A severe tornado this month in Iowa, not uncommon, had an unfamiliar outcome. As described in a photo in the New York Times, “In the trail of a tornado, a wind turbine is bent in half like a cheap straw, its hub engulfed in flames and thick black smoke, its blades on the ground.” In… More Exploring the differences between wind and solar
The Biden administration is hoping to pull off a historic diplomatic feat, resolving multiple, ancient fractures in the Middle East in one stroke. The knife to cut through this regional Gordian knot, in the administration’s view, is Saudi Arabia. It’s an unlikely and potentially dangerous endeavor that could jeopardize the 56-year-old Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, celebrating… More Commentary: The risks of an Israeli, U.S., Saudi diplomatic trifecta
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has rejected a plan by the Alabama government for a state plan to manage coal wastes, the latest in a long-running battle over how to dispose of the toxic residue of decades of generating electricity with coal. EPA said the plan state environmental officials submitted was inadequate in multiple ways… More EPA dumps Alabama coal ash disposal plan
The U.S. Department of Energy this week issued rules to implement the Biden administration’s new pseudo-ban on Russian enriched uranium nuclear fuel. DOE outlines how users can take advantage of the four-year delay built into the legislation that Congress passed earlier this month. The ban itself extends to 2040. Biden signed the bipartisan legislation May… More DOE lays out Russian LEU ban waiver process
How significant and radical is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s latest, newest attempt to foster long-failing interstate electric transmission? A recent analysis from Keith Goldberg of the Washinton law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius takes a deep look at the impact of FERC’s May Order 1920, including its roots, its reach, and its future.… More Scoping the meaning of FERC’s Order 1920
It was a low key announcement from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management last week (May 16). Implementing a recent federal court ruling from Montana, BLM proposed to end new leases for existing mines in the Powder River Basin (PRB) in Wyoming and Montana. The reaction from coal states and coal industry interests was… More Commentary: Coal interests cry crocodile tears
Predictably, a 25-state group and the nation’s rural electric cooperatives have sued the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency over proposed new rules designed to reduce coal-fired power plants’ greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA rules rely on carbon capture and sequestration to achieve its aims, despite questions about the maturity of the technology. Attorneys general Drew… More States, co-ops sue EPA over coal plant CO2 plan
A sharply divided Federal Energy Regulatory Commission adopted a sweeping electric transmission reform Monday (May 13), featuring a blistering dissent from Commissioner Mark Christie, the only Republican member, and a pointed defense of the order from Commissioner Allison Clement. The commission adopted a new approach to regional electric transmission planning and construction in the face… More Fractured FERC adopts landmark transmission order
The California Public Utilities Commission last week (May 9) adopted a sweeping new statewide electric rate design, imposing a $24.15/month fixed customer charge aimed at recovering fixed utility costs combined with lower volumetric rates for customers of the state’s three large investor-owned electric companis. The new rate design, the CPUC stressed, is based on the… More CPUC Oks new electric rate design, nixes PG&E generation spinoff
Jupiter, Fla.-based Holtec International (with most of it located in New Jersey) is setting out to be the Swiss Army knife of nuclear energy, the be-all and end-all of the business of radioactivity. Will the company’s private structure and secretiveness hamper its ambitions? On May 1, Holtec announced its latest atomic venture, a wholly-owned subsidiary,… More Holtec’s ambitions: an engine that knows no rest