Generation


  • President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House
    Image attribution tooltip
    Win McNamee via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    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
  • Asheville Combined Cycle Station
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Duke Energy
    Image attribution tooltip

    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 June 24, 2025
  • A forest fire burns under a high voltage transmission line in California.
    Image attribution tooltip
    My Photo Buddy via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    How electric companies can reduce liability risks from climate change

    Upgrading infrastructure, embracing renewables and collaborating with governments and communities are no longer optional if companies want to ease legal risks and maintain social license to operate.

    By Aaron Rokstad • June 24, 2025
  • Smoke stack of coal power plant
    Image attribution tooltip
    martin_33 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    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 June 23, 2025
  • A power plant sites next to a river.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by Consumers Energy
    Image attribution tooltip

    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 Updated June 20, 2025
  • Xe-100 reactor
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of X-energy
    Image attribution tooltip

    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
  • AI powers big data analysis and automation workflows, showcasing neural networks and data streams for business.
    Image attribution tooltip
    NicoElNino via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    AI 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
  • Tesla megapack batteries
    Image attribution tooltip

    Provided by Tesla 

    Image attribution tooltip

    ‘Shoulder season’ reliability a growing concern in ERCOT, other ISOs: Aurora Energy Research

    Batteries, gas peaker plants and data centers will provide critical system flexibility by 2030 as load growth, aging infrastructure and weather volatility increase planning uncertainty, Aurora said.

    By Brian Martucci • June 17, 2025
  • A field of solar panels and windmills in the desert.
    Image attribution tooltip
    adamkaz via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    Senate: 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 June 17, 2025
  • transmission regions
    Image attribution tooltip
    Wikipedia. (2024). "2024 RTO Map" [jpg]. Retrieved from WikiCommons.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Deep Dive

    Will 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 June 16, 2025
  • A partly built gas-fired power plant with yellow cranes.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Aaron Yoder via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    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 June 13, 2025
  • Wind turbines generate power and pylons carry electricity near the Keadby Power Station on July 29, 2024 in Scunthorpe, England.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Christopher Furlong via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    LCOE has ‘significant limitations’ and is overused, says CATF

    The levelized cost of electricity metric “often does not account for the full electricity system cost necessary to deploy a generator at a large scale,” said a report from the Clean Air Task Force.

    By June 13, 2025
  • Aerial image of the Clinton Clean Energy Center.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Clinton Clean Energy Center Stock Photos and B-Roll
    Image attribution tooltip

    Meta-Constellation virtual PPA could be first of many deals for existing reactor output: experts

    Aging plants in Illinois, New York, New Jersey and other states with expiring nuclear subsidy programs may turn to deep-pocketed tech companies for relicensing and operating support, ClearView Energy Partners said this week.

    By Brian Martucci • June 12, 2025
  • Wind is blowing pollution from a coal burning power plant.
    Image attribution tooltip
    DWalker44 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    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 June 12, 2025
  • Steam rises from one of two large cement towers, with buildings and a parking lot in the foreground.
    Image attribution tooltip
    The image by Jakec is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
    Image attribution tooltip

    Talen to sell Amazon 1.9 GW from Susquehanna nuclear plant

    The “front of the meter” arrangement doesn’t require Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval, according to Talen Energy.

    By June 11, 2025
  • Wind turbines spin with solar panels in the foreground.
    Image attribution tooltip
    4kodiak via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    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 June 11, 2025
  • Energy thermal power station roof plant with white smoke cloud.
    Image attribution tooltip
    photovs via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    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 June 10, 2025
  • A solar energy farm in Indianapolis, Indiana, an area served by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Aaron Yoder via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    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 June 9, 2025
  • Longworth Congressional Building
    Image attribution tooltip
    Win McNamee via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Electrical manufacturers back bill to assess energy supply chain

    The Electric Supply Chain Act would direct the Department of Energy to assess the power generation and transmission supply chains and report to Congress within one year.

    By June 9, 2025
  • Active construction at the Lumina II battery energy storage system project in Scurry County, Texas.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by Intersect Power
    Image attribution tooltip

    Tariffs to spike power generation costs: reports

    Battery energy storage systems are especially vulnerable to tariffs, according to Wood Mackenzie and Anza Renewables. Data from the two firms showed a sharp increase in BESS costs last quarter.

    By Brian Martucci • June 9, 2025
  • Aerial image of the Clinton Clean Energy Center.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Clinton Clean Energy Center Stock Photos and B-Roll
    Image attribution tooltip

    Meta, Constellation ink 20-year nuclear power deal to support AI goals

    The power purchase agreement will also extend operations at Constellation’s Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois for two decades and replace an expiring state tax credit.

    By Lamar Johnson • June 6, 2025
  • MISO control room
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by Midcontinent Independent System Operator
    Image attribution tooltip

    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 June 6, 2025
  • Construction of Amazon Mid-Atlantic Region data center in Loudon County, Virginia progresses on Feb. 10, 2024.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Gerville via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    Large 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
  • A construction site with two cranes.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Gerville via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Does PJM have a data center problem?

    “Data centers could overwhelm the grids if they chose to,” Joseph Bowring, Market Analytics president, said. He called for requiring data centers to run their facilities on new power sources.

    By June 5, 2025