Legal & Regulatory

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in July issued a long-awaited decision in the case Cooling Water Intake Structure Coalition v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), upholding the EPA’s

It’s no secret that U.S. nuclear and coal-fired power plants are struggling to remain viable in competitive markets. Many plants have been retired for economic reasons long before the facilities reached the

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 drama over the fate of the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion in Georgia continued September 25 as the four co-owners of the project sparred over conditions that one of the co-owners, Oglethorpe Power, wants in order to secure its support for moving forward with the project. A vote on the future of the oft-delayed, massively […]

Owners of the beleaguered Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project have voted—at least for now—to continue construction of two new AP1000 reactors at the site near Waynesboro, Georgia. Directors of the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power) and Oglethorpe Power on September 24 each agreed the oft-delayed and increasingly over-budget project should move forward, although […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on September 13 upheld subsidies offered by Illinois to help struggling nuclear power plants. The court rejected arguments from power producers and some Illinois energy consumers that so-called zero-emission credits (ZEC) are preempted by the Federal Power Act. Opponents argued the program violates the Commerce Clause […]

As a vote by owners on the fate of the Vogtle nuclear expansion project hangs in the balance, the City of Jacksonville, Florida, and JEA—the city’s municipal utility that serves about 458,000 electric customers—filed a complaint in the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida on September 11 asking for declaratory judgment on a power purchase […]

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 […]

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, […]

The Trump administration has revived the discussion of using Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a repository for the nation’s nuclear waste. Nevada officials remain opposed to the idea of putting spent nuclear fuel in long-term storage at a site about 100 miles from Las Vegas. But while a bill to resurrect Yucca Mountain as a […]

President Trump campaigned on a promise to reduce regulation and control regulatory costs. One of his first actions after taking office was to issue an executive order calling for the elimination of two existing regulations for every one new regulation issued. Toward that end, the Trump administration has acted or sought to reverse more than […]

New Jersey is yet another state expanding public access to cannabis for medical purposes and is poised to legalize access for recreational use. This means energy service providers and public utilities will

FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. (FES) notified PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission organization (RTO), of its plans to deactivate four fossil-fuel generating plants in 2021 and 2022. In a press release issued on August 29, the company said it “is closing the plants due to a market environment that fails to adequately compensate generators for the resiliency […]

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 Trump administration’s Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule announced August 21 calls for coal-fired power plants to meet state-designed performance standards, most notably focused on increases in heat rate and overall efficiency for individual generating stations. Energy experts speaking at the MEGA Symposium in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 22 agreed it’s a goal worth pursuing. […]

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 Trump administration has proposed an overhaul of U.S. power plant emissions rules, unveiling a plan that would allow individual states to determine how they will regulate pollutants. The proposal, called the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) plan and discussed during the keynote address at the MEGA Symposium in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 21, would essentially dissolve […]

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 […]

A New York Supreme Court judge on August 15 said Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) can resume startup tests at its new natural gas-fired power plant in Wawayanda. The decision Wednesday from Judge Roger D. McDonough came one day after CPV sued New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). CPV is seeking an injunction allowing it […]

A report from POLITICO says the Trump administration’s rollback of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP) would give individual states more leeway to set their own rules governing emissions from power plants. POLITICO, which covers politics and policy both in the U.S. and internationally, said its review of a draft document, and information from a […]

An Indiana consumer protection agency has told state regulators they should reject Vectren Corp.’s plan to build a new natural gas-fired power plant in the state. Vectren wants the plant to replace four of the utility’s retiring coal-fired units. Indiana’s Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC) on August 13 said it completed a five-month legal […]

An official with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) told a nuclear industry group this week that the agency and Trump administration officials are trying to identify power plants they consider critical to the nation’s grid. The move is seen as part of the White House effort to prop up the struggling U.S. coal and […]

A natural gas-fired power plant in New York state that planned to ramp up to full operations this month has been denied an air quality permit from state officials. Competitive Power Ventures’ (CPV’s) Valley Energy Center in Wawayanda, located in Orange County north of New York City, is in the final testing and commissioning phase, […]

The future of Georgia Power’s 865-MW coal-fired Plant Hammond in Floyd County, Georgia—which recently slashed more than half its workforce—is murky, company officials said August 3. The four-unit facility that began operations in 1954 employed 190 workers in September 2016. Today, according to company officials, the plant only has 41 full-time employees. Georgia Power Regional […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not intend to revisit national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone that the Obama administration issued in 2015, a court filing shows.  The agency said in its final status report submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on August 1 that it has reviewed […]

Water withdrawn by U.S. steam-driven power generators fell 18% in 2015 compared to 2010, owing largely to plant closures, coal-to-gas fuel switching, and the use of more water-efficient cooling system

U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry last year petitioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to craft policies to provide for “resilience” in the nation’s generation resource mix. He wrote

A coal-fired plant in Colorado needed to further reduce its emissions to comply with more-stringent regulations. The work presented several challenges, and the owner and contractors worked together to complete

Dry Fork Station began commercial operation as a swath of older, less-efficient U.S. coal plants contemplated retirement amid a flood of environmental rules. Designed with foresight, this quintessential modern