DOE
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Legal & Regulatory
[UPDATED] DOE to FERC: Force Competitive Markets to Value Coal and Nuclear Resiliency, Reliability Attributes
A rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on September 29 directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to mandate that competitive power markets develop and implement market rules to “accurately price” what it calls “fuel-secure” generation. The DOE’s “Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule” directs FERC—an independent regulatory government agency that is officially organized as […]
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Coal
DOE Rolls Out Funding for Turbines, Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is kicking off September with a couple of significant funding announcements. The department announced September 6 the selection of 16 projects to receive a combined total of more than $10 million in funding to advance solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology. That announcement was followed up September 7 with […]
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News
$100M in DOE Funding Available for Transformational Coal Projects
The Department of Energy (DOE) has available up to $100 million in cost-shared funding for large-scale transformational coal technologies pilot projects. According to an August 24 funding opportunity announcement (FOA), the money will be distributed in three phases. “The purpose of this FOA is to seek applications for projects to design, construct, and operate large-scale […]
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Legal & Regulatory
DOE Grid Study Points Finger at Natural Gas
In a long-awaited study of electricity markets and grid reliability, the Department of Energy has called out natural gas as the No. 1 reason for retirements of coal and nuclear plants, breaking from the Trump administration’s prior talking point blaming regulations and renewables for the nation’s shrinking coal and nuclear fleets. The report attributes four […]
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Nuclear
Trump Administration Swats at Texas in Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository Legal Fight
Citing its backing for the long-stalled Yucca Mountain permanent spent nuclear waste repository in Nevada, the Trump administration has asked a federal court to reject a petition filed by Texas in which the state sought a court-supervised process to take over administrative proceedings so as to guarantee licensing and eventual construction of project. Texas filed […]
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Coal
$28 Million in DOE Funding Available for Advanced Energy Systems R&D
The Department of Energy (DOE) is offering approximately $28 million in cost-shared funding for research and development of advanced energy systems. According to three separate funding opportunity announcements (FOAs), the department is looking for research into advanced combustion systems, advanced turbines, and gasification. “Advanced energy conversion systems are designed to enable efficient, low-cost, and near-zero […]
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Renewables
Trump Administration Releases Budget Slashing Energy Research
President Donald Trump wants to balance the federal budget in 10 years, and it appears he believes that to do so, deep cuts to the nation’s energy research funding are needed. The administration’s fiscal year 2018 (FY18) budget request, released Tuesday, May 23, cuts funding for the Department of Energy (DOE) by $1.7 billion, a […]
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Legal & Regulatory
DOE Issues First-Ever Emergency Order to Keep Open a Unit That Is Noncompliant with MATS
The Department of Energy (DOE) issued an unprecedented emergency order on April 14 to keep open a power plant that had been slated for shutdown under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) in a bid to secure electric reliability. The DOE’s order was issued under the Federal Power Act Section 202(c). It inaugurates the […]
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Renewables
Draft Trump Budget Proposes Major Cuts in EPA, DOE Programs
The Trump administration released a blueprint of its proposed 2018 budget on March 16, likely setting off a major battle with Congress. The budget proposal, “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again” makes major cuts in non-defense discretionary spending over 2017. While funding for the Department of Defense is boosted $52.3 billion, […]
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Nuclear
Nuclear Industry Hopeful Congress Will Resolve Spent Nuclear Fuel Impasse
Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), told POWER on March 9 that the U.S. nuclear industry is optimistic this Congress will work to resolve the nation’s long drawn out spent fuel predicament. Speaking at CERAweek by IHS Markit last week, Korsnick said that optimism was based on Republican domination of […]