Public Service Co. of New Mexico (PNM), the principal asset of Albuquerque-based PNM Resources, sits at the distant southeast corner of the western power grid, unruffled by many of the competitive forces that are roiling much of the country. Indeed, there is a remote feeling about the state, one of the nation’s poorest and one … More Was NM high court-approved San Juan plan tainted by regulator impropriety?

A fractured Federal Energy Regulatory Commission late Friday approved a plan from Independent System Operator-New England for a dual capacity market to accommodate state-mandated policy goals for renewable energy.   The notational vote (not done at a public meeting but through the passage of paper among the commissioners) was 4-1, with Commissioner Robert Powelson dissenting, … More Divided FERC OKs ISO-NE plan to deal with state renewables subsidies

Is this a trend?   * NextEra Energy in Florida is stalking South Carolina’s state-owned Santee Cooper utility.   * JEA, Jacksonville, Fla.’s city large electric and water utility is pondering selling itself to an investor-owned utility.   * Puerto Rico’s PREPA electric utility, staggering before hit by Hurricane Maria in September, further disabling the … More Is U.S. public power under new assault?

President Donald Trump’s threatened tariff of 25% on imported steel is roiling major segments of the energy industry. The expanding natural gas pipeline industry is particularly concerned about the administration’s direction on steel imports, designed to aid the U.S. steel industry. A coalition of oil and gas trade groups today sent a letter to the … More Trump’s steel tariff threat causes energy industry heartburn

The Tesla bears are huffing and growling. Now they have a vehicle to ride as they rip into the iconic electric car maker’s high profile and astronomical market value. Jaguar last week unveiled its challenge to Tesla’s Model X sport utility vehicle, going on sale in the 2018 second quarter. The Jag I-Pace SUV looks … More Tesla, meet Jaguar and let the competition begin

The nuclear construction fiasco at South Carolina’s cancelled V.C. Summer nuclear units continues. The state could easily end up with both of its large electric utilities in the hands of outsiders. While much of the attention has been on the vultures circling over the corpse of Summer’s half-owner, investor-owned utility SCANA Corp., the giant state-owned … More More financial fallout in SC’s nuclear mess

ExxonMobil and its exploration and production partners have struck it rich in again in deep water off the shore of the South American country of Guyana. The oil giant, along with Hess and CNOOC, announced this week that it made its seventh oil find at the Pacora-1 exploration well in the massive Stabroek Block area … More Exxon strikes it rich, again, off Guyana

State electric utility regulators and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are facing a tough issue that they haven’t had to confront for over 30 years: How to adjust consumer rates to reflect the large tax cut Congress enacted this year, slashing nominal corporate federal income taxes from 35% to 21%. Greentech Media headlined a story, … More Electric regulators scramble over new tax law

A recent New York Times editorial asked, “Will the U.S. help the Saudis get a nuclear weapon?” It’s a reasonable question. On Friday, Energy Secretary Rick Perry will be in London, meeting with Saudi Arabian officials to discuss terms of a nuclear deal between the two countries to build U.S.-designed Westinghouse nuclear reactors in the … More Do the Saudis want to build a bomb?

Research physicist Daniel Jassby, writing in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists recently, said that commercial fusion energy, long a supposed holy grail to solve all of the problems associated with generating electricity, is a flawed fantasy. Jassby has standing. Now retired, he did major plasma physics research for 25 years at the Princeton Plasma … More Is fusion energy a fantasy?