The United States could become a net exporter of energy by 2022, according to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. EIA’s 2018 Annual Energy Outlook, the agency’s premier analytical product, says that “continued development of U.S. shale and tight oil and natural gas resources paired with modest consumption growth” will lead to the U.S. … More EIA: U.S. to become net energy exporter

Florida-based NextEra Energy and Washington’s Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuclear industry’s lobbying group, are in a brawl over the utility’s withdrawal from NEI. NextEra, along with New Orleans-based Entergy, withdrew from NEI in January, dealing a major blow to a trade group under pressure for achieving few results with a large budget. When the two … More NextEra, NEI in a nasty brawl

Exelon Corp. last week announced it will close its Oyster Creek nuclear plant in southern New Jersey near Toms River this October, a year ahead of schedule. The Chicago-based utility holding company, the nation’s largest nuclear plant operator, said high operating costs at the General Electric boiling water reactor plant and low electricity prices led … More Oyster Creek: A historic perspective

A federal appeals court decision in Washington this week could shut down construction of a natural gas pipeline in the Southeast, the Sabal Trail project. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Wednesday denied a request from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the partners in the Southeast Market Pipeline project to reverse … More D.C. court could sideline Sabal Trail gas pipeline

The South Carolina House yesterday passed a bill to remove a $27 monthly charge that customers of SCANA’s South Carolina Electric & Gas are paying for the two failed V.C. Summer nuclear plants. The legislation is another setback to Dominion’s $14.6 billion offer to buy SCANA, as Dominion has said the deal is off if … More More troubles for Dominion-SCANA merger

As the Trump administration prepares to unveil its long-awaited infrastructure plan, some conservatives and fossil fuel interests have launched a lobbying campaign against a gasoline tax increase as a way to finance it. Trump is widely expected to present a large program to upgrade roads, bridges, railroads, and energy transportation projects in his state if … More Gas tax hike to fund infrastructure?

Tesla’s Model 3 production problems, and rumors about the company’s travail, continued this week, led by a report Thursday from CNBC, citing unidentified Tesla employees, that previously reported delays are getting worse as the electric car company continues to be unable to automate battery production. CNBC said, “Tesla’s problems with battery production at the company’s … More More tales of Tesla woes

Dominion’s $14.6 proposed buy of South Carolina’s troubled SCANA Corp., with the failed V.C. Summer nuclear project hanging around its neck, appears to have the blind staggers. Smart money is betting that the deal falls through. The merger (or distress sale) is foundering because South Carolina’s politicians are facing buyers regret. They are reconsidering the … More Dominion-SCANA deal doomed?

The decision by the Trump administration to impose 30% tariffs on all imported solar photovoltaic panels is typical administration grandstanding, with the likely impact to kill U.S. solar industry jobs. It’s Trump’s bluster with little chance of positive results. The administration ostensibly said it was moving against China, which has been a leading importer of … More Will Trump’s solar tariffs hurt U.S. workers?

Fuel diversity, or, as some prefer, fuel security, occupied the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee this morning, with all witnesses professing fealty to having a diverse electric generating system in the U.S., but without full agreement on how to do that, or even how to define it. There was one element of complete agreement. … More Senate committee looks at U.S. cold snap and electricity