Regulation & Policy: Page 21


  • A worker on a transmission tower.
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    State utility regulators urge FERC to slash ROE transmission incentive

    Limiting the 0.5% extra return on equity to three years — or ending it — could lower utility income by millions annually, the utilities say.

    By June 30, 2025
  • Two men look at a stack of air conditioners in boxes.
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    FERC’s Christie calls for dispatchable resources after grid operators come ‘close to the edge’

    “You never know about the next time, and there's going to be a next time,” Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Mark Christie said about grid operators' ability to avoid blackouts this week.

    By June 27, 2025
  • Electrical transmission towers Explore the Trendline
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    Trendline

    Cybersecurity of the Grid

    In addition to presenting opportunities for growth, AI is exacerbating cyber threats with more sophisticated malware that is easier than ever to build and deploy. The rise of distributed energy resources also creates more opportunities for attack. 

    By Utility Dive staff
  • A power plant sites next to a river.
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    Permission granted by Consumers Energy
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    Eight utility regulators challenge DOE order keeping Michigan coal plant open

    The department’s invocation of emergency powers to interfere with state and regional utility planning is unprecedented, according to the challenge.

    By June 26, 2025
  • An engineer walks by solar panels with wind turbines in the background.
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    $1.4B in new clean energy factories, projects canceled in May: E2

    Nearly $15.5 billion in clean energy investments have been canceled since the beginning of the year, representing 30 canceled, closed or downsized projects.

    By Lamar Johnson • June 25, 2025
  • Longworth Congressional Building
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    Win McNamee via Getty Images
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    Utilities, energy developers back Senate’s more lenient tax credit timeline

    A powerful coalition of trade associations and energy groups thanked senators for rolling back some of the House version’s deepest cuts, but the two chambers will need to agree on a final bill.

    By Brian Martucci • June 25, 2025
  • Rows of solar panels in a field.
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    Opinion

    As the GHG Protocol eyes the homestretch in its Scope 2 revisions, are the right voices being heard?

    A requirement for hourly matching and the dramatic narrowing of the geographies in which companies can make clean energy investments could stifle the voluntary market.

    By Roger S. Ballentine • June 25, 2025
  • Smoke billowing from smoke stacks in front of skyscrapers.
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    US, global cities tout emissions reductions

    Local U.S. officials say they’re driving emissions goals from the ground up since the Trump administration’s withdrawal from key international climate events and agreements.

    By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • June 24, 2025
  • President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House
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    Win McNamee via Getty Images
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    Nuclear regulators lighten microreactor restrictions

    The new policy includes a broader set of directives to advance an emerging class of transportable, factory-made reactors.

    By Brian Martucci • June 24, 2025
  • Asheville Combined Cycle Station
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    Courtesy of Duke Energy
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    DOE grants Duke Energy authority to exceed power plant permit limits during extreme heat

    The emergency order will help reduce the risk of blackouts in the Southeast brought on by high temperatures, the department said.

    By June 24, 2025
  • Smoke stack of coal power plant
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    Who should pay to keep Michigan coal plant running past its retirement date?

    Groups told federal regulators that making MISO customers pay for a power plant that does not benefit them would violate the Federal Power Act’s cost causation requirement.

    By June 23, 2025
  • The front doors to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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    The image by Tony Webster is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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    Trump’s NRC firing raises alarms at pro-nuclear and watchdog groups alike

    Commissioner Christopher Hanson’s sudden dismissal could make NRC less efficient — and less trusted — just as its workload explodes, advocates say. An industry watchdog warned nuclear safety could take a hit.

    By Brian Martucci • June 23, 2025
  • Two people on the roof of a house holding a solar panel. One uses a drill to attach the panel to the roof. Behind the roof are trees and other homes.
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    Opinion

    From backup to backbone: Why utility-led DERs must drive MISO’s resource adequacy plans

    Jigar Shah says MISO states can use distributed energy resources to meet key goals: cost stabilization, faster time to power, community development and a reliable, resilient grid.

    By Jigar Shah • June 20, 2025
  • A power plant sites next to a river.
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    Permission granted by Consumers Energy
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    Groups appeal DOE ‘emergency’ order keeping Michigan plant online

    “There is no energy emergency in our country … and it is illegal to invoke a made-up emergency to overturn a long-planned plant retirement,” the Sierra Club’s Greg Wannier said.

    By Updated June 20, 2025
  • Xe-100 reactor
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    Courtesy of X-energy
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    NRC speeds timeline for Dow/X-energy reactor permit review

    The 18-month timeline halves NRC’s “generic schedule” for a construction permit application. But Dow is unlikely to greenlight the Texas project before 2028, a spokesperson said.

    By Brian Martucci • June 18, 2025
  • AI powers big data analysis and automation workflows, showcasing neural networks and data streams for business.
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    Opinion

    AI is coming for grid-decision making. Here’s why governance can’t be an afterthought.

    In the 20th century, infrastructure decisions — where to put highways, site power plants or make upgrades — often reinforced inequities. AI threatens to replicate that pattern — at scale and at speed.

    By Brandon N. Owens • June 18, 2025
  • A field of solar panels and windmills in the desert.
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    Opinion

    Senate: Don’t fumble the energy future

    Ending clean energy tax deductions would limit power supply and raise electricity prices. It would be like sending a great football team to compete in the Super Bowl without cleats.

    By Dean Granoff • June 17, 2025
  • NRG, LS Power ask FERC to approve $12B gas-fired power plant, demand-response deal

    NRG’s capacity in the PJM Interconnection would jump to 9.5 GW from 2.1 GW under the deal, which doesn’t pose market power risks, the companies said.

    By June 17, 2025
  • Pylons carrying electric wires over an agricultural field with blue sky and fluffy, white clouds in the background.
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    States, ratepayer advocates urge FERC to reject MISO petition to limit market monitor oversight

    The dispute grew out of Potomac Economics’ criticism of assumptions the Midcontinent Independent System Operator used to justify a roughly $22 billion transmission expansion plan.

    By June 16, 2025
  • transmission regions
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    Wikipedia. (2024). "2024 RTO Map" [jpg]. Retrieved from WikiCommons.
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    Deep Dive

    Will ERCOT’s streamlined connect-and-manage approach work for other markets?

    ERCOT’s single-state, energy-only interconnection process doesn’t include other markets’ deliverability requirements and generator cost certainty needs.

    By June 16, 2025
  • A DTE Energy crew performs reliability work using a bucket truck.
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    Courtesy of DTE Energy
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    Michigan regulators order reliability improvements for Consumers Energy, DTE

    The Public Service Commission ordered the utilities to tackle 75 recommendations identified in an audit completed last year, focused on reliability and storm restoration times.

    By June 16, 2025
  • High-voltage electric transmission lines crossing a green field.
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    Opinion

    Meeting the challenge of FERC Order 881: Why open source matters for AAR implementation

    With ambient-adjusted ratings compliance deadlines set for mid-July, TROLIE offers an open, vendor-neutral standard for the secure, efficient exchange of transmission line rating data.

    By Tory McKeag • June 13, 2025
  • A partly built gas-fired power plant with yellow cranes.
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    State regulators, utilities support SPP fast-track interconnection plan

    But NextEra Energy Resources, clean energy trade groups and others contend it would give utilities a pathway to exclude independent power producers from the process.

    By June 13, 2025
  • Wind is blowing pollution from a coal burning power plant.
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    EPA proposes slashing power plant carbon, mercury emission limits

    However, the Environmental Protection Agency’s rationale behind the move may be legally flawed, according to environmental and other groups.

    By June 12, 2025
  • Wind turbines spin behind a solar energy park
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    Sean Gallup via Getty Images
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    GOP lawmakers reiterate asks for clean energy credit tweaks in reconciliation bill

    Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Virginia Republican, said “there remains significant room for improvement in preserving the clean energy tax credits” in the Senate’s version of the budget bill.

    By Lamar Johnson • June 12, 2025
  • Wind turbines spin with solar panels in the foreground.
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    Prioritize ‘impactful’ power sources for interconnection: DOE’s Wright

    “We need to look at that [interconnection queue] process and prioritize projects that are impactful and make it move faster and more efficiently,” DOE Secretary Chris Wright said.

    By June 11, 2025