Legal & Regulatory

A decade ago, the annual Platts nuclear energy conference in Washington was brimming with optimism over a coming “nuclear renaissance,” as licensing requests poured into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

There have been numerous pronouncements recently about the upcoming demise of the bulk power grid as consumers are projected to move toward decentralized green energy sources. We don’t believe that the end

Surrounded by coal miners, industry leaders, the secretaries of Energy and the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, and the vice president, President Donald Trump on March 28 signed an executive order rescinding or reviewing key provisions of the previous administration’s climate agenda. “The action I’m taking today will eliminate federal overreach, restore economic […]

A long-planned expansion of Sunflower Electric Power Corp.’s Holcomb Station is a little closer to fruition as of March 17 with a favorable ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court. The state’s high court ruled to uphold a 2010 construction permit, which was amended in 2013, for the plant. The Sierra Club argued that the permit […]

AES subsidiary Dayton Power & Light (DP&L) confirmed on March 20 that it will close two of its coal-fired plants by 2018 because they have become uneconomic. The Ohio utility announced its intent to close the two plants in January as part of a settlement over its future reliability planning. The plan had been contested […]

In a ruling that stunned the nation, a district court in Japan awarded damages to 62 plaintiffs who lived near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant before the 2011 disaster, finding that plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and the Japanese government were aware of risks to the plant and could have taken measures […]

President Donald Trump’s proposed budget, which cuts funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by 31%, will not be received favorably by the American people, former EPA Administrators Gina McCarthy and Carol Browner said March 17 during a call with the press. “This is clear what’s happening. The White House has made a decision that […]

Texas has filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the Department of Energy (DOE) from spending tax dollars on consent-based siting activity, and to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and other relevant federal agencies to complete licensing proceedings for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste permanent repository. The lawsuit filed with the U.S. Court […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) administrative priorities will be reined in to focus on process, rule of law, and cooperation with states, the agency’s new head Scott Pruitt told attendees at CERAweek by IHS Markit on March 9. Since the former Oklahoma Attorney General was sworn in as EPA administrator in late February, the agency has […]

With a vote of 62–37, the Senate on March 2 confirmed former Texas governor Rick Perry as the new secretary of energy. Perry received the support of 10 Democratic senators: Mark Warner (Va.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Tom Udall (N.M.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Jon Tester (Mont.), […]