Global coal-fired generation rebounds in 2021 with continued expansion in some countries Energize Weekly, July 28, 2021 Global coal-fired electricity generation is making a rebound in 2021 as billions of dollars in government support continue to flow to the sector and new coal-fired plants are being built or planned around…
Hydropower worries grow as Colorado River reservoirs continue to dry up July 19, 2021 The water levels behind the Colorado River’s biggest dams are fast-approaching or already at record lows, thanks to a 21-year megadrought that’s squeezing water supplies across the Southwest. But the effects of drought are likely to…
Barrasso says new legislation sets stage for new Wyoming Natrium nuclear reactor July 19, 2021 Wyoming’s U.S. Sen. John Barrasso on Friday helped introduce the “American Nuclear Infrastructure Act,” legislation which he says would set the stage “to deploy advanced nuclear technologies like the Natrium reactor coming to Wyoming.” Read…
Western drought hurts hydropower production, California among the hardest hit states Energize Weekly, July 14, 2021 The drought conditions smothering the West are crippling hydropower production with hydro-generation’s share of energy production forecast to be 6.5 percent this year – the lowest it has been since 2015, according to the…
NJ Board of Public Utilities awards 2,658 MW of offshore wind July 02, 2021 The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) awarded 2,658 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind capacity this week, bringing the state closer to Gov. Phil Murphy’s goal of 7,500 MW of offshore wind by 2035. Read…
California energy officials seeking additional capacity for the summer July 2, 2021 Citing climate change-driven heat events, California energy officials announced Thursday that the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), the operator of the state’s power grid, would exercise its authority to procure additional capacity. Read more
San Juan Generating Station taken offline after cooling tower collapse July 6, 2021 Unit one of the San Juan Generating Station was taken off line last week after a cooling tower collapsed, sources familiar with the incident told NM Political Report. The cooling tower is necessary to operate the unit and,…
More than half the U.S. faces electricity supply problems in the face of a long, hot summer Energize Weekly, July 7, 2021 More than half the U.S. – primarily in the West, Texas, Midwest and to a lesser extent, New England – is at risk of energy emergencies this summer,…
Texas power grid overcomes problems to meet record June demand June 25, 2021 Peak electricity demand in Texas broke June’s record on Thursday and was expected to do so again on Friday, the power grid operator said, but there was no repeat of last week’s problems when a significant amount…
FirstEnergy Taking Proactive Steps to Prepare Transmission System for Summer Weather Jun 21, 2021 FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) has completed annual inspections and maintenance throughout its transmission system to help ensure reliability for customers ahead of the summer season. Read more
Solar installations break records in Q1 of 2021, but face rising costs and supply chain issues Energize Weekly, June 23, 2021 A record-breaking 5 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity was installed in the first quarter of 2021, pushing total installed U.S. capacity to 100 GW – more than doubling in…
Xcel Energy Cuts Emission, Set to Attain Carbon Neutrality June 8, 2021 Xcel Energy announced that it has achieved more than 50% of the carbon neutrality target and is among the few utilities that have pledged to cut emissions from the electricity generation process by 100%. Read more
Queue for electric generation and storage projects is growing across the U.S. Energize Weekly, June 2, 2021 The queue of electricity generation and storage projects is growing year-on-year, reaching a total of 950 gigawatts (GW) of capacity by the end of 2020, according to a survey by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.…
Rising natural gas prices boost coal production and summer coal-fired generation Energize Weekly, May 19, 2021 A steady rise in natural gas prices since the start of 2021 has given the U.S. coal industry a boost as electric utilities, the nation’s prime coal consumer, are set to switch to coal-fired…
New strategy for greener TVA will close coal plants, add solar and nuclear Thu, May 6, 2021 Nearly a century after the Tennessee Valley Authority was created to harness the power of the Tennessee River, America’s biggest public utility is planning to turn more to the sun, splitting atoms and…
New York advisory panel recommendations to include gas-fired plant moratorium 03 May 2021 New York’s Power Generation Advisory Panel will recommend a moratorium against new fossil fuel-fired plant construction to the state’s Climate Action Council, the panel’s chair said May 3. Read more
Cost of winterizing Texas electricity grid worth the expense, Dallas Federal Reserve says Energize Weekly, April 21, 2021 The cost of weatherizing the Texas electric power system – which faced a major collapse during a February freeze – could run into hundreds of millions of dollars, but the expense would…
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
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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
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)…
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…
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…
Energize Weekly, May 13, 2020 A new front was opened last week in the battle between Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and some of its electric cooperatives, as United Power, its largest member, filed a complaint in a Colorado district court charging subterfuge and breach of contract. Meanwhile on May…
Energize Weekly, December 11, 2019 The U.S. has seen more than a fifth of its coal-fired generating capacity closed since 2011, and plants with higher operating costs were more vulnerable to closures, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). Between 2011 and the end of 2017, the total coal-fired…
Energize Weekly, December 4, 2019 Clean energy investment in developing countries dropped by more than 20 percent in 2018 to $133 billion, while coal-fired generation surged, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) survey. “Both suggest that despite considerable recent progress, developing countries’ power sector CO2 emissions are rising…
Energize Weekly, October 16, 2019 New England will have to increase the pace of renewable energy generation installations by four to eight times to meet 2050 goals to cut carbon emissions, according to a study by the Brattle Group, an economic and regulatory consultant. The region has a goal, as…
Energize Weekly, October 9, 2019 PacifiCorp unveiled a new resource plan that takes a sharp turn away from coal-fired plants toward renewable generation – closing 20 of its 24 coal units by 2038 and adding 8,300 megawatts (MW) of wind and solar. Portland, Ore.-based PacifiCorp, which serves 1.6 million people…
Energize Weekly, July 10, 2019 Utilities are moving to close coal-fired power plants and add more renewable generation, but the large role played by new gas-fired power plants is drawing fire from environmental groups, arguing that no more fossil fuel-based units should be built. In the last two weeks the…
Energize Weekly, July 3, 2019 Duke Energy Indiana has proposed 20-year plan under which it move up the retirement of more than 4,100 megawatts (MW) of coal-fired plants and make major investments in natural gas-fired and renewable generation. Duke laid out its “roadmap” in its integrated resource plan filed with…
Energize Weekly, June 26, 2019 There is adequate generating reverse to meet summer electricity demands in most of the U.S., while Texas, California and the West may face challenges, according to the North American Reliability Corp. (NERC) 2019 summer assessment. NERC, a nonprofit corporation overseeing regional electricity reliability in the…
Energize Weekly, May 29, 2019 Xcel Energy reached a settlement with a group of clean energy and labor organizations to close two Minnesota coal-fired power plants and clear the way for it to buy a natural gas-fired plant. Under the agreement signed May 20, Xcel will shutter the 511-megawatt (MW)…
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