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
Despite the government shutdown and budgetary stalemate in Washington, most federal energy work goes on. It’s business as usual. At the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency issued a statement, saying, “If Congress has not passed a new funding resolution by Sunday, January 21, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will utilize its prior year … More Energy agency shutdowns less than meets the eye
Just days after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected the Trump administration’s assault on competitive, wholesale electric markets, two of those markets announced major steps toward addressing how to improve their approaches to electric capacity. The timing was coincidental. The PJM Interconnection and ISO-New England unveiled new details of plans they have been working on … More ISOs act on state subsidies, fuel resilience