Predictable extreme Texas weather – this time heat, not cold – has again embarrassed the Lone Star State’s fossil fuel braggarts and humbled the state’s go-it-alone electric grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), once again rescued by allegedly unreliable renewables. Fortunately, the state was able to avoid rolling blackouts. The Houston Chronicle reported … More ERCOT Again Abandoned by Fossil Fuels
A federal appeals court has ruled against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and for Wyoming in a dispute over regional haze limits from large coal-fired power plants. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver last month (Aug. 15) found that EPA’s partial rejection of a state implementation plan (SIP) for cutting NOx emissions from … More 10th Circuit Rejects EPA Wyoming Haze Reduction Rule
For private equity investors in power plants in the PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest wholesale competitive power market, it’s been a case of live by the capacity market and die by the capacity market. That’s the finding in a new analysis from the non-profit Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, titled “Decade of strong … More Private Equity Generation Living and Dying in PJM
In a victory for Texas and the state’s oil and gas industry and a defeat for the nuclear power industry, a federal appeals court has overturned the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s license for an above-ground, away-from-reactor storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in the Lone Star State. In a case brought by Texas Gov. Greg … More 5th Circuit Kills Texas Spent Nuclear Fuel Project
By Henry Sokolski For several years now, Chinese officials have refused to negotiate nuclear arms control limits with the United States. Beijing says it shouldn’t have to until and unless America reduces its nuclear weapons arsenal to match much lower Chinese numbers. China, however, refuses to share how many nuclear weapons it has and it’s … More Guest Commentary: Getting China to Negotiate on Nuclear Arms Control
The Brits have a colloquial term for cleaning up a mess with a vacuum cleaner. They call it “hoovering” from the famous Hoover brand, verbification of a proper noun (“xeroxing,” anyone?). Now, the U.S. government plans to spend billions of dollars in trying to vacuum carbon dioxide directly from the air, which they call “direct … More Hoovering the Sky for Carbon
One of the oldest forms of storing electric power, relying on gravity, which gets little attention in the current discussions of how to accommodate the intermittent nature of solar and wind generation, could be headed for northwestern Colorado and a major revitalization. A Salt Lake City renewables company working on solar, wind, and all forms … More Pumped Hydro: Storing Electricity with Gravity and Water
Geothermal energy – using the heat from deep within the earth as renewable energy to make electricity and heat buildings – has been long on promise and short on delivery. Today, mature technology from the oil and gas industry may be ready to help realize the promise of hot rocks. For many, “fracking” is a … More Are Hot Rocks Finally Ready to Deliver?
Two of the nation’s three electric utility Washington-based trade groups yesterday (Aug 16) announced leadership changes. The Edison Electric Institute has chosen Dan Brouillette, former Trump administration secretary of energy, as its new president and chief executive officer. EEI represents the nation’s investor-owned utilities. On the same day, the American Public Power Association announced Scott … More Extra: EEI, APPA New Leaders
Congress is expert at legislative nomenclature. Bills often get colloquial names to appeal to various interests. But few are as creative as 2022’s “To provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 14.”, passed April 16 last year and better known as President Joe Biden’s “Inflation Reduction Act,” or IRA. Inflation is … More Happy Birthday, Inflation Reduction Act