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

“Action Now!” radicalism has destroyed the slow moving, 2016 consensus based Paris Agreement. It is not just COP 25 that failed; the UN climate change machinery has collapsed. This is good news, even though the reason is bad news. I have been writing about the climate alarmism movement tearing itself apart for months now. For example … More COP 25: Paris Accord destroyed

The rise of distributed energy resources poses challenges to the U.S. electric transmission system, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC). In a report – 2019 Long-Term Reliability Assessment – released Thursday (Dec. 19), the nation’s reliability watchdog said, “Distributed energy resources (DERs) and storage are increasingly offering electricity customers an option to … More NERC examines reliability implications of changing power mix

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday (Dec. 19) adopted a long-awaited rule on the restructuring of the PJM capacity market to deal with state subsidies for preferred generation that many critics have seen as causing an anti-competitive price war in the giant regional wholesale market. A divided commission voted 2-1 for the order, which stems … More FERC acts on PJM capacity market rules

In poker, if you are dealt a hand with a card missing that is a misdeal and the dealer must shuffle the deck and start again. The European Union’s so-called “Green Deal” (GD) is just like that. What’s missing is any hint of a plan. The proponents of this plan-free nonsense gleefully admit they have … More EU Green Deal is a reality misdeal