Legal & Regulatory

Horizontal drilling technology and fracking techniques have created a natural gas revolution in the U.S. The future looks bright for gas-fired power generation but there are three potential storm clouds that

American Electric Power (AEP) has abandoned its mammoth $4.5 billion Wind Catcher project, one of its largest planned investments, and a key part of its strategy to tamp down carbon emissions by 2030. Under AEP subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO)’s proposed Wind Catcher project, AEP would have acquired a 2-GW wind farm—under construction in […]

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials in a July 24 webinar said that Russian hackers infiltrated a power plant industrial control system (ICS) in an incident that could have caused a blackout last year. However, as an industrial cybersecurity expert pointed out—and a DHS spokesperson confirmed—the impact of the incident may be overstated. The expert and DHS responded to a […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has ordered the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) to broaden, within six months, its Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) reliability standards to include mandatory reporting of cybersecurity incidents that could harm the bulk electric system (BES). FERC’s Order No. 848issued on July 19 directs NERC to develop and submit […]

TAE Technologies’ plasma performance is rapidly ramping up in Norman using advanced active feedback controls, further validating the company’s unique approach to fusion energy. FOOTHILL RANCH, CA, July 19, 2018 — Secretary Rick Perry today joined executives of TAE Technologies, Inc., the world’s largest and most advanced private fusion energy company, at its headquarters in […]

The Trump administration has finalized a significantly weakened rule governing the disposal of coal ash in landfills and surface impoundments by coal generators nationwide. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed on July 18 that it signed the first rule of its two-part rulemaking set that overhauls the Obama administration’s final 2015 rules for the disposal […]

Framatome reached a major milestone in its review of Le Creusot Forge’s manufacturing records, finishing the task of identifying and characterizing deviations in all of the records for forgings installed on nuclear reactors in France. A total of 1,925 records were analyzed. At this stage of the process, no serviceability issues have been identified in […]

NRG Energy will not restart its Dunkirk power plant in western New York, with the company on July 11 saying the cost to reconnect the facility to the state’s electric grid prohibits reopening the retired coal-fired plant as a natural gas-fueled facility. David Gaier, an NRG spokesman, told POWER the project’s increased costs, along with needed […]

The Trump administration is moving forward with its effort to replace the Clean Power Plan, with the president set to review a document sent to the White House on July 9. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 10 said a new rule, which insiders said would be more favorable to the coal industry, was […]

Scott Pruitt, chosen by President Donald Trump to lead the Environmental Protection Agency despite repeated lawsuits against the agency when he served as Oklahoma’s attorney general, resigned as EPA director July 5. Pruitt had been under scrutiny throughout his EPA tenure for questionable ethical decisions involving his office. Pruitt, who repeatedly said he had done […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on July 2 denied ISO-New England’s (ISO-NE’s) request for a tariff waiver to keep two gas-fired units—a total capacity of 1,700 MW—at Exelon’s Mystic Generating Plant in Boston, Massachusetts, running to address “fuel security risks.” The commission instead gave the grid operator a year to submit permanent tariff revisions […]

In a 3–2 decision, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected approaches filed by PJM Interconnection to reform its capacity market, whose integrity and effectiveness has been increasingly and “untenably threatened” by state subsidies for preferred generation resources, the federal regulatory body acknowledged. The June 29 order sharply divided the commission, prompting Democrat Commissioners Cheryl LaFleur […]

Officials with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on July 2 said Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, the country’s oldest operating nuclear power plant, will officially close on September 17. They also said radioactive material is likely to remain at the site in New Jersey until at least the late 2070s, and perhaps beyond. The […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on April 19 issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) to seek stakeholder input on how the agency should revise its 1999 Certificate Policy Statement regarding the review

The Trump administration, which is considering subsidizing baseload coal and nuclear power for resiliency and “national security,” is pursuing an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy that emphasizes natural gas exports, said Energy Secretary Rick Perry at the World Gas Conference this week in Washington D.C. In a keynote speech on June 26, Perry described the shale gas […]

Kenneth W. Irvin and Christopher Polito1 Sidley Austin LLP – Washington, D.C. What is “resilience,” and do we need it? As anyone who has not been on Mars knows, last year, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry petitioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to craft policies to provide for “resilience” in our generation resource […]

A bill codifying the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) role in addressing industrial control systems (ICS) cybersecurity has cleared the U.S. House of Representatives. While H.R. 5733, “DHS Industrial Control Systems Capabilities Enhancement Act,” contains no mandates for the private sector, it directs the DHS’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) to develop and maintain […]

American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) proposed $4.5 billion Wind Catcher Energy Connection project—the largest single-site wind project in the nation—has garnered approval from the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC).  The LPSC on June 20 approved a settlement agreement related to the project, which is proposed by AEP subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO). Under the proposal, […]

President Trump wants to provide financial support to struggling coal and nuclear power plants. He’s told the Department of Energy (DOE) to make it happen. But a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, along with commissioners from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), made it clear June 12 they don’t support federal government intervention […]

St. Michael, MN (June 2018) – U.S. Water announces that on May 25, 2018, the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin overturned a decision by a unanimous Federal Court jury that U.S. Patent Nos. 8,415,137 and 8,609,399 relating to U.S. Water’s pHytOUT® deposit control technology were valid. U.S. Water plans to […]

Xcel Energy, citing “historically low” costs for wind and solar power, said it wants to double its generation from renewable sources. Colorado’s largest utility also said it will retire two coal-fired units representing 660 MW at its Comanche Generating Station in Pueblo at least 10 years ahead of schedule. The changes were outlined in a […]

Reactions from U.S. energy and legal and regulatory groups began pouring in minutes after the White House confirmed on June 1 that President Trump has directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to act immediately to stop the loss of uneconomic coal and nuclear plants.  White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a June 1 […]

A draft memo circulated by the Trump administration before the National Security Council urges federal action to force grid operators to buy power from uneconomic coal and nuclear plants. Bloomberg on May 31 first pointed to the existence of the 41-page memo, which is dated May 29 and distributed Thursday. The memo outlines plans for a […]

The U.S. is pouring funding into developing new fuel technology for advanced nuclear reactors in a bid to help the flagging industry. On April 27, it awarded General Atomics (GA) $3.2 million for two projects that the San Diego, California-based company is developing, including an accident tolerant fuel (ATF) solution that the company says is […]

Nameplate renewable capacity surged to more than 2,000 GW worldwide at the end of 2016, constituting more than 28% of total generating capacity (Figure 6). Most (56%) was hydropower, followed by wind (23%), and then solar, mostly from photovoltaic (PV) at about 15%. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) the expansion was fueled […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) recent Order 841, “Electric Storage Participation in Markets Operated by Regional Transmission Organizations [RTOs] and Independent System Operators

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

Over the past decade, together with my students and colleagues at Duke University and other academic institutions, I have conducted scientific research and published 13 scientific articles on different aspects

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on May 29 told the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that Illinois’ nuclear subsidy program does not preempt federal statute, siding with the state and Exelon Corp. in a contentious legal fight that has divided the power sector. The case, now […]

The first of about 400 workers remaining at the soon-to-close Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey will begin leaving their jobs over the next few weeks, according to a notice filed this month by Exelon Corp. with the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing […]