12 April 2021 California-based TAE Technologies said on 8 April that it had raised an additional $280 million for its reactor-scale demonstration fusion facility to support the final step toward its commercialisation. The private fusion energy company announced a technology milestone by producing stable plasma at more than 50 million degrees…
Global wind market sets records for new installations and orders in 2020
Global wind market sets records for new installations and orders in 2020 Energize Weekly, April 14, 2021 Wind turbine orders and installations soared to new records in 2020, despite the pandemic, according to new market reports from BloombergNEF and Wood Mackenzie. Orders for wind turbine capacity reached nearly 100 gigawatts…
7 Big Winners From Biden’s American Jobs Plan
By Alex Sirois, Apr 6, 2021 President Joe Biden introduced his American Jobs Plan on March 31. The plan outlines $2.251 trillion of estimated spending to improve the country and jobs for Americans. It is divided into four major sectors: infrastructure at home, transportation infrastructure, research and development (R&D), workforce development and manufacturing, and…
New partnership announced to build nation’s first advanced nuclear reactor in Tri-Cities
by Samantha Spitz, Thursday, April 1st 2021 Energy leaders announced a new partnership for the development of the country’s first advanced nuclear reactor, right here in the Tri-Cities. Energy Northwest, Grant County Public Utility District (PUD) and X-energy LLC are working together to build a Xe-100 advanced nuclear power plant…
FPL, Gulf Power detail gas-fired, solar and energy storage plans for decade
By Rod Walton – 4.2.2021 NextEra Energy utilities Florida Power & Light and Gulf Power are taking steps to cut down their carbon emissions dramatically this year through 2030, but they are not forsaking fossil or conventional generation completely. Read more
U.S. cities and towns made deals for a record 3.7 gigawatts of renewables in 2020
Energize Weekly, April 7, 2021 Cities and towns across the U.S. installed or purchased a record 3.7 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity in 2020, a 23 percent increase over 2019, according to the clean energy consultant, RMI. The RMI analysis was based on data from the Local Government Renewables Action…
Biden administration plans major reboot for U.S. offshore wind power
March 29, 2021 By Josh Lederman The offshore wind industry is getting a major boost from the Biden administration as the White House aims to reinvigorate a potential source of renewable, emissions-free electricity that has never fully taken off in the United States. Read more
Nebraska utility could slash emissions at little or no added cost, studies show
by Karen Uhlenhuth, March 29, 2021 Nebraska’s largest electric utility could dramatically reduce carbon emissions over the next three decades at little or no cost to ratepayers, according to a pair of recent reports prepared for the utility’s board of directors. The path — and cost — of completely eliminating emissions…
Biden Looking to Big Infrastructure Spending Deal
By Ken Bredemeier March 23, 2021 With money from the $1.9 trillion U.S. coronavirus relief deal beginning to course through the world’s biggest economy, President Joe Biden’s economic advisers are preparing an even bigger economic stimulus, a possible $3 trillion package to repair the country’s aging infrastructure and — they…
Bills to defend Wyoming’s coal industry clear House, head to Senate
Camille Erickson, Mar 22, 2021 An effort by lawmakers to defend Wyoming’s leading industry gained ground Monday after a pair of bills aimed at slowing coal plant closures cleared the House. Read more
U.S. set a record for solar installations in 2020, a record poised to fall in 2021
Energize Weekly, March 24, 2021 Solar installations in the U.S., even in the face of the pandemic economy, set a record in 2020 with 19.2 gigawatts (GW) of capacity – a 43 percent increase over 2019, according to an industry market report. “The year 2020 was a record-setting year for…
Pacific Gas & Electric surpasses Californiaʻs renewable energy standard
Published on March 11, 2021 by Dave Kovaleski Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) delivered more than 35 percent renewable energy to customers in 2020, exceeding the goal of 33 percent established by the California Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS). More than 88 percent of the electricity PG&E delivered to its customers…
Ohio House votes to kill scandal-tainted nuclear bailout
Jim Provance, Wed, March 11, 2021 The Ohio House on Wednesday voted 86-7 to repeal provisions of a law now tainted by scandal that would have financially benefited Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. as well as two northern Ohio nuclear power plants. Read more
U.S. Congress launches probe into multibillion-dollar ‘clean coal’ tax credit
By Tim McLaughlin, MARCH 15, 2021 The U.S. Congress is investigating a multibillion-dollar subsidy for chemically treated coal that is meant to reduce smokestack pollution, after evidence emerged that power plants using the fuel produced more smog not less. Read more
Electric grid threatened by climate change, federal agencies need to do more, GAO says
Energize Weekly, March 17, 2021 Climate change – the heat waves, flooding, droughts, and hurricanes it may bring – poses a multibillion-dollar threat to the country’s aging electric grid, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Without significant efforts to upgrade the grid and make it…
The U.S. Grid Isn’t Ready For A Major Shift To Renewables
By Irina Slav – Mar 03, 2021 The blame game for the massive power outages in Texas last month continues. The dominant argument is that renewables had an ignorable part to play in the crisis, with natural gas and coal the indirect culprits due to their reduced availability resulting from infrastructure freezing…
Bill Gates’s next-gen nuclear plant packs in grid-scale energy storage
By Loz Blain, March 08, 2021 Wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, wave energy … Renewable sources are a crucial pillar of any plan to decarbonize the world’s energy generation industries and eliminate fossil fuel use. But for many reasons – intermittency, location dependency, land requirements, and others – they can’t do…
Georgia Power Issues Sustainability Bond: First for a US Utility
MARCH 1, 2021 BY EMILY HOLBROOK Georgia Power has announced its first sustainability bond, and the first sustainability bond for a domestic utility in the United States. Bond proceeds will be allocated to fund the company’s environmental, renewable, and social initiatives. The 3.25% coupon represents the lowest 30-year coupon for a publicly traded bond ever…
Xcel Energy plans to transform its Colorado grid, boosting renewables and closing coal plants
Energize Weekly, March 3, 2021 Xcel Energy – in one of the country’s most sweeping initiatives to reconfigure a gird – has announced an $8 billion plan to double its renewable energy generation and storage in Colorado, add transmission and close all its coal-fired power plants in the state by…
Utilities seek $19.2 million pollution control for Columbia coal plant, set to close by 2025
Chris Hubbuch | Wisconsin State Journal, Feb 18, 2021 The owners of the Columbia Energy Center are proposing to spend $19 million to prevent groundwater contamination as they move to close the coal-fired power plant near Portage in the next four years. Read more
Collapse of the natural gas system from wellhead to turbine fueled Texas’ blackout
Energize Weekly, February 24, 2021 The near collapse of Texas’ electric grid was caused in the main by a failure of the natural gas system from the wellhead to pipeline to gas turbine, according to an analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA). “Texas has a power shortage because it…
No abnormalities found at Fukushima nuclear power plants
ANI, 14th February 2021 Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide on Sunday said that no tsunami accompanied the earthquake that struck Saturday Fukushima Prefecture and no abnormalities were found at nuclear power plants in the affected region. Read more
European oil companies changing names and shifting their focus to alternative energy
Energize Weekly, February 17, 2021 European oil companies are continuing their push to reorient and rebrand themselves as comprehensive energy companies and not just producers of oil and natural gas. On Feb. 9, French oil company Total announced it was changing its name to TotalEnergies to reflect a broader strategy…
Coal and COVID-19: How pandemic is accelerating the end of fossil power generation
ANI, February 09, 2021 COVID-19 has not only caused a temporary drop in global CO2 emissions, but it has also reduced the share of power generated by burning coal – a trend that could, in fact, outlast the pandemic. This is the key result of a new study by a team of economists…
U.S. energy consumption will take years to rebound from pandemic, EIA says
Energize Weekly, February 10, 2021 It will take years for U.S. energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions to return to 2019 levels after the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country’s economy and the global energy sector, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). Energy consumption in…
Nuclear Backers Already Like Joe Biden
BY CAROLINE DELBERT, FEB 1, 2021 Scientists say rejoining the Paris Agreement is a good start. Where else does nuclear fit under the president’s energy plan? Read more
Coal to Exit From U.S. Power System by 2033, Morgan Stanley Says
By Will Wade, February 1, 2021 Coal is on track to disappear from the U.S. power grid by 2033 as the push for a carbon-free electricity system gains strength, according to Morgan Stanley. The fossil fuel will be supplanted largely by renewables, which will supply 39% of U.S. electricity in 2030 and…
SPP launches Western Energy Imbalance Service real-time balancing market
Energize Weekly, February 3, 2021 Regional transmission organization (RTO) Southwest Power Pool (SPP) launched its Western Energy Imbalance Service (WEIS) on Monday, Feb. 1. The WEIS includes parts of Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The real-time balancing market is expected to decrease wholesale electricity costs, increase price…
U.S. wind and solar generation set to soar in 2021, as coal-fired and nuclear plants close
Energize Weekly, January 27, 2021 The U.S. electricity generation fleet will continue its transformation in 2021 with wind and solar dominating new installations and nuclear and coal-fired plants steadily being retired, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). Power plant developers and utilities are planning for 39.7 gigawatts (GW)…
Shearwater Energy developing SMR wind-hybrid energy project; selects NuScale Power
18 January 2021 Shearwater Energy Ltd., a United Kingdom-based hybrid clean energy company, is developing a wind-SMR (Small Modular Reactor) and hydrogen production hybrid energy project in North Wales. The project would provide 3 GWe of zero-carbon energy and is also expected to produce more than 3 million kilograms of green hydrogen…
The countries leading the way in renewable energy
By Kristin Herman, January 20, 2021 Nowadays, many countries are looking into reducing the amount of fossil fuels that people use to power their homes, towns, cities, and so on. In fact, many people are expecting renewable energy to make fossil fuels a thing of the past, based on the…
Pritzker admin hires firm to verify Exelon’s nuke hardship claims
Steve Daniels, January 11, 2021 The Pritzker administration has hired an outside firm to scrutinize Exelon’s claims that some of its Illinois nuclear plants are losing money. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency early this month finalized a $215,000 emergency contract with Cambridge, Mass.-based Synapse Energy Economics. The firm, which has done…
COVID-19 delaying project milestones at Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion
Dave Williams, Capitol Beat News Service, January 12, 2021 Georgia Power is putting off some of this year’s milestones in the construction schedule for the nuclear expansion at Plant Vogtle, citing the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more
117th Congress opens to new energy, environment fights
Nick Sobczyk, Geof Koss and Kelsey Brugger, E&E News reporters; Monday, January 4, 2021 The 117th Congress opened to an uncertain political landscape yesterday, with a tight vote for the House speakership and with Senate control still up in the air. Lawmakers face fresh fights on energy and environmental issues, particularly climate change, but…
Duke Energy installed major rooftop solar system at Keck Observatory in Hawaii
Published on December 31, 2020 by Dave Kovaleski Duke Energy’s REC Solar completed the world’s largest commercial solar system installed at the highest altitude. The rooftop solar project is at the W. M. Keck Observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii, located near the summit of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano…
Report Calls for Electricity Sector to Rethink Approach to Climate Change Risks
January 5, 2021 – Homeland Security Today A new report from the Columbia Law School and Environmental Defense Fund highlights climate change risks in the electricity sector. The authors – Romany M. Webb, Michael Panfil, and Sarah Ladin – say electric system operators must rethink their approach to infrastructure protection and…
SolarWinds Hack Infected Critical Infrastructure, Including Power Industry
Kim Zetter, December 24 2020 The hacking campaign that infected numerous government agencies and tech companies with malicious SolarWinds software has also infected more than a dozen critical infrastructure companies in the electric, oil, and manufacturing industries who were also running the software, according to a security firm conducting investigations…
Ohio Supreme Court stops collection of nuclear plant subsidy
Associated Press, December 28, 2020 The Ohio Supreme Court on Monday issued a temporary stay to stop collection of a fee from nearly every electric customer in the state starting Jan. 1 to subsidize two nuclear power plants, a provision included in a scandal-tainted bill approved by the state…
5 Reasons Why Solar Energy is the Way Forward
By Michael Dehoyos, December 29, 2020 There’s been a lot of talk over the last few years about global warming and trying to find sustainable energy sources that don’t impact the planet in a negative way like the fossil fuel industry has been doing for years. We have wind and…
After two bad years, global coal demand is set for a 2021 rebound, IEA says
Energize Weekly, December 30, 2020 Coal demand slipped an estimated 5 percent in 2020 – the largest annual decline since the Second World War – but the fuel is projected to rebound in 2021 on demand from China and Asia, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The 2020 decline…
Solar site to power Arkansas water utility OK’d
by Joseph Flaherty | December 17, 2020 at 3:43 a.m. Arkansas utility regulators Wednesday approved a plan to develop a 4.8-megawatt net-metering solar facility near Cabot to provide renewable energy to the regional water utility Central Arkansas Water. The solar facility is expected to go online in mid-2021 and will be able…
Judge Blocks Fees Set by Tainted Ohio Nuclear Bailout Law
By Associated Press, Wire Service Content Dec. 21, 2020, at 5:33 p.m. A central Ohio judge on Monday blocked the subsidies from a $1 billion nuclear bailout law at the center of a $60 million bribery probe, as state lawmakers scrambled to decide the fate of a repeal effort and nominees were chosen to…
U.S solar rebounds from pandemic decline, renewable investment remains strong worldwide
Energize Weekly, December 23, 2020 The U.S. solar industry – led by utility-scale projects – rebounded in the third quarter from its midyear pandemic doldrums, according to an industry market report by consultant Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). Solar’s performance is part of a broader trend…
Coal continues its decline in the U.S. and Europe and its rise in Southeast Asia and India
Energize Weekly, December 9, 2020 Coal mining and coal-fired electricity generation in the U.S. and Europe continues to decline, but in Asia, coal-fired demand is projected to increase through 2030 thanks to national policies and Chinese financing. In the U.S., coal mine production capacity fell in 2019 to 590 million…
Renewable energy has a strong showing in 2020 despite a pandemic-hobbled economy
Energize Weekly, November 18, 2020 The novel coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on the global economy and the energy industry, but renewable energy generation set records in 2020, according to two analyses. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that new, installed renewable generation worldwide set a record, as did…
Voters weigh in on local and state energy issues from renewable energy to oil and gas taxes
Energize Weekly, November 11, 2020 Election returns on state and local energy issues were both literally and figuratively all over the map last week on issues ranging from renewable energy to oil and gas taxes. Voters in Alaska rejected a tax on oil operations while the industry was denied a…
A Biden plan would speed a clean energy transition, but have limited impact on oil
Energize Weekly, October 28, 2020 As Election Day nears, analysts are starting to focus on what the administration of front-running Joe Biden will mean for energy and find it could accelerate the decline of coal, stabilize near-term oil markets, as well as boost renewables and new jobs. A Biden administration,…
Fossil fuel demand drops in 2020 with a limited rebound in 2021, IEA says
Energize Weekly, October 21, 2020 The global pandemic will cut worldwide energy demand 5 percent in 2020 and result in an 18 percent decline in energy investment, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts. If the novel coronavirus is brought under control in 2021, energy demand will return to its…
Corporate solar had another banner year in 2019 with 1.2 GW of new installations
Energize Weekly, October 14, 2020 Corporate solar generating capacity continued its rapid growth in 2019 with nearly 1.2 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity – a 10 percent year-on-year increase, according to a survey by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). There is now a total of 8.3 GW of corporate…
Utilities are pledging zero-carbon emissions, but “the math doesn’t yet add up”
Energize Weekly, September 30, 2020 A growing number of investor-owned utilities (IOUs) have pledged to sharply reduce their carbon emissions or even cut them to zero, but two studies have found a gap between the pledges and those utilities’ performance. Forty-three of the country’s 55 IOUs have emission-reduction targets, and…
