Are utilities missing out on the opportunity to use old coal sites for solar?

Two coal-to-solar projects show there can be benefits from taking on the costs of coal site remediation and repurposing – but it is a site-by-site question.

By Herman K. Trabish • March 8, 2018

Goodbye Yucca? NRC to review New Mexico nuclear waste storage proposal

Holtec Inc. filed an application last year to construct and operate a consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Lea County, New Mexico.

By Robert Walton • March 8, 2018

GE aims to enhance solar, wind power performance with new storage platform

The company wants to make inroads into the utility-scale storage market with Reservoir, a modular, four-hour duration battery system.

By Peter Maloney • March 7, 2018

DOE pushing small modular coal plant development

By 2022, DOE wants to design at least two small-scale coal plants with "flexible operating capacity," according to its budget justification. 

By Gavin Bade • March 7, 2018

NM Supreme Court approves coal, nuclear use in PNM's regional haze plan

The case dates to 2011, when the EPA denied New Mexico's plan to address regional haze.

By Robert Walton • March 7, 2018

All in or half there: Maryland Legislature debates two different RPS bills

Lawmakers are debating two bills that would raise the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard to 50% or 100%. Analysts say the 50% increase will likely muster more support than the other measure. 

By Peter Maloney • March 7, 2018

NRC chair outlines reforms for advanced reactor reviews

NRC will develop new processes to review non-light water nuclear plants, such as small modular reactors, and help industry develop new standards, Chairman Kristine Svinicki said. 

By Gavin Bade • March 7, 2018

Cheap fuel, stagnant demand drive down New England wholesale prices

The average annual real-time price for wholesale power in New England last year was $33.94/MWh, the second-lowest in 15 years. 

By Robert Walton • March 7, 2018

Co-op, muni, clean energy groups target capacity reforms in FERC letter

Any reform to capacity markets should prevent over-procurement of generation resources, the groups wrote, while also ensuring clear responsibilities for resource adequacy. 

By Gavin Bade • March 6, 2018

Utilities find groundwater contamination, radioactivity at unlined coal ash sites

The findings come as the Trump administration looks to roll back the Obama-era coal ash rule that compelled utilities to collect groundwater data.   

By Robert Walton • March 5, 2018

Entergy strikes deal to sell Vermont Yankee nuclear facility

The utility said it will have the nuclear plant decommissioned and the site overhauled by 2075, but a deal to sell the plant to NorthStar Group Services Corp. could achieve those goals by 2030.

By Robert Walton • March 5, 2018

PSEG, Exelon cancel capital projects at Salem nuke after legislation stalls

The reliability and efficiency projects were shelved after a bill to financially support the state's struggling nuclear plants was shelved last month. A similar decision may be in the works at PSEG's Hope Creek plant.

By Robert Walton • March 5, 2018

Time-travel, utility-style: Outlines of the utility of the future appear

Rocky Mountain Institute experts identify price, data and interconnection as the keys to success for the utility of the future, whether it's an expanded monopoly or a distribution system platform.

By Herman K. Trabish • March 5, 2018

Carbon tax fails — again — in Washington

Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee says the Senate does not have enough votes to pass the measure, but he expects a price on carbon at some point in Washington's future.

By Robert Walton • March 2, 2018

EPA moves to give states more leeway on coal ash

A new proposed rule includes many changes EPA previewed in a November court document, including alterations to groundwater monitoring and protection standards, cleanup and closure rules and location restrictions for ash pits.

By Gavin Bade • March 2, 2018

Transmission fault cuts power to Puerto Rico capital

800,000 residents lost power in the North and East of the country five months after Hurricane Maria destroyed the island's grid.

By Gavin Bade • March 1, 2018

ERCOT predicts record peak demand this summer

A recent spate of coal-retirement announcements are expected to pinch the supply stream during that period, but the grid operator says it will lean on demand response and distributed generation to help meet demand. 

By Robert Walton • March 1, 2018

The 'stealth NOPR?' PJM CEO says market reforms are no bailout for coal

Some experts are concerned pending reforms in the nation’s largest electricity market could have similar results to a Trump administration subsidy plan rejected by federal regulators.

By Gavin Bade • March 1, 2018

NJ regulators to accelerate offshore wind development, launch solicitation process for 1.1 GW

The state has a goal of developing 3,500 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, while neighboring New York is targeting 2,400 MW of capacity by the same deadline. 

By Robert Walton • March 1, 2018

IPPs, utilities and greens push PURPA recommendations in Washington state

The recommendations given to the state Utilities and Transportation Commission found common ground between several groups over how it should implement the Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act.

By Robert Walton • Feb. 28, 2018

FERC staff: Eversource, Avangrid did not withhold pipeline capacity

An October report from the Environmental Defense Fund asserted the two utilities had artificially constrained capacity on the Algonquin pipeline, driving up power prices in New England.

By Gavin Bade • Feb. 28, 2018

PJM: Reliability strong during January cold snap, but pricing reforms needed

The nation's largest electricity market performed well during January's "bomb cyclone," its grid operator said, but a spike in uplift charges reveals the need for pricing reforms. 

By Robert Walton • Feb. 27, 2018

SEU 2018 survey: Utilities shaken, not moved, by Trump policies

Utility Dive's fifth annual State of the Electric Utility survey shows a sector committed to the clean energy transition, but wary of policies coming out of Washington.

By Gavin Bade • Feb. 27, 2018

South Carolina cooperatives sue Santee Cooper over Summer nuke charge

NextEra is said to be considering a bid for the public utility, and it's unclear how the lawsuit would affect that potential merger. 

By Robert Walton • Feb. 27, 2018

Vectren Indiana to close three coal plants

The utility plans to replace the capacity with solar and natural gas, but plans to keep running the coal plants until after 2023, the deadline for the gas plant to come online if approved. 

By Robert Walton • Feb. 26, 2018