Generation: Page 59


  • Xcel takes nearly $1B fuel cost hit from February storms but still sees Q1 profit rise

    The majority of the $965 million incurred net costs came from the gas distribution and generation portions of its subsidiaries, according to the company's quarterly earnings report.

    By Catherine Morehouse • April 30, 2021
  • PJM control room.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by PJM Interconnection
    Image attribution tooltip

    PJM proposes to end FERC MOPR policy that raised prices for state-subsidized resources

    Under the grid operator's plan, the minimum offer price rule would no longer apply to state-subsidized resources in capacity auctions. But some competitive suppliers are calling for a replacement market design.

    By Catherine Morehouse • April 29, 2021
  • President Joe Biden speaking about the American Jobs Plan
    Image attribution tooltip
    Retrieved from Twitter.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Deep Dive

    Biden's $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan meets power system needs but leaves room for political dealing

    The Biden infrastructure spend would rapidly transition the U.S. power sector in ways utilities like, but Congress is expected to seek changes.

    By April 28, 2021
  • States ask FERC to eliminate MOPR, grant more flexibility in pursuing alternatives to PJM capacity market

    New Jersey and Illinois are actively considering using the fixed resource requirement as a way to pursue clean energy outside the PJM Interconnection's capacity market.

    By Catherine Morehouse • April 26, 2021
  • Image attribution tooltip
    Getty
    Image attribution tooltip
    Deep Dive

    California's dilemma: How to control skyrocketing electric rates while building the grid of the future

    New ideas include income-based rates, publicly-funded infrastructure, utility entrepreneurship, and customer-funded wildfire insurance.

    By April 26, 2021
  • Image attribution tooltip
    Drew Angerer via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Power grid upgrades absent in Senate Republicans' $568B counter to Biden infrastructure proposal

    Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W. Va., told reporters that Republicans were open to discussion on including broader climate policy, and that spending on roads and highways could include funds for EV infrastructure.

    By Catherine Morehouse • April 23, 2021
  • A high-voltage transmission line runs through barren woods.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by Minnesota Power
    Image attribution tooltip

    Sen Wyden proposes bill ending fossil fuel tax breaks, boosting clean energy incentives

    The technology-neutral policy would create tax incentives for resources that emit zero or net-zero emissions.

    By Catherine Morehouse • April 22, 2021
  • FERC overstepping its authority in move to lower demand response barriers, NARUC, utilities charge

    State regulators launched similar charges against federal regulators regarding FERC's order on energy storage, arguing the commission was illegally encroaching on state authority over the distribution system.

    By Catherine Morehouse • April 21, 2021
  • Mississippi Power to retire 976 MW of fossil fuels by 2027

    The utility announced planned retirement dates after Mississippi regulators prompted it to reduce generation capacity amid evidence of "very little, if any, customer load growth."

    By Iulia Gheorghiu • April 20, 2021
  • Democrats tested over boosting transmission, not pipelines, as bill directs FERC to improve regional planning

    One political hurdle in transmission policy is how to heighten regulatory pressure on the pipeline sector while building electric transmission as efficiently as possible, said Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill.

    By Catherine Morehouse • April 20, 2021
  • GE Renewable Energy's wind turbine generator, Haliade-X
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of GE Renewable Energy
    Image attribution tooltip

    Clean energy jobs 'hit hard' by COVID-19 in 2020: report

    Research from Environment Entrepreneurs found the sector shed 307,000 jobs but rebounded in the second half of the year — and could be set for a major recovery in 2021.

    By April 20, 2021
  • Image attribution tooltip
    Photo illustration by Brian Tucker/Utility Dive; photograph by thinkreaction via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Deep Dive // Vineyard Wind Project Permitting

    As Biden targets 100% clean electricity, strategies emerge to reliably integrate rising renewables

    A power system based on portfolios of increasingly cost-effective utility-scale and distributed renewables is emerging and driving new operational and market solutions to make it work reliably.

    By April 19, 2021
  • First Solar's Series 6 modules deployed in a project in Kern County, California
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by First Solar
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    Gas is failing California. It's time to move on.

    Even a state like California can waver in its progress towards clean energy if we let fear take over, the authors write.

    By Nina Robertson, Katherine Ramsey and Shana Lazerow • April 16, 2021
  • Aerial image of the H-POWER waste to energy incinerator in Honolulu, Hawaii
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by Honolulu Dept. of Environmental Services
    Image attribution tooltip

    Hawaii top regulator fears potential clean energy project delays could slow closure of HECO oil-fired plant

    Hawaiian Electric representatives, however, say the utility is trying to balance a variety of concerns, including from local communities. 

    By Kavya Balaraman • April 15, 2021
  • White House considers doubling Obama-era carbon reduction targets: BNEF

    President Joe Biden could also announce a plan next week to reduce economy-wide carbon dioxide emissions by 50% in the next decade, according to BNEF.

    By April 14, 2021
  • Glick: FERC should tackle MOPR if PJM can't agree on update by December capacity auction

    Commissioner James Danly introduced his own proposal for a state option to substitute preferred resources over those that clear in a capacity auction.

    By Catherine Morehouse • Updated April 16, 2021
  • Utility Dive interview series
    Image attribution tooltip
    Yujin Kim/Utility Dive
    Image attribution tooltip
    Q&A

    Taking Charge: FERC Commissioner Christie on his 'across the board' respect for state authority

    "The state regulators know much more about their own states than I did as a Virginia regulator and that I will as a FERC commissioner," said Commissioner Mark Christie in a wide-ranging interview with Utility Dive.

    By Catherine Morehouse • April 13, 2021
  • Vogtle Nuclear Construction Delays

    Former NRC chair questions economic feasibility of new nuclear in US

    Former NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane acknowledges the progress of small modular reactor designs from NuScale Power to achieve permitting while flagging supply chain issues for the broader industry.

    By Iulia Gheorghiu • April 12, 2021
  • President Joe Biden speaking about the American Jobs Plan
    Image attribution tooltip
    Retrieved from Twitter.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Biden $1.5 trillion budget proposal includes 27% increase in overall clean energy spending

    The proposed budget would ramp up spending on new technologies, including advanced nuclear and hydrogen.

    By Catherine Morehouse • April 12, 2021
  • Image attribution tooltip
    The image by TechCrunch is licensed under CC BY 2.0
    Image attribution tooltip

    Granholm: American Jobs Plan will prioritize communities struggling with loss of coal, oil and gas jobs

    Some 40% of the benefits of the American Jobs Plan should go to communities affected by the coal, oil and gas industries, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said during Thursday's White House press briefing.

    By Emma Penrod • April 9, 2021
  • Image attribution tooltip
    Fotolia
    Image attribution tooltip

    Weather-related outages primary cause of Texas blackouts, new ERCOT data finds

    At peak, 54% of generator outages in the region were caused by weather-related issues from Feb. 14 through Feb. 19, according to ERCOT's analysis.

    By Catherine Morehouse • April 7, 2021
  • Wyoming bills to slow coal plant closures sent to governor as 4 other states pursue similar steps

    The Wyoming legislature has approved a series of bills intended to make closing coal plants more difficult, an action the local Sierra Club says will only delay the inevitable.

    By Emma Penrod • April 7, 2021
  • Image attribution tooltip
    Photo illustration by Brian Tucker/Utility Dive; photograph by LL28 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    What a federal just transition strategy should look like

    The transition to a low-carbon economy is a national — even global — phenomena and the response should be too, contributors from the World Resources Institute wrote.

    By Jillian Neuberger and Devashree Saha • April 5, 2021
  • Former Vice President of the United States Joe Biden speaking with attendees at the Presidential Gun Sense Forum hosted by Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action at the Iowa Events Center in
    Image attribution tooltip
    "Joe Biden" by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
    Image attribution tooltip

    Biden $2 trillion infrastructure proposal includes billions in spending on transmission, clean energy

    The plan received wide-ranging support from climate and clean energy groups, but Republican leadership opposes its high price tag.

    By Catherine Morehouse • April 1, 2021
  • Image attribution tooltip
    Yujin Kim/Utility Dive
    Image attribution tooltip

    State of the Electric Utility 2021

    The 8th annual State of the Electric Utility Survey Report provides a pulse on industry trends from nearly 500 utility professionals, many at the VP level and above, along with insight from a broad range of industry experts.

    By Nami Sumida • April 1, 2021