The Quad Report

In the U.S., argues economist and nuclear power advocate Edward Kee, nuclear power plants and competitive electricity markets can’t work together. In a new book, Market Failure: Market-Based Electricity is Killing Nuclear Power, Kee, head of the Nuclear Economics Consulting Group, writes, “The biggest threat faced by nuclear power is from a market approach to … More Are competitive electricity markets and nukes incompatible?

Georgia Power’s troubled two-unit Vogtle nuclear construction project, currently scheduled for completion of the first unit in November of 2021, is unlikely to meet that timeline, according to Engineering News-Record. Testimony filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission by its Vogtle Monitoring Group found, “Since inception of the project in 2009, all [Integrated Project Schedule] iterations … More Vogtle will miss its 2021 service date; Santee Cooper generates more controversy

Mike Madigan, Democratic speaker of the Illinois House, embroiled in a nuclear bribery scandal, faces a likely revolt by the incoming class of Democrats when the legislature convenes Jan. 13, according to The Hill. The newspaper reports that 19 of 73 Democrats who will be sworn in next month have publicly said they will not … More Ill. House Speaker faces ouster

The shocking electric utility bribery scandal continues. In Illinois, federal prosecutors this week indicted a close associate of Michael Madigan, Democratic speaker of the state house of representatives. Illinois has been rocked by an admission by Exelon subsidiary Commonwealth Edison that it bribed Madigan with $1.3 million for no-show jobs and bogus contracts in exchange … More Electric utility bribery scandal advances in Illinois

Sam Randazzo last week resigned as chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) amid a federal bribery investigation and shortly after the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched his home. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine named Randazzo, a longtime player in Ohio electric utility policy and politics, to the PUC in February 2019. The context … More Top Ohio utility regulator resigns amid bribery scandal

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee by voice vote has approved the nominations of a Republican and a Democrat to two vacant positions on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. That clears the way for a Senate confirmation vote before the end of the Trump administration. The action allows a floor vote on the paired … More Senate energy committee approves FERC nominees

Who is the current chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission? At this moment, there is no clear answer. If you thought the Trump White House on Nov. 5 had demoted Neil Chatterjee from chairman to a lowly commissioner and elevated James Danly from a lowly commissioner to chairman, you might be right. Or wrong. … More Will the real FERC chairman please stand up?

Facing a partial revolt among its customers on the basis of increasing costs, Oregon-based NuScale Power (owned by construction giant Fluor Corp.) has announced a 25% uprating of its still hypothetical small modular reactor design. The power upgrade, based entirely on what NuScale said was advanced testing and modeling, increased the power of its tiny … More NuScale uprates its SMR capacity, generating skepticism

Among the difficult tasks in removing and storing carbon dioxide in order to reduce global warming is how to validate, value, and count reductions and storage from various, non-central places, such as landowners and non-energy businesses. Texas-based Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy says it has come up with a nationwide protocol for storing … More Baker Institute offers national carbon storage protocol

What to expect from a Biden administration when it comes to energy? It’s mostly about climate policy, but also about energy politics. From the start, reflecting Democratic orthodoxy, Biden pledged to a transition to an electric grid powered by 100% renewable power generation by 2030, and zero US greenhouse emissions by 2050. Those are ambitious … More Biden and energy, an uncertain slate