Generation
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DOE targets nuclear fusion pilot plant design in 5 to 10 years as it announces $46M in funding
The money will go to eight companies and is part of an agencywide initiative to accelerate the viability of commercial fusion energy in partnership with the private sector.
By Stephen Singer • June 1, 2023 -
PJM, PSEG, others urge FERC to reject generator pleas to drop Winter Storm Elliott non-performance penalties
“These failures could have had life and death consequences had events played out differently,” the PJM Interconnection said. “PJM operators preserved reliability while contending with unprecedented difficulties."
By Ethan Howland • May 31, 2023 -
Explore the Trendline➔
bombermoon via Getty ImagesTrendlineThe Utility Dive Outlook on 2023
2023 promises to be another busy year for the U.S. energy transition as stakeholders move to implement new clean energy measures while tackling growing security, reliability, equity and affordability challenges.
By Utility Dive staff -
Texas plan to provide generators with incentives worth up to $1B annually heads to Gov. Abbott
Lawmakers passed the reliability program a day before the end of Texas’ 2023 legislative session.
By Robert Walton • May 30, 2023 -
Opinion
The generators who cry ‘wolf’: How competitive wholesale markets handle generator bankruptcy
Generators with competitive operating costs that enter bankruptcy have every incentive to remain in business and to produce as much energy as they can whenever they can earn more than their variable costs.
By Mike Hogan • May 24, 2023 -
Retrieved from Oklo via Business Wire.
Oklo announces plans for 2 nuclear plants in Ohio area touted as prime real estate for advanced reactors
The probability of “any significant unknowns relative to the site is extremely small,” said a 2017 report to the U.S. Department of Energy, referring to its past industrial use.
By Stephen Singer • May 22, 2023 -
As Texas eyes new gas power plants, ‘probably the most important bill for grid reliability is effectively dead’
The likely failure of a bill to expand energy savings targets for investor-owned utilities is a “significant disappointment,” said Cyrus Reed, conservation director of the Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter.
By Robert Walton • May 22, 2023 -
stock.adobe.com/Daniel Thornberg
Sponsored by Camus EnergyThe grid orchestration opportunity for America’s G&T cooperatives
Post-IRA, G&T co-ops have a historic opportunity to transform their relationship with member co-ops and lead the rural energy transition.
May 22, 2023 -
MISO capacity prices plunge over 93% as generation comes online, demand dips in first seasonal auction
Capacity prices fell to $2/MW-day to $15/MW-day depending on the season from $236.66/MW-day a year ago across the grid operator’s central and northern regions.
By Ethan Howland • May 19, 2023 -
Exelon, other generators urge PJM to reject proposal to reduce ‘capacity performance’ penalties
The proposal would undermine reliability when more frequent extreme weather and falling capacity margins make it more important for resources to meet their capacity commitments, the companies said.
By Ethan Howland • May 19, 2023 -
Opinion
Georgia’s Plant Vogtle is a $35B boondoggle. We need new and better solutions for a carbon-free grid.
Urgent utility business model reforms are needed to create a 21st-century, people-centered grid that delivers affordable fossil-free solutions.
By Patty Durand • May 18, 2023 -
Most of US faces elevated risk of blackouts in extreme heat this summer, NERC warns
All areas are expected to have adequate resources for normal summer peak load, but extreme weather could create widespread challenges, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. said Wednesday.
By Robert Walton • May 17, 2023 -
Bipartisan Senate bill aims to preserve hydropower fleet, spur gigawatts of pumped storage
“We're optimistic that this can get through Congress this year, which is important because we do have that growing risk of license surrenders looming on the horizon,” Malcolm Woolf, National Hydropower Association CEO, said.
By Ethan Howland • May 17, 2023 -
Elliott Management urges leadership, operational changes at NRG after ‘meaningful underperformance’
The activist investment company projects that the changes it’s recommending to NRG Energy could create $5 billion in shareholder value.
By Diana DiGangi • May 16, 2023 -
NERC urges power plant, transmission owners to prepare for winter in highest-level alert ever issued
The “essential actions” alert issued Monday follows several winters when power plants failed to run in cold weather, hurting grid reliability.
By Ethan Howland • May 16, 2023 -
FERC’s Christie pushes review of power markets, deregulation ahead of agency’s PJM, ISO-NE scrutiny
The Electric Power Supply Association defended power markets, saying their shortcomings are driven by federal and state energy policies, not the markets themselves.
By Ethan Howland • May 16, 2023 -
EPA proposes power plant greenhouse gas limits with carbon capture, ‘green’ hydrogen main compliance options
The proposal won’t hurt grid reliability, with an estimated 22 GW of coal-fired capacity retirements offset by roughly the same amount of gas-fired additions, the agency said Thursday.
By Ethan Howland • May 11, 2023 -
Provisional winners of Pacific offshore wind auction call for procurement, port plans
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s lease sale last December drew $757.1 million in winning bids for lease areas the agency estimates can generate around 4.6 GW of offshore wind energy.
By Kavya Balaraman • May 10, 2023 -
Deep Dive
Hawaii leads the way on advanced rate design with default time-of-use rates, fixed charge innovations
Hawaii’s planned granular cost study still must prove to other states that the new TOU rates, fixed charge framework, and new way of defining costs will allocate costs accurately, analysts said.
By Herman K. Trabish • May 9, 2023 -
Texas House weighs Senate-approved plan to incentivize new gas plants as grid faces dicey summer
The legislation would create a state-backed fund to offer zero-interest, 20-year loans to companies building primarily gas-fired power plants.
By Robert Walton • May 9, 2023 -
Sponsored by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc.
Why contracts among cooperative G&T owners ensure equity and fairness
Central to the success of the cooperative G&T model are the promises each member makes to work together with their fellow members to secure a reliable, affordable and responsible power supply for the communities they together serve.
By Dave Frick, General Manager, Morgan County Rural Electric Association • May 8, 2023 -
Retrieved from Westinghouse Electric.
Westinghouse Electric announces new small modular reactor borrowing from its AP1000 nuclear technology
“It’s leveraging a proven technology, a very efficient and reliable techology that’s already in operation around the world,” said Patrick Fragman, Westinghouse president and CEO.
By Stephen Singer • May 4, 2023 -
Dominion Energy projects adding up to 9 GW of gas-fired capacity in Virginia to bolster reliability
The plan, filed Monday with state utility regulators, calls for adding more natural gas and renewables to Dominion’s portfolio, along with up to 4.2 GW of small modular reactors.
By Diana DiGangi • May 4, 2023 -
York Energy Storage aims to build $2.1B, 858-MW pumped storage project in Pennsylvania
The 1,000-acre hydroelectric project on the Susquehanna River in York County has gotten pushback from residents.
By Julie Strupp • May 3, 2023 -
State regulators, others urge FERC to reject PJM plan to delay upcoming capacity auctions
“Halting the markets before the commission has all of the facts before it may actually serve to delay the energy market transition … and raise prices for consumers,” the Organization of PJM States said.
By Ethan Howland • May 3, 2023 -
West Virginia PSC report calls for disallowing $203M in AEP cost recovery over low coal plant usage
Appalachian Power Co. and Wheeling Power failed to take steps to run three coal plants at a 69% capacity factor, a level set by state regulators, according to a report released Friday.
By Ethan Howland • May 3, 2023