Legislative
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Legal & Regulatory
House Energy Subcommittee Resolves to Bar EPA Carbon Rules
A subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has passed two resolutions under a rarely invoked law to render the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) newly finalized carbon rules for new and existing power plants toothless. The joint resolutions introduced on Oct. 26 by Energy and Power Subcommittee Chair Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) under the […]
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Distributed Energy
Threats to Electric Power Grid Could Result in “Black Sky Days”
The societal impact of a “Black Sky Day”—a term used by electric infrastructure security experts when discussing a collapse of the North American power grid—would be devastating, according to Dr. Daniel Baker, distinguished professor of Planetary and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Baker testified before two subcommittees of the U.S. House of […]
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Nuclear
France Adopts Nuclear Cap, Carbon Tax Increase, and More
The French Parliament on July 22 finally adopted a law that caps nuclear power generation capacity at its current 63.2 GW. The measure will force utility EDF to shutter nuclear reactors before it starts up its
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O&M
DOE Report Highlights Triumph, Trouble for Wind Power Sector
U.S. wind power is becoming more widespread and costs are generally on the decline, but the sector is troubled by policy uncertainties, a new report from the Energy Department says. After a lackluster year in 2013, wind power capacity additions in the U.S. rebounded nearly 8% in 2014, driven by recent improvements in the […]
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Renewables
Broad Energy Policy Modernization Bill Clears Senate ENR Committee
Broad, bipartisan energy legislation that would allocate federal funding to grid technology research and demonstration along with a number of other initiatives, including cybersecurity and the energy-water nexus, has cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee with an 18–4 vote. The committee’s chair, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Ranking Member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) […]