Electric car maker Tesla’s river of red ink continued for the first quarter of 2018, but the losses announced today were less than some analysts expected. The troubled automaker is still bedeviled by an inability to roll out its mid-priced ($35,000) Model 3 at profitable levels, the only path to a sustainable business model. But … More Tesla hangs on in 1Q 2018 with better-than-expected results
The latest ploy the Trump administration is considering to bail out failing coal and nuclear plants in the PJM Interconnection’s competitive wholesale markets is drawing fire from the right and the left. At the behest of Akron-based FirstEnergy, the Department of Energy is reviewing a petition to employ the emergency provisions (Section 202(c)) of the … More FirstEnergy federal bailout slammed from right and left
South Carolina’s two legislative chambers are playing rate cut chicken over rolling back the consumer costs for the failed V.C. Summer nuclear project. The House voted to cut SCANA Corp.’s rates by 18%. The Senate scaled that back to 13%. The House then re-upped the cut to 18%, by a 104-7 vote. Now, as the … More S.C. nuclear snafu stumbles ahead
Some existing U.S. coal and nuclear plants have failed in competitive wholesale markets for several years, mostly for sound commercial reasons. The driving factor has been the astonishing rise of low-cost natural gas, thanks to new technologies. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have turned the tables on electric generation. State and federal subsidies for wind … More No-fault capitalism: Trump, coal, and nukes
Political heat appears to be increasing under an electric policy issue that has been simmering for several years. The issue is changes to the 1978 Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA). Those who want significant changes to the venerable law describe it as “reform.” Opponents more often call it “gutting” the law. PURPA is arguably … More PURPA: Reform or wreck?
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission today formally began a process announced at the end of December during the first meeting chaired by Kevin McIntyre, issuing a notice of inquiry to review the agency’s 1999 policy statement (“Certification of New Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Facilities – Statement on Policy”) on how it will certify new natural … More FERC embarks on formal review of gas pipeline approval process
Political and economic aftershocks continue from the nuclear expansion woes in South Carolina and Georgia. In the Palmetto State, the 45% minority owner of the abandoned $9 billion, two-unit V.C. Summer nuclear plant, state-owned Santee Cooper, last week filed a motion with the South Carolina Public Service Commission seeking to intervene in the consideration of … More More political and economic fallout from S.C, Ga., nuclear projects
James Robb, picked in March to head the North American Electric Reliability Corp., took office as the CEO of the Atlanta-based reliability overseer of the continental electric grid, on Monday (April 9). He comes to NERC after a sex and domestic violence scandal involving his predecessor, Gerry Cauley, led to a major NERC executive suite … More New NERC leader Robb takes the helm
It seems so easy: Bundle distributed energy – rooftop and community solar photovoltaic arrays, storage, small hydro, landfill gas, and energy efficiency – and sell it as generation in competitive wholesale markets. It’s not so easy after all, as this week’s two-day technical conference at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission established beyond a doubt. The … More Aggregating DERs in wholesale markets is a heavy lift
The giant PJM Interconnection today, after intense and contentious internal discussions, filed a “you pick ‘em” proposal at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deal with state-mandated programs to subsidize uncompetitive nuclear, coal and renewable capacity. The 477-page PJM filing offers two different proposals to FERC, suggesting that the feds adopt the one that pleases … More PJM to FERC on the RTO’s subsidy pricing plans, pick one