Southern Co.’s Georgia Power subsidiary is laying off 20% of its construction workforce at the troubled Vogtle nuclear power construction project in Georgia as the coronavirus sweeps through the plant. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week, the company said, “This reduction in workforce is a mitigating action that is … More Coronavirus leads to layoffs at Vogtle nuclear construction project

The Trump administration’s EPA decision on changing the 2011 Obama administration rule regulating power plant mercury emissions – leaving it in place but saying it wasn’t valid in the first place – is producing head-scratching confusion. EPA went ahead with its incomprehensible regulatory offering largely over the objection of the electric utilities it was designed … More EPA’s mystifying MATS rule has heads scratching

The “black swan”* coronavirus pandemic, says long-time natural gas analyst Andy Weissman, is profoundly upsetting U.S. and world energy markets, creating a recession much worse that the 2008 event. He says, “Price and supply/demand forecasts that were reasonable just a few weeks ago must now be scrapped.” The hopes, often reflected in the White House, … More Andy Weissman: Pandemic will mean worldwide recession twice as bad as 2008

Moody’s Investors Service has lowered its outlook for the nation’s competitive wholesale electric utilities – serving about half the country – from stable to negative in the light of the coronavirus pandemic. The debt rating company says the rapid spread of the highly infections and fatal virus has hit the competitive electricity providers with a … More Moody’s: Coronavirus will slam competitive electric suppliers

Early in the morning of March 28, 1979 near Harrisburg, Pa., the most significant nuclear power accident in the U.S. began. The unanticipated small loss of coolant event initially attracted little attention, but soon became a major story as the efforts to curb the event and stabilize the 819-MW generator failed. The nation was soon … More Commentary: Harold Denton and Tony Fauci

Worldwide electricity demand, hardly robust during the past several years, appears to have taken a substantial hit during the coronavirus pandemic. In a recent analysis, the Electric Power Research institute took a look at the impacts of the spread of the virus on electric demand in Italy, Spain, New York, and California. EPRI found, “These … More Coronavirus cuts electricity demand here and abroad

The struggling U.S. steam coal business, despite President Trump’s so far ineffectual attempts to end what he has called the “war on coal,” will take a big hit from the impacts of the coronavirus, according to a new report from Moody’s Investor Service. Moody’s analyst Benjamin Nelson says, “U.S. domestic demand for thermal coal will … More Moody’s: the coronavirus war on coal

Just when you thought the coronavirus was the harbinger of the apocalypse, here’s another knuckle-biter. The U.S. Geological Survey this week issued a new report on geomagnetic storms, finding that two-thirds of the contiguous U.S. coast-to-cost is vulnerable to power outages from the geomagnetic disruptions of solar storms, or solar coronal eruptions. USGS said, “Magnetic … More Coronavirus, meet solar storms

POWER Magazine’s ELECTRIC POWER 2020 trade show and conference, an established event in the electricity business for many years and scheduled for Denver April 14-17, has been put on hold. The decision to postpone the event is part of a cascade of energy conferences disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. The delay of the annual conference, … More Corona clobbers energy trade shows

What do Greta Thunberg, 17, and Bernie Sanders, 78, have in common? Each is leading a loud radical uprising that endangers their respective mother ships. In Greta’s case the boisterous Action Now movement is on track to wreck the UN’s elaborate climate action process, come November. In Bernie’s case, his equally loud following, the new … More Commentary: Greta and Bernie, two peas in a socialist pod