News | Energy Bar Association

FERC commissioners troubled by reliability vulnerabilities tied to fuel security in parts of US

Although natural gas and power prices were relatively low across the US last year, fuel-security issues plaguing New England and Southern California led to some close calls for grid operators tasked with keeping the lights on, commissioners reflecting on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's 2017 state of the markets report said April 19.

The Trump administration just hatched another plan to buoy coal and nuclear

The Trump administration is mulling the use of a Truman-era law to make good on the promise to restore the coal industry, according to a April 19 report from Bloomberg. The Defense Production Act of 1950 offers the president power to implement subsidies for domestically produced materials in the name of national defense and also claims “it is necessary and appropriate to assure the availability of domestic energy supplies.”

Double Your Efforts To Cut Out The Carbon Or Face More Regulation, Cement Makers Told

Making cement is one of the most polluting activities on the planet when it comes to greenhouse gases and if companies do not reduce their emissions much more effectively in coming years, they are likely to face much tougher regulation, a new report says. The first reason the sector is so polluting is that so much is produced. Cement is the key ingredient in concrete, the second-most consumed substance on earth after water.

Are State Agencies Best Equipped to Manage Energy Industry Needs, Protect Groundwater?

The growth of American energy production in the last decade has been a remarkable success of technology and innovation. Already its impacts on the economy and national and international politics are clear. If production continues to grow, America is on track to being one of the world’s largest producers. To achieve that goal, however, will require effective regulation as much as new technology.

Utilities, Grid Operators Tell FERC They Need Real-Time Data to Better Manage DERs

Utilities and grid operators stressed the need for real-time information on distributed energy resources to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission panel in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. FERC organized the conference to gather information on the challenges of integrating DERs into the wholesale power market, which makes up about three-quarters of the country’s electricity supply.

Court Questions FERC Change on ISO-NE Renewable Exemption

A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday questioned whether FERC had changed its position without adequate explanation in its approval of ISO-NE’s renewable technology resource (RTR) exemption from its minimum offer price rule (17-1110). New England generating companies — including NextEra Energy Resources, NRG Power Marketing and PSEG Energy Resources & Trade — sued the commission last year over the exemption, which allows 200 MW of renewables annually (up to a 600-MW

Unlike PJM, grid operator MISO not seeking changes to power plant payments

The Midwest’s primary transmission grid operator doesn’t see a looming reliability crisis as utilities phase out uneconomic coal and nuclear plants. In response to a call for input on electric grid resilience issues, MISO told federal regulators last month that it is confident in its ability to plan new generation as older plants retire. The position puts it in contrast with its neighbor to the east, the PJM Interconnection, which asked for new rules that critics say would benefit coal and nucle

Federal coal's day in court

An obscure decision by a federal judge has prompted an important question for policymakers mulling energy policy: Does federal coal mined in the West have a bigger impact on global climate change than it does on the nation’s economy?

In Illinois, the humble utility pole meets the smart grid

The wooden utility pole has changed little since it was first used in the mid-19th Century to string telegraph line between cities. At a test site in Champaign, Illinois, though, researchers are getting a glimpse at how the humble utility pole could get a reboot for the smart grid era.

Chinas pressure to stop energy projects dents economic growth in Vietnam

Vietnam faces a pinch to economic development as China pressures it to stop exploring in a disputed sea for oil and natural gas, two important fuel sources for the fast-growing Southeast Asian country, analysts say. Spanish driller Repsol last month quit a Vietnamese-approved project at Vanguard Bank in the South China Sea, apparently under pressure from China, foreign media reports and political experts say. Now Vietnam is considering a $4.6 billion gas exploration project with ExxonMobil off i