Long moribund, President Donald Trump has put the final nail in the coffin known as the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. In a tweet Thursday, Trump wrote, “Nevada, I hear you on Yucca Mountain and my Administration will RESPECT you! Congress and previous Administrations have long failed to find lasting solutions – my Administration is … More Trump pulls financial plug on Yucca Mountain
After 50 years of service, the Tennessee Valley Authority has closed the final unit of what was once the largest coal-fired electric generating station in the U.S. The giant, federally-owned public power system shut down the 1150-MW Paradise unit 3 on Feb. 1, after shuttering the 740-MW units 1 and 2, commissioned in 1963, shut … More Paradise lost: TVA shuts iconic coal-fired power plant
What’s the role of corporate boards of directors? A recent Washington Post op-ed by professor Franklin A. Gevurtz, a specialist in corporate law, caught my attention. Titled “Why do corporations have boards of directors anyway?” In the context of Hunter Biden’s role on the Ukrainian gas company Burisma board – with no apparent qualifications in … More Commentary: Are boards of directors useful?
There is no climate emergency. Preaching doom and gloom is a crime against the young generation. These are the key points of a new manifesto from the Climate Intelligence Group or CLINTEL. CLINTEL is a rapidly growing international group, led by prominent scientists, which opposes ill-founded attempts to scare people into hasty climate policy actions. … More Commentary: Debunking climate scaremongering
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s December order designed to accommodate state-subsidized generation into the PJM capacity market has provoked opposition from non-utility generators in the region, industrial customers seeking competitive prices for power, renewable energy advocates who feel disadvantaged by a rule favoring nuclear and coal plants, and PJM itself. A flurry of rehearing requests … More Rehearing request blizzard follows FERC’s MOPR order
A year after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is close to emerging from court protection. But the giant company, facing huge liabilities from utility-caused wildfires that scorched its territory and killed at least 85, still has a major obstacle to overcome: California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The … More PG&E bankruptcy: good news and bad
FERC Commissioner Bernard McNamee today announced that he will not seek a second term at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission when his current term expires on June 30. “I love this job, but I love my family more,” he said at the monthly FERC open meeting. He also said he has informed the White House … More FERC’s McNamee won’t seek a second term
2019 saw the rapid rise of climate hysteria. But as the saying goes, “You ain’t seen nothin yet.” Now that the hysteria is firmly established and well organized, it is sure to get bigger and louder. I see very little coming from it except the noise, as long as skeptics keep up the good fight. … More Commentary: A year of ineffective climate madness looms
Plans to sell the Jacksonville city-owned power and water utility, Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA), have become a political and legal quagmire. The sale is unlikely to occur, after the JEA board on Christmas Eve cancelled the sale. Florida Times-Union reporter Nate Monroe, who has covered the controversial sale from the start, wrote that the board … More Jacksonville’s muni privatization plan in legal and political limbo
2020 starts with a clouded vision for nuclear power around the world. The year ended with bad news for nuclear. World Nuclear News reported that 2019 ended with more shutdowns than start-ups. “Six power reactors were added to the grid last year and construction of three large reactor projects started, while nine units were permanently … More 2020’s clouded nuclear vision