The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved settlements of over $83 million in civil penalties and disgorgement of over $66 million in unjust profits during fiscal year 2018, according to the Office of Enforcement’s twelfth annual report issued on Nov. 15. The report underscores agency action in the areas of fraud and market manipulation, violations of…
The New York Public Service Commission approved the construction and operation of a 126-megawatt utility-scale wind generation project proposed by Cassadaga Wind LLC, a subsidiary of EverPower Wind Holdings Inc., according to a Nov. 15 press release. The commission determined that the developer is financially able to move forward with the project. In January, the…
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Energy Management sees potential for 9.6-gigawatts of offshore wind power in the New York Bight area, an indentation along the Atlantic coast between New Jersey and Long Island, according to a Nov. 14 draft plan. The draft plan includes 478,594 acres of secondary areas, which are more likely…
The U.S. Energy Department is planning to fund competitive research and development of innovative coal generation technologies in the 2019 fiscal year, according to a Nov. 14 announcement. The agency envisions coal plants of the future to be “Flexible, Innovative, Resilient, Small and Transformative” under the new “Coal FIRST” initiative. The move stems from request…
The U.S. Energy Department selected 11 projects located across six states for cost-shared research and development of advanced nuclear technologies, according to a Nov. 13 press release. The projects, valued at about $25 million, make the third batch of recipients under the department’s advanced nuclear technology funding opportunity. The first round provided $60 million and…
Under current and planned policies, global energy demand is expected to grow by over 25 percent to 2040, requiring an annual investment of more than $2 trillion in new energy supply, according to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook published on Nov. 13. The agency said that over 70 percent of global energy investments…
American Electric Power Company Inc. announced a $33 billion capital investment plan from 2019 through 2023, with 75 percent focused on its transmission and distribution operations, according to a Nov. 11 news release. The plan includes $2.7 billion for new renewable generation, including about $2.2 billion for competitive, contracted projects. The company said the transition…
The California Public Utilities Commission authorized cost recovery for Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s battery storage projects totaling about 567 megawatts to meet local capacity requirements, according to a resolution issued on Nov. 9. In January, the commission authorized the utility to hold competitive solicitations for storage or preferred resources to ensure local reliability in…
FirstEnergy Corp.’s subsidiaries reached a settlement that would allow the companies to flow back $900 million in savings from the federal tax cut law that lowered the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent. The company said that the tax savings would be credited through a new mechanism reconciled annually, and that…
Duke Energy Carolinas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, issued $1 billion in green bonds to finance zero emission projects such as solar and energy storage in North and South Carolina, according to a Nov. 9 press release. The bonds, which mark the company’s first clean energy investment offering, have a weighted average coupon of 3.74…
