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

Virginia-based powerhouse Dominion Energy is facing serious a serious challenge from the state legislature and the governor, in complete control of Democrats for the first time in decades. While the Richmond-based, vertical and horizontal multi-state utility has long been the most significant corporate political player in the state, it is now challenged by forces it … More Dominion Energy rate deal faces serious opposition

“Loss and Damage” (L&D) is the name of the hugely dangerous issue whereby developed countries would compensate the developing world for damages caused by things like bad weather and rising seas, in the name of climate change. It has been slowly inching forward at every COP since the first in 1995. “COP” has little to … More COP 25: “Loss and Damage” inches on, toothless and homeless

Under the leadership of Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, Maryland has adopted an ambitious renewable energy goal: 100% by 2040. But he’s getting pushback from some local governments. The Democratic legislature earlier this year adopted an ambitious goal of 50% renewables by 2030. Maryland is among the bluest states in the country, but Hogan, recently reelected … More Maryland renewables plan hits local opposition

Once the paragon of nuclear power, the French program is exhibiting the same blind staggers that characterized the U.S. in the late 1970s and the 1980s. In no particular order: * The Flamanville 3 advanced pressurized water reactor (EPR), designed and partially constructed by France’s AREVA and now under Electricity de France management and construction … More What’s the matter with France?

Robert C. Odle, Jr., 75, who retired as a partner in the Washington law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges in 2015 after 30 years, died early last month at his home in Alexandria, Va. The cause of death was brain cancer. I knew Rob Odel in the1980s, when he was the Reagan Administration’s Department … More Rob Odle, former DOE lobbyist and minor Watergate figure, is dead

The California wildfires, the third year in a row for a high fire season, raise a number of perplexing questions: are these evidence of global warming affecting the ecosystem; are investor-owned utilities incapable of protecting the public; have the state’s aggressive renewable energy goals diverted resources away from protecting the grid? There are no definitive … More Fundamental questions about California’s fires and no easy answers

“The future of electric power in the U.S.” is the focus of a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Nov. 1 workshop in Washington. The meeting is part of a two-year NAS project. In the 2018 Department of Energy appropriations bill, Congress told the academies to “conduct an evaluation of the expected medium- and … More NAS Nov. 1 electric future workshop looks at information technologies