Exelon

Pay-As-Bid Revisited

Many see a higher cap as a windfall for nuclear and coal.

FERC’s new rulemaking proposal would allow generators to tender supply bids higher than $1,000 per megawatt-hour, if it really costs that much to buy fuel to generate power. Some opponents say that may be OK for gas-fired turbines, but it’s not needed for nuclear or coal-fired plants.

Topping the $1k Cap

Still Beyond the Pale?

Two decades into our grand experiment with wholesale power markets and we’re still debating the need for a cap on prices.

Nuclear Life Extension

Deciding whether to go forward with a second license renewal.

A majority of nuclear power plant operators already have received operating license renewals – to operate their plants for 20 years beyond the 40 years outlined in their initial operating licenses. As utilities decide whether or not to invest in license renewal, they must consider three key questions.

The Fortnightly 40 Best Energy Companies

A reshuffling of the rankings. Is nuclear the cause?

Of the top ten movers in this year’s Fortnightly 40, seven utilities rose in the rankings and three went down. But the utilities moving the most from 2013 to 2014 went down hard.

People (August 2015)

Rick Riley was named group v.p. of customer service and operations for Entergy Arkansas Inc. and will replace Hugh McDonald as president and CEO when McDonald retires in 2016; Edison Electric Institute chose Nicholas K. "Nick" Akins, chairman, president and CEO of American Electric Power, and also elected four vice chairmen; Appointments by American Electric Power, Con Edison, Georgia Power, Dominion Resources, American Transmission Co. and Pacific Gas and Electric; and others...

Is Nuclear Energy Still Viable?

Cheap natural gas is not just hurting coal. It’s doing the same to nuclear.

As the nation strives for cleaner air and less carbon emissions, nuclear – the most promising carbon-free power source – faces stiff competition from natural gas, which is cheap, abundant, and a lot easier to get permitted and built than a conventional reactor.

People (June 2015)

Andrew L. Ott will be PJM Interconnection’s president and CEO later this year; American Transmission Co. named Mike Rowe the company’s future president and CEO; DTE Energy named Paula Silver as v.p. for corporate communications; Georgia Power named Craig Barrs executive v.p. of the company’s customer service and operations organization; ITC Holdings promoted Christine Mason Soneral to senior v.p.; E.ON Energy Services named Keith Day president; Gil C. Quini­ones was elected chair of EPRI; Jane Palmieri was elected industry co-chair at the Alliance to Save Energy; Rich Meyer was named president of the nation’s Energy Bar Association; and others.

Constellation and CCBC Begin Construction of 5.1-MW Solar Project

Constellation, a subsidiary of Exelon, and the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) began construction of a 5.1-MW solar generation project in Baltimore County. The solar power system, spread among the college's three main campuses in Dundalk, Essex and Catonsville, is expected to generate enough electricity to meet approximately 27 percent of the college's electricity needs. Constellation will also install 10 duplex electric vehicle charging stations as part of the project.

Digest (April 2015)

PG&E asked state regulators for permission to build ~ 25,000 EV chargers across its service area in Northern and Central California - if approved, it would mark the largest deployment of EV charging stations in the country; Lockheed Martin and Dominion Resources have co-developed a new smart grid technology called VirtuGrid to enable remote detection of power outages for faster mapping and response; Panda Power Funds and Sunbury Generation LP will develop, finance, construct and operate a 1,000-MW gas-fired, combined-cycle power project in Pennsylvania; Siemens secured an order of 157 wind turbines in South Africa from Mainstream Renewable Power; PSE&G recently put two new landfill solar farms in service as part of its Solar 4 All program; Exelon Generation will add 195-MW of electric generation capacity at the Medway (Mass.) facility; ABB won a $35 million order for gas-insulated switchgear and shunt reactors from Belgian electricity transmission system operator Elia; Iberdrola USA agreed to acquire UIL Holdings and create a newly listed publicly traded company; Chesapeake Utilities agreed to merge Gatherco into Aspire Energy of Ohio, a wholly-owned subsidiary; and others...

Transactions (March 2015)

TerraForm acquired 21 U.S. distributed generation solar power plants from SunEdison; Emera closed the sale of its 49 percent interest in Northeast Wind Partners II to First Wind Holdings; Alterra Power completed its sale of its Fallon, Nevada geothermal facility to an affiliate of Cyrq Energy; Accenture agreed to acquire Structure, a provider of consulting, system integration and customized solutions and services to energy and utility clients; and others.