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Analysis: Low gas prices not enough for Asia to move away from coal

Singapore — Record low global gas prices may have hit the appetite for coal in the Americas and in Europe, but it may do little to snatch away the fuel's strong presence in Asia, thanks to the region's limited scope to switch between fuels.

FERC Commissioner McNamee says he intends to serve for the foreseeable future

Jun 26, 2020 12:00 PM

Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner Bernard McNamee on June 18 said that he intends to continue serving as a Commissioner for the foreseeable future. He made his remarks at FERC’s monthly open meeting. In January, McNamee announced that he would not seek another term at the Commission but said he would stay longer at the agency if needed. McNamee’s current term expires at the end of this month.

PG&E launches $5.2B in public offerings, targets early July bankruptcy exit following judge's order

Jun 25, 2020 04:30 PM

Confirming PG&E’s plan is a step towards paying out victims of the Northern California wildfires and the utility’s other creditors, Montali wrote in a memorandum decision issued last week. Leaving tens of thousands of victims without any options instead “is not an acceptable alternative,” he said. “This has been a very comprehensive and complex challenge for everyone, but we all set out to try to get the plan in place, and hopefully it is on the way now,” Montali said at a hearing Friday.

FERC schedules technical conferences on carbon pricing, offshore wind integration challenges

Jun 25, 2020 02:00 PM

Commissioners were broadly in consensus on the importance of the offshore wind and carbon pricing conferences during Thursday's monthly open meeting. "The fact that we're going to be having a technical conference on how to develop offshore wind and the transmission issues involved with it is very important," Commissioner Bernard McNamee said during the meeting, echoing comments from Commissioner Richard Glick, the lone Democratic appointee on the commission.

Company plans to build 15 utility-scale storage plants in Texas

Jun 24, 2020 12:00 PM

Independent power producer Broad Reach Power plans to build 15 utility-scale battery storage plants totaling 150 megawatts (MW) in areas near Houston and Odessa, Texas. The Houston-based company is building the storage plants on a merchant basis “on our balance sheet” and aims to sell the output into the wholesale power market run by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Steve Vavrik, managing partner and CEO, said. The company is also targeting public power utilities, retail...

FERC accepts Tri-State exit fee methodology as jurisdiction battle looms with Colorado

Jun 23, 2020 12:00 PM

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on June 12 accepted and suspended a Contract Termination Payment (CTP) methodology proposed by Tri-State Generation and Transmission, as Colorado regulators consider exit charges for two of the utility's cooperative members. An administrative law judge at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in May cleared the way for state regulators to determine the fees La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) and United Power will pay to exit Tri-State's...

Listen: Global demand destruction due to pandemic clouds US natural gas storage outlook

Jun 22, 2020 12:00 PM

US working natural gas in storage started the injection season with levels well above the five-year average. After the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, heavy US demand destruction was anticipated, which would add to the storage glut. However, residential and commercial and gas-fired generation demand have remained resilient. From a global perspective, the pandemic has led to a steep drop in US LNG exports. LNG feedgas demand started out 2020 setting record highs, nearing 9 Bcf/d, but the...

Massive turbines designed for U.S. offshore wind farms

Jun 19, 2020 12:00 PM

Preparing for an explosion in offshore wind construction, the Department of Energy is partnering with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to help design turbines that will be three times larger than current models. The bigger machines are intended to generate a surge of cheaper renewable electricity for the United States by 2030 as multiple states along the coasts work to build offshore wind farms. The goal is a computer model that will help companies develop taller and more efficient...

Supreme Court lifts major hurdle to $7.5B Atlantic Coast Pipeline

Jun 18, 2020 12:00 PM

The Supreme Court issued a 7-2 ruling on Monday overturning a lower court decision that halted construction of the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). The ruling gives the U.S. Forest Service the authority to grant the pipeline's developers right of way on the $7.5 billion project as the project goes over 600 feet underground across a portion of the Appalachian Trail, which is part of the National Park System. The pipeline, owned by Duke Energy and Dominion Energy, has other hurdles in its..

Utilities remain mute on FERC net metering petition, leave filing to face overwhelming opposition

Jun 17, 2020 12:00 PM

A petition in front of federal regulators to effectively overturn net metering policies nationwide faced overwhelming bipartisan opposition on Monday from state regulators, members of Congress, public power groups and others. Though several utilities filed to intervene on the petition, including Pacific Gas and Electric, Xcel Energy and Duke Energy, none filed comments by the June 15 deadline, so it remains unclear where utilities fall on the issue. Investor-owned utility group Edison...

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