Regulation & Policy: Page 7


  • Three men in blue shirts stand at desks with a bank of computer screens.
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    Permission granted by PJM Interconnection
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    PJM considers fast-track review for shovel-ready generating projects

    The grid operator expects generators will step in with new supplies in response to high prices in its recent capacity auction.

    By Sept. 5, 2024
  • Farmer discing his field as giant wind turbines overlook.
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    Mark Alexander via Getty Images
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    White House announces $7.3B clean energy financing for Dairyland Power, 15 other co-ops

    The federal funding will support 10 GW in clean energy projects lowering electricity costs for cooperative utilities in 23 states, the White House said.

    By Sept. 5, 2024
  • A picture of wind turbines in front of solar panels in Palm Springs, California. Explore the Trendline
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    Kevork Djansezian via Getty Images
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    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
  • Industrial background group silhouette of transmission towers (or power tower, electricity pylon, steel lattice tower) at suburb area in Texas, USA.
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    Trong Nguyen via Getty Images
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    Texas denies Aegle Power loan application for 1.3-GW gas plant after NextEra’s unauthorized inclusion

    Lawmakers said they want to know how the Public Utility Commission of Texas and Deloitte “advanced a problematic and unqualified application by an energy executive who was publicly convicted of fraud.”

    By Sept. 5, 2024
  • Aerial view of rooftops in a suburban neighborhood. A street curves through the houses.
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    Haizhan Zheng via Getty Images
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    30 neighborhood decarbonization pilots allowed under bill passed in California

    If the governor signs it, the legislation will let natural gas utilities planning to replace old gas pipelines decarbonize pilot areas instead, potentially via electrification or installing thermal energy networks.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • Updated Sept. 27, 2024
  • Rendering of the $11 billion Port Arthur LNG project in Port Arthur, Texas.
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    Courtesy of Port Arthur LNG
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    Opinion

    LNG exports make both economic and environmental sense

    Exports are not reducing domestic supply and squeezing American ratepayers or power plant operators; exports come from added production and have only a small impact on price.

    By Kyle Isakower • Sept. 4, 2024
  • Energy Harbor's Beaver Valley nuclear power plant, which would be sold to Vistra under a pending deal.
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    "Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant". Retrieved from Wikipedia.
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    Reregulation? How utilities and states are responding to PJM’s record capacity prices

    “Houston, we have a problem,” American Municipal Power’s Steve Lieberman said. “If we don’t see new capacity in the [2027/28] auction, we’re really running out of time.”

    By Sept. 4, 2024
  • The Phoenix metropolitan area has seen growing hotel occupancy, ADR and RevPAR in recent years driven by strong travel fundamentals.
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    dszc via Getty Images
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    Sierra Club sues Arizona regulators over UNS Electric 200-MW gas expansion

    A June decision “overturned the existing environmental review process ... setting a dangerous precedent,” said Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter Director Sandy Bahr.

    By Sept. 4, 2024
  • Rural lane meanders among modern windmill technology and steel electrical pylons. Laramie, Wyoming, 2009
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    Chuck Schug Photography via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Generator interconnection hurdles throttle economic development. An entry fee model can help.

    The current interconnection process puts project developers in the untenable position of sinking years of effort and millions of dollars into projects with virtually no insight into the ultimate cost or timeline to connect to the grid.

    By Ted Thomas • Sept. 3, 2024
  • A power plant next to the coast.
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    Joesboy via Getty Images
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    Ratepayer advocates urge PJM to include RMR power plants in capacity auctions

    PJM should hold a stakeholder process to include reliability-must-run plants and, if needed, delay the next auction, set to take place in December, to avoid “unjust and unreasonable” prices, they said.

    By Sept. 3, 2024
  • Engineers using laptops and working in front of a factory.
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    Nitat Termmee via Getty Images
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    Sponsored by West Monroe Partners

    How utilities can ensure compliance for IIJA Department of Energy GRIP grants

    Existing processes will need to change to meet DOE’s requirements for reporting compliance

    By Calvin Tong, Senior Manager, Energy & Utilities, West Monroe • Sept. 3, 2024
  • A rooftop solar installation against the backdrop of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan.
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    FernandoAH via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    New York cannot afford nuclear power and must not slow down its Climate Act

    Claims that small modular reactors will provide cheaper, safer and faster nuclear energy remain unproven, echoing the same empty promises that led to past failures. 

    By Raya Salter • Aug. 30, 2024
  • High-voltage power lines and pylons in California.
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    AscentXmedia via Getty Images
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    FERC’s Christie offers ‘compromise’ on transmission financial incentives

    Instead of opposing incentives outright, FERC Commissioner Mark Christie said they should be awarded for state-approved projects.

    By Aug. 30, 2024
  • A solar plant near Gila Bend, Arizona.
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    halbergman via Getty Images
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    BLM proposes opening 31M acres of public land to solar development

    The updated Western Solar Plan proposal expands potential development by 9 million acres beyond the agency's original proposal in response to industry feedback and should speed solar permitting, the Biden administration said.

    By Emma Penrod • Aug. 30, 2024
  • Steam billows from a massive cement smokestack at a nuclear power plant at the edge of the water.
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    The image by Peretzp is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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    PJM capacity prices could jump 157% in next auction: Morgan Stanley

    While prices could hit a $695/MW-day cap, relatively small changes in new supply in the December auction could produce large swings in the outcome, analysts said.

    By Aug. 29, 2024
  • A natural gas-fired turbine power plant with it's cooling towers rising into a blue sky.
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    Ron and Patty Thomas via Getty Images
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    Pennsylvania state senator to propose loan fund to spur new power plants

    The Pennsylvania Baseload Energy Development Fund would be modeled after a $5 billion loan fund in Texas.

    By Aug. 29, 2024
  • Three people in safety gear talk at the top of a building under construction.
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    ljubaphoto via Getty Images
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    US clean energy jobs grew 4.2% in 2023: DOE

    The U.S. added clean energy jobs at more than twice the rate of the broader economy, according to the Department of Energy.

    By Aug. 28, 2024
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    Adeline Kon/Utility Dive
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    California targets up to 2 GW of long-duration storage as part of 10.6 GW clean energy procurement

    The procurement also includes up to 1 GW of geothermal energy that can be commissioned between 2031 and 2037 and 7.6 GW of floating offshore wind that can be commissioned between 2035 and 2037.

    By Brian Martucci • Aug. 27, 2024
  • A group of wind turbines and an electrical substation.
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    NanoStockk via Getty Images
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    Clean energy groups push for more interconnection reforms ahead of FERC workshop

    They called for fast-track processes that would give construction-ready projects access to existing and planned interconnection capacity, among other things.

    By Aug. 27, 2024
  • A wind farm in Kansas.
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    jtstewartphoto via Getty Images
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    Southwest Power Pool seeks FERC OK to delay 2024 interconnection queue process

    The delay would give SPP time to finish studying and restudying interconnection clusters going back to 2018, the grid operator told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

    By Aug. 26, 2024
  • Person in hard hat and neon yellow safety vest pointing to electrical lines.
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    Permission granted by Esri
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    Sponsored by Esri

    GIS shapes modern network management

    Explore how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have evolved to meet utilities' network management needs.

    By Bill Meehan, Esri • Aug. 26, 2024
  • The Hayworth Solar Farm, a photovoltaic solar power generating installation near Bakersfield, California.
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    Gary Kavanagh via Getty Images
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    CAISO interconnection reform plan draws support from SoCal Ed, PG&E, PUC

    However, renewable energy developers and trade groups urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject provisions they say would favor utility-backed projects.

    By Aug. 23, 2024
  • Wind turbines spin behind a solar energy park
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    Sean Gallup via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    Carrots, sticks or both: State efforts to combat anti-renewables NIMBYs

    In pursuit of zero-emissions electricity goals and tax windfalls from utility-scale renewables, states are taking a range of approaches to disarm opponents.

    By Brian Martucci • Aug. 22, 2024
  • An Oklahoma wind farm, cattle ranch and crop lands.
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    milehightraveler via Getty Images
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    MISO, SPP advance ‘unprecedented’ transmission plan that could support up to 30 GW

    The grid operators are seeking Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals that are needed to build $1.7 billion in transmission projects along their northern border.

    By Aug. 22, 2024
  • A rooftop solar installation against the backdrop of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building in midtown Manhattan.
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    FernandoAH via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    California pioneers new ways to ease interconnection of large DERs

    Limited generation profiles in California will schedule limits to DERs during system constraints. New York, Illinois, Colorado and others are testing more flexible approaches.

    By Aug. 21, 2024
  • Two technicians wearing yellow vests walking past racks of electronic equipment in a data center for cryptocurrency mining.
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    halbergman via Getty Images
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    FERC rejects Basin Electric’s cryptocurrency mining rate proposal

    Basin Electric failed to show it was fair to treat cryptocurrency loads differently from other similar-sized loads, the agency said in a potentially precedent-setting decision.

    By Aug. 21, 2024