The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee by voice vote has approved the nominations of a Republican and a Democrat to two vacant positions on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. That clears the way for a Senate confirmation vote before the end of the Trump administration. The action allows a floor vote on the paired … More Senate energy committee approves FERC nominees
Who is the current chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission? At this moment, there is no clear answer. If you thought the Trump White House on Nov. 5 had demoted Neil Chatterjee from chairman to a lowly commissioner and elevated James Danly from a lowly commissioner to chairman, you might be right. Or wrong. … More Will the real FERC chairman please stand up?
Facing a partial revolt among its customers on the basis of increasing costs, Oregon-based NuScale Power (owned by construction giant Fluor Corp.) has announced a 25% uprating of its still hypothetical small modular reactor design. The power upgrade, based entirely on what NuScale said was advanced testing and modeling, increased the power of its tiny … More NuScale uprates its SMR capacity, generating skepticism
Among the difficult tasks in removing and storing carbon dioxide in order to reduce global warming is how to validate, value, and count reductions and storage from various, non-central places, such as landowners and non-energy businesses. Texas-based Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy says it has come up with a nationwide protocol for storing … More Baker Institute offers national carbon storage protocol
What to expect from a Biden administration when it comes to energy? It’s mostly about climate policy, but also about energy politics. From the start, reflecting Democratic orthodoxy, Biden pledged to a transition to an electric grid powered by 100% renewable power generation by 2030, and zero US greenhouse emissions by 2050. Those are ambitious … More Biden and energy, an uncertain slate
The While House on Thursday (Nov. 5) abruptly demoted Neil Chatterjee as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, replacing him with Republican commissioner James Danly. The surprise move appears to have been a response to the fact that Chatterjee departed from Republican energy orthodoxy in two recent cases, siding with Democratic FERC member Richard … More Trump administration switches leadership at FERC
Facing a growing Ohio nuclear bribery and racketeering scandal, Akron-based utility giant FirstEnergy has fired its long-time CEO. Last Thursday (Oct 29), the multi-billion dollar company issued a press release saying the board has terminated Chuck Jones, CEO since 2015 and a company employee since 1978, according to Akron Beacon Journal. Jones, 63, is an … More Amid scandal, FirstEnergy fires CEO
Despite some progress, and a positive agenda for eliminating global subsidies for fossil fuels, “Significant barriers prevent the full phasing out of subsidies and rationalization of energy prices across the G20,” according to new research from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. A team led by Baker Institute fellow Jim Krane looked at what … More Baker Institute: Reform global fossil fuel subsidies
The NuScale small modular nuclear reactor project, bleeding customers, is facing existential challenges. The problem is economic, not technical. NuScale’s SMR, has taken a series of blows recently, despite support from the U.S. Department of Energy. The project, set to be built on DOE land at the Idaho National Laboratory, is losing significant portions of … More More UAMPS cities consider leaving the NuScale SMR project
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, what state imports the most electricity of all?” “Master, the answer is California.” The Energy Information Administration, in an April 2019 daily brief, laid out the top five U.S. importers of electricity and the top five exporters. It doesn’t appear that EIA has updated that information, but it’s unlikely that … More California tops the list of electricity importers