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Renewable Companies Strive for 24-Hour Power
Renewable energy is notoriously unreliable, generating electricity only when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining. Project developers, utilities and grid operators are trying a mix of options to overcome that challenge, including building huge amounts of renewable capacity, storing excess power on batteries, and using algorithms to make project economics work. [ read more … ]
Wind Energy
Massachusetts Orders Costly Offshore Wind Projects to Push Ahead
Massachusetts has denied requests from developers to renegotiate electricity contracts for proposed offshore wind farms after soaring inflation drove up construction costs, effectively ordering the renewable energy projects to push ahead. [ read more … ]
FERC
Biden names Phillips acting head of energy regulator
Phillips is acting chairman, and FERC will be locked at a 2-2 because the former head, Richard Glick, left FERC after Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat, did not hold a confirmation hearing to consider Biden’s re-nomination of Glick. Analysts said FERC may not take up many issues beyond power transmission rulemakings during the deadlock. Phillips will serve as temporary chief of the commission as the Biden administration considers nominating a permanent chair. [ read more … ]
White House selects FERC Commissioner Phillips as acting chairman
The White House Tuesday named Willie Phillips, a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission commissioner, as acting chairman of the agency. Phillips, a FERC commissioner since December 2021, replaces Richard Glick, whose tenure ended earlier this month after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., declined to hold a nomination hearing for his second term. FERC, a five-member agency, now has four sitting commissioners, potentially leaving them evenly split on some issues. [ read more … ]
EPA
Why 2023 is a cliff for climate rules
The Biden administration’s team of veteran lawyers and regulatory experts tasked with proposing clear air rules and climate mandates is far behind schedule at the outset of 2023. Deadlines have come and gone for EPA actions on power plant mercury and air toxics, cars, and atmospheric ozone. The agency is also under the gun to propose carbon rules for new and modified power plants and to finalize its methane standards for the oil and gas industry. If those rules slip to next year, advocates warn, it could jeopardize the administration’s chances of defending the rules in court, or even open the door for a Republican president and Congress to easily reverse them in 2025. [ read more … ]
Markets
Why Are Energy Prices So High? Some Experts Blame Deregulation.
When California, New York, Texas and other states began deregulating their electricity markets in the 1990s, officials promised that those changes would foster competition and make energy more affordable. But it hasn’t worked out that way. [ read more … ]
Energy Cases
Energy cases to watch in 2023
From pipeline permitting to agency rulemaking, federal courts are poised to decide a suite of legal challenges in 2023 that could set the pace of the nation’s transition away from fossil fuels. The rulings could also tee up a clash between Congress and the courts. [ read more … ]
Off Topic
Lawmaker who admitted to lying made carbon capture claims
In the summer of 2022, Santos appeared on a Newsday podcast and said that he had stood up at a Goldman Sachs conference and told the crowd that renewable energy was a “scam.” That story appears to be false, CNN reported. “Have you ever heard of a Goldman Sachs employee take the stage at the largest private equity conference in the world — SALT, run by Anthony Scaramucci — and berate their employer? Well, I did that,” Santos said. [ read more … ]
Note: News clips provided do not necessarily reflect the views of coalition or its member governors.