U.S. hydropower generation expected to increase by 6% in 2024 following last year’s lows APRIL 18, 2024 Last year, U.S. hydropower electricity generation fell to its lowest since 2001. This year, we expect hydropower to increase 6% and account for 250 billion kilowatthours of electricity generation in the power sector,…
New cybersecurity center to protect grids integrated with renewables, microgrids
New cybersecurity center to protect grids integrated with renewables, microgrids 23-Apr-2024 Bringing renewable energy to the power grid raises all kinds of “internet-of-things” issues, said Iowa State University’s Manimaran Govindarasu. That’s because “everything is connected,” said the Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering. Solar inverters are connected to the internet.…
Internet data centers are fueling drive to old power source: Coal
Internet data centers are fueling drive to old power source: Coal April 17, 2024 A helicopter hovers over the Gee family farm, the noisy rattle echoing inside their home in this rural part of West Virginia. It’s holding surveyors who are eyeing space for yet another power line next to…
Can Aging U.S. Nuclear Power Plants Withstand More Extreme Weather?
Can Aging U.S. Nuclear Power Plants Withstand More Extreme Weather? APRIL 23, 2024 To reach its climate goals, the Biden administration aims to extend the lives of U.S. nuclear reactors. But a new report finds regulators have not studied whether increasingly extreme weather could threaten the safety or viability of…
Bureau of Land Management finalizes rules for renewable energy projects on public lands
Bureau of Land Management finalizes rules for renewable energy projects on public lands April 15, 2024 The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently published its final rules regarding leasing and rental rates for renewable energy projects on public lands. The new rules will reduce rents and fees for renewable…
PacifiCorp scales back renewables
PacifiCorp scales back renewables April 16, 2024 PacifiCorp, parent company to Wyoming’s largest utility, Rocky Mountain Power, has issued major updates to its Integrated Resource Plan, a blueprint that highlights key changes to the company’s business strategy and its ever-evolving energy portfolio. The update shines a light on the world…
North Dakota’s Dept. of Commerce looking at nuclear power to meet the increasing demand for electricity
North Dakota’s Dept. of Commerce looking at nuclear power to meet the increasing demand for electricity April 15, 2024 North Dakota’s Commerce Department has begun studying whether nuclear power could be used to help meet the increasing demand for electricity. That demand is being driven – in part – by…
DOE Opens $25M Funding Opportunity To Support Tribal Clean Energy Projects
DOE Opens $25M Funding Opportunity To Support Tribal Clean Energy Projects APRIL 15, 2024 The U.S. Department of Energy has opened a funding opportunity making up to $25 million available to support clean energy technology deployment on Tribal lands. Certain projects fueled by biomass, biogas, renewable natural gas (RNG) or…
FirstEnergy gave $1 million to boost Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted’s campaign before scandal, document shows
FirstEnergy gave $1 million to boost Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted’s campaign before scandal, document shows April 10, 2024 A surge in FirstEnergy political spending ahead of the utility’s push to secure a legislative bailout for its nuclear power plants included a $1 million dark money contribution to support the…
New England’s last coal plants set to shutter, ushering in era of green energy
New England’s last coal plants set to shutter, ushering in era of green energy April 6, 2024 The final coal-fired power plants in New England are slated to shutter in the coming years, making it the second region to phase out the energy source that powered the U.S. economy for…
Plant Vogtle Unit 4 reaches 100% power
Plant Vogtle Unit 4 reaches 100% power Apr 5, 2024 The nuclear expansion at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle has reached another milestone as it nears completion after years of cost overruns and scheduling delays. Unit 4, the second of two new reactors being built at the plant south of Augusta,…
With time short, S.C. senators take up comprehensive energy bill
With time short, S.C. senators take up comprehensive energy bill Apr. 5, 2024 Utilities, conservation groups, and other stakeholders are all in agreement: South Carolina needs to expand its energy capacity to keep up with its growth. It’s a top priority for leaders in Columbia as well, but they face…
Tri-State G&T faced with co-ops leaving and a stalled rate increase sees bond ratings drop
Tri-State G&T faced with co-ops leaving and a stalled rate increase sees bond ratings drop Energize Weekly, April 10, 2024 Facing the departure of four member cooperatives and the failure to get federal regulators to approve a rate increase, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association bonds were downgraded by two rating…
Dominion Energy gets 764MW of new solar capacity approved in Virginia
Dominion Energy gets 764MW of new solar capacity approved in Virginia April 2, 2024 Virginia regulators on Friday approved more than a dozen new solar projects from Dominion Energy in a move that will expand the company’s clean energy fleet in the US state. The projects approved by the Virginia…
SC customers could pay millions for a new power plant that may only run at half capacity
SC customers could pay millions for a new power plant that may only run at half capacity April 1, 2024 Imagine South Carolina building a large power plant to meet future electricity demand, then not being able to fully use it. That’s a possibility under a new federal rule proposed…
Biden administration offers conditional $1.52B to Holtec Palisades to recommission Michigan nuclear power plant
Biden administration offers conditional $1.52B to Holtec Palisades to recommission Michigan nuclear power plant March 29, 2024 As a loan guarantee for Holtec Palisades, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that its Loan Programs Office (LPO) agreed to a conditional commitment of up to $1.52 billion to Holtec Palisades…
Evergy Plan Maintains Lowest-Cost Approach to Meeting Growing Customer Electricity Demand, Maintaining Reliability, and Advancing Sustainability
Evergy Plan Maintains Lowest-Cost Approach to Meeting Growing Customer Electricity Demand, Maintaining Reliability, and Advancing Sustainability April 1, 2024 Evergy, Inc. (NASDAQ: EVRG) today filed its triennial Integrated Resource Plan with the Missouri Public Service Commission. This outlines the plan to meet customer electricity needs over the next 20 years.…
Baltimore bridge collapse likely to pinch coal exports and energy-related imports
Baltimore bridge collapse likely to pinch coal exports and energy-related imports Energize Weekly, April 4, 2024 The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, after being hit by a container vessel, has blocked the Port of Baltimore, throttling imports and exports of a wide range of goods, including cars, sugar,…
Senate signs off on license extension for new hydropower projects
Senate signs off on license extension for new hydropower projects March 26, 2024 The Senate recently advanced a bill (S.4050) by U.S. Sens. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and John Kennedy (R-LA) that would allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to extend construction licenses for new hydropower projects beset by…
Cox signs bill to keep coal plant open amid warnings of federal conflict
Cox signs bill to keep coal plant open amid warnings of federal conflict MARCH 21, 2024 Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill that would extend the life of the coal-fired Intermountain Power Plant, but amid pushback from the facility owner and the possibility of conflict with a federal agency,…
Transformer fires trigger emergency shutdown of Waterford 3 nuclear plant
Transformer fires trigger emergency shutdown of Waterford 3 nuclear plant March 25, 2024 Entergy’s Waterford 3 nuclear generating plant in Killona was forced to shut down last week after two transformers caught fire in the plant’s main transformer yard, according to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The fires and emergency…
Hawaii Faces Lengthy Blackout Risk Amid Power-Plant Outages
Hawaii Faces Lengthy Blackout Risk Amid Power-Plant Outages March 25, 2024 The big island of Hawaii is at risk of blackouts through the end of April because several large power plants have broken down or are undergoing maintenance, the state’s main utility operator said. Hawaiian Electric on Monday asked customers…
BOEM Finalizes Wind Energy Area in the Gulf of Maine
BOEM Finalizes Wind Energy Area in the Gulf of Maine Mar 17, 2024 The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has finalized its designation of a Wind Energy Area (WEA) in the Gulf of Maine. The Final WEA has the potential to support generation of 32GW of clean energy, surpassing…
AES Indiana files to convert Petersburg coal units to natural gas
AES Indiana files to convert Petersburg coal units to natural gas March 15, 2024 In filing a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) this week, AES Indiana sought the right to repower Petersburg Units 3 and 4 from coal to natural gas. This would make the utility the latest…
Xcel’s Prairie Island nuclear plant near return after lengthy outage drew questions
Xcel’s Prairie Island nuclear plant near return after lengthy outage drew questions March 18, 2024 Xcel Energy has promised state officials its Prairie Island nuclear power plant is almost back to full power despite the outage dragging on for nearly two months longer than expected. The Minnesota Department of Commerce…
After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans
After being rebuffed by regulators, utilities file slimmed-down spending plans March 18, 2024 State regulators are once again considering massive electric utility spending plans that would affect the state’s climate goals – and 5.4 million electric customers’ monthly bills – after rejecting previous versions late last year. The Illinois Commerce…
Methane emissions were flat in 2023 but still too high to curb climate change, IEA says
Methane emissions were flat in 2023 but still too high to curb climate change, IEA says Energize Weekly, March 20, 2024 Methane emissions from the production and use of fossil fuels reached 20 million tons in 2023, and while levels have been generally flat for the past five years, they…
EPA LEAVES OUT EXISTING NATURAL GAS-FIRED POWER PLANTS FROM CARBON RULE
EPA Leaves Out Existing Natural Gas-Fired Power Plants from Carbon Rule MARCH 8, 2024 The Biden administration’s recent announcement that it would hold off on regulating carbon emissions from existing natural gas-fired power plants means the agency will wait until after the election to regulate one of Pennsylvania’s largest sources…
Demand for small modular reactors surges 65% as clean energy ambitions grow
Demand for small modular reactors surges 65% as clean energy ambitions grow March 8, 2024 A growing desire to include nuclear energy in many nations’ clean energy mix has seen a strong push for the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) because of their potential cost savings and adaptability. According…
Goldman Sachs-backed BESS developer Gridstor makes first ERCOT project acquisition
Goldman Sachs-backed BESS developer Gridstor makes first ERCOT project acquisition March 12, 2024 Gridstor, a developer of standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) assets, has acquired a 450MW/900MWh project in Texas, US, the company’s first in the booming ERCOT market. Gridstor announced last week (6 March) that it has bought…
New solar installations set a record in 2023 with 32 gigawatts of new capacity
New solar installations set a record in 2023 with 32 gigawatts of new capacity Energize Weekly, March 13, 2024 New solar installations – spurred by federal grants and tax credits – reached a record 32.4 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in 2023, a 51 percent increase year-over-year, according to a Solar…
A massive proposed Wisconsin solar farm could wreak havoc on threatened prairie chickens
A massive proposed Wisconsin solar farm could wreak havoc on threatened prairie chickens March 2, 2024 The plan for a massive solar energy development in Portage County has caused conservationists to sound the alarm over the project’s potential detrimental impacts to Wisconsin’s threatened population of greater prairie chickens. The Vista…
New Jersey waters down proposed referendum on new fossil fuel power plant ban
New Jersey waters down proposed referendum on new fossil fuel power plant ban March 4, 2024 New Jersey lawmakers wanted to ask voters whether to ban new fossil fuel-fired power plants. And then they added a loophole big enough to drive a fleet of oil trucks through. A state Senate…
Plant Vogtle Unit 4 reaches start-up milestone
Plant Vogtle Unit 4 reaches start-up milestone Mar 4, 2024 Georgia Power has announced that Unit 4 at the Vogtle nuclear expansion project near Waynesboro has achieved another major milestone in start-up testing by generating electricity and successfully synchronizing and connecting to the electric grid for the first time. This…
Xcel says big reason it needs to spend millions on new projects is regional grid’s reliability risks
Xcel says big reason it needs to spend millions on new projects is regional grid’s reliability risks MARCH 4, 2024 The growing risk of unreliability and potential expense of buying energy on the open market is a big reason why Xcel Energy wants to make significant investments in its infrastructure.…
Poor grid interconnection policies are causing project backups across the U.S., study says
Poor grid interconnection policies are causing project backups across the U.S., study says Energize Weekly, March 6, 2024 The grid interconnection process in the U.S. is so “dysfunctional” that more than two million megawatts of generation and storage are waiting to be hooked up, according to an analysis by Advanced…
Vineyard Wind Starts Delivering Steady Power
Vineyard Wind Starts Delivering Steady Power February 25, 2024 Five offshore wind turbines in the waters south of the Vineyard are now sending 68 megawatts of power to the regional grid, the first time such a project has ever delivered a steady flow of electricity in Massachusetts. The milestone was…
DOE announces $45 million investment for cybersecurity research
DOE announces $45 million investment for cybersecurity research FEBRUARY 26, 2024 The Department of Energy on Monday announced a $45 million investment into cybersecurity research for the energy sector, including projects on artificial intelligence detection and response and quantum communication for the grid. DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and…
Bill supporting development of nuclear energy wins passage in Kentucky Senate
Bill supporting development of nuclear energy wins passage in Kentucky Senate February 26, 2024 The Kentucky Senate voted overwhelmingly Monday to lay the foundation to attract nuclear energy projects to a state where coal has dominated and fueled the economy for generations. Republican Sen. Danny Carroll said Kentucky should embrace…
Retired coal plant’s revival as natural gas station sparks debate across South Carolina
Retired coal plant’s revival as natural gas station sparks debate across South Carolina February 26th 2024 A retired coal-fired power plant in Colleton County may be revamped in the next decade. The plant would be a joint station between Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper. It will function as a natural…
Rebooted commission could breathe new life into bills challenging Virginia’s largest utility
Rebooted commission could breathe new life into bills challenging Virginia’s largest utility February 26, 2024 Virginia clean energy champions have their fingers crossed that members of a resurrected legislative commission won’t water down four utility-focused bills when they meet in the off-season to reshape the failed measures for next year’s…
Natural gas-fired generation, the backbone of U.S. electricity generation, varies by region
Natural gas-fired generation, the backbone of U.S. electricity generation, varies by region Energize Weekly, February 28, 2024 Natural gas generation is the largest source of electricity in the U.S. and is used across the country, but the scale and efficiency of that generation varies region by region, according to an…
US to add 36.4GW of new solar generation capacity in 2024, 58% of all capacity additions
US to add 36.4GW of new solar generation capacity in 2024, 58% of all capacity additions February 19, 2024 US power developers expect to add 36.4GW of new solar generation capacity in 2024, which would account for 58% of all new capacity additions in the US power sector, according to…
Pioneering GE F-Class Hydrogen-Capable Gas Power Plant Begins Operations in Australia
Pioneering GE F-Class Hydrogen-Capable Gas Power Plant Begins Operations in Australia February 19, 2024 EnergyAustralia has begun operations at the 320-MW Tallawarra B gas-fired power station in New South Wales (NSW)—Australia’s first peaking power plant capable of operating on a natural gas and hydrogen fuel blend. The project’s start on…
Vogtle Unit 4 reaches first criticality
Vogtle Unit 4 reaches first criticality 2.14.2024 Operators have safely started the nuclear reaction at Vogtle Unit 4, according to an announcement from Georgia Power. This step, known as initial criticality, happens when the nuclear fission reaction becomes self-sustaining and is necessary to generate enough heat to produce electricity. Operators…
Eversource seeks 19% rate hike on CL&P customers
Eversource seeks 19% rate hike on CL&P customers February 15, 2024 Eversource filed a request Thursday for a $784 million rate adjustment that would bump its Connecticut Light & Power electric rates by nearly 19%, costing an average residential customer an additional $38 a month on May 1. The United…
Texas Electric Utility Courts Unnamed Crypto Miners With Five-Year Deals
Texas Electric Utility Courts Unnamed Crypto Miners With Five-Year Deals Feb 17, 2024 In a recent report, the community-driven, nonprofit electric provider in Texas, Denton Municipal Electric (DME), is attracting interest from several crypto mining companies seeking to establish operations. These companies are eyeing a five-year agreement for powering their…
New method utilizes hydropower project signals to monitor grid stability
New method utilizes hydropower project signals to monitor grid stability 12 February 2024 Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), have unveiled an algorithm designed to forecast electric grid stability by harnessing signals from pumped storage hydropower (PSH) projects. This innovation emerges as…
New 1.2-GW Natural Gas-Fired Plant Announced for Texas
New 1.2-GW Natural Gas-Fired Plant Announced for Texas Feb 13, 2024 A Texas-based energy company has announced plans to build a 1.2-GW natural gas-fired power plant in Lee County, Texas, with construction expected to begin in 2025. Sandow Lakes Energy Co. on Feb. 12 said it would build the plant…
Xcel asks for more nuclear waste storage to operate Prairie Island until 2050s
Xcel asks for more nuclear waste storage to operate Prairie Island until 2050s FEBRUARY 8, 2024 Xcel Energy says it needs to store far more nuclear waste at its Prairie Island facility to extend the plant’s life by 20 years, as it has proposed in its long-range plan. Keeping the…
