Markets

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on April 30 updated its summer 2018 planning reserve margin to 11% based on resource updates, but it warned that the regional grid serving most of Texas could still suffer rotating outages under extreme conditions. In its final Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy (SARA) report for the upcoming […]

A report released this week by The Brattle Group says that if four nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania are allowed to retire early it will cause “substantially higher emissions of CO2 and other pollutants” and that there will be “a significant increase in electricity prices” not only in the two states, but also […]

New Jersey’s Assembly and Senate in separate actions on April 12 passed bills to ensure continued operation of PSEG’s Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants. Lawmakers also passed bills to modify the state’s renewable portfolio standards and for support of a pilot offshore wind farm. Legislation (S-2313/A-3724) directing the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) […]

The nation’s paramount nuclear power trade group has launched a wide-ranging strategy to help generators stay profitable in tight markets, the head of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) told Wall Street analysts on April 12. In an address broadcast on Facebook, Maria Korsnick, NEI president and CEO, said that nuclear plants that operate in competitive […]

New Jersey’s Assembly and Senate are both poised to vote on controversial bills that seek to subsidize the state’s nuclear power plants, modify the renewables portfolio standard, and support a pilot offshore wind farm. Lawmakers on April 12 could pass the package of bills, which includes S-2313, a bill directing the Board of Public Utilities […]

Two recent project announcements indicate that the U.S. offshore wind sector is burgeoning, bolstered by falling prices and ramped-up political support. A credit ratings agency warns, however, that the sector’s growth could increasingly pressure profit margins of merchant generators in New England, New York, and New Jersey. On March 14, Danish offshore giant Ørsted and […]

Even in the absence of climate policy, customer adoption of electric end-use technologies over the next 30 years is expected to spur steady growth in energy consumption, a new report assessing U.S. electrification from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) suggests. The April 3–released report, “U.S. National Electrification Assessment,” is based on findings by EPRI’s […]

FirstEnergy Corp.’s competitive arm FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) and several key subsidiaries, including FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC), on March 31 sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. FirstEnergy said the move would facilitate an “orderly financial restructuring” and accelerate its strategy to become a fully regulated utility. FES—the parent company of FE Aircraft Leasing Corp., FirstEnergy Generation, […]

The generating fleets owned by some of the largest companies in the U.S. (ranked here by capacity in 2017) have transformed over the past four years, in some cases dramatically, as total revenues fluctuated. Sources: Fidelity Investments (revenue data standardized by S&P Capital IQ); EIA-860 detailed data; SEC 10-K filings, and company websites. —Copy and artwork by Sonal Patel, a […]

Chile joined the ranks of nearly two dozen countries that have announced a phaseout or a moratorium of coal generation, pledging not to continue building coal-fired power plants unless they are equipped with

Following a planned outage, Unit 1 at the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant near Baxley in southeastern Georgia returned to service in early March outfitted with first-of-their-kind accident tolerant fuel (ATF)

A day after FirstEnergy Corp.’s competitive arm notified PJM Interconnection it would close four uneconomic nuclear units—a total of 4 GW—in Ohio and Pennsylvania between 2020 and 2021, it urged Energy Secretary Rick Perry to issue an emergency order directing the regional transmission organization (RTO) to secure nuclear and coal capacity for long-term reliability. FirstEnergy […]

FirstEnergy Corp. will close four uneconomic nuclear units—a total of 4 GW—in Ohio and Pennsylvania between 2020 and 2021, the company’s competitive arm notified PJM Interconnection on March 28. FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) told the regional transmission organization that it will close the 908-MW Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio, by 2020; the twin-unit […]

To remain competitive in power markets increasingly characterized by disruptions, NRG Energy plans to accelerate its transition from a pure independent power producer (IPP) model to a more simplified customer-driven integrated power model that favors its retail businesses. In a number of presentations showcased on March 27 as part of NRG’s 2018 Analyst Day, company […]

In a move that demonstrates how difficult current market conditions are, even for some natural gas-fired facilities, GenOn Energy—a subsidiary of NRG Energy—said it will shutter three California gas-fired power plants for economic reasons. The company notified the California Public Utilities Commission and California Independent System Operator (CAISO) in letters dated February 28 that it […]

Markets may currently favor natural gas, but coal, which has been diminished for “good reason,” will likely have a significant place as a reliable fuel for power generation, a diverse panel of U.S. coal experts—including a generator, a supplier, and a market analyst—suggested at CERAWeek by IHS Markit in Houston on March 7. Coal lost […]

The Supreme Court for the state of New Mexico affirmed a final order by state regulators to allow Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to replace lost generation from two shuttered units at its 1,800-MW coal-fired San Juan Regional Generation Station with coal and nuclear resources. The case stems from a petition filed by […]

No evidence exists that New England local gas distribution companies engaged in practices to withhold natural gas pipeline capacity on the Algonquin system to drive up gas or power prices in the region, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) staff revealed. FERC on February 27 closed an inquiry after conducting an “extensive review” of the allegations—which […]

The recent retirement of older generating units and high peak usage owing to economic growth could tighten operating reserves in the region served by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) this summer. The grid operator said on March 1 that total resource capacity for the upcoming summer (spanning June through September 2018) is expected […]

In President Trump’s State of the Union address, he said, “We have ended the war on American energy, and we have ended the war on beautiful, clean coal.” It’s safe to say that things have gotten better

ABB Receives Contract to Upgrade, Expand Combined Cycle Plant. A consortium including Doosan Heavy Industries and state-owned construction company PT Hutama Karya has awarded a $40 million contract to ABB to

Spanish market and competition regulator CNMC (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia) in a report published on January 24 said a draft government decree to block power plant closures if they

The private sector is traditionally known as a driver of innovation, so it may be surprising to some people that many businesses have only recently begun to consider advanced energy technologies. Looking at

GE has launched a three-part strategy to address a dismal outlook for its power division that will involve operating in a “leaner, more cost-efficient way,” the company’s head told investors in a February 26 letter. The multinational conglomerate’s long-standing and lucrative GE Power business unit’s earnings plunged 45% in 2017 owing to costly operational misses […]

In what has been a much longer and more drawn-out process than Entergy could have imagined when it first proposed a new gas-fired power plant in New Orleans, the company got some good news on February 21. The Utility, Cable, Telecommunications, and Technology Committee agreed—after what has turned out to be years of discussion—to send […]

FirstEnergy Corp. bled $2.64 billion from its competitive businesses over 2017, financial losses exacerbated by marked declines in contract sales, higher operating expenses, and costs associated with asset impairment and plant exit. The Akron, Ohio–based company, which in January received a $2.5 billion equity injection from four private investment groups to boost its transition to […]

After decades of lethargic power demand—and negative growth in 2017—U.S. electricity use is expected to grow steadily through 2050, driven by a healthy economy and increasing efficiency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects in its Annual Electricity Outlook 2018 (AEO2018). However, during that period, direct-use generation will outpace growth in retail sales as more […]

NRG Energy, in a bid to shed $7 billion in consolidated debt, is selling the bulk of its renewable assets and development platforms along with several coal and natural gas power plants worth 3.6 GW tied to its South Central Generating business. The independent power producer, which recently relinquished bankrupt wholesale generator GenOn Energy to […]

Exelon Generation will shutter its Oyster Creek Generating Station in October 2018—more than a year before it is required to close the single-unit reactor as part of an agreement with the state of New Jersey. Exelon agreed in 2010 to close the unit by December 2019—10 years before its license to operate expires—after it decided […]

Two more U.S. nuclear power plants are facing early retirement, joining a string of generators whose fate was determined by market conditions, political pressure, or financial stresses assailing the sector. Several others may be poised to join them. The 647-MW Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Palo, Iowa, will likely close in 2025 after a current […]