Two major high-voltage direct current (HVDC) underground electric transmission projects are moving forward in New York City and Iowa. Is this the future of long-distance transmission? New York City last week (Sept.2) saw the beginning of a key element in an innovative power transmission line connecting clean Canadian hydro to the city’s distribution system. Workers began … More HVDC Trends in Terrestrial Transmission
The U.S. natural gas system – from production, to pipelines, to customers, including electric generating plants – is unable to provide reliable electric service during winter storms. That’s the unavoidable conclusion of a joint Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-North American Electric Reliability Corp. analysis of 2022 “Winter Storm Elliott” unveiled at the commission’s meeting yesterday (Sept. … More FERC Dissects Gas Unreliability
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (is that an oxymoron?) doesn’t just have a problem with unreliable and unpredictable gas-fired generating plants. It has a serious high-voltage north-south transmission bottleneck. ERCOT told the Public Utilities Commission of Texas last week (Sept. 13) in an 11-page report that it came near to ordering rolling blackouts on … More Texas Electric Mess Gets Messier
A significant element in the Biden administration’s plan to substantially reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, replacing those fuels with hydrogen produced from fossil fuels, is fundamentally flawed, according to a new analysis from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). IEEFA says it is “extremely concerned that the current blue … More The Blue Hydrogen Blues
By Henry Sokolski At the G-20 meeting in India last week, President Biden publicly shook Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman’s (MBS’s) hand and met with him privately. It’s unclear what the two talked about. The good news is that there was no further mention of any U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation with the Kingdom. As … More Guest Commentary: Washington Should Just Say No to Saudi Nukes
The Environmental Protection Agency is getting deluged with applications from companies, predominantly located in oil and gas states such as Louisiana and Texas, seeking to capture and store carbon dioxide underground. The Biden administration is betting that carbon capture and sequestration will make a major contribution to reducing atmospheric CO2, a primary greenhouse gas. By … More CO2 Storage: None if by Land, Some if by Sea?
Maine voters in November could approve a ballot initiative that is a hostile takeover of the Pine Tree State’s two investor-owned transmission and distribution utilities – Central Maine Power and Versant Power. Question 3 on the off-year initiative ballot, written by the Pine Tree Power coalition, is simple: “An Act to Create the Pine Tree … More Maine Ballot Initiative: Hostile Takeover of IOUs
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has largely upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s 2020 policy changes, known as Order 872, to the commission’s original implementation 1978 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), which FERC adopted in 1980. The three-judge panel in SEIA v. FERC rejected claims by the Solar Energy Industries … More Appeals Court Upholds FERC’s 2020 PURPA Rules
SoCalGas, the nation’s largest natural gas distribution utility, has suffered two public, self-inflicted black eyes as the Los Angeles company gears up for what promises to be a controversial price hike next year. The company has a “general rate case” pending at the California Public Utilities Commission, seeking an additional $5 billion in revenue over … More Self-Inflected Shiners for SoCal Gas
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