Law & Lawyers

New York's Natural Gas Path

The state is diverging from the national trend.

New York is taking its own path and outlawing the use of high-volume natural gas fracking. Yet, the state will remain a voracious consumer of natural gas that is fracked elsewhere. What gives?

Microgrids: Friend or Foe for Utilities?

For many, it’s the next logical step for smart grid technology.

A small, but growing, number of utilities are embracing these technologies. Microgrids offer a networking platform that the utility can both aggregate and optimize.

Nuclear's New Chance

Reprocessing nuclear fuel is a sustainable and viable option.

Reprocessing nuclear fuel separates the uranium and the plutonium for the rest of the spent fuel, enabling plant operators to reuse the uranium. But concerns over nuclear proliferation are stopping it in this country.

Playing Safe with Capacity Markets

PJM would minimize risk, but so did regulation.

Changes envisioned by PJM call for ever more structured markets, further reducing the scope of the competitive landscape from which RTOs arose. They may produce a system that is actually more costly and less innovative than regulation.

PJM's Three-Way Proposal

A re-defined capacity product, revised parameters for generator performance, and a new role for demand response.

The proposal creates a new capacity product called the “Capacity Performance Resource.”

The Reselling of Coal

Its future rests with new technologies – not outdated PR.

If advanced coal generation is to reach fruition, then the coal sector will need a federal partner – one that it cannot afford to continue alienating.

People (March 2015)

Exelon Generation named Michael J. Pacilio executive v.p. and COO; FirstEnergy made a series of leadership changes involving David J. Karafa, Steven E. Strah, Linda L. Moss, Richard S. Sweeney and Edward L. Shuttleworth; CenterPoint Energy appointed William D. Rogers, executive v.p. of finance and accounting; leadership changes at Black Hills Corporation, Consumers Energy and Duke Energy; California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) named Timothy Sullivan as interim executive director; and others; 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.

Commenting on Carbon

State PUCs take on EPA and its Clean Power Plan.

Everything about the Clean Power Plan seems surreal. States complain of unfair treatment. Regulators read the proposed rule and sound warnings of a coming apocalypse.

Radical Candor

Making ‘Clean Coal’ More than an Oxymoron.

Are clean coal efforts likely to fail? Yes. Does that mean investing is foolish? No. Here are eight ways I think the industry should change its clean coal messaging if it wants to win over the people who matter most.