By Kennedy Maize Has the U.S. got it wrong in the way we finance the poles and wires that bring power to our communities? Veteran energy economist Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the UC Berkeley’s Haas Energy Institute (and also a member of the California Independent System Operator governing board) says the answer is yes. … More What’s wrong with how we pay for poles and wires?
By Kennedy Maize Battery energy storage, barely on the electric industry radar screen a decade ago, is transforming the industry in the U.S. and around the world, providing a means for “intermittent” generation — primarily solar — to offer low-cost power around the clock, as needed. Advocates of the radioactive and fossilized electric systems of … More How solar and batteries are transforming electric systems worldwide
By Kennedy Maize Michigan regulators have granted Consumers Energy a two-month delay in dealing with its controversial plan to sell 13 small and elderly hydroelectric plants to a Maryland-based private equity firm. The Jackson, Mich., investor-owned utility last week (Sept. 8) asked the Michigan Public Service Commission to remove a decision on the company’s unusual … More Michigan’s complex and controversial hydropower deal faces more delay
By Kennedy Maize The administration’s unstated but operationally obvious policy of trying to prevent any U.S. coal-fired power plant from closing during Trump’s final term has suffered a major blow. In a scathing rebuke to the Trump administration’s coal-centric energy policy, a federal appeals court in Washington on Friday (Sept. 11) said the Department of … More Appeals court overturns DOE order keeping coal plants running
By Henry Sokolski Last month, Energy Secretary Chris Wright asked Congress to approve a US-Saudi civilian nuclear cooperative agreement. The clock is ticking. Ninety days hence, the United States could be exporting reactors to the Kingdom unless Congress objects to the deal. Before Congress approves such exports, though, it should examine why so few Russians … More Guest commentary: Could US nuclear reactors survive military hits in Saudi Arabia?
By Kennedy Maize President Trump, reaching back to his first go-round, has issued another possible ban on foreign-made equipment crucial to the bulk power system, to be administered by the Department of Energy. A likely outcome is to push up the costs of electric power, passed on to consumers. Late last month (Aug. 26), Trump … More Trump potentially bans broad swath of foreign electrical gear
By Kennedy Maize One of the largest proposed data center developments in the U.S. — Project Jupiter, named after the largest planet in the solar system — is causing some turmoil in New Mexico, including a ruling by the state’s high court halting review of an air quality permit for the project in Doña Ana … More Project Jupiter major data center roils New Mexico
By Kennedy Maize Is the Trump administration trying to hide from the public the details of its groundbreaking and controversial July 22 proposed U.S.-Saudi Arabia nuclear power cooperative deal? The administration has now sent a package to Congress for ratification, as required by law. Unlike the case with past similar agreements, the administration has so … More Proposed U.S.-Saudi nuke deal draws attention, contention
By Kennedy Maize Nevada has sued the Trump administration’s Department of the Interior in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada over the agency’s new Colorado River water allocation regime. The state, the Colorado River Commission of Nevada, and the Southern Nevada Water Authority (“SNWA”) sued Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the leadership … More Nevada challenges DOI Colorado River plan
By Kennedy Maize Wildfires, always a threat, particularly in the arid western U.S. have been particularly prominent of late. The region has been locked in a drought and the threat of the coming El Niño could make things worse. In Texas, the Austin American Statesman this week reported, “Dry weather and extreme heat over the … More Electric companies and wildfires: who pays?