Regulation & Policy: Page 2

How states and utilities can capitalize on the biggest clean energy legislation in US history

Utilities should use the IRA’s tax credits and reinvestment financing to accelerate their clean power ambitions, replacing risky fossil plants with renewables to boost profits and cut consumer costs, the authors write.

By Dan Esposito and Kimani Jeffrey • Aug. 31, 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

Explore the Trendline➔

The Energy Transition to Renewables

New laws, corporate commitments and favorable economics are giving a significant boost to renewable energy in the U.S., but there are multiple headwinds around grid interconnections, transmission, supply chains and trade disputes.

By Utility Dive staff

FERC approves ISO-NE plan to bypass the grid operator and rely on state reviews for DER interconnections

The proposal is expected to lower wholesale power prices by increasing distributed energy supplies, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 29, 2022

EV, clean energy, environmental leaders convey Inflation Reduction Act concerns, shortfalls

Onshoring requirements for making EVs and content sourcing for critical minerals could challenge manufacturers, experts say, and climate progress depends on governments using funds from the climate and infrastructure laws wisely.

By Dan Zukowski • Aug. 25, 2022

FERC gives NextEra, ConEd, Equitrans 4 more years to finish $6.6B Mountain Valley gas pipeline

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday said the long-delayed project remains in the public interest.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 24, 2022

TC Energy’s NW gas project should be rejected over climate concerns: West Coast attorneys general

The GTN Xpress project runs counter to state climate laws, isn’t needed and would be subsidized by existing customers, the attorneys general told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Monday.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 22, 2022

GreenHat Energy, traders to pay $181M to settle PJM market manipulation allegations

The GreenHat traders will pay $1.4 million, down from the recommended $68.1 million, according to settlement agreements approved Friday by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 22, 2022

DOE to attack CO2 emissions with billions in funding from inflation reduction, infrastructure laws

The Energy Department wants big R&D spending to have CO2 reduction tools ready by 2030, but clean energy advocates see it delivering wealth and prolonged life to fossil fuels and slowing renewables deployment.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 22, 2022

Justice Department, FTC urge FERC to expand competition for building new transmission, deny utility exclusivity

The Edison Electric Institute disagreed, saying Wednesday that utilities should have first dibs on building transmission because competition doesn’t work in the sector.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 18, 2022

New ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas must address soaring energy costs, market observers say

Vegas, currently executive vice president of NiSource, will take over leadership of the Texas grid as efforts to ensure reliability are driving customer bills higher.

By Robert Walton • Aug. 17, 2022

Liberty never looked so green: Policy implications of private carbon-free energy commitments

Our struggling climate, economy and public finances face a triple reckoning. Enabling private capital to voluntarily flow to its most productive uses benefits all three, the author writes.

By Devin Hartman • Aug. 17, 2022

What inflation – and the Inflation Reduction Act – mean for the clean energy sector

While inflation rates could pose challenges for clean energy projects, the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act could more than make up for those impacts, experts say. 

By Kavya Balaraman • Aug. 16, 2022

Utility leaders hail clean energy tax incentives as House sends historic climate bill to Biden’s desk

The bill's 15% minimum corporate tax could ding some investor-owned utilities, however.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 15, 2022

Baker signs major Massachusetts climate bill despite concerns over fossil fuel limits, other provisions

The decision to not exempt multifamily housing from the community-level ban on natural gas and other fossil fuels will ensure that low- and moderate-income families continue to be priced out of these towns, Gov. Charlie Baker said.

By Larry Pearl • Aug. 12, 2022

FERC commissioners press financial giant Vanguard over possible efforts to influence utility power portfolios

“Should a company like Vanguard seek to influence the management and operation of utilities’ generation portfolio, for example, this could have a significant impact on the rates consumers pay for electrical service,” the commissioners said.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 12, 2022

Gov. Baker wavers on signing Massachusetts climate bill due to concerns over fossil fuel limits

"Part of the bill gives me agita,” the governor said Tuesday, according to CommonWealth Magazine.

By Larry Pearl • Aug. 10, 2022

Diving into the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credits and the ambitious plan to reshape the US energy sector

Tax incentives in the plan would stabilize federal energy policy, incentivize domestic manufacturing, and benefit communities impacted most by the changing energy landscape, the author writes.

By Mona Dajani • Aug. 9, 2022

Hawaiian Electric braces for bill increases amid high oil prices, coal plant retirement

At the same time, the company sees a lot of potential upside from the Inflation Reduction Act, executives said during an earnings call Monday. 

By Kavya Balaraman • Aug. 8, 2022

Senate passes Inflation Reduction Act with $369B in energy and climate spending

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Friday on the bill, which includes major tax credit provisions to spur emissions-free energy, electric vehicles, nuclear power and clean hydrogen, among other things.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 8, 2022

Virginia regulators approve Dominion Energy’s 2.6-GW, $9.8B offshore wind farm

The project will be the largest wind farm in the U.S. and the first with diversity hiring requirements, the Sierra Club noted.

By Larry Pearl • Aug. 8, 2022

Electrifying fleet customers – How utilities can capitalize on the coming fleet electrification wave (before it’s too late)

Utilities have a critical role in the coming wave of commercial vehicle electrification. Fleet advisory services are necessary to determine infrastructure needs to successfully manage new charging demands.

Aug. 8, 2022

Sinema backs Inflation Reduction Act, clearing hurdle to $369B energy, climate package

An agreement reached Thursday with the lone Democratic holdout, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., opens a path for the bill to move through the Senate.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 5, 2022

Inflation Reduction Act would spur 42% US carbon emissions cut by 2030: Princeton-led study

The Senate bill cuts U.S. carbon emissions mainly by speeding up the deployment of clean electricity and electric vehicles, according to the analysis released Thursday.

By Ethan Howland • Aug. 4, 2022

Why electricity is more expensive and less reliable

After a quarter century, the evidence is accumulating that our experiment with electricity restructuring is failing, former chairman and CEO of the Illinois Commerce Commission Brien Sheahan writes.

By Brien J. Sheahan • Aug. 3, 2022

NextEra’s ‘game-changing’ Real Zero emissions goal spurs questions about hydrogen, demand-side management

NextEra, the world’s biggest IOU by market cap, wants a “real” reduction of all carbon emissions by FPL, its regulated subsidiary, with solar, batteries and green hydrogen, but it will go without much help from the demand side.

By Herman K. Trabish • Aug. 3, 2022