Regulation & Policy: Page 31

  • Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler listens during a meeting.
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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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    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
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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
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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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    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
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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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    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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    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 Å kopac 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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    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
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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
  • Drone shot of a solar farm on the edge of Liberty, a small town in Randolph County, North Carolina.
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    Duke to offer expanded suite of clean energy options to Amazon, Google, other large customers

    The proposed framework — developed in collaboration with Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Nucor — includes “innovative financing” to support emerging technologies like advanced nuclear and long-duration storage in the Carolinas.

    By • May 30, 2024
  • An aerial view of a power plant with steam rising from one of four smokestacks.
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    The image by RM VM is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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    Earthjustice leads lawsuit seeking stricter EPA coal plant wastewater rules

    The EPA estimates its recently updated wastewater rule, which exempts power plants that retire before 2034, will cause about 5.8 GW of coal-fired capacity to shutter.

    By • May 30, 2024
  • The logo of German pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant Bayer stands over Bayer corporate offices on September 14, 2016 in Berlin, Germany.
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    Sean Gallup via Getty Images
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    Scope 3 emissions reporting is a ‘when,’ not an ‘if,’ for companies: Bayer, Zycus execs

    Technology adoption can help companies organize their scope 3 reporting data, particularly by having the relevant data in a central repository and built-in goal trackers, said Jason Noel with ESG data platform Lythouse.

    By Suman Bhattacharyya • May 29, 2024
  • Pylons carrying electric wires over an agricultural field with blue sky and fluffy, white clouds in the background.
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    21 states, DOE launch initiative to spur grid-enhancing technologies, advanced conductors

    “We're focusing on squeezing every amp that we possibly can out of the existing lines that we have,” Dominion Energy’s Matthew Gardner said at a White House forum.

    By • May 29, 2024
  • An aerial view of five smoke stacks and industrial equipment with a road and highway in the background.
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    FERC rebuffs states, upholds approval of PJM capacity market plan for Delmarva region

    The agency rejected a rehearing request from a coalition that included American Municipal Power, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative and regulators and ratepayer advocates from Delaware and Maryland.

    By • May 28, 2024
  • High-voltage power lines and pylons in California.
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    CAISO board approves $6.1B transmission plan with focus on access to clean energy

    The grid operator will adopt heightened oversight of two major offshore wind transmission projects to make sure their development remains needed.

    By • May 24, 2024
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    Opinion

    Mitigating nuclear industry whistleblower risk after the Supreme Court’s Murray v. UBS ruling

    The court’s decision presents an opportunity for employers in the nuclear industry to review their practices and take practical steps to minimize their potential exposure under the Energy Reorganization Act.

    By Jane Accomando and Lincoln Bisbee • May 24, 2024