Article Archive

Rock the Rooftop: Wellinghoff's Plan to Set Solar Straight

Submitted by meacott on Sun, 2014-06-08 21:49
Former FERC Chair Wellinghoff: let utilities own solar behind the meter, within service territory, with rate base treatment.

When Jon Wellinghoff sat as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, he guaranteed open access to electric transmission lines. Marketers, traders, merchant power producers, owners, demand response aggregators - each could share in a slice of the grid, courtesy of FERC.

The Polar Vortex: Was Gas at Fault?

Submitted by meacott on Tue, 2014-05-20 18:58
Natural gas industry expert Frank Brock, ICF International, reviews the Polar Vortex (winter 2014), and why gas and electric markets are out of sync.

On a frightfully cold Friday afternoon this past January, at the height of the infamous "Polar Vortex," grid system operators at PJM faced a daunting choice.

Recent weeks already had witnessed widespread outages at electric generating plants across the Northeast US, causing power reserves to drop to astonishingly low levels, as if in tandem with the falling mercury.

Planning for GHG Regulation

Submitted by meacott on Mon, 2014-03-17 18:57
Renewables win and coal loses in a carbon-constrained future. Scenario modeling lends insight to capital planning and resource strategy processes.

It is more certain now than it was a year ago that the United States will regulate carbon emissions from power plants in the future. The details surrounding this regulation, however, are still very uncertain, and present a problem for utilities as they attempt to plan for an uncertain future. Power generation companies, particularly electric utilities, can no longer ignore the potential for future carbon regulation.

Storage Steps Up

Submitted by mburr on Tue, 2014-02-25 18:16
Could batteries affect the way power producers evaluate and operate their generating assets – in particular fossil fired generating assets they currently use to supply ancillary services? Duke Energy's Jeff Gates talks about the Notrees project and the future of battery storage.
Could batteries affect the way power producers evaluate and operate their generating assets – in particular fossil fired generating assets they currently use to supply ancillary services? Duke Energy's Jeff Gates talks about the Notrees project and the future of battery storage.

Securing a Future for Coal

Submitted by mburr on Mon, 2014-01-27 14:34
A combination of low gas prices and tighter regulations has sidelined coal as an option for new power plants. The outlook could change, however, with reasonable policies to create a market for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) systems. MIT Prof. Howard Herzog explains how.
A combination of low gas prices and tighter regulations has sidelined coal as an option for new power plants. The outlook could change, however, with reasonable policies to create a market for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) systems. MIT Prof. Howard Herzog explains how.