ESG backlash unlikely to derail SEC climate risk rule

SEC Chair Gary Gensler faces growing resistance to the agency’s proposal that companies provide detailed disclosures on carbon emissions.

By Jim Tyson • Oct. 28, 2022

Engie buys 6-GW solar and storage development portfolio from Belltown Power

The deal for projects in PJM, ERCOT and other markets comes as Consolidated Edison, American Electric Power and Duke Energy move to sell their unregulated renewable energy businesses.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 28, 2022

Clean energy supply bottlenecks hit overburdened communities the hardest, utilities and advocates say

The Inflation Reduction Act and an equity focus should help reverse the trend, however.

By Elizabeth McCarthy • Oct. 27, 2022

Apple calls on suppliers to decarbonize operations by 2030

Major suppliers, including chip vendor TSMC, have pledged to power 100% of production for the tech giant with renewables.

By Sarah Zimmerman • Oct. 26, 2022

The energy system is ‘inherently racist,’ advocates say. How are utilities responding to calls for greater equity?

Utility commitments to customer equity, energy affordability and equitable access to clean energy resources are becoming more common, but energy justice advocates say companies need to do more. 

By Robert Walton • Oct. 26, 2022

5 Walmart suppliers team up on renewable energy buy

Levi Strauss, J.M. Smucker and three others completed the first aggregated power purchase agreement under the retailer’s Project Gigaton, which encourages vendors to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. 

By Sarah Zimmerman • Oct. 25, 2022

Electric utility CEO pay gap widens as groups push to link executive compensation and decarbonization

An increasing CEO-to-employee pay ratio is being driven in part by a decline in median employee pay, which could indicate a higher paid, more experienced workforce is retiring.

By Iulia Gheorghiu , Julia Himmel • Oct. 18, 2022

Coaltrain Energy agrees to pay $4M to settle FERC allegations the company manipulated PJM’s market

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which had been seeking $42.1 million from the trading firm, ordered the PJM Interconnection to allocate the Coaltrain proceeds to the grid operator’s members.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 17, 2022

Divert to provide renewable natural gas for BP from food waste digesters via 10-year contract

The $175 million agreement involves gas from three upcoming food waste digesters in California, Pennsylvania and Washington. It marks the latest sign of investment into waste-related projects that produce renewable natural gas.

By Cole Rosengren • Oct. 13, 2022

Brookfield, Cameco partner to buy nuclear services company Westinghouse in $7.9B deal

The deal is driven by a resurgence in nuclear generation spurred by efforts to cut carbon emissions, the companies said Tuesday.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 12, 2022

Evergy, Avista, Portland General Electric earnings poised to jump on hotter Q3, says Bank of America

Black Hills, Idacorp, Oklahoma Gas & Electric and CenterPoint could also benefit financially from the summer’s sizzling temperatures, BofA Global Research said Monday.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 11, 2022

AES Ohio outlook turns negative on weak financial performance, uncertain regulatory support: Moody’s

The negative outlook reflects “persistently weak” financial performance and heightened uncertainty around the utility's relationship with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the ratings agency said Friday.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 10, 2022

Utilities trying new strategies to boost dynamic pricing enrollments

How utilities are boosting enrollment in alternative rate plans with customer outreach and education.

Oct. 10, 2022

AEP eyes sale of competitive retail business in PJM as company focuses on regulated wires, renewables

American Electric Power expects to dedicate 65% of its $40 billion in capital expenditures over the next five years toward transmission and distribution, company officials said Tuesday.

By Ethan Howland • Oct. 5, 2022

Consolidated Edison sells renewable energy businesses to Germany’s RWE for $6.8B

The deal allows Consolidated Edison, the electricity provider in New York City, to “sharply focus on our core utility businesses” and the state’s energy transition, company officials said.

By Robert Walton • Oct. 3, 2022

NYC official urges BlackRock to clear up ‘alarming’ ESG ambiguity

The city's comptroller asked the asset manager to publish a plan that clarifies its net-zero emissions pledge, including concrete steps and a timeline. BlackRock’s ESG stance has also drawn fire from fossil-fuel advocates.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 27, 2022

The maxim of the SEC’s climate rule: What you don’t know can hurt you

The standardized disclosures of climate risks will effectively lay bare companies’ readiness to transition to low-carbon operating models and the mounting physical hazards they face, the authors write.

By Bob Hinkle and Lisa Jacobson • Sept. 22, 2022

Competitive Power Ventures set to build $3B, 1.8 GW natural gas plant with carbon capture in West Virginia

The project was enabled by expanded tax credits for alternative energy projects in the Inflation Reduction Act.

By Julie Strupp • Sept. 21, 2022

FirstEnergy CEO Strah retires suddenly as the company eyes asset sales

“It is unclear whether the Board [of Directors] will consider a full sale of the company at this time,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note Friday.

By Ethan Howland • Sept. 19, 2022

McDonald’s strikes 15-year solar energy deal with EDF Renewables North America

The partnership is expected to meet the electricity consumption needs of over 1,200 McDonald’s restaurants. 

By Emma Liem Beckett • Sept. 15, 2022

BP to acquire retail power and gas provider EDF Energy Services as it shifts into broader energy market

Under the agreement, BP will obtain EDF’s full retail operating capabilities while EDF integrates with other BP businesses that are focused on decarbonization, including BP Wind Energy, BP pulse and BP Launchpad.

By Brett Dworski • Sept. 14, 2022

BlackRock blasts Republican AGs’ ‘misconceptions’ on its ESG role

The asset manager doesn’t “dictate to companies what specific emission targets they should meet,” BlackRock’s head of external affairs wrote last week in a letter. Rather, it asks companies to disclose climate-related data.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 12, 2022

PECO Energy agrees to $150K civil penalty, energy assistance payments, for improper 2018-19 disconnections

The issues stem from software updates at PECO Energy's customer call center. The utility has also agreed to contribute about $400,000 to a bill payment assistance fund.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 30, 2022

Court places Tampa Electric on probation, orders $500K fine for fatal 2017 coal furnace accident

The utility will serve 36 months probation and implement a safety compliance plan designed by an independent third party auditor, in addition to the fine.

By Emma Penrod • Aug. 29, 2022

Risk of cyberattack emerges as top concern of US executives

A PwC study shows cyber risk is a top concern among entire C-suite and corporate boards as companies are spending additional funds to boost resilience.

By David Jones • Aug. 24, 2022