Regulation & Policy: Page 6
-
baranozdemir via Getty Images
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 -
Win McNamee via Getty Images
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 -
Explore the Trendline➔
Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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 -
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 -
martin_33 via Getty Images
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 -
RyanJLane via Getty Images
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 -
NicoElNino via Getty Images
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 -
adamkaz via Getty Images
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 -
Bilanol via Getty Images
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 -
Uladzimir Zuyeu via Getty Images
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 -
Aaron Yoder via Getty Images
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 -
DWalker44 via Getty Images
EPA proposes slashing power plant carbon, mercury emission limits
However, the Environmental Protection Agency’s rationale behind the move may be legally flawed, according to environmental and other groups.
By Ethan Howland • June 12, 2025 -
Sean Gallup via Getty Images
GOP lawmakers reiterate asks for clean energy credit tweaks in reconciliation bill
Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Virginia Republican, said “there remains significant room for improvement in preserving the clean energy tax credits” in the Senate’s version of the budget bill.
By Lamar Johnson • June 12, 2025 -
4kodiak via Getty Images
Prioritize ‘impactful’ power sources for interconnection: DOE’s Wright
“We need to look at that [interconnection queue] process and prioritize projects that are impactful and make it move faster and more efficiently,” DOE Secretary Chris Wright said.
By Ethan Howland • June 11, 2025 -
alacatr via Getty Images
OpinionA collaborative approach for meeting data center power needs and protecting ratepayers
By working together, sharing risk and embracing innovative solutions, we can foster long-term growth, strengthen the grid and ensure a more equitable distribution of costs and benefits.
By Chris Crosby • June 10, 2025 -
photovs via Getty Images
MISO submits revised fast-track interconnection process for FERC approval
NextEra, Sierra Club and other groups say, however, that the Midcontinent Independent System Operator failed to work with stakeholders on the proposal as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission directed.
By Ethan Howland • June 10, 2025 -
drnadig via Getty Images
OpinionBaseload blind spot? Senate should unleash 24/7 clean-energy workhorses
As the U.S. Senate drafts a budget bill, it should value geothermal and hydropower appropriately to secure a stronger, more resilient and more dominant energy future.
By Malcolm Woolf and Bryant Jones • June 9, 2025 -
Aaron Yoder via Getty Images
MISO resource outlook improves; surplus expected next summer
The potential surplus for the Midcontinent Independent System Operator ranges from 1.4 GW to 6.4 GW next summer, but uncertainty clouds the longer-term outlook, according to the OMS-MISO survey.
By Ethan Howland • June 9, 2025 -
Permission granted by Midcontinent Independent System Operator
NERC overstates MISO reliability risks: market monitor
Also, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator has vastly overestimated the power supplies it will need in coming years to meet demand for electricity, market monitor David Patton said.
By Ethan Howland • June 6, 2025 -
Gerville via Getty Images
OpinionLarge load tariffs have a problem. Clean transition tariffs are the solution.
These tariffs were designed to offer large loads access to renewable energy, but they could be expanded to baseload generation to remove at-risk generation from the utility’s books.
By Ben Hertz-Shargel • June 5, 2025
Previous
