A new draft carbon-pricing bill that solicits feedback on how much industrial sources burning fossil fuels should pay per ton of carbon dioxide emitted was released by a bicameral group of Democrats on Tuesday. The bill diverges from a previously introduced measure to levy carbon taxes at the point of production or sale of a fossil fuel and applies instead at the “point of emissions”—which includes coal, oil, and natural gas generators.

The commercial license agreement for a frequency-responsive technology that tells an electric vehicle’s (EV’s) battery charger when to start and stop charging based upon existing conditions on the electric grid has been reached between developer Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and AeroVironment Inc. The technology could boost widespread adoption of plug-in EVs and support the integration of variable renewable sources while alleviating concerns about grid stability.

On Monday, the Department of Energy issued a new funding opportunity announcement designed to help U.S. industry design and certify innovative small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). This follow-on solicitation to the cost-share agreement with Babcock & Wilcox for its mPower SMR technology, announced in November 2012, is open to other companies and manufacturers and is focused on furthering SMR efficiency, operations, and design.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates final regulations curbing greenhouse gas (GHG), mercury, and air toxics emissions from new sources could appear in the Federal Register over the next six weeks. Also forthcoming are final cooling water intake rules and proposed effluent guidelines. The coal ash rule, which has no target date for a final rule, may not be issued this year, the agency said.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Monday denied a petition from Unistar Nuclear Operating Services to review an August 2012 decision by the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) that found the company was ineligible to obtain a construction and operation license (COL) for its proposed—and then abandoned—Calvert Cliffs 3 EPR because it was completely foreign-owned.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S. Coast Guard within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate with each other on the development of projects that generate power from waves, tides, ocean currents, and the flow of rivers. A group of bipartisan senators, meanwhile, introduced a companion bill to a recently passed House bill that seeks to expand hydropower in the U.S.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) on Wednesday approved three major renewable energy projects in California and Nevada that have a total nameplate capacity of 1,100 MW.

On the second anniversary of the 9.0-magnitude Great Tohuku Earthquake that killed more than 25,000 people and set off the worst nuclear disaster in 25 years, Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (TEPCO’s) devastated Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 through 4 were in cold shutdown and set to be abolished. All Japan’s nuclear reactors remain shuttered for safety inspections, and the rattled nation has yet to finalize a future energy roadmap. Meanwhile, as panelists at the IHS CERAWeek noted, the world’s global nuclear sector seems to have made a slow but determined recovery.

A variety of factors have exerted downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices the past few years. EIA data suggest this may be a long-term spiral, not just a temporary hiccup.

Taking an activist stance in favor of unions,  the National Labor Relations Board recently ruled that employers must continued to withdraw union dues from paychecks even after a collective bargaining agreement has expired. But another court ruling may place this NLRB decision—and many others—in doubt.