Idaho regulators reject utility’s bid to limit liability for wildfire damages May 23, 2024 The Idaho Public Utilities Commission turned down a request last week from an electric company that wanted to limit its responsibility for future wildfire damages. Portland-based PacifiCorp, which serves about 90,000 Idaho customers through Rocky Mountain…
Entergy lights up $1.2 billion pension buyout with MetLife
Entergy lights up $1.2 billion pension buyout with MetLife May 28, 2024 Entergy Corp., New Orleans, entered into an agreement to purchase a group annuity contract from Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. to transfer nearly $1.2 billion in U.S. pension liabilities. The utility company signed the agreement May 23 to transfer…
EPA to ramp up cybersecurity inspections for water utilities
EPA to ramp up cybersecurity inspections for water utilities 21/05/2024 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a stark warning to the nation’s water utilities, highlighting significant gaps in cybersecurity compliance amid a growing wave of cyber threats. Announced on Monday, the EPA’s new enforcement alert reveals that over 70%…
Future of TMI Unit 1 questioned after nuclear power plant restarted in Michigan
Future of TMI Unit 1 questioned after nuclear power plant restarted in Michigan May 16th 2024 A nuclear power plant is about to restart in Michigan, and it has many questioning the future of Three Mile Island Unit 1. The plant is owned by Constellation Energy. At the company’s earnings…
America’s largest coal source may be losing federal business. But not without a fight
America’s largest coal source may be losing federal business. But not without a fight May 20, 2024 The Biden administration announced plans to end new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, which produces nearly half of the country’s coal—much to the chagrin of top Wyoming lawmakers. The Bureau of…
Biggest electric utility in Wyoming sues regulators over partial denial of rate hike
Biggest electric utility in Wyoming sues regulators over partial denial of rate hike May 21, 2024 Pacificorp, which owns the largest electric utility serving Wyoming, has sued state regulators. The parent company Rocky Mountain Power is asking the U.S. District Court to overturn the Wyoming Public Service Commissioners’ decision in…
Iberdrola to buy rest of US power firm Avangrid in $2.6 billion deal
Iberdrola to buy rest of US power firm Avangrid in $2.6 billion deal May 17, 2024 Spanish utility Iberdrola (IBE.MC), opens new tab has agreed to acquire the remaining 18.4% stake in Avangrid (AGR.N), opens new tab that it does not already own, the U.S. subsidiary said on Friday, in…
FERC adopts sweeping transmission planning regulations with the aim of speeding projects
FERC adopts sweeping transmission planning regulations with the aim of speeding projects Energize Weekly, May 22, 2024 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) adopted a sweeping new regulation, on May 13, aimed at spurring the planning and construction of new transmission lines to meet the growing needs of the nation’s…
FirstEnergy Using Helicopters and Infrared Technology for Vegetation Management Inspections
FirstEnergy Using Helicopters and Infrared Technology for Vegetation Management Inspections May 14, 2024 To keep power flowing safely and reliably, FirstEnergy Corp. is conducting proactive aerial inspections of nearly 7,000 miles of transmission lines in its service territory using helicopters equipped with infrared technology. This work helps ensure that high-voltage…
Zombie coal plants could threaten the US energy transition
Zombie coal plants could threaten the US energy transition 14 May 2024 On the banks of Maryland’s Patapsco River, about 10 miles south of Baltimore, there’s an aging coal plant that pretty much everyone wants to shut down. Local community activists, environmental groups, state officials, even the company that owns…
Oak Ridge National Lab Starts Examination of GE Vernova’s Advanced Nuclear Fuel
Oak Ridge National Lab Starts Examination of GE Vernova’s Advanced Nuclear Fuel MAY 9, 2024 Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) recently started examining several new fuel rods developed by GE Vernova’s Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF) that could help boost the performance of nuclear power plants. The rods were recently shipped…
Biden hikes tariffs on Chinese EVs, solar cells, steel, aluminum
Biden hikes tariffs on Chinese EVs, solar cells, steel, aluminum May 14, 2024 President Joe Biden slapped major new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel, aluminum and medical equipment on Tuesday, taking potshots at Donald Trump along the way as he embraced a strategy that’s increasing…
AEP Ohio: Data center electricity demands to put central Ohio on same tier as Manhattan
AEP Ohio: Data center electricity demands to put central Ohio on same tier as Manhattan May 14, 2024 AEP Ohio is asking state regulators to sign off on a new plan to deal with the surge in data centers in central Ohio that is expected to eat up so much…
Global financing for clean tech manufacturing soared to $200 million in 2023
Global financing for clean tech manufacturing soared to $200 million in 2023 Energize Weekly, May 15, 2024 Global investment in clean technology manufacturing grew year-over-year by 70 percent to $200 billion in 2023, making it one of the largest industrial sectors for new financing, according to a report by the…
PJM predicts adequate resources to meet hotter, wetter summer demand
PJM predicts adequate resources to meet hotter, wetter summer demand May 06, 2024 Valley Forge, Pa.-based PJM Interconnection said Thursday it anticipates having enough resources to meet electricity demand for what weather forecasters say will be a hotter and wetter summer. In a release, the operator of the nation’s largest…
Coal-Fired Mill Creek Generating Station Readies for New 7HA.03 Gas-Fired Unit
Coal-Fired Mill Creek Generating Station Readies for New 7HA.03 Gas-Fired Unit Apr 30, 2024 Louisville Gas and Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities Co. (LG&E and KU) will replace two aging coal generation units at Mill Creek Generating Station in Kentucky—a combined 600 MW—with a 645-MW GE Vernova hydrogen-ready 7HA.03 gas…
AI could drive a natural gas boom as power companies face surging electricity demand
AI could drive a natural gas boom as power companies face surging electricity demand MAY 5 2024 Natural gas producers are planning for a significant spike in demand over the next decade, as artificial intelligence drives a surge in electricity consumption that renewables may struggle to meet alone. After a…
Anger builds over sweeping change in the way most Californians will pay for electricity
Anger builds over sweeping change in the way most Californians will pay for electricity May 7, 2024 With little debate two years ago, state lawmakers passed a complex energy bill that enabled a sweeping change in how most Californians are billed for electricity. The legislation was what Pacific Gas &…
Duluth electric utility owner Allete sold for $6.2 billion
Duluth electric utility owner Allete sold for $6.2 billion May 6, 2024 A Canadian pension board and a New York-based investment firm have agreed to purchase Allete, the parent company of Duluth-based utility Minnesota Power, for $6.2 billion. The partnership paid $67 per share to acquire Allete and plans to…
Replacing old coal-fired plants with small nuclear reactors could be an economic boon
Replacing old coal-fired plants with small nuclear reactors could be an economic boon Energize Weekly, May 8, 2024 The steady pace of coal-fired plant closures in the U.S. is leaving gaps in the economies of dozens of communities and creating risks to electricity reliability. One solution addressing multiple problems could…
Philadelphia begins powering City Hall and the airport by a solar array 100 miles away
Philadelphia begins powering City Hall and the airport by a solar array 100 miles away APRIL 29, 2024 Philadelphia has begun pulling large amounts of power for city-owned buildings from a solar array on farmland near Gettysburg. The project, begun nearly six years ago under former Mayor Jim Kenney, started…
Interconnection reform needed to keep transmission upgrades moving, industry report says
Interconnection reform needed to keep transmission upgrades moving, industry report says April 29, 2024 If the clean energy transition is to pick up speed, and transmission upgrades are to continue, the way interconnection works – from funding on up – needs to change, according to a new whitepaper from the…
States rethink data centers as ‘electricity hogs’ strain the grid
States rethink data centers as ‘electricity hogs’ strain the grid APRIL 30, 2024 State Sen. Norm Needleman championed the 2021 legislation designed to lure major data centers to Connecticut. The Democratic lawmaker hoped to better compete with nearby states, bring in a growing industry, and provide paychecks for workers tasked…
G7 offers leeway to Germany, Japan in deal to quit coal by 2035
G7 offers leeway to Germany, Japan in deal to quit coal by 2035 April 30, 2024 Energy ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major democracies agreed on Tuesday to end the use of coal in power generation during the first half of the next decade, but gave leeway to…
Southern Co’s long-delayed Vogtle unit 4 nuclear reactor enters commercial operations
Southern Co’s long-delayed Vogtle unit 4 nuclear reactor enters commercial operations April 29, 2024 Southern Co’s (SO.N), opens new tab Vogtle unit 4 nuclear reactor has entered commercial operation after years of running behind schedule, the utility firm’s Georgia unit said on Monday. The Vogtle two-unit expansion project near Waynesboro,…
Texas power prices signal grid stress in another long, hot summer
Texas power prices signal grid stress in another long, hot summer Apr 29, 2024 A surge in Texas power prices for August suggests another summer of heavy electricity demand — and potential grid strain — to meet air-conditioning needs. Traders start looking at prices months in advance to gauge the…
U.S. hydropower generation expected to increase by 6% in 2024 following last year’s lows
U.S. hydropower generation expected to increase by 6% in 2024 following last year’s lows APRIL 18, 2024 Last year, U.S. hydropower electricity generation fell to its lowest since 2001. This year, we expect hydropower to increase 6% and account for 250 billion kilowatthours of electricity generation in the power sector,…
New cybersecurity center to protect grids integrated with renewables, microgrids
New cybersecurity center to protect grids integrated with renewables, microgrids 23-Apr-2024 Bringing renewable energy to the power grid raises all kinds of “internet-of-things” issues, said Iowa State University’s Manimaran Govindarasu. That’s because “everything is connected,” said the Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering. Solar inverters are connected to the internet.…
Internet data centers are fueling drive to old power source: Coal
Internet data centers are fueling drive to old power source: Coal April 17, 2024 A helicopter hovers over the Gee family farm, the noisy rattle echoing inside their home in this rural part of West Virginia. It’s holding surveyors who are eyeing space for yet another power line next to…
Can Aging U.S. Nuclear Power Plants Withstand More Extreme Weather?
Can Aging U.S. Nuclear Power Plants Withstand More Extreme Weather? APRIL 23, 2024 To reach its climate goals, the Biden administration aims to extend the lives of U.S. nuclear reactors. But a new report finds regulators have not studied whether increasingly extreme weather could threaten the safety or viability of…
Alberta introduces legislation to reduce high power bill fees for Calgarians
Alberta introduces legislation to reduce high power bill fees for Calgarians April 22, 2024 The Alberta government is stepping in to stop Calgary residents from being forced to pay hefty surcharges on their power bills. Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf introduced a bill Monday that, if passed, would ban cities from…
California reject bill to crackdown on how utilities spend customers’ money
California reject bill to crackdown on how utilities spend customers’ money April 22, 2024 California lawmakers on Monday rejected a proposal aimed at cracking down on how some of the nation’s largest utilities spend customers’ money. California’s investor-owned utilities can’t use money from customers to pay for things like advertising…
Bureau of Land Management finalizes rules for renewable energy projects on public lands
Bureau of Land Management finalizes rules for renewable energy projects on public lands April 15, 2024 The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently published its final rules regarding leasing and rental rates for renewable energy projects on public lands. The new rules will reduce rents and fees for renewable…
PacifiCorp scales back renewables
PacifiCorp scales back renewables April 16, 2024 PacifiCorp, parent company to Wyoming’s largest utility, Rocky Mountain Power, has issued major updates to its Integrated Resource Plan, a blueprint that highlights key changes to the company’s business strategy and its ever-evolving energy portfolio. The update shines a light on the world…
North Dakota’s Dept. of Commerce looking at nuclear power to meet the increasing demand for electricity
North Dakota’s Dept. of Commerce looking at nuclear power to meet the increasing demand for electricity April 15, 2024 North Dakota’s Commerce Department has begun studying whether nuclear power could be used to help meet the increasing demand for electricity. That demand is being driven – in part – by…
DOE Opens $25M Funding Opportunity To Support Tribal Clean Energy Projects
DOE Opens $25M Funding Opportunity To Support Tribal Clean Energy Projects APRIL 15, 2024 The U.S. Department of Energy has opened a funding opportunity making up to $25 million available to support clean energy technology deployment on Tribal lands. Certain projects fueled by biomass, biogas, renewable natural gas (RNG) or…
FirstEnergy gave $1 million to boost Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted’s campaign before scandal, document shows
FirstEnergy gave $1 million to boost Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted’s campaign before scandal, document shows April 10, 2024 A surge in FirstEnergy political spending ahead of the utility’s push to secure a legislative bailout for its nuclear power plants included a $1 million dark money contribution to support the…
Reconductoring transmission lines could be one solution to the growing demands on the grid
Reconductoring transmission lines could be one solution to the growing demands on the grid Energize Weekly, April 17, 2024 Faced with a soaring demand for transmission capacity in the U.S. and a dwindling number of new transmission projects, one strategy could be to upgrade the existing transmission network to carry…
DOE Finalizes Energy Efficiency Standards For Distribution Transformers
DOE Finalizes Energy Efficiency Standards For Distribution Transformers April 8, 2024 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has finalized congressionally mandated energy efficiency standards for distribution transformers to increase the resiliency and efficiency of America’s power grid, support good-paying, high-quality manufacturing jobs, and accelerate the deployment of affordable, reliable, and…
New England’s last coal plants set to shutter, ushering in era of green energy
New England’s last coal plants set to shutter, ushering in era of green energy April 6, 2024 The final coal-fired power plants in New England are slated to shutter in the coming years, making it the second region to phase out the energy source that powered the U.S. economy for…
Plant Vogtle Unit 4 reaches 100% power
Plant Vogtle Unit 4 reaches 100% power Apr 5, 2024 The nuclear expansion at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle has reached another milestone as it nears completion after years of cost overruns and scheduling delays. Unit 4, the second of two new reactors being built at the plant south of Augusta,…
PSE&G details energy efficiency achievements in new report
PSE&G details energy efficiency achievements in new report April 08, 2024 New Jersey utility PSE&G released a report last week on its Clean Energy Future Energy Efficiency (CEF-EE) program. Since the program launched, approximately 1.8 million customers have benefited from PSE&G’s energy-saving tools, while 360,000 have used PSE&G’s suite of…
With time short, S.C. senators take up comprehensive energy bill
With time short, S.C. senators take up comprehensive energy bill Apr. 5, 2024 Utilities, conservation groups, and other stakeholders are all in agreement: South Carolina needs to expand its energy capacity to keep up with its growth. It’s a top priority for leaders in Columbia as well, but they face…
Tri-State G&T faced with co-ops leaving and a stalled rate increase sees bond ratings drop
Tri-State G&T faced with co-ops leaving and a stalled rate increase sees bond ratings drop Energize Weekly, April 10, 2024 Facing the departure of four member cooperatives and the failure to get federal regulators to approve a rate increase, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association bonds were downgraded by two rating…
Dominion Energy gets 764MW of new solar capacity approved in Virginia
Dominion Energy gets 764MW of new solar capacity approved in Virginia April 2, 2024 Virginia regulators on Friday approved more than a dozen new solar projects from Dominion Energy in a move that will expand the company’s clean energy fleet in the US state. The projects approved by the Virginia…
In the central U.S., an electric grid bottleneck persists
In the central U.S., an electric grid bottleneck persists MARCH 30, 2024 Forty-five million people live in the area managed by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the organization that runs a massive portion of the North American electric grid running from Manitoba, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico. Inside that…
SC customers could pay millions for a new power plant that may only run at half capacity
SC customers could pay millions for a new power plant that may only run at half capacity April 1, 2024 Imagine South Carolina building a large power plant to meet future electricity demand, then not being able to fully use it. That’s a possibility under a new federal rule proposed…
Biden administration offers conditional $1.52B to Holtec Palisades to recommission Michigan nuclear power plant
Biden administration offers conditional $1.52B to Holtec Palisades to recommission Michigan nuclear power plant March 29, 2024 As a loan guarantee for Holtec Palisades, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that its Loan Programs Office (LPO) agreed to a conditional commitment of up to $1.52 billion to Holtec Palisades…
California Public Utilities Commission proposes to cut electricity rates
California Public Utilities Commission proposes to cut electricity rates Mar 29, 2024 Paying the electric bill is a year-round struggle for many people in San Diego. But now, there’s a proposal at the state level to drastically slash rates. The California Public Utilities Commission is looking at a proposal to…
Evergy Plan Maintains Lowest-Cost Approach to Meeting Growing Customer Electricity Demand, Maintaining Reliability, and Advancing Sustainability
Evergy Plan Maintains Lowest-Cost Approach to Meeting Growing Customer Electricity Demand, Maintaining Reliability, and Advancing Sustainability April 1, 2024 Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVRG) today filed its triennial Integrated Resource Plan with the Missouri Public Service Commission. This outlines the plan to meet customer electricity needs over the next 20 years.…
