 -
Deep Dive
As California confronts the future of its natural gas system, who could get left behind?
Without a proper transition strategy, experts worry that potential declines in natural gas demand will lead to large increases in energy bills likely to fall on the state's most vulnerable customers.
By Kavya Balaraman • May 16, 2022 -
Congress, stakeholders find consensus around hydropower license reform
Despite some disagreement on how to handle environmental aspects of hydropower license review, a broad group of lawmakers and stakeholders has found common ground on a package of proposed reforms.
By Emma Penrod • May 13, 2022 -
PJM releases road map for creating 'grid of the future' to handle coming renewables, storage wave
The grid operator said it intends to use scenario-based planning and conduct reliability studies to handle the changing resource mix.
By Ethan Howland • May 12, 2022 -
White House vows to speed up environmental review for federal projects
The new action plan will help streamline permitting and accelerate projects, Biden administration officials said Wednesday.
By Julie Strupp • May 12, 2022 -
Opinion
Even studying public power makes little sense
Switching to public power, or even studying it, would miserably fail a cost-benefit test and would be the wrong solution to whatever problem advocates of public power claim to solve, the author writes.
By Kenneth W. Costello • May 12, 2022 -
Opinion
The public power option should be a community decision
Whether municipalization efforts are driven by a desire for lower rates, better reliability, or environmental goals, this option should be explored as deeply as the community wants to go, the author writes.
By Joy Ditto • May 12, 2022 -
Opinion
'Made in America' – An analog policy that needs to go digital
To get smart grid projects off the drawing board, we need to include software as part of domestic content calculations — especially firmware for high-priority, planet-friendly projects like advanced metering infrastructure, the author writes.
By Tom Deitrich • May 11, 2022 -
FERC, state regulators eye options for clearing up interconnection 'quagmire,' allocating upgrade costs
Federal and state officials generally agreed studying interconnection requests in clusters could speed the process, but there was no consensus on who should pay for upgrades.
By Ethan Howland • May 9, 2022 -
Investigation into solar tariffs could threaten the 2035 US clean energy goal, says DOE's Granholm
Rising energy prices were also a topic of discussion during a Senate committee hearing on the Biden administration's budget request for the agency.
By Robert Walton • May 6, 2022 -
NiSource cites Commerce Department solar investigation in plans to delay coal plant retirements
The company's plans to retire its coal units by 2023 could be postponed, according to its quarterly earnings filing on Wednesday, as it foresees up to 18 months of delays in new solar deployments.
By Iulia Gheorghiu • May 5, 2022 -
Power shutoff study highlights need for transparency into investor-owned utility debts, groups say
An updated study of shutoffs during the pandemic highlights increases in shareholder dividends and executive compensation, but it oversimplifies the issue of accumulated debt, according to the Edison Electric Institute.
By Iulia Gheorghiu • May 4, 2022 -
Deep Dive
The fight for a national clean energy transmission system emerges on three fronts
DOE’s multi-part transmission study, FERC’s refocus on transmission planning, and macrogrid advocacy efforts could produce an interconnected nation ready for net zero electricity by 2035, industry, government and other experts say.
By Herman K. Trabish • May 3, 2022 -
Scaling hydrogen in North America will require policy support beyond infrastructure funding, panel says
The debate about how to ensure government funds will primarily support "green" hydrogen projects is growing comical as other technologies make advances, one analyst says.
By Emma Penrod • May 2, 2022 -
Sponsored by Endurant Energy
Can we solve the massive rate hikes for customers of California's largest utilities?
As we plunge into the third year of a global pandemic, the world is experiencing little relief from ever-increasing prices.
May 2, 2022 -
Sponsored by West Monroe
Becoming a data-driven utility
What does becoming a data-driven utility mean–and how do you get there?
By Penny Wand, Partner, Technology, West Monroe • May 2, 2022 -
Gov. DeSantis vetoes rooftop solar bill, citing desire to not add to 'financial crunch' facing Floridians
Advocates logged over 15,000 phone calls, emails and postcards from residents asking the governor to veto the measure, which would have allowed utilities to increase customer bills.
By Iulia Gheorghiu • Updated April 28, 2022 -
Could NextEra's $55M winning bid for SPP's transmission project be among the last of its kind?
FERC's proposed transmission reforms would effectively kill the limited competition that exists, according to Ari Peskoe, a Harvard Law School professor.
By Ethan Howland • April 27, 2022