The U.S. Senate last week (Dec. 12) confirmed the Biden administration’s choice of Matthew Marzano to fill a vacant seat on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, by a 50-45 partisan vote. Outgoing Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was the only Democrat voting no. No Republicans supported the nomination. Marzano, the first NRC member with hands-on… More Around the Nuclear Regulatory Commission: New commissioner, fusion rules, Urenco

Despite yowls from climate activists, natural gas in the U.S. is doing well and looking at a likely boom in new gas-fired electric power plants. According to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, “Five states produced more than 70% of the record 113.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of U.S. marketed natural gas… More Natural gas faces happy days in the U.S.

Has California’s enthusiasm for solar power gone too far? That question is being asked as the state is curtailing large amounts of solar generation and paying other states to take the Golden State’s solar excess. The Los Angeles Times last month (Nov. 24) reported, “In the last 12 months, California’s solar farms have curtailed production… More Negative electric prices: California pays others to take surplus solar power

A U.S. project to capture carbon dioxide emissions from a large North Dakota coal-fired power plant and bury the CO2 on site has suffered a major blow with the withdrawal of Canadian pipeline and energy company TC Energy (née TransCanada Corp.). Project Tundra at Minnkota Power Cooperative’s elderly, two-unit Milton R. Young lignite plant near… More North Dakota CO2 capture project stumbles as key player opts out

For decades, a governing business paradigm for electric utility companies has been the “duty to serve,” or “obligation to serve.” This, distilled, is a moral and legal requirement to make no distinction among customers seeking new electric services. Is it outdated? A 2008 paper by a Michigan Public Service Commission staffer described the dictum: “A… More Is “obligation to serve” an obstacle to fair electric markets?

A little-notice decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last month (Nov. 12) could potentially overturn how federal agencies make many decisions on environmental issues  under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It could also impact how incoming President Donald Trump attempts to assert White House power over government agencies. The… More Are presidential executive orders binding on federal agencies?

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last month (Nov. 20) granted non-power construction permits to Kairos Power for the second of its two Hermes “advanced” small modular reactor projects. The construction permit for the two-reactor test project Hermes 2 came just 11 months after NRC granted a construction permit for an earlier single reactor test project,… More Hermes “advanced” SMR advances, but questions remain

To call the greenwashing gabfest at Baku, Azerbaijan a failure would be an understatement. It was an embarrassment. COP29 ended in oil-rich Azerbaijan with mutual recriminations. Shamefaced developing nations pledged to distribute $300 billion yearly in what amounts to reparations to the underdeveloped world by 3025. The money is supposed to pay for the damages… More COP29: Promise them a gold mine, give them the shaft

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee last Wednesday (Nov. 20), on a straight party line vote, approved the Biden administration’s nominee for an open five-year seat on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The nomination of committee staffer Matthew Marzano now goes to the Senate floor, where it will likely be bundled with a “must-pass”… More Senate committee Oks Biden NRC nominee Marzano

Facing serious protests from state utility regulators and consumer interests, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last Thursday (Nov. 21) approved a major rollback to its groundbreaking May order on regional electric transmission planning, financing, and construction. That order was given the title of Order No. 1920 to commemorate the 1920 founding of FERC’s predecessor, the… More FERC makes big changes to major transmission planning rule