Climate change

Natural gas combined cycle, wind, and residential solar photovoltaic technologies may be the least-expensive way to generate power across a wide swathe of the U.S., an interactive map published and recently updated by the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Energy Institute shows.  The interactive chart (Version 1.4.0, retrieved on October 4, 2018), first published […]

Spurred by the shale gas revolution, natural gas’s stunning rise to dominate the U.S. power profile has been echoed by a number of countries, particularly in the Middle East. In Europe, where domestic natural gas production is actually in decline—and consensus is that shale gas won’t likely play a major role on the continent—natural gas […]

Scorching temperatures during the summer of 2018 forced a swathe of power plants across the world to reduce power or shut down temporarily, owing to warmer-than-usual temperatures of cooling water and other

New York’s subsidies of nuclear power are legally sound, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has concluded. The decision comes two weeks after the Seventh Circuit upheld a similar measure in Illinois. The development marks a victory for the nuclear industry, which has been financially crippled by the rise of cheap gas […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on September 10 announced it will hold one hearing to get input from the public and stakeholders on its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, the Trump administration’s replacement for the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP). The EPA said it has scheduled an all-day hearing October 1 at the Ralph […]

California Gov. Jerry Brown on September 10 signed into law a measure requiring the state to produce all its electricity from renewable sources by 2045. It’s a goal that also has been set by Hawaii and is being discussed by other states. Environmental groups and renewable energy advocates immediately praised Brown’s action. Utilities operating in […]

Nuclear power’s share of the world’s power generating mix could shrink dramatically from 10% in 2017 to just 5.6% in 2050 as the industry struggles with “reduced competitiveness,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggested in a new report. The international organization based in Vienna, Austria, that works to promote the peaceful use of nuclear […]

Seventeen states have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject the Trump administration’s efforts to further delay the court’s decision on legal challenges to the Clean Power Plan. In a filing with the court on September 4, the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, […]

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) interdisciplinary study found that nuclear power has the potential to contribute greatly to the achievement of deep decarbonization goals, yet despite its promise, cost hinders the expansion of nuclear power. “The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World” was released on September 3. It is the eighth in […]

Electric vehicles (EVs) have the potential to realign the transportation sector and present an opportunity for the power industry to transform and reinvent itself in fundamental ways. But whether this

China completed its first large commercial-scale parabolic-trough concentrated solar power (CSP) plant at the end of June. The 50-MW Delingha project built by CGN New Energy, a subsidiary of China General

Along with producing power from 99 turbines, the 309-MW Hornsdale Wind Farm in South Australia has helped trial new technologies that could ramp up power system security and reliability. At first glance, the

The inaugural integrated system plan (ISP) released by Australia’s Energy Market Operator (AEMO) in mid-July warns that the country is in the midst of a “transformative and unprecedented” rate of change

Lawmakers in California’s Assembly on August 28 cleared a key vote on a bill that would require the state to obtain 100% of all retail electricity sales from renewable and zero-emissions resources by 2045.  The state’s Assembly voted 43–32 in favor of SB 100. The bill, which now heads to the state Senate for a […]

A spate of major power companies—including American Electric Power (AEP) and Southern Co.—have acquiesced to investor pressure and announced drastic cuts to their generating fleet carbon emissions over the long term. Industry group Edison Electric Institute (EEI) this week launched an official industry-designed template to help its member utilities better inform investors about their environmental, […]

The Trump administration has extended a potential lifeline to coal-fired power plants with its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule. Now the debate is about how much the plan will actually help coal generation. Energy analysts and other industry experts who spoke with POWER on August 28 say the new rule, which would give individual states the […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule is proposed to replace the 2015 Clean Power Plan—which the Supreme Court stayed in February 2016 and never went into effect. According to the EPA, the replacement is necessary because the Obama-era Clean Power Plan “exceeded the EPA’s authority.” However, like the Clean Power Plan, […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposed rule to replace the Clean Power Plan—a rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from existing coal-fired power plants. The new “Affordable Clean Energy” rule sets GHG guidelines for states to set standards for performance for existing coal-fired power plants. The proposal is the newest development in a […]

Germany is often touted as a leader in the global energy transition. Energiewende has been part of the country’s public discourse since the 1970s, stemming from an anti-nuclear movement prevalent at the

New hydropower capacity installed worldwide plunged 36% in 2017 compared to 2016, but the sector remains optimistic about its future despite a transitioning role for hydropower away from baseload power and

Chris Crane, CEO of Exelon Corp., seemed to take umbrage with the way comments he made on June 5 were reported by Utility Dive. The website published the headline “Exelon CEO: No grid emergency to justify DOE coal, nuke bailout,” but Crane went out of his way to clarify his position while on stage participating […]

Purse-string holders are pretty easily swayed to approve funding to upgrade transmission and distribution systems following major events like Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Irene. However, it is becoming

To sustain unprecedented economic growth, lift hundreds of millions out of poverty, and attract investment, African countries are taking bold steps to expand electricity infrastructure. Are the continent’s

Natural disasters can strike anywhere, and the events of recent years—hurricanes, flooding rains, bomb cyclones—have ramped up the efforts of utilities to prepare for extreme weather. Power companies are

Retiring coal plants and increasing renewables key to company’s clean energy transition MINNEAPOLIS, May 22 /CSRwire/ – Xcel Energy is a step closer to achieving one of the most aggressive carbon-reduction goals in the industry. Today, the company announced it cut carbon emissions 35 percent, according to its newly released Corporate Responsibility Report. This puts Xcel […]

A report released this week by The Brattle Group says that if four nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania are allowed to retire early it will cause “substantially higher emissions of CO2 and other pollutants” and that there will be “a significant increase in electricity prices” not only in the two states, but also […]

A study from an economic, financial, and strategy consulting group says the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multi-state program designed to cap emissions from power plants in the northeastern U.S., has generated $4 billion in net economic activity even as it has increased electricity prices in the region. The report from the Analysis Group, […]

New Jersey’s Assembly and Senate in separate actions on April 12 passed bills to ensure continued operation of PSEG’s Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants. Lawmakers also passed bills to modify the state’s renewable portfolio standards and for support of a pilot offshore wind farm. Legislation (S-2313/A-3724) directing the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) […]

The nation’s paramount nuclear power trade group has launched a wide-ranging strategy to help generators stay profitable in tight markets, the head of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) told Wall Street analysts on April 12. In an address broadcast on Facebook, Maria Korsnick, NEI president and CEO, said that nuclear plants that operate in competitive […]

The Product Stewardship Institute—a consumer advocacy group—defines product stewardship as “the act of minimizing the health, safety, environmental, and social impacts of a product and its packaging