As Vogtle’s costs rise, changes near for reviewing project’s run-away expenses AUGUST 17, 2021 State regulators will consider signing off Tuesday on a plan marking a significant shift in how cost overruns are handled for Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle expansion, which is already billions of dollars over budget and years…
PSEG Agrees to Sell PSEG Fossil Generating Portfolio to ArcLight Capital
PSEG Agrees to Sell PSEG Fossil Generating Portfolio to ArcLight Capital Aug 12, 2021 Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) has entered into an agreement to sell its 6,750-megawatt fossil generating portfolio to newly formed subsidiaries of ArcLight Energy Partners Fund VII, L.P., a fund controlled by ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC…
PJM puts transmission upgrades for onshore renewables and offshore wind at up to $3.2 billion
PJM puts transmission upgrades for onshore renewables and offshore wind at up to $3.2 billion Energize Weekly, August 18, 2021 The PJM Interconnection – the nation’s largest grid operator – estimates that it will take between $2.2 billion and $3.2 billion in new transmission investments by 2035 to accommodate the…
New Mexico customers sound alarm over major utility merger
New Mexico customers sound alarm over major utility merger Aug 10, 2021 New Mexico customers are sounding the alarm over a proposed multibillion-dollar merger of the state’s largest electric utility provider with a U.S. subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola, citing a sordid track record of reliability and customer service.…
Global clean energy technology investment reached a record $500 billion in 2020
Global clean energy technology investment reached a record $500 billion in 2020 Energize Weekly, August 11, 2021 Global investment in clean energy technologies reached a record $501.3 billion in 2020, with renewable energy generation accounting for 60 percent of the total, according to a BloombergNEF analysis. The 2020 figure represents…
Bipartisan $1T Senate infrastructure bill focuses on nuclear, carbon capture, transmission
Bipartisan $1T Senate infrastructure bill focuses on nuclear, carbon capture, transmission Aug. 3, 2021 A bipartisan group of senators on Sunday unveiled its nearly $1 trillion infrastructure bill, formalized into text following a 67-32 consensus to advance the legislation. The vote to advance the bill included the support of 17 Republicans. Read…
FirstEnergy Federally Charged in Ohio Nuclear Bailout Scheme
FirstEnergy Federally Charged in Ohio Nuclear Bailout Scheme Jul 22, 2021 Facing a federal charge for honest services wire fraud in a corruption case related to the billion-dollar nuclear plant bailout in Ohio, FirstEnergy Corp. has agreed to abide by the terms of a three-year deferred prosecution settlement to get…
Duke Energy, hedge fund continue battle
Duke Energy, hedge fund continue battle July 19, 2021 Duke Energy and a hedge fund continued a public battle Monday about the financial performance of the utility, including the operations of Duke Energy Florida. The West Palm Beach-based Elliott Investment Management L.P. sent an 11-page letter to the Duke Board…
Nuclear cost overrun could mean billions in extra Georgia Power profit
Nuclear cost overrun could mean billions in extra Georgia Power profit July 9, 2021 Consumers may end up paying for billions of dollars in cost overruns on the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion. But for Georgia Power and its parent Southern Co., the extra costs could represent a huge financial windfall:…
PG&E wants to propose an 18% rate hike during a heat wave. Here’s why
PG&E wants to propose an 18% rate hike during a heat wave. Here’s why Jul 9, 2021 PG&E is asking the state to raise rates by 18%. The utility presented a proposal to the California Public Utilities Commission saying the money is needed for critical investments- specifically, on work to…
More than half the U.S. faces electricity supply problems in the face of a long, hot summer
More than half the U.S. faces electricity supply problems in the face of a long, hot summer Energize Weekly, July 7, 2021 More than half the U.S. – primarily in the West, Texas, Midwest and to a lesser extent, New England – is at risk of energy emergencies this summer,…
Hawai’i Microgrid Tariff Framework Could Become Model for Other States
Hawai’i Microgrid Tariff Framework Could Become Model for Other States June 28, 2021 Last month Hawai’i become only the second state with a formal microgrid services tariff, and its framework could become a model for other states, according to Microgrid Knowledge, a national publication. Read more
Utility regulators consider FPL request for biggest rate increase in state history
Utility regulators consider FPL request for biggest rate increase in state history JUN. 21, 2021 The Florida Public Service Commission on Monday convened the first of several public hearings regarding a $2 billion rate increase request by Florida Power & Light, the state’s largest utility company. Read more
Duke Energy commits to helping struggling Floridians save money, avoid disconnections
Duke Energy commits to helping struggling Floridians save money, avoid disconnections May 11, 2021 Duke Energy announced a series of steps it is taking to ensure customers who are behind on their utility bills don’t have their power cut off at a dangerous time. Read more
CenterPoint to sell Arkansas, Oklahoma gas utilities for $2.15 bln
CenterPoint to sell Arkansas, Oklahoma gas utilities for $2.15 bln April 29, 2021 U.S. electricity provider CenterPoint Energy Inc (CNP.N) said on Thursday it has agreed to sell its natural gas utility businesses in Arkansas and Oklahoma to privately-held Summit Utilities for $2.15 billion in cash. Read more
Texas Storm Cost NextEra $180 Million in Uncollected Revenue
Texas Storm Cost NextEra $180 Million in Uncollected Revenue Josh Saul and Mark Chediak; Fri, April 23, 2021 NextEra Energy Inc., the world’s biggest investor-owned generator of wind and solar power, said it wasn’t able to collect $180 million in revenue following the Texas energy crisis that left the state’s…
Maine Lawmakers Unveil Effort To Purchase CMP, Versant To Create Consumer-Owned Utility
Maine Lawmakers Unveil Effort To Purchase CMP, Versant To Create Consumer-Owned Utility Maine Public | By Mal Leary Published April 19, 2021 A group of Maine lawmakers has unveiled an effort to buy Maine’s two largest utilities and operate them as a consumer-owned corporation. At a news conference outside the State House…
Cost of winterizing Texas electricity grid worth the expense, Dallas Federal Reserve says
Cost of winterizing Texas electricity grid worth the expense, Dallas Federal Reserve says Energize Weekly, April 21, 2021 The cost of weatherizing the Texas electric power system – which faced a major collapse during a February freeze – could run into hundreds of millions of dollars, but the expense would…
Georgia Power Issues Sustainability Bond: First for a US Utility
MARCH 1, 2021 BY EMILY HOLBROOK Georgia Power has announced its first sustainability bond, and the first sustainability bond for a domestic utility in the United States. Bond proceeds will be allocated to fund the company’s environmental, renewable, and social initiatives. The 3.25% coupon represents the lowest 30-year coupon for a publicly traded bond ever…
Global energy investment plunges, another victim of the coronavirus pandemic, IEA says
Energize Weekly, June 3, 2020 Energy investment across the world has suffered an unparalleled 20 percent decline, equal to $400 billion, in 2020, as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA had projected an increase of 2 percent in global energy…
Tri-State and United Power fighting in court and before state and federal regulators
Energize Weekly, May 13, 2020 A new front was opened last week in the battle between Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and some of its electric cooperatives, as United Power, its largest member, filed a complaint in a Colorado district court charging subterfuge and breach of contract. Meanwhile on May…
Utilities and state regulators delay rate increases, disconnections to deal with COVID-19
Energize Weekly, May 6, 2020 In the face of the novel coronavirus pandemic, utilities and utility regulators are moving to postpone rate increases and guard against service shutdowns for customers as most states continue to impose stay-at-home orders for their residents. The moves are also creating some financial risk and…
Xcel Energy proposes TOU rates for all Colorado residential customers
Energize Weekly, March 4, 2020 Time-of-use electricity rates are increasingly being seen as a valuable tool in reducing peak demand and managing renewable energy generation – but concerns are being voiced over their impact on low-income and elderly customers. Xcel Energy is seeking to shift all of its 1.2 million…
New York State pension plan looks at divesting from coal mining companies in its portfolio
Energize Weekly, February 5, 2020 The New York State Common Retirement Fund – the third largest public pension plan in the country – said it may divest from any of the 27 thermal coal companies in its portfolio which it deems are not taking steps to “transition to a sustainable…
Bonds and credit instruments for green and sustainable projects reach $1 trillion in 2019
Energize Weekly, November 27, 2019 Debt instruments fostering sustainable projects and development reached $1 trillion in 2019 – with more than 30 percent of those loans coming this year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). “Reaching the trillion dollar milestone is a key moment for the sustainable debt market…
Two of Tri-State’s biggest co-ops file complaints with the Colorado PUC seeking to leave
Energize Weekly, November 13, 2019 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association continues to face pressure from some of its members as two of its largest electric cooperatives last week filed complaints with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) seeking reasonable exit fees from the association. Brighton, Colo.-based United Power, the largest…
Five states with open electricity retail markets now have financial aid programs for nuclear plants
Energize Weekly, October 16, 2019 Five states have now moved to provide financial aid to their economically challenged nuclear power plants, according to a federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) report. In July, Ohio joined Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Illinois in offering financial relief or other assistance to their…
Tri-State adds new member, natural gas broker MIECO, in bid to qualify for FERC regulation
Energize Weekly, September 11, 2019 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association has added energy services company MIECO Inc. as its first non-rural electric cooperative member, clearing the way for the association to be regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In July, Tri-State, which serves 43 electric cooperatives in four…
U.S. electricity prices up slightly in the past 12 months spurred by sharp regional differences
Energize Weekly, September 4, 2019 Average electricity prices in the U.S. edged up three-tenths of a percent in the most recent 12-month rolling period, which ended in May 2019, compared to the previous 12-month span, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). There were, however, sharp regional and state…
Colorado PUC moves to block Tri-State plan to move from state to FERC regulation
Energize Weekly, August 21, 2019 The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has filed an unprecedented protest with federal regulators seeking to block the bid by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association to move from state to federal rate regulation. Tri-State, which wants to shift rate regulation to the Federal Energy Regulatory…
Nearly half of U.S. utilities filed rate cases in 2018, most of them seeking rate increases
Energize Weekly, July 31, 2019 Almost half of the major U.S. electric utilities filed rate cases with state regulators in 2018 – the highest number since 1983 – with nearly 90 percent seeking rate increases, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). The rate increase requests were driven mainly…
Tri-State reaches exit deal with Colo. co-op, seeks FERC regulation on rates and contracts
Energize Weekly, July 31, 2019 After more than two years of sometimes acrimonious negotiations, fights before a state utilities commission and lawsuits, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association has agreed to terms allowing one of its rural Colorado cooperatives to leave next year. Four days after filing the agreement with…
Colorado co-op sues to block Tri-State’s move to FERC regulation, state lawmakers also concerned
Energize Weekly, July 10, 2019 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association is going ahead with its deliberations on moving from state to federal regulatory oversight even as one of its rural Colorado electric cooperatives has gone to court to block the action. Tri-State’s decision to seek regulation by the Federal Energy…
Global energy investment, after a three-year slide, stabilized in 2018, the IEA says
Energize Weekly, May 29, 2019 After a three-year slide, global energy investment stabilized in 2018 at just more than $1.8 trillion dollars—as spending on oil, natural gas and coal increased, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. Investments in renewable generation and energy efficiency, however, stalled in 2018, according to the…
Climate-driven weather events pose a risk to municipal bonds, commercial real estate and utilities, BlackRock says
Energize Weekly, April 24, 2019 Among the economic threats posed by climate change are risks to municipal bonds, commercial real estate investments and the utility sector, according to an analysis by BlackRock and the Rhodium Group. “Our work with Rhodium Group shows a rising share of U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) will…
Majority of nation’s coal plants are undercut on costs by wind and solar, study says
Energize Weekly, April 3, 2019 Nearly three-quarters of the nation’s coal-fired electric generation could be matched or undercut on cost by local wind and solar installations, according to analysis by Energy Innovation and Vibrant Clean Energy. The report projects that the portion of the coal-fired fleet economically challenged by renewable…
Facing costly coal plant closures more states are looking to using securitized bonds
Energize Weekly, March 20, 2019 Faced with a growing number of coal plant closures, some states are looking at the use of securitized bonds to soften the financial impact. New Mexico and Colorado already have legislation to create such bonds. “Securitized bonds are a way to avoid a rate shock…
Utility and power sector investments reach a record $180 billion in first half of 2018
Energize Weekly, September 12, 2018 Utility and power sector deals globally hit a record $180 billion in the first half of 2018, spurred by industry consolidation and renewable energy investments, according to a report by Ernst & Young (EY). The accounting and consulting firm’s second quarter “Power Transactions and Trends”…
Community banks and credit unions are playing a large role in residential solar financing
Energize Weekly, August 8, 2018 Community banks and regional financial institutions are becoming a bigger force in the financing of residential and small commercial solar installations, according to a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). These community banks and credit unions represent a new source of capital for…
Blockchain could help manage rooftop solar, electric vehicle and energy trades, study says
Energize Weekly, July 25, 2018 Blockchain—the decentralized digital ledger most often linked to cryptocurrencies—could have a major impact in managing rooftop solar, electric vehicle charging and energy trading, according to an analysis by the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI). The EFI study estimates there has already been $100 million to $300…
Global energy investment dropped in 2017 and isn’t keeping pace with needs, IEA says
Energize Weekly, July 25, 2018 Global energy investment dropped 2 percent in 2017 to $1.8 trillion in 2017—a sign it is “failing to keep up with energy security and sustainability goals,” according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). It was the third consecutive year of declines in global investment with…
World’s biggest reinsurer will no longer deal with companies with high exposure to coal
Energize Weekly, July 11, 2018 Swiss Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, said that it will no longer provide services to companies with a more than 30 percent exposure to thermal coal. The thermal coal policy applies to existing and new thermal coal mines and power plants, and will be implemented…
Moody’s downgrades U.S. regulated utility sector as cash flow is reduced by tax cuts
Energize Weekly, June 27, 2018 Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the U.S. regulated utility sector to negative from stable due to lower cash flows and the highest debt leverage since 2008 as a result of changes to the federal tax laws. While steps are being taken by some regulators and…
Nuclear needs financial support to survive, and some states are already heeding the call
Energize Weekly, May 16, 2018 Nuclear power plants under pressure from market forces are facing closures, but states with high concentrations of nuclear power are stepping in to bolster these generators, and there may be additional policy initiatives that can be taken, according to new studies. “Nuclear power is responsible…
FERC asked by officials in 18 states to ensure that utility tax savings go to customers
Energize Weekly, January 17, 2018 Consumer advocates and attorneys general from 18 states are calling for federal energy regulators to ensure that hundreds of millions of dollars in tax savings utilities are likely to gain from the new federal tax law are passed on to consumers. In letter to the…
