Regulation & Policy

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    Northeast states to seek transmission proposals between PJM, ISO-NE, New York

    “There are likely low-hanging fruit, no-regrets interregional transmission projects that current transmission planning approaches are failing to identify,” Katie Dykes, a Connecticut official, said.

    By • April 30, 2025
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    TexPhoto via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Transmission at a crossroads: Policy must reflect today’s infrastructure needs

    State and federal “rights-of-first-refusal” would re-establish certainty by relying on local transmission owners to promptly move ahead with needed power line projects.

    By Devin McMackin • April 29, 2025
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    Trendline

    Sustainability

    Companies are pursuing increasingly ambitous sustainability goals around clean energy, but integrating rising amounts of renewables, minimizing environmental impacts, and achieving carbon reduction targets can be challenging.

    By Utility Dive staff
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    Deep Dive

    EPRI’s Open Power AI Consortium plans to fuel grid modernization with data sharing

    Utilities, tech companies and regulators are facing a conundrum: Utilities want to use AI, but AI needs access to unavailable utility data to be effective.

    By • Updated 23 hours ago
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    U.S. companies sign deal to help bring nuclear energy to Poland

    “The U.S. nuclear relationship with Poland will tightly bind our nations through the next century,” said Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

    By • April 28, 2025
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    imaginima via Getty Images
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    National Grid, Con Edison, other utilities urge FERC to consider gas pipeline reliability measures

    “The challenges facing interstate pipelines … continue to intensify warranting greater regulatory involvement and standardization of practices,” the utilities said.

    By • April 28, 2025
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    Sponsored by West Monroe

    The federal shift in energy and water investment in the U.S.

    Recent executive orders and tariff announcements signal a transformative period for utilities.

    April 28, 2025
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    Renewable energy advocates see threats from Texas legislation

    SB 819 would “represent a significant change to renewables development,” with new siting requirements for wind and solar, said law firm Vinson & Elkins.

    By • April 25, 2025
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    FirstEnergy faces minimal direct tariff impact, but ‘uncertainty’ weighs on customers: CEO

    PJM states will play a key role in meeting resource needs, per FirstEnergy’s Brian Tierney. “It’s leadership by the governors in the states that are going to address this problem most directly," he said.

    By • April 25, 2025
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    martin_33 via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Carbon capture technology is ready. Permitting needs to catch up.

    Ending the carbon dioxide injection well permit application backlog would unleash investment in America, creating tens of thousands of new jobs and strengthening America’s global competitiveness.

    By Anna Littlefield • April 24, 2025
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    Jason Doiy via Getty Images
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    Commerce finalizes tariff rates on solar imports from Southeast Asia

    The 3,403.96% subsidy rate set for four Cambodian solar exporters is “among the highest rates I've ever seen,” said American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee attorney Tim Brightbill.

    By • April 23, 2025
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    The image by Jbs666 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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    Calpine, Constellation, others seek settlement talks over PJM colocation rules

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should find that PJM’s colocation rules are unjust and order 90 days of talks between parties to craft new rules, power plant owners told the agency.

    By • April 23, 2025
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    DOE makes $46.7M loan disbursement to support Palisades nuclear restart

    The 800-MW Palisades plant will be the United States’ first restart of a commercial nuclear reactor that ceased operations, the Department of Energy said.

    By • April 23, 2025
  • Willie Phillips, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission acting chairman, speaking Jan. 19, 2023, at an agency meeting in Washington, D.C.
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    Retrieved from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
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    Phillips exits FERC, leaving a seat for Trump to fill

    The White House has been considering replacement candidates from a pool of conservative lawyers with experience at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, according to R Street’s Devin Hartman.

    By • April 23, 2025
  • In an aerial view, the Amazon Fort Powhatan Solar Farm is seen on August 19, 2022 in Disputanta, Virginia.
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    Climate advocates brace for Trump executive order targeting nonprofits’ tax exempt status

    Environmental groups are anticipating attempts to revoke their tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status, and some are vowing to fight any such attempts. 

    By • April 22, 2025
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    Gerville via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    How AI data centers can support grid reliability in Texas and across the US

    An Enhanced Reliability Interconnection framework would prioritize connections to the grid for large loads that improve reliability through flexibility and behind-the-meter generation.

    By Gideon Powell and Josh T. Smith • April 22, 2025
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    Courtesy of GE Vernova
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    FERC approves PJM capacity auction price cap, floor

    The PJM Interconnection’s next two base capacity auctions will have a $325/MW-day price cap and a $175/MW-day floor.

    By • April 22, 2025
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    Atlanta to launch Climate Resilience Action Plan

    The city plans to move forward even as federal support is uncertain and the plan’s focus on energy burden equity has put it in the Trump administration’s crosshairs.

    By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 21, 2025
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    Kent Raney via Getty Images
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    Clean energy groups urge FERC to reject MISO interconnection plan for replacing retiring power plants

    However, Alliant Energy, other utilities and state utility regulators support the proposal to create a new pathway for connecting replacement generation to the grid.

    By • April 21, 2025
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    As Trump targets clean energy, will utilities embrace DERs and VPPs?

    Though early Trump policies have been broadly unfavorable to utility-scale wind, solar and energy storage, experts are bullish on distributed generation and flexible loads.

    By Brian Martucci • April 21, 2025
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    Cold-weather grid performance improves, plus 4 other FERC open meeting takeaways

    Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie defended the PJM Interconnection amid an uproar over its capacity market.

    By • April 18, 2025
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    Tierney L. Cross via Getty Images
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    EPA granted appellate stay after judge rules to end GGRF funding freeze

    A judge ruled Tuesday to end the freeze and allow grantees to access their funding, but appellate judges granted EPA a stay on that injunction late Wednesday. 

    By • April 17, 2025
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    Trump administration ordered to resume IRA funding

    The decision, which stated federal agencies lacked authority to pause funding, follows the president’s executive order to freeze the money on his first day in office. 

    By Kate Magill • April 17, 2025
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    Retrieved from GE Hitachi.
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    SMRs, not large reactors, are ‘future of nuclear power’: ITIF

    Small reactors could become a key U.S. export if DOE expands support for advanced nuclear technology and the federal government aligns regulations with friendly countries, the think tank said.

    By Brian Martucci • April 16, 2025
  • Georgia Power's Plant Bowen units during a period of inactivity.
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    The image by Sam Nash is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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    Trump exempts more than a third of US coal capacity from updated mercury, air toxics rule

    Power plant owners receiving the largest exemptions are Southern Co., at about 11,285 MW; NRG Energy, at about 7,100 MW; and the Tennessee Valley Authority, at about 6,660 MW.

    By • Updated April 17, 2025
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    FERC should order PJM to rerun last capacity auction: ratepayer advocates

    Separately, Manu Asthana, PJM Interconnection president and CEO, plans to step down from his job at the end of this year, the grid operator said Monday.

    By • April 15, 2025