S. David Freeman, an icon of energy policy and politics for seven decades, died in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Reston, Va., May 12 of heart disease. He was working on a critical analysis of recent Tennessee Valley Authority operations when he had to go to the hospital just days before his death. He was … More Dave Freeman, a titan in U.S. energy history, dead at 94
Kansas City-based Evergy, a utility holding company created just a year ago by the merger of Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy, parent of Kansas City Power & Light, may be headed to the exit. Bloomberg reported this week that the company has multiple suitors. The most likely to succeed is Ohio-based giant American Electric … More Is Evergy headed to Never-Never Land?
President Trump May 1 issued an executive order concerning cyber security and the U.S. bulk electric supply system, which has gotten little attention in the general media. The order, published in the May 4 Federal Register, found that “foreign adversaries are increasingly creating and exploring vulnerabilities in the United States bulk-power system, which provides the … More Trump targets foreign electric equipment suppliers
Is the bell tolling [thanks to Carolyn Elefant for the literary allusion to John Donn an English cleric and poet, 1572-1631*], for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s fait accompli use of tolling orders? The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals took up a challenge, in an unusual en banc hearing this week, to FERC’s long-standing practice … More FERC tolling orders under court and congressional review
As the coronavirus pandemic has hammered demand for electricity across the country, the impact is likely to be greater for investor-owned utilities than for the public power sector, according to Moody’s Investor Service. In recent report, the bond rating agency said its outlook for the public sector “remains stable because we expect the sector to … More Coronavirus has disparate effects on utilities
The Trump administration has rolled out its approach to revitalizing the U.S. nuclear power industry. It makes about as much sense as the administration’s haphazard approach to covid-19. That’s to say, it’s misguided and unlikely to work. The work of the White House’s Nuclear Fuel Working Group, a multi-agency endeavor coordinated by a feckless Department … More White House’s fraudulent nuclear revitalization plan
The pandemic-induced collapse in crude oil demand and the resulting negative pricing for May U.S. futures contracts could be more than a temporary phenomenon. Rather, it could be a sea change in the world’s economies, presaging and perhaps bringing on a period of deflationary pressures. That’s a scary scenario, as deflation – reducing of prices … More Will oil glut lead to a Great Depression?
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