A federal appeals court Thursday (July 26) upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in a landowner challenge to the commission’s approval of the siting of a natural gas pipeline in West Virginia and Virginia. The decision came as FERC is in the midst of reevaluating its pipeline citing policy. A three-judge panel of the 4th … More Appeals court Oks Mountain Valley Pipeline
Donald Trump is rattling a new tariff saber – pointed directly at Canada. It also threatens another long-time U.S. ally, Australia. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says he will open an inquiry into whether the U.S. should impose tariffs on foreign uranium in the name of national security, the universal hook upon which the Trump administration … More Trump administration looks at uranium import tariffs
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday adopted new policies and a new federal form to assure that natural gas pipeline consumers will benefit from last year’s reduction of federal corporate income taxes from a maximum 35% to a flat 21%. The commission discussed the issue at its Thursday open meeting, the final one for … More FERC acts on pipeline taxes, Powelson departs
Rumors of the death of utilities and the electric grid have been greatly exaggerated. Mark Twain didn’t say that. The American Public Power Association did in a report released on Monday (July 16). The APPA analysis – “The Value of the Grid” – examines the trends in the electricity business that some claim will render … More APPA: Utilities and the grid will survive
Nuclear power in unlikely to play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., says a new analysis in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The paper first looks at large, advanced light water reactors, concluding. “It appears most unlikely that any new large plants will be built over the … More Is the U.S. set to virtually lose nuclear power’?
A 1,300-MW pumped storage project in the California desert, in the planning and regulatory process for nearly 30 years, has stumbled short of starting line for construction. It could take an act of Congress to resurrect the controversial Eagle Mountain project nestled near the Joshua Tree National Park. Santa Monica-based Eagle Crest Energy Co. has … More Will pumped storage come to the California desert?
Current global climate policy efforts “cannot fly,” says Roger Pielke Jr., an environmental studies professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder (and also an expert on sports governance). In the Spring issue of the journal Issues in Science and Technology, Pielke writes, “What the world’s leaders have been able to agree on will not prevent … More Pielke: Current global climate policies ‘cannot fly’
Gridlocked. Dysfunctional. Polarized. U.S. Congress? No, South Carolina as it tries to deal with the collapse of the V.C. Summer nuclear construction project. The South Carolina government’s attempt to figure out how to recover from the multi-billion-dollar collapse of SCANA’s Corp.’s V.C. Summer two-unit new nuclear plant is a mess. In the latest development – … More S.C.’s V.C. Summer efforts stalled
In a surprise move, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Robert Powelson announced on Thursday that he would leave his FERC seat in mid-August to take a job as CEO of the National Association of Water Companies. A long-time state and federal regulator, Powelson has had a major role in regulation of water. In a terse … More FERC’s Powelson steps down
A conservative energy analysis group charges that the Trump administration’s draft plan to aid economically uncompetitive nuclear and coal generating plants, pitched at strengthening grid resilience, will do the opposite. The Houston-based Institute for Energy Research says, “The administration’s proposal would undermine the profit and loss system by socializing the losses of these power plants, … More Conservative energy group slams Trump ‘resiliency’ plan