Analysis: Texas is a mess

Texas is an electrical (among other things) mess. The state features an independent grid operator that is purposefully, and stupidly, unconnected to the rest of the U.S. It has inadequate and unreliable generation, with little flexibility. It has retail rate regulators subservient to the utilities it regulates. Its ideology is autarky, which never works. Texas… More Analysis: Texas is a mess

New “cherry blossom” claims of fusion breakthrough

Fusion power hopes spring eternal this time of year, but there’s plenty of reason to doubt. The periodic hype for fusion always seems to start in the spring, particularly when the U.S. federal budget season is in full bud. But endless energy from smashing hydrogen atoms together, promising unlimited clean and cheap electric power, so… More New “cherry blossom” claims of fusion breakthrough

FirstEnergy to refund nuclear bailout charges as DeWine repeals most of HB 6

Ohio’s FirstEnergy electric utility holding company has agreed to disgorge some $26 million it collected under legislation (HB 6) passed to rescue two of the company’s uneconomic power plants with more than a billion dollars in subsidies after it became clear the legislation passed as a result of a utility-led $60 million bribery scheme. Akron-based… More FirstEnergy to refund nuclear bailout charges as DeWine repeals most of HB 6

Is smaller better in Nukes? No, says new analysis

When it comes to nuclear power plants, is smaller better? Significant players in the nuclear business have been touting small modular reactors (SMRs) for more than a decade as a way to get new nuclear plants into the U.S. electricity ecosystem. Giants such as Babcock & Wilcox and Westinghouse have touted their designs, invested millions,… More Is smaller better in Nukes? No, says new analysis

China: talk nuclear, walk coal

China talks the nuclear talk. But walks the coal walk. That’s the conclusion in a new article in Yale Environment 360, a publication of the Yale School of the Environment. Journalist Michael Standaert, who covers environment and energy in China and has lived there since 2007, writes, “China’s National People’s Congress meetings, which ended earlier… More China: talk nuclear, walk coal

Ohio nuclear bailout: a roundup of regulatory, legislative and death developments

More fallout from the failed Ohio nuclear bailout legislation. FirstEnergy, the utility that lobbied furiously for House Bill 6 to keep uneconomic Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants operating at the expense of Ohio customers, says it won’t disgorge $30 million collected so far under the subsidy.   The legislation passed after Akron-based FirstEnergy allegedly used… More Ohio nuclear bailout: a roundup of regulatory, legislative and death developments

UCS report critiques non-LWR advanced nuclear proposals

Advanced nuclear power technologies based on designs that are not light-water reactors are not an improvement on LWR machines and may be worse, according to a detailed analysis in a new 140-page report from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Edwin Lyman, a PhD nuclear physicist and head of the UCS nuclear power program at UCS,… More UCS report critiques non-LWR advanced nuclear proposals

San Antonio muni sues ERCOT over freeze charges

San Antonio Texas’s city-owned energy utility, CPS Energy, has sued the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), charging that the grid operator during the February deep freeze charged it “excessive, illegitimate and illegal prices.” The utility filed the suit in Bexar County District Court. CPS Energy CEO Paula Gold-Williams said, “During a state declared disaster,… More San Antonio muni sues ERCOT over freeze charges

NERC points to role of gas in Texas freeze

The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), testifying in Congress this week, pointed directly at the natural gas industry in Texas for a major share of blame for the February rolling electricity blackouts. It’s an issue that economists have earlier raised. NERC CEO James Robb March 11 told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee,… More NERC points to role of gas in Texas freeze