Georgia Power, the largest of Atlanta-based holding company Southern Co. utilities, has unveiled an updated integrated resource plan (IRP) almost certain to generate new controversy for a utility mired in controversy for more than a decade over its investment in large, new nuclear units. The company’s push for new natural gas generation will generate new… More Georgia Power Goes Big on Gas
Electric vehicles, which many have viewed as a key to a low-carbon future, have seen their sales and financial conditions booming for the past several years. Now the bright EV prospects are fading a bit. Bears are ravaging Tesla’s stock. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has fallen 50% from its all-time highs, which rose over 116% from its… More Is the Accelerating EV Business Slowing Down?
San Francisco’s Pacific Gas & Electric – devastated by recent wildfires – is looking to bury some 10,000 miles of electric transmission lines over the next decade in order to prevent its often elderly overhead equipment from starting fires, at a cost of $15 billion to $30 billion, according to NBC Bay Area News. The… More Transmission Tales: PG&E Underground, Texas Transmission Autarky, State Interconnection Rules
“Perhaps the single greatest risk to a successful energy transition during the 2020s is the risk that the nation fails to site, modernize, and build out the electrical grid.” That is a conclusion of a major National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report released last Friday (Oct. 19). The report added, “Except where new… More National Academies: No Transmission, No Transition
Despite the vilification and the billions of dollars being spent on alternative supplies of energy, fossil fuels are far from vanquished. Oil and gas are doing well in the U.S., and coal is holding its own. This morning (Oct. 20), Chevron announced it is buying Hess Corp. in an all-stock deal worth $53 billion ($171/share).… More Fossil Fuels Flexing Muscles as Chevron Buys Hess
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission yesterday (Oct. 19) moved to make the conversion from direct current based renewable generation seamlessly integrated into the alternating current electric transmission grid. FERC’s new rule, according to an agency news release, “directs the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to develop a suite of new or modified reliability standards that… More FERC Mandates AC-DC Matchmaking
By Henry Sokolski Although it received scant attention, one of the first objects Israel’s military targeted was Gaza’s electrical generating plants. Israel was legally free to do so because it is not a party to Protocol 1 of the Geneva Conventions — an international treaty that discourages military attacks against civilian assets. In contrast, The… More Guest Commentary: Power Plants, War Targets?
PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest wholesale electricity market, on Friday (Oct 13) proposed major changes to its troubled capacity market to make sure it has enough power to distribute during weather emergencies. The regional transmission operator made two massive filings at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Docket No. ER24-98-000 and Docket No. ER24-99-000 totaling over… More PJM Proposes Capacity Market Reforms
A diverse group of interests including The Nature Conservancy and the Solar Energy Industries Association have agreed on policies to advance large, utility-scale solar photovoltaic power development. The agreement, “Collaboration Agreement on Large-Scale U.S. Solar Development: Integrating Climate, Conservation and Community” and brokered by Stanford University’s Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, is designed to… More Big Solar Gets Big Boost
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last Friday (Oct. 6) rejected a preliminary permit for a large hydroelectric pumped storage project on the Susquehanna River near York, Pa. The commission said the application by York Energy Storage for a $2.1 billion project repeatedly failed to respond adequately to questions the FERC staff raised about the filing.… More Hydro Making Slow-Motion Waves at FERC