Regulation & Policy: Page 5


  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sign on a tan building and glass double-doors on the right side.
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    Sara Samora/Utility Dive
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    Opinion

    Why EPA can cut carbon pollution from power plants without sacrificing grid reliability

    Entities that focus on reliability have a toolkit to manage the energy transition, and EPA has incorporated key flexibilities into its GHG pollution-reduction rules to support their efforts.

    By Dena Adler and Jennifer Danis • March 7, 2024
  • A rendering of the GE Hitachi BWRX300 small modular reactor.
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    Retrieved from GE Hitachi.
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    NRC commissioners order changes to proposed licensing rules for advanced reactors

    The revisions include removing several new and potentially burdensome regulatory requirements, according to Nuclear Innovation Alliance Research Director Patrick White.

    By Brian Martucci • March 6, 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
  • Gary Gensler smiles as he prepares to sit and testify
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    Drew Angerer via Getty Images
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    SEC drops scope 3 from final climate rule, takes phased approach to scope 1 and 2 reporting

    The agency said scope 3 was removed due to a large number of comments concerning compliance costs as well as the consistency and reliability of scope 3 data.

    By Lamar Johnson • March 6, 2024
  • Green hydrogen renewable energy production pipeline.
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    audioundwerbung via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Let’s be realistic about green hydrogen

    Like any new technology, green hydrogen must meet three related challenges: production, distribution and adoption. But it faces far higher-than-advertised hurdles at every stage.

    By Robin Gaster • March 6, 2024
  • Electric transmission lines crossing Colorado's Eagles Nest Wilderness.
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    MRaust via Getty Images
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    Colorado PUC proposes rules for Xcel, Tri-State, Black Hills to join RTO, day-ahead markets

    The proposal requires any organized wholesale market to allow Colorado utilities to maintain priority rights to their grid interconnections for resources needed to meet their loads.

    By March 5, 2024
  • Close-up of lit gas stove.
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    FotoCuisinette via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Gas utility planning processes should be more like their electric utility counterparts

    It is not in the best interest of captive utility customers to let long-lived gas delivery infrastructure spending go unvetted, especially if that infrastructure may no longer be fully utilized in the near future.

    By Sarah Steinberg & Brad Cebulko • March 4, 2024
  • Gas turbine electric power plant in blue hour.
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    Thossaphol via Getty Images
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    EPA pulls existing gas plants from proposed power plant carbon reduction rules

    The agency plans to soon start a stakeholder process to develop greenhouse gas reduction standards for existing gas-fired power plants.

    By March 4, 2024
  • array of electricity meters
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    ehabaref via Getty Images
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    FERC rejects West Virginia PSC, market monitor complaints seeking access to PJM committee

    FERC Commissioner Mark Christie dissented from the decision on one complaint, saying state regulators need more power in regional transmission organizations.

    By March 4, 2024
  • Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler speaks during a hearing.
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    Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
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    SEC to vote on climate disclosure rule next week

    The agency will “consider whether to adopt rules to require registrants to provide certain climate-related information” at a March 6 open commission meeting.  

    By Zoya Mirza • March 1, 2024
  • The facade of a building with large windows and a sign that says "Federal Energy Regulatory Commission."
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    Permission granted by Esme Howland
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    Biden taps 3 for FERC seats amid concerns over potential lack of quorum

    "A fully-seated, bipartisan FERC provides more opportunity for advancing long-lasting, sensible energy infrastructure policy,” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., said.

    By March 1, 2024
  • NV Energy's One Nevada transmission line.
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    "One Nevada transmission line" by Reliathon is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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    Nevada regulators set to approve NV Energy’s $2B IRP amendment, including new gas resources

    Critics say the utility has used the integrated resource plan amendment process to advance projects with insufficient scrutiny.

    By March 1, 2024
  • FERC headquarters
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    Permission granted by Esme Howland
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    Biden nominates 3 FERC commissioners

     "A fully-seated, bipartisan FERC provides more opportunity for advancing long-lasting, sensible energy infrastructure policy,” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., said.

    By Feb. 29, 2024
  • Electricity transmission towers with glowing wires.
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    jitendrajadhav via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    2024 PJM Outlook: Tough choices loom on capacity market, plant retirements, transmission planning

    Ensuring that enough new generation comes online to replace retiring power plants is a key issue that threads through PJM’s expected focus this year, stakeholders and observers said.

    By Feb. 29, 2024
  • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seal hangs on the facade of its building.
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    Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
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    SEC to scrap scope 3 reporting from climate disclosure rule: Reuters

    The omission could create a compliance conundrum for companies that still need to report scope 3 under European Union and California climate rules.

    By Zoya Mirza • Feb. 27, 2024
  • An Oklahoma wind farm, cattle ranch and crop lands.
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    milehightraveler via Getty Images
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    SPP proposes renewable, thermal resource accreditation reforms aimed at bolstering reliability

    The Southwest Power Pool’s current accreditation for wind, solar and storage fails to account for their reliability value decreasing as more are added to the grid, according to the grid operator.

    By Feb. 27, 2024
  • Pylon with power lines against reddish sky at sunset, rural North Carolina, USA.
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    Karl Weatherly via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    Congressional action on energy permitting remains stuck, but states, developers are finding solutions

    States are resolving local objections to projects through community engagement while transmission developers are making innovative use of existing rights-of-way to bypass permitting logjams.

    By Feb. 27, 2024
  • A rendering of electric power lines against the backdrop of a twilit sky
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    Imaginima via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Advancing energy justice: A new paradigm in grid equity and reliability analysis

    The Michigan Public Service Commission’s decision ordering DTE Electric to run regression analyses and understand energy reliability in diverse communities sets a valuable precedent for other Midwestern states.

    By Will Kenworthy and Boratha Tan • Feb. 26, 2024
  • Solar photovoltaic panels and a substation in the evening.
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    zhengzaishuru via Getty Images
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    ERCOT, CAISO offer best grid interconnection processes; PJM, ISO-NE the worst, report finds

    The scorecard, which ranked PJM Interconnection last with a D-minus, can be used a baseline to measure interconnection reform efforts across the U.S., Advanced Energy United said.

    By Updated Feb. 26, 2024
  • An electric utility power line crew works to upgrade a transmission line tower.
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    Zview via Getty Images
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    Avangrid, other utilities urge FERC to reject ‘false’ claims of insufficient transmission cost reviews

    But New England ratepayer advocates support a challenge to the utilities’ alleged failure to adequately share information about their “asset condition” projects.

    By Feb. 23, 2024
  • MISO control room
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    Permission granted by Midcontinent Independent System Operator
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    FERC enforcement office seeks $27M from Ketchup Caddy for MISO demand response fraud

    The CEO of the company, which had “no legitimate market activity,” according to FERC staff, said he planned to “[d]o this for just a couple of years, make a bunch of money to put kids through school .... and no one’s hurt.”

    By Feb. 22, 2024
  • A street sign marks the intersection of Wall and Broad Streets in Manhattan.
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    rabbit75_ist/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
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    5 takeaways from the investor-owned utility sector’s day on Wall Street

    Utilities will likely issue equity this year to fund the energy transition’s record capital spending, Edison Electric Institute officials said.

    By Feb. 21, 2024
  • A structure is set on Xcel Energy's Rush Creek transmission project in Colorado.
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    Courtesy of Xcel Energy
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    Colorado cities urge FERC to reject cost allocation for Xcel’s $2B Power Pathway transmission project

    The Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, which serves four states, along with three of its municipal utility members in Colorado, contend they won’t benefit from the project and shouldn’t pay for any of it.

    By Updated Feb. 23, 2024
  • Aerial view above Lake Merritt in Oakland, California. Looking across the lake at downtown Oakland with skyscrapers in the distance.
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    DianeBentleyRaymond via Getty Images
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    California PUC approves plan to add 56 GW of clean energy resources by 2035

    The resources are needed to meet the California Public Utilities Commission’s new 25 MMT annual electric sector carbon emissions target for 2035, a nearly 60% drop from the 2020 level.

    By Kavya Balaraman • Feb. 20, 2024
  • advanced reactor HALEU
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    Retrieved from Centrus Energy Corp..
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    Domestic uranium enrichment gets $2.7B boost from US Senate

    The Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024 funds conventional and advanced U.S. uranium enrichment capabilities, but the bill faces an uncertain future in the U.S. House of Representatives.

    By Brian Martucci • Feb. 16, 2024
  • FERC headquarters
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    Permission granted by Esme Howland
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    FERC OKs cold weather reliability standards, and 5 other takeaways from Thursday’s open meeting

    The agency intends to move forward in the “very near future” on its pending regional transmission planning and cost allocation rule, per Chairman Willie Phillips.

    By Feb. 16, 2024