PPL Corp. advanced its commitment to ESG in 2022 April 24, 2023 In its 2022 Sustainability Report, PPL Corp. gave an overview of its approach to a clean energy transition while outlining the company’s performance on the environment, social responsibility, and governance (ESG). “PPL is focused on excelling in safety,…
Surge in clean generation and storage projects creating a backlog on U.S. electric grids
Surge in clean generation and storage projects creating a backlog on U.S. electric grids Energize Weekly, April 26, 2023 A surge in clean energy projects – a 40 percent year-over-year increase in 2022 – is creating a traffic jam in getting onto the U.S. electric grid, according to a Lawrence…
Denver, state using speedy solar permitting apps to quicken clean energy transition
Denver, state using speedy solar permitting apps to quicken clean energy transition Apr 18, 2023 Denver plans to use a permitting software app to slash 30 days from the oft-frustrating process of getting rooftop solar panels approved for homeowners. And the Colorado solar industry is so fired up about the…
Construction nears on SRP large-scale battery energy storage project in Arizona
Construction nears on SRP large-scale battery energy storage project in Arizona APRIL 14, 2023 Officials from Salt River Project (SRP), Plus Power LLC, and the City of Avondale took part in a ceremonial groundbreaking to kick off construction at Sierra Estrella Energy Storage, what is expected to be the largest…
Calpine plans more natural gas power plants in Texas
Calpine plans more natural gas power plants in Texas April 13, 2023 Texas-based electricity generation company Calpine has relaunched its plans to build more gas-fired power plants in the state. The announcement follows the recent decision by Texas regulators to offer market-based incentives. The Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) adopted…
World Leaders Agree to Boost Nuclear Power, While Germany Shuts Its Plants
World Leaders Agree to Boost Nuclear Power, While Germany Shuts Its Plants April 17, 2023 Some of the world’s largest most influential nations have formed an alliance to create new supply chains for nuclear energy—the same weekend that another country announced it had completely weaned itself off the energy source.…
$2.8 billion sale of Eastern Kentucky power company will not go forward
$2.8 billion sale of Eastern Kentucky power company will not go forward APRIL 17, 2023 The previously announced sale of Kentucky Power, the utility company that serves a large portion of Eastern Kentucky, has been canceled, the company announced Monday. In December 2021, American Electric Power, the parent company of…
A key link in bringing Wyoming wind power to California gets federal BLM approval
A key link in bringing Wyoming wind power to California gets federal BLM approval Energize Weekly, April 19, 2023 After 15 years of planning and permitting battles, a key piece in billionaire Philip Anschutz’s $8 billion project to bring Wyoming wind power to California – the 732-mile TransWest Express transmission…
PacifiCorp eyes renewables as it plans to stop burning coal at most of its Wyoming plants
PacifiCorp eyes renewables as it plans to stop burning coal at most of its Wyoming plants April 5, 2023 Wyoming’s largest power company is shifting toward renewables and away from coal; however, the state is still planning a future that includes fossil fuels. PacifiCorp, also known as Rocky Mountain Power…
FirstEnergy Ohio firms file plan to invest in grid security, customer assistance and energy efficiency
FirstEnergy Ohio firms file plan to invest in grid security, customer assistance and energy efficiency April 07, 2023 With submission of a proposed Electric Security Plan (ESP) this week to state regulators, Ohio Edison, Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison sought to bolster their investments into distribution modernization and…
Vogtle nuclear expansion projects reach key milestones
Vogtle nuclear expansion projects reach key milestones April 11, 2023 The new nuclear units under construction at Georgia Power’s Vogtle 3 & 4 nuclear expansion project near Waynesboro, Ga., reached some important milestones recently. At Vogtle Unit 3, the generator has generated electricity for the first time, and the unit…
Montana Judge Cancels Air Permit for Gas-Fired Power Plant
Montana Judge Cancels Air Permit for Gas-Fired Power Plant Apr 10, 2023 A judge in Montana has canceled the air quality permit for a natural gas-fired power plant under construction in the state, citing concerns about emissions of greenhouse gases from the facility. State District Judge Michael Moses on April…
PNM joins WPP’s reliability planning and compliance program in western US
PNM joins WPP’s reliability planning and compliance program in western US 10 Apr 2023 The Public Service Company of New Mexico has joined the first region-wide reliability planning and compliance program in the Western US, known as the Western Resources Adequacy Program. Seattle City Light and Snohomish County Public Utility…
Southwest Power Pool takes a first step in creating a western wholesale electricity market
Southwest Power Pool takes a first step in creating a western wholesale electricity market Energize Weekly, April 12, 2023 A group of 26 utilities and organizations representing power producers – ranging from the Rockies to the Southwest to the Pacific Northwest – agreed to join the initial phase of the…
Appalachian Power files to approve use of renewable energy facilities
Appalachian Power files to approve use of renewable energy facilities March 31st 2023 Appalachian Power, along with Wheeling Power, has requested to recover costs connected to renewable energy projects within service areas. The request was filed Friday with the Public Service Commission of West Virginia and includes a wind facility…
Grid Transmission Progress In The U.S.
Grid Transmission Progress In The U.S. March 31, 2023 As the U.S. continues to see the highest levels of renewable energy investment in its history, the investment required to expand and improve the energy transmission grid will need to keep pace. This is happening through a combination of private investment…
Senators lead push to accelerate advanced nuclear deployment
Senators lead push to accelerate advanced nuclear deployment April 3, 2023 West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito is trying her hand again at a bill that, if made law, would hasten the rollout of America’s newest fleet of nuclear power reactors. The wide-ranging, bipartisan measure, known as the Accelerating Deployment…
Electric prices for Connecticut residents likely to drop dramatically during the second half of 2023
Electric prices for Connecticut residents likely to drop dramatically during the second half of 2023 April 3, 2023 After three months of paying dramatically higher electric rates, there may be some relief coming this summer for a majority of Connecticut electric customers. The state’s two largest electric distribution companies, Eversource…
US Power Plant Firm Goes Bankrupt After Winter Storm Penalties
US Power Plant Firm Goes Bankrupt After Winter Storm Penalties March 31, 2023 Lincoln Power LLC, the owner of two Illinois power plants, filed for bankruptcy after its financial strain was exacerbated by nearly $39 million in penalties levied by the biggest US electric-grid operator. The Chapter 11 filing allows…
The pace of U.S. coal-fired plant closures quickens, coal’s share of generation to plummet
The pace of U.S. coal-fired plant closures quickens, coal’s share of generation to plummet Energize Weekly, April 5, 2023 The pace of U.S. coal-fired plant closures continues to accelerate with half of all the capacity, which peaked in 2011, closed by 2026, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and…
Southern California Edison Improves Grid Safety, Significantly Reduces Wildfire Threat
Southern California Edison Improves Grid Safety, Significantly Reduces Wildfire Threat March 27, 2023 Southern California Edison today submitted its 2023-25 Wildfire Mitigation Plan to California’s Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety. SCE has reduced the probability of wildfires associated with its utility equipment by 75%-80% since 2018. This is a significant…
Radioactive water leaks at Minn. nuclear plant for 2nd time
Radioactive water leaks at Minn. nuclear plant for 2nd time Mar 23, 2023 Water containing a radioactive material has leaked for a second time from a nuclear plant near Minneapolis and the plant will be shut down, but there is no danger to the public, the plant’s owner said Thursday.…
New Ky. law makes it more difficult to retire coal-fired power plants
New Ky. law makes it more difficult to retire coal-fired power plants March 27, 2023 Energy utilities now have to prove to regulators their plans to retire fossil-fueled power plants won’t compromise the reliability and resilience of the electric grid in Kentucky. It takes effect immediately. The legislation emerged following…
White House threatens veto for Republican energy package
White House threatens veto for Republican energy package 03/27/23 The White House on Monday threatened a veto of a House Republicans’ energy package, known as H.R. 1, if it makes it to President Biden’s desk. “H.R. 1 would take us backward. Therefore, if presented to the President in its current…
Deep freeze and data concerns test Southeast power market
Deep freeze and data concerns test Southeast power market 03/28/2023 When several large electric utilities launched a first-of-its-kind energy trading platform in the Southeast last fall, the pitch was simple: Lower energy bills and deliver more solar power to customers. Now, more than four months after the Southeast Energy Exchange…
U.S. EV and battery investments reached $120 billion in 2023 spurred by federal legislation
U.S. EV and battery investments reached $120 billion in 2023 spurred by federal legislation Energize Weekly, March 29, 2023 Electric vehicle (EV) and battery manufacturing investments in the U.S. surged by $120 billion in the last eight years with federal legislation spurring activity, according to a study by the Environmental…
Appalachian Power updates clean energy plan, requesting solar power purchase, purchase of Ohio wind facility
Appalachian Power updates clean energy plan, requesting solar power purchase, purchase of Ohio wind facility March 20, 2023 In its annual update to its clean energy plan, Appalachian Power last week requested to purchase a 143 MW wind facility in Ohio and the ability to purchase 204 MW of solar…
South Carolina lawmakers pass power grid protections after attacks
South Carolina lawmakers pass power grid protections after attacks March 20, 2023 South Carolina lawmakers are working to make sure electrical substations are better protected months after a substation shooting knocked out power for more than 34,000 people in North Carolina. Last week, South Carolina senators unanimously passed two bills…
Martin Drake Power Plant natural gas units generating power
Martin Drake Power Plant natural gas units generating power Mar 21, 2023 Colorado Springs Utilities (Springs Utilities) has started generating power with the first of six modular natural gas units at the Martin Drake Power Plant. Springs Utilities said over the next several weeks each unit will go online and…
Xcel is cleaning up radioactive water spill at Monticello plant
Xcel is cleaning up radioactive water spill at Monticello plant MARCH 16, 2023 A broken pipe at Xcel Energy’s Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant leaked about 400,000 gallons of water containing radioactive tritium, and the utility is working to clean up the contaminated plume, state regulators said Thursday. Both Xcel and…
Power rate hike rebate during winter storms possible, court ruling reveals
Power rate hike rebate during winter storms possible, court ruling reveals March 20, 2023 When the temperatures dropped during Winter Storm Uri in 2021, prices for electricity went up. The bills that followed provided a shock that energy analysts like Ed Hirs, a University of Houston energy fellow, described as…
DOE working with partners to accelerate long-duration energy storage
DOE working with partners to accelerate long-duration energy storage March 09, 2023 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) took a step forward this week toward accelerating the commercialization of long-duration energy storage (LDES). While shorter-duration energy storage is currently being installed to support renewable energy generation, long-duration storage technologies are…
EPA proposes new rules for toxic pollutants discharged from coal-fired power plants
EPA proposes new rules for toxic pollutants discharged from coal-fired power plants March 13, 2023 The EPA has proposed new and stricter limits on toxic contaminants that utilities can discharge from their coal-fired power plants and coal ash landfills — but it’s still unclear how the rules would affect Duke…
US NRC accepts Monticello subsequent licence renewal application
US NRC accepts Monticello subsequent licence renewal application 13 March 2023 The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has accepted for review Northern States Power Company-Minnesota’s application for subsequent licence renewal for the Monticello plant. The regulator is also moving forward with revisions to its rule on the environmental considerations behind…
Texas lawmakers propose bills moving away from renewable energy in attempt to shore up power grid
Texas lawmakers propose bills moving away from renewable energy in attempt to shore up power grid March 9, 2023 Some Texas senators unveiled plans Thursday to shift the focus away from wind and solar and toward resources like natural gas. It was part of nine bills Texas lawmakers announced aimed…
Xcel Energy will cut Colorado bills again in April as natural gas costs continue to fall
Xcel Energy will cut Colorado bills again in April as natural gas costs continue to fall Mar 14, 2023 Xcel Energy is again cutting natural gas costs passed through to consumers starting with April bills, the third price decrease announced in two months, even as a special legislative committee pursues…
More than 43,000 miles of new transmission lines needed in the U.S. by 2040, DOE study says
More than 43,000 miles of new transmission lines needed in the U.S. by 2040, DOE study says Energize Weekly, March 15, 2023 The United States is projected to need more than 47,300 gigawatt-miles of new transmission lines by 2040 – in some cases they will be needed as soon as…
California could keep the lights on by expanding grid across the West, report finds
California could keep the lights on by expanding grid across the West, report finds MARCH 03, 2023 Expanding California’s electricity grid to cooperate with neighboring states would bolster reliability and affordability while reducing carbon emissions, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy concluded in a new report. The report released…
Constellation starts up nuclear-powered clean hydrogen facility in New York
Constellation starts up nuclear-powered clean hydrogen facility in New York Mar 07, 2023 Constellation Energy Company has started up a 1MW demonstration-scale, nuclear-powered clean hydrogen production facility at its Nine Mile Point plant in Oswego, New York. Believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, the plant…
Georgia Power begins splitting atoms inside one new Vogtle reactor
Georgia Power begins splitting atoms inside one new Vogtle reactor 3/6/2023 Georgia Power began splitting atoms on Monday to produce heat inside one of its two new nuclear units at Plant Vogtle, the company said, a key milestone that brings the country’s first new reactors built in more than three…
Minnesota utility proposes $192M EV charging station network
Minnesota utility proposes $192M EV charging station network March 6, 2023 A Minnesota utility’s proposal to deploy around 730 EV charging stations while raising rates has encountered opposition from the state department of commerce, rate payers and other parties, according to a startribune.com report. Opponents of the plan question whether…
Global bank financing for low-carbon energy rose 15 percent to $550 billion in 2022
Global bank financing for low-carbon energy rose 15 percent to $550 billion in 2022 Energize Weekly, March 8, 2023 Investments in low-carbon energy supply rose by 15 percent in 2022 – the fastest growth rate in seven years – to $550 billion, according to BloombergNEF’s (BNEF) annual report on energy…
Dish hit by multiday outage after reported cyberattack
Dish hit by multiday outage after reported cyberattack February 27, 2023 U.S. satellite television provider Dish is experiencing a multiday outage after a reported cyberattack, with customers unable to access streams, services or their accounts. The disruption began early on Thursday when Dish customers said they could not access their…
Red states leading the US in solar and wind production, new report shows
Red states leading the US in solar and wind production, new report shows 26 Feb 2023 A new report by Climate Central shows how US capacity to generate renewable energy shot up last year – and surprisingly, red states lead the nation in solar and wind power production. National wind…
Northern Virginia data centers could strain power grid
Northern Virginia data centers could strain power grid February 27, 2023 Data centers in Northern Virginia starting to draw new environmental concerns. Monday, The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality will weigh whether the centers get a waiver on air pollution. Northern Virginia hosts the largest collection of data centers in…
DOE touts grid expansion plans as operators raise concerns
DOE touts grid expansion plans as operators raise concerns 02/27/2023 The Department of Energy calls its new draft report on transmission a vital step in confronting barriers to long-distance power lines, but not all U.S. grid operators are sold on the outlook. DOE’s draft “National Transmission Needs Study,” released Friday,…
Reprieved Illinois plants to be uprated
Reprieved Illinois plants to be uprated 22 February 2023 US utility Constellation has announced it will invest USD800 million in new equipment to increase the output of its Braidwood and Byron nuclear power plants in Illinois by some 135 MWe. They were among the Illinois nuclear plants saved from premature…
Kentucky lawmakers advance bill to keep coal on the power grid, cite reliability concerns
Kentucky lawmakers advance bill to keep coal on the power grid, cite reliability concerns FEBRUARY 28, 2023 Kentucky lawmakers are advancing a bill to try to keep coal-fired power plants on the state’s electric grid “for the foreseeable future,” pointing to concerns over rolling blackouts that some utilities implemented when…
General Assembly deal sets Dominion profits for two years while overhauling regulatory system
General Assembly deal sets Dominion profits for two years while overhauling regulatory system FEBRUARY 25, 2023 The decision came down to the wire, but on Saturday afternoon Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office and the General Assembly reached a deal on sweeping legislation to adjust Dominion Energy’s profit margin and reform the…
With Duke Energy solar rebates expired, N.C. nonprofits look for new ways to bridge the gap
With Duke Energy solar rebates expired, N.C. nonprofits look for new ways to bridge the gap February 20, 2023 A rush of applications in the final months of a Duke Energy solar rebate program reflects an ongoing need to help North Carolina nonprofits share the benefits of clean energy, advocates…
