Generation

'We're obviously in the middle of a dramatic transformation,' FERC's Glick says amid market reform talks

A series of technical conferences is examining how the changing electricity resource mix requires wholesale market operators to reconsider the products and services being offered, and how they are valued.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 16, 2021

Landmark Illinois climate bill resolves standoff over Exelon nuclear plants

The legislation also provides a road map for sunsetting the state’s coal-fired plants while setting a target of 40% renewable power for the state’s power sector by 2030.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Sept. 15, 2021

House committee to vote on expanded EV and clean energy tax credits, including storage, hydrogen

The funding plan for Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation would extend clean energy tax credits and create new incentives for domestic production and union labor.  

By Jason Plautz • Sept. 14, 2021

House committee approves $150B Clean Electricity Performance Program

The program is the centerpiece of Democrats' climate platform and is included in a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package now being crafted.

By Jason Plautz • UPDATED: Sept. 15, 2021 at 10:26 a.m.

Connecticut falls behind state's GHG goals: 'We told you so,' says Acadia Center

Despite the rise in emissions, the electric sector "shows encouraging results," the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said. Proposed new gas projects are a step in the wrong direction, though, advocates warn.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 13, 2021

California lawmakers pass bill laying the groundwork for West Coast offshore wind development

Assembly Bill 525, now headed to the governor’s desk, instructs regulators to create 2030 and 2045 goals for offshore wind, as well as a broader strategic plan for developing the resource.

By Kavya Balaraman • Sept. 13, 2021

Opinion

Our approach to expanding electricity infrastructure isn't working. It's time for a different conversation.

We do not have the necessary mechanisms to identify, prioritize and build the network of interstate, high-capacity transmission lines needed in the next 30 years, the authors write.

By Armond Cohen and Liza Reed • Sept. 10, 2021

Opinion

5 things I learned from exiting my G&T power provider, and the 300 things I've gained

Kit Carson Electric Cooperative CEO Luis A. Reyes Jr. offers lessons and advice based on KCEC's G&T cooperative exit, one of the first in the country.

By Luis A. Reyes Jr. • Sept. 09, 2021

More than 300,000 Entergy customers still without power after Ida; some parts of system are 'truly a rebuild'

Entergy has restored power to nearly 70% of its 948,000 customers who lost power in Louisiana and Mississippi. But in the hardest hit areas, customers could be waiting up to three weeks for service.

By Robert Walton • Sept. 08, 2021

Deep Dive

Key regulatory decision leaves California reliability issues unresolved, aggravates tensions

In the long process to figure out how to share "attributes" of IOU legacy resources needed to meet state renewables mandates, a major decision could weaken collaboration between traditional and new load-serving entities.

By Herman K. Trabish • Sept. 08, 2021

Pacificorp updated IRP includes 6.7 GW storage, 5.6 GW solar, but NGOs blast fossil fuel component

The utility for the first time also included non-emitting peaking resources and new advanced nuclear in its preferred portfolio.

By Kavya Balaraman • Sept. 03, 2021

Time running out for Exelon's Byron and Dresden nuclear plants as Illinois Senate passes major energy bill

The state Senate's clean energy package, which still needs to pass the House of Representatives, would provide nearly $700 million over five years for the nuclear power sector.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Sept. 02, 2021

Duke explores shutting coal-fired plants by 2030 in South Carolina plans

The revised plans come after South Carolina regulators voted in late June to reject the utility's previous proposals and send the company back to the drawing board.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Sept. 01, 2021

Transmission tower destroyed by Ida likely to complicate power restoration in New Orleans, experts say

As Entergy scrambles to restore power in the Gulf region, the collapse of a major transmission tower could complicate matters, experts say.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Aug. 31, 2021

Deep Dive

Nuclear reactors of the future have a fuel problem

Higher levels of uranium enrichment can unlock value from smaller and simpler reactors, but they come with new hurdles that the nuclear industry says only the federal government can address.

By Matthew Bandyk • Aug. 30, 2021

Ida knocks out all transmission lines into New Orleans, leaves 1M+ without power

Electric utilities along the Gulf Coast are scrambling to assess damage after Hurricane Ida made landfall as a Category 4 storm. Recovery could take up to six weeks in some areas, according to reports.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 30, 2021

Historic drought slashes hydropower generation in California, other Western states

The decline in hydropower, and the scramble to replace it with other sources, is putting financial pressure on local utilities in Western states.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Aug. 24, 2021

Generators, labor groups urge New York to develop incentives for nonrenewable generation

The effort could lead to investments in carbon capture and other low-emissions technology, but conservation advocates call it misguided and urge a focus on more renewables, transmission and storage.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 24, 2021

Opinion

The G&T cooperative business model is not broken, despite some vocal Tri-State opponents

For those who assert that Tri-State — or more broadly, the G&T model — is broken and needs to be fixed, the head of Otero County Electric Cooperative asks, what's the problem that needs to be solved?

By Mario Romero • Aug. 23, 2021

Illinois regulators launch probe of ComEd in wake of bribery scandal

The Illinois Commerce Commission is investigating whether ComEd stuck ratepayers with the bill for patronage hires and other money spent in a bribery case involving one of the state's most powerful politicians.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Aug. 16, 2021

Arizona 2050 clean energy mandate could increase utility bills nearly $60/month, study finds

Take the long-range analysis with a "grain of salt," report producer Ascend Analytics said, as it cannot predict future technologies.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 16, 2021

PSEG unloads fossil fuel plants for $1.9B in push toward decarbonization

PSEG is taking another big step towards cleaning up its grid, with the New Jersey utility announcing plans on Thursday to sell a 6,750 MW portfolio of fossil-fuel plants for $1.92 billion.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Aug. 13, 2021

FERC's Chatterjee laments the politicization of grid resilience in wake of ERCOT, CAISO struggles

The commissioner said he worries his rhetoric that focused on potential plans to save ailing coal plants early in his tenure as chair may have fueled a partisan divide that equates resiliency issues with the use of certain fuels.

By Catherine Morehouse • Aug. 12, 2021

NYPA and Argonne launch hyperlocalized study of climate change impact on power plants

The New York Power Authority wants to focus on the impact climate change could have on individual power plants and infrastructure.

By Scott Van Voorhis • Aug. 10, 2021

Deep Dive

California's Aliso Canyon review could offer key lessons on transition from natural gas, analysts say

The state's consideration of whether to wean itself from one of its largest natural gas storage facilities could be a model, regardless of its success.

By Kavya Balaraman • Aug. 10, 2021