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…
US government may sue PacifiCorp, a Warren Buffett utility, for nearly $1B in wildfire cost
US government may sue PacifiCorp, a Warren Buffett utility, for nearly $1B in wildfire costs February 26, 2024 The U.S. government is threatening to sue PacifiCorp, a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, to recover nearly $1 billion in costs related to the 2020 wildfires in southern Oregon and northern…
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…
Texas Lawmaker files bill that would allow the rest of the country to access Texas’ power grid
Texas Lawmaker files bill that would allow the rest of the country to access Texas’ power grid February 18, 2024 Congressman Greg Casar, D-Austin, says it is the first time it has ever happened in Congress: a bill was drafted and filed that would make Texas connect its power grid…
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…
Growing electricity demand from electric vehicles poses risks to the bulk power system, NERC says
Growing electricity demand from electric vehicles poses risks to the bulk power system, NERC says Energize Weekly, February 21, 2024 The growing demand for electricity to charge electric vehicles (EVs) – depending upon the timing of the charging – could threaten the bulk power system, according to a study by…
Western Maryland Electric Grid Stronger and More Resilient Following Smart Enhancements
Western Maryland Electric Grid Stronger and More Resilient Following Smart Enhancements 13 Feb, 2024 FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) subsidiary Potomac Edison has completed service reliability projects that will enhance electric service and minimize the impact of power outages for nearly 5,000 customers in Allegany, Frederick and Garrett counties. The two…
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…
To lower energy costs, California wants to tie bills to income. That plan is making enemies
To lower energy costs, California wants to tie bills to income. That plan is making enemies February 12, 2024 California is already home to some of the highest energy costs in the country, and those prices are only expected to rise as the state powers more of its economy with…
Arizona utility regulators vote to kill renewable standards
Arizona utility regulators vote to kill renewable standards February 8, 2024 Let the market dictate how utilities do business. That was the message from Arizona utility regulators on Tuesday after they voted to begin the process of repealing the state’s energy efficiency and renewable standards. Solar industry advocates expressed disbelief,…
Facing a growing crypto-mining sector, the U.S. to require reports of power use by miners
Facing a growing crypto-mining sector, the U.S. to require reports of power use by miners Energize Weekly, February 14, 2024 Faced with a burgeoning cryptocurrency market and its rising demand for electricity, the U.S. government is going to collect monthly data on the industry’s use of power. The federal Energy…
Oak Ridge public-private partnership looks to advance quantum tech for the power grid
Oak Ridge public-private partnership looks to advance quantum tech for the power grid FEBRUARY 1, 2024 A new cooperative endeavor based at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory unites public and private sector players to push forward advancements in the quantum sciences field, particularly for solutions to further secure the U.S.…
$1.5 billion DOE loan aims to restart Palisades
$1.5 billion DOE loan aims to restart Palisades Jan 31, 2024 The Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert, Mich., may become the first in the United States to be restarted after permanent shut down—with help from a $1.5 billion loan being championed by the Biden administration. Holtec International could receive…
U.S. Thermal Coal Finds New Life Overseas
U.S. Thermal Coal Finds New Life Overseas Feb 6, 2024 US thermal coal exporters recorded more than $5 billion in overseas sales in 2023, shipping upwards of 32.5 million metric tons of the high-polluting power fuel, according to Reuters, citing data from ship-tracking firm Kpler. These coal export earnings were…
Red tape closes power plants before replacements ready
Red tape closes power plants before replacements ready Feb 2, 2024 Despite the key positions states like Ohio and Pennsylvania hold to solve future energy problems, shifting the power grid from coal and natural gas to wind and solar isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. A cadre of Pennsylvania…
Xcel plans higher electric rates during peak evening hours, lower overnight costs
Xcel plans higher electric rates during peak evening hours, lower overnight costs FEBRUARY 6, 2024 Xcel has asked state utility regulators to let it switch Minnesota electric customers to variable rates, which on summer weekdays would be seven times more expensive from 3-8 p.m. than between midnight and 6 a.m.,…
Global investment in clean tech and energy transition reached a record $1.8 trillion in 2023
Global investment in clean tech and energy transition reached a record $1.8 trillion in 2023 Energize Weekly, February 7, 2024 Global investments in the energy transition from fossil fuels to clean tech climbed 17 percent in 2023 to a record $1.8 trillion, according to a study by the energy research…
Sunrun and PG&E Complete First Season of Innovative Residential Distributed Power Plant
Sunrun and PG&E Complete First Season of Innovative Residential Distributed Power Plant 29 Jan, 2024 Peaking at nearly 32 megawatts from 8,500 solar-plus-storage residential systems, Sunrun and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) customers provided consistent, reliable clean energy to California’s power grid through the summer and fall of 2023…
U.S. Oil Drillers Are Going Electric—and Hitting Speed Bumps
U.S. Oil Drillers Are Going Electric—and Hitting Speed Bumps January 29, 2024 In the country’s busiest oil field, frackers are devouring nearly as much electricity as four Seattles every day—and they are clamoring for more. Diamondback Energy, a major producer in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico,…
Texas’ grid has gone 3 years without a crisis. Will it last?
Texas’ grid has gone 3 years without a crisis. Will it last? 01/30/2024 In the three years since deadly blackouts paralyzed Texas, two major winter storms have hit the electricity grid without plunging the state into blackouts. Texas has touted its success during those two events — Elliott in December…
Energy Professionals welcome Pickering Nuclear life extension announcement
Energy Professionals welcome Pickering Nuclear life extension announcement Jan 30, 2024 The Society of United Professionals welcomes the government’s announcement to pursue the refurbishment of the Pickering B Nuclear Generating Station (PNGS). PNGS, and the thousands of high-quality union jobs that the plant supports, are a vital piece of the…
Lawmakers propose to keep Utah running on coal and natural gas
Lawmakers propose to keep Utah running on coal and natural gas Jan 29, 2024 Republicans on Capitol Hill are working to keep coal and natural gas in Utah’s future. There’s a bumper sticker making its way around the Capitol this year. It reads simply, “powered by coal.” Rep. Colin Jack,…
Energy giant Schneider Electric hit by Cactus ransomware attack
Energy giant Schneider Electric hit by Cactus ransomware attack January 29, 2024 Energy management and automation giant Schneider Electric suffered a Cactus ransomware attack leading to the theft of corporate data, according to people familiar with the matter. BleepingComputer has learned that the ransomware attack hit the company’s Sustainability Business…
TVA reaches its highest weekend power demand during the cold temperatures
TVA reaches its highest weekend power demand during the cold temperatures Jan 21, 2024 Icy temperatures followed us into the weekend, and the Tennessee Valley Authority broke another peak power record along the way. The peak power demand on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Easter Time was 34,284 megawatts, with…
Federal money will help PG&E operate Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant until 2030
Federal money will help PG&E operate Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant until 2030 January 19, 2024 The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, California’s last operating plant, will continue to run until 2030. This week the Biden Administration finalized a billion-dollar aid-package to help keep the plant running. It was scheduled…
Global coal exports and power generation hit new highs in 2023
Global coal exports and power generation hit new highs in 2023 January 18, 2024 Worldwide electricity generation from coal hit record highs in 2023, while thermal coal exports surpassed 1 billion metric tons for the first time as coal’s use in power systems continues to grow despite widespread efforts to…
AES positioned to provide tech sector with growing renewable energy solutions
AES positioned to provide tech sector with growing renewable energy solutions January 19, 2024 With data centers and generative AI (GenAI) driving an enormous demand for power and major technology firms working to fulfill ambitious clean energy goals, AES Corp. said it is positioned as the premiere provider of renewable…
Duke Energy to lay off employees as part of ‘clean energy transition’
Duke Energy to lay off employees as part of ‘clean energy transition’ Jan. 22, 2024 A Duke Energy spokesperson confirmed that the Charlotte-based utility company will be laying off employees as part of a “clean energy transition.” The company did not specify how many employees will be laid off, or…
BLM roadmap opens 22 million acres of public lands to utility-scale solar development
BLM roadmap opens 22 million acres of public lands to utility-scale solar development Energize Weekly, January 24, 2024 A total of 22 million acres of public lands in the West would be open to utility-scale solar development under a plan proposed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on…
World’s most advanced battery energy storage system comes online, speeding Hawaii’s transition to 100% renewable energy
World’s most advanced battery energy storage system comes online, speeding Hawaii’s transition to 100% renewable energy 11 Jan, 2024 Plus Power™ announced it has begun operating its Kapolei Energy Storage facility on Oahu, Hawaii, the most advanced grid-scale battery energy storage system in the world, helping transition the state’s electric…
First Uranium Mines to Dig in the US in Eight Years Begin Operations Near Grand Canyon
First Uranium Mines to Dig in the US in Eight Years Begin Operations Near Grand Canyon January 15, 2024 Three uranium mines have gone into production along the Arizona-Utah border, with more on the way elsewhere in the Mountain West, as market conditions for the mineral needed for nuclear energy…
PJM Urges Delayed Retirement of 840-MW Fossil Fuel Power Plant, Citing Reliability Impacts
PJM Urges Delayed Retirement of 840-MW Fossil Fuel Power Plant, Citing Reliability Impacts January 10, 2024 PJM has urged Talen Energy to delay its deactivation of two of four units at the 840-MW coal, oil, and gas–fired Herbert A. Wagner Generating Station in Maryland until transmission upgrades are put into…
Energy companies gear up for fight on electric regulation bill
Energy companies gear up for fight on electric regulation bill January 16, 2024 As top lawmakers move to strengthen consumer protections for utility customers who shop for electricity suppliers, large national energy companies are countering with a poll showing an overwhelming majority of voters want to retain robust competition in…
Puget Sound Energy says region set new record for electrical demands
Puget Sound Energy says region set new record for electrical demands January 15, 2024 Puget Sound Energy says the region set a new record for demand on the natural gas and electrical systems on Friday. A faulty fiber optic cable temporarily took down one of its gas storage facilities in…
Solar generation continues expand rapidly on the U.S. grid while coal continues its decline
Solar generation continues expand rapidly on the U.S. grid while coal continues its decline Energize Weekly, January 17, 2024 Solar and coal-fired electricity generation are continuing to head in opposite directions over the next two years with solar being the leading source of new generation and coal activity falling to…
Microsoft, Qcells strike massive supply deal for US-made solar panels
Microsoft, Qcells strike massive supply deal for US-made solar panels January 8, 2024 South Korea’s Qcells on Monday said it will supply Microsoft (MSFT.O) with 12 gigawatts of American-made solar panels through 2032 in what the companies called one of the largest ever deals of its kind. The agreement locks…
Energy Department has cyber threats to infrastructure in mind with $70 million funding offer
Energy Department has cyber threats to infrastructure in mind with $70 million funding offer JANUARY 5, 2024 The Department of Energy is offering $70 million in funds toward research and development for technology that would protect delivery infrastructure against cyber-related threats and other physical hazards, part of what a senior…
Only a nuclear reactor can make Pueblo “whole” after Xcel Energy closes last coal-fired plant, local group says
Only a nuclear reactor can make Pueblo “whole” after Xcel Energy closes last coal-fired plant, local group says Jan 8, 2024 The only way Pueblo can be “made whole” after the closure of Xcel Energy’s massive, coal-fired Comanche Station is for the utility to replace it with an advanced nuclear…
AES Closes California Natural Gas-Fired Plant
AES Closes California Natural Gas-Fired Plant January 4, 2024 AES Corp. has ended operations at one of the group’s four remaining natural gas-fired power plants in California. AES on Dec. 31 shut down its 1,300-MW Redondo Beach Generating Station, a facility that operated at less than full capacity in recent…