Political and economic aftershocks continue from the nuclear expansion woes in South Carolina and Georgia. In the Palmetto State, the 45% minority owner of the abandoned $9 billion, two-unit V.C. Summer nuclear plant, state-owned Santee Cooper, last week filed a motion with the South Carolina Public Service Commission seeking to intervene in the consideration of … More More political and economic fallout from S.C, Ga., nuclear projects

James Robb, picked in March to head the North American Electric Reliability Corp., took office as the CEO of the Atlanta-based reliability overseer of the continental electric grid, on Monday (April 9). He comes to NERC after a sex and domestic violence scandal involving his predecessor, Gerry Cauley, led to a major NERC executive suite … More New NERC leader Robb takes the helm

It seems so easy: Bundle distributed energy – rooftop and community solar photovoltaic arrays, storage, small hydro, landfill gas, and energy efficiency – and sell it as generation in competitive wholesale markets. It’s not so easy after all, as this week’s two-day technical conference at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission established beyond a doubt. The … More Aggregating DERs in wholesale markets is a heavy lift

The giant PJM Interconnection today, after intense and contentious internal discussions, filed a “you pick ‘em” proposal at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deal with state-mandated programs to subsidize uncompetitive nuclear, coal and renewable capacity. The 477-page PJM filing offers two different proposals to FERC, suggesting that the feds adopt the one that pleases … More PJM to FERC on the RTO’s subsidy pricing plans, pick one

Rex J. Fleming, in the March 27 issue of the journal Environmental Earth Sciences, writes, ”The results of this review point to the extreme value of CO2 to all life forms, but no role of CO2 in any significant change of the Earth’s climate.” This is a direct challenge to the current scientific orthodoxy that … More Former NOAA scientist challenges climate orthodoxy

Have the North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s physical security standards made the U.S. grid more secure? A recent analysis by the Congressional Research Service says the record is incomplete, “a work in progress.” The March 18 report – “NERC Standards for Bulk Power Physical Security: Is the Grid More Secure? – finds that “although it … More U.S. grid physical security a work in progress?

FirstEnergy Corp.’s troubled competitive generating companies late Saturday, March 31, filed for federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Ohio, in the company’s home city of Akron. The move is the latest in what appears to be the end game in the company’s attempt to rid itself … More FirstEnergy seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

It’s desperation time at Akron, Ohio’s, FirstEnergy utility as the company faces the closure of two nuclear units in Ohio and two in Pennsylvania. As a last ditch effort to save the plants, the company has petitioned Energy Secretary Rick Perry to invoke an emergency provision of the Federal Power Act (Section 202c) to keep … More FirstEnergy desperation over nukes

Do owners of California rooftop solar shift costs to customers without photovoltaic panels? It’s a long running argument, with the latest contribution coming from economist Lucas Davis at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. In a paper this week, Davis echoes Haas School director Severin Borenstein, who has earlier raised … More Solar cost shifting fight flares up

In two recent partial dissents, Cheryl LaFleur, currently the longest-serving member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, issued partial dissents to FERC rulings on gas pipeline approvals. She was joined by Richard Glick, the most junior FERC commissioner, in one of those dissents. In both cases, a key to the dissent was the commission’s rejection … More Is ‘social cost of carbon’ a useful metric?