Legal & Regulatory

A myriad of issues come into play when parties execute power industry mergers and acquisitions. Part 1 of this two-part series examines what dealmakers need to know before making any transactions

Washington state’s latest effort to fight climate change, Initiative 1631 (I-1631), is on the November ballot. With a broad coalition of support from business, environmental, and special interest groups

In the wake of the implementation of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), many utilities and their holding companies are experiencing increasing pressure on cash flow due to the elimination of bonus

October 18, 2018 — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted Exelon Generation Company’s request to modify the emergency preparedness plan for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Lacey Township, N.J., to reflect the plant’s decommissioning status. The changes include exemptions from specific NRC requirements that may not be applicable to a plant that has […]

Utilities are faced with many disruptive changes in the power market. Customers are demanding cleaner energy and turning to distributed generation as a solution. One expert suggested power companies must react and evolve their business models to change with the times. During a keynote presentation at the Distributed Energy Conference in Golden, Colorado, on October […]

The White House may have shelved an effort to force grid operators to buy power from uneconomic coal and nuclear plants amid opposition inside the administration, Politico reported on October 15.  The publication reported “four people with knowledge of the discussions” have confirmed that opposition from the president’s own advisers on the National Security Council […]

Dominion Energy has filed an application to extend the operating licenses for two 45-year-old nuclear reactors at the Surry Power Station through 2052 and 2053—when they will be 80 years old.  Surry’s Unit 1 and 2, located near Newport News, Virginia, are three-loop Westinghouse pressurized water reactors (PWRs) that began operation in December 1972 and […]

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to rehear a case that challenges nuclear subsidies in Illinois, effectively dealing a blow to a group of competitive generators, which have fought the measure for several years. In an order issued on October 9, the appellate court said its full judicial panel had voted to deny […]

Colorado-based Westmoreland Coal Co. on October 9 said it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with the company reporting more than $1.4 billion in debt. The company in its annual financial report in April of this year said it was considering bankruptcy in an effort to protect it from creditors. Westmoreland, which has operated for […]

Environmental officials in North Carolina say their tests show that coal ash released from Duke Energy’s Sutton power plant in Wilmington during flooding from Hurricane Florence has not had a negative impact on the Cape Fear River. The state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on October 4 said its test results on water samples collected […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed it has submitted proposed changes to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) to the White House for review, despite urging by the industry to let the rule stand. EPA spokesperson John Konkus told POWERon October 2 that the agency does not intend to withdraw the existing MATS. It […]

The Valley Energy Center in Orange County, New York, entered commercial operation on October 1 despite complaints from local officials and area residents about noise from the plant, among other concerns. Community members spoke out against the plant at public hearings last week, saying they have felt sick when the plant has undergone test runs […]

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 […]