Regulation & Policy: Page 24


  • Senate confirms FERC nominees, restoring agency to full commissioner complement

    “The [agency] works best when it has five members, so I look forward to welcoming them … so we can work collaboratively to ensure reliable, affordable and sustainable energy,” FERC Chairman Phillips said.

    By June 13, 2024
  • An aerial view of an industrial complex with buildings, storage tanks and pipes, and a power plant in the background.
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    Courtesy of Basin Electric Power Cooperative
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    Basin Electric faces $471M in customer rebates for putting nonutility expenses in rates

    A FERC administrative law judge also found Basin Electric was imprudent when it failed to consider replacing coal-fired power plants with potentially less expensive generation.

    By June 13, 2024
  • High voltage power lines seen from below Explore the Trendline
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    Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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    Trendline

    Top 5 Stories from Utility Dive

    Power demand is rising amid dramatic shifts in federal energy policy, but technology and markets continue to push the grid toward cleaner, more distributed resources. 

    By Utility Dive staff
  • California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks during a news conference.
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    California goes after Big Oil’s ‘illegal’ profits over alleged greenwashing

    ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP and the American Petroleum Institute may be required to surrender profits gained from false advertising, according to an amended complaint filed Monday.

    By Zoya Mirza • June 12, 2024
  • Jim Jordan sits behind a podium with both hands outstretched.
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    Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
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    House Judiciary Committee: Climate groups and activists ‘colluding’ on decarbonization

    The interim report from the yearslong probe also accuses groups in the financial system of forming a “climate cartel” that “has declared war on the American way of life.”

    By Lamar Johnson • June 12, 2024
  • A large white pipe lies in a dirt trench, stretching toward mountains in the background.
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    Charles Mostoller/Reuters

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    $7.85B Mountain Valley Pipeline construction complete

    Gas will soon flow on the much-delayed project, which received a green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday.

    By Julie Strupp • June 12, 2024
  • Front View Of Electric Meters On Building Facade
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    onurdongel via Getty Images
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    Maryland PSC rejects Exelon utility’s $213.6M multiyear rate plan

    Instead, Pepco will be able to increase its rates by $44.6 million for a year while the state agency assesses the benefits of multi-year rate plans.

    By June 12, 2024
  • Aerial shot of buildings in a downtown. A tree-covered hill sits in the background.
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    Davel5957 via Getty Images
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    Proposed tax on gas-powered large buildings will go to voters in Berkeley, California

    A 2023 court decision that struck down Berkeley’s first-in-the-nation ban on gas hookups in new construction is part of what led to the ballot measure, an organizer said. 

    By Ysabelle Kempe • June 11, 2024
  • Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler listens during a meeting.
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    Anna Moneymaker via Getty Images
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    Congressional Dems urge SEC to stay committed to climate disclosure rule

    A group of 38 lawmakers asked the agency to “vigorously defend” its now-stayed final rule in court and enforce previous climate-related guidance in the interim.

    By Zoya Mirza • June 11, 2024
  • Electric transmission lines alongside a highway.
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    Roberto N via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Transmission planning’s next frontier: A rebuttable presumption for modern grid technologies

    Regulators should apply the principle of ‘rebuttable presumption’ — accepting a given fact as true until it is disproved — by ensuring that alternative transmission technologies are prioritized in evaluating system needs.

    By Jason Marshall • June 11, 2024
  • The facade of a building with large windows and a sign that says "Federal Energy Regulatory Commission."
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    Permission granted by Esme Howland
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    FERC in Focus

    A monthly column that shines a light on the top issues facing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

    By June 11, 2024
  • AI Artificial Intelligence and conversational chatbots businesses digital technology interact with applications, including customer service, sales and marketing and big data virtual screen.
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    hirun via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    As NVIDIA, IBM and others apply AI to boost utilities, regulatory and data privacy obstacles abound

    The “move fast and break things” business model of the technology sector is meeting the regulated spending and reliability imperatives of the utility sector.

    By June 11, 2024
  • The facade of a building with large windows and a sign that says "Federal Energy Regulatory Commission."
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    Permission granted by Esme Howland
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    Column

    FERC in Focus: Has the agency been ‘captured’ by the sectors it regulates?

    FERC Commissioner Mark Christie thinks so. Other FERC experts don't go that far, but they see the commission giving a strong deference to utility companies.

    By June 11, 2024
  • GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 nuclear unit
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    Retrieved from GE Hitachi.
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    Nuclear Innovation Alliance offers road map to catalyze advanced nuclear development

    Project sponsors and the federal government can do more to share project risk and cover budget overruns for early projects, the group found.

    By Brian Martucci • June 10, 2024
  • A person wearing a ponytail and purple tank top raches up to touch cardboard around a window AC unit on the outside of a building. A plastic water bottle sits on the windowsill.
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    David Ryder/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    US summer electric bills expected to rise 8% in 2024 amid drop in low-income aid: report

    The average U.S. electric bill this summer is projected to set a 10-year record, finds a June 3 report from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association and Center for Energy Poverty and Climate.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • June 10, 2024
  • High voltage power lines photographed at blur hour.
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    timnewman via Getty Images
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    Grid operators fail to effectively use interregional ties, increasing costs, hurting reliability: NREL

    National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers offer a range of options for improving existing interregional operations, including developing a national interregional transmission planning process.

    By June 7, 2024
  • High-voltage tower with electric power lines between green agricultural fields.
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    Bilanol via Getty Images
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    Illinois renewables plan encouraging grid-enhancing technologies could be national model, group says

    The state's Renewable Energy Access Plan asks utilities and regional transmission operators to “better incorporate” grid-enhancing technologies such as dynamic line ratings in future transmission planning processes.

    By Emma Penrod • June 6, 2024
  • A group of young protesters marching fill the frame with signs that read "Planet Over Profit" and "Climate Justice" with a sunflower sprouting bottom to top as the "i" in climate and "t" in justice.
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    Spencer Platt/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Sierra Club, NRDC drop legal challenges to SEC climate rule

    The two environmental groups have decided to focus resources elsewhere to improve climate-related financial disclosures.

    By Lamar Johnson • June 6, 2024
  • A wind farm in Minnesota.
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    PBouman via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Minnesota’s permitting reforms will accelerate its clean energy boom and can serve as a national model

    The Energy Infrastructure Permitting Act is expected to cut permitting time for individual projects by nine months to a year, shortening the overall approval timeline by 50% or more.

    By Mel Mackin • June 5, 2024
  • Two seated grey-haired men in suits and ties talk behind a wooden table with a man smiling in the background.
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    Anna Rose Layden via Getty Images
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    Senate panel advances FERC nominees; Senate confirms NRC chair for second term

    The National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors, a point of contention in the FERC nomination hearings, would change if new legislation now being drafted passes, Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., said.

    By June 5, 2024
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    shulz via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Responsible AI in energy: Balancing efficiency, sustainability and trust in a high-stakes industry

    Stringent regulations, safety considerations and environmental expectations necessitate robust risk management as AI adoption accelerates in the energy sector.

    By Alyssa Lefaivre Škopac and Patrick McAndrew • June 4, 2024
  • Workers in fluorescent work vests on a scaffold are dwarfed by giant data center under construction
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    Nathan Howard via Getty Images
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    PJM market monitor challenges energy efficiency payments to Exelon utilities, FirstEnergy, others

    In a complaint filed with FERC, Monitoring Analytics said Public Service Electric & Gas, CPower Energy and other companies failed to show they are eligible for $128 million from PJM’s capacity market.

    By June 4, 2024
  • Transmission lines next to a highway in California.
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    davidfillion via Getty Images
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    Pathways Initiative advances plan for independent power market organization for the West

    The initiative aims to develop a plan for a new regional organization to oversee wholesale power markets by the end of the year.

    By June 3, 2024
  • Rust-colored, V-shaped transmission towers carry power lines across a barren desert landscape with rugged, treeless mountains in the background.
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    Retrieved from US Department of Energy.
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    NV Energy opts to join CAISO-developed day-ahead market over SPP alternative

    “This may represent a market that is too good to pass up for a lot of other Western utilities,” Advanced Energy United’s Brian Turner said.

    By June 3, 2024
  • Stack of silver coins with seedlings ready to grow.
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    Sakorn Sukkasemsakorn via Getty Images
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    White House looks to bolster carbon market credibility

    The Biden administration released new principles for responsibly participating in voluntary carbon markets in what was called a “pragmatic step” by the CEO of carbon data platform Sylvera.

    By Lamar Johnson • May 31, 2024
  • An Eversource Energy power line in the woods in New Hampshire.
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    The image by Eversource NH is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
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    States, renewable energy groups press FERC to approve ISO-NE long-range transmission process

    But LS Power, NextEra and others said the proposed competitive solicitation process would limit nonincumbent transmission projects.

    By May 31, 2024