Legal & Regulatory

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced on Dec. 23 that Stephen G. Burns will replace Allison Macfarlane as chairman, effective Jan. 1, 2015. Burns, a 33-year veteran of the agency—became a commissioner in November. He began his career at the NRC as an attorney in the Regional Operations and Enforcement division in 1978, later serving […]

The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) on Dec. 18 approved Florida Power & Light’s (FPL’s) request to invest in natural gas wells in Oklahoma. NextEra subsidiary FPL, one of the largest natural gas consumers in the country—it burns more gas than any other electric utility, about 2 Bcf/d—filed the request this past June. The plan […]

A final rule issued today by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate coal combustion residuals (CCRs) from coal power plants clarifies technical requirements for coal ash landfills and surface impoundments nationwide under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the nation’s primary law for regulating solid waste. The final rule is […]

From its modest origins as a way to shed load when the grid is stressed, demand response (DR) has grown to be a significant player in electricity markets. In the PJM region, demand response has accounted for as much as 14,833 MW of capacity, almost 10% of the total. Customer Gains and Generator Losses Demand […]

The effects of the January 2014 polar vortex have led to big changes in the PJM capacity market, as the board has approved changes to tighten up operations and improve reliability. The polar vortex storm of Jan. 6–8, 2014, saw temperatures plunge across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, causing a spike in demand for electricity and […]

In one of its last actions for the year, Congress passed a bill extending a variety of tax breaks, including the Production Tax Credit (PTC) through the end of 2014. The PTC, along with many other tax breaks in the bill, had expired at the end of 2013. The extension will allow them to be […]

The omnibus continuing resolution (popularly referred to as the “CROmnibus”) passed by Congress late in the evening on Dec. 13 to keep the U.S. government running through 2015, contains a number of provisions affecting the power generation sector. DOE. Executive branch agencies received a mix of cuts and expansions. The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) $10.2 […]

The two nuclear reactors under construction at Plant Vogtle will be delayed beyond their forecast commercial operation dates of December 2017 and 2018, an oversight team told Georgia regulators in the project’s latest construction monitoring report.  The consortium building the project had originally projected the first of the two AP1000 reactors would be operational in […]

When Allison MacFarlane, the outgoing chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), abruptly announced her retirement in mid-October—leaving with almost four years left on her term—her stated

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday proposed to revise the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone to a range of 65 to 70 parts per billion (ppb) and sought comments on a level as strict as 60 ppb. The proposed level applies to primary (health-based) and secondary (welfare-based) ozone standards, but […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) have been seen by many in the coal-fired power industry as potentially more expensive and onerous than its Clean Power Plan, which addresses greenhouse gases. On Nov. 25, the Supreme Court agreed to review a consolidated case that could potentially prevent the MATS […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday finalized changes to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), applying to periods of startup and shutdown at new and existing coal- and oil-fired power plants nationwide.  As published in the Federal Register on Nov. 19, the final action on the EPA’s reconsideration of the startup and shutdown […]

State renewable energy standards (RPSs) may be threatened by the expiration of federal tax credits, according to research from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBL). Lab scientist Galen Barbose, speaking at the annual meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC) in San Francisco, presented the results of a joint study between LBL and […]

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) informed the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on Nov. 10 that it intends to bring suit under the Clean Water Act to stop the release of coal ash pollutants it says are leaking from the TVA’s Gallatin coal ash ponds into the Cumberland River. Gallatin Fossil Plant is a four-unit […]

Texas utility Oncor announced this week that it will seek regulatory approval to spend up to $5.2 billion on 5 GW of energy storage resources to firm up its grid and improve reliability. Oncor owns the state’s largest electrical grid, and it hopes to deploy distributed storage batteries across its entire system beginning in 2018. […]

A couple of recently released reports offer some hope for the future of nuclear power plants operating on the fringe of profitability. Moody’s Investors Service suggests that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan “could increase the value of nuclear power as a non-carbon emitting generation source.” In its report, “Environmental Mandates and […]

A federal court in Michigan on Oct. 31 dismissed the $950 million antitrust suit filed against three Chinese solar photovoltaic (PV) panel manufacturers by bankrupt firm Energy Conversion Devices (ECD). ECD, which at one time was the world’s largest manufacturer of thin-film solar panels, was forced into Chapter 7 liquidation in 2012 after Chinese firms […]

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) completed an evaluation of a plan to export power to Mexico from the Frontera Generation Station, located in Mission, Texas. Although the results indicated that the power system could operate effectively during normal conditions without Frontera’s capacity, ERCOT says it has concerns with power supply sufficiency and transmission […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) serves as the gatekeeper to wholesale power markets in interstate commerce. The process to obtain and retain authority to sell into these markets at market-based rates (MBR) can be onerous. Any failure to fully comply with FERC’s regulations could result in participation restrictions and civil penalties of up to […]

China has been battling—and losing—a “war” on air pollution for years. Stepping up its efforts, the country recently issued new policy measures, tougher even than those in the U.S. and European Union, that could have big implications for its coal power sector.  Reports that heavy smog has blanketed large swathes of China’s provinces have become […]

William D. Magwood, IV, formerly head of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy and commissioner at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and current director-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), spoke with POWER Editor Gail Reitenbach on October 16 at the World Nuclear Exhibition outside […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a notice of data availability (NODA)—making additional information and ideas available for public comment—and it has also proposed carbon goals for areas in Indian Country and U.S. territories. Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, explained the two actions related to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) final rule governing long-term spent nuclear fuel storage onsite at U.S. power plants is illegal and should be overturned, the attorneys general of New York, Connecticut, and Vermont claim in a legal challenge filed on Monday.   In a petition filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled on Oct. 23 that the EPA can move forward with implementation of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) following the April ruling from the Supreme Court upholding most of the rule. The D.C. Circuit had previously voided the rule in December 2011, but […]

Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 23–24, the European Council (EC) agreed on the 2030 climate and energy policy framework for the European Union (EU), calling on all countries to come forward with ambitious targets and policies. The EC endorsed a binding EU target of at least a 40% reduction in domestic greenhouse gas emissions by […]

Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee released emails between top officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which they say demonstrate a “very close working relationship” between the two organizations. The emails are associated with the development of the EPA’s proposed carbon rule, […]

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up industry’s challenge to a federal court ruling that upheld the Bush administration’s air quality standard for ozone.  The high court’s denial leaves intact the D.C. Circuit’s July 2013 decision upholding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) last revision of its National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) […]

The first full-scale commercial post-combustion carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project at an operating coal-fired power plant is now online in Estevan, Saskatchewan, roughly 10 miles north of the U.S. border. The heart of the $1.4 billion project at Boundary Dam Power Station is the rebuilt 110-MW Unit 3, originally commissioned in 1970. The project, […]

After more than a year of deliberation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Dominion’s proposal to construct and operate liquefaction and export facilities at its existing Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal located in Lusby, Md. The proposed export facility will be contained within the existing footprint of the 131-acre import terminal […]

The U.S. power sector has seen a number of developments on the regulatory front in recent months. Here’s where major federal rules stand today. (For a more dynamic and graphic version of this article, see http://powermag.com/long-form-stories/bw-power/ .) GHG Rules New Power Plants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in September 2013 revised a 2012 proposal to […]