Citing uncertainties, PG&E files Chapter 11 reorganization plan
More than seven months after California's largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection together with its parent company, PG&E Corp., the companies filed their joint plan of reorganization with a federal court in San Francisco.
PG&E, labor union rebuff San Francisco's $2.5B offer to acquire grid assets
After more than a century of operation in San Francisco, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. appears inclined to stay put, largely rebuffing a $2.5 billion cash offer from city leaders to acquire the troubled utility's electric distribution and transmission assets needed to serve all electricity customers in San Francisco.
Power producers call $5.7B cost estimate for PJM market changes 'disingenuous'
Independent power producers and marketers are pushing back on claims that proposed changes in the PJM Interconnection capacity market could cost consumers billions of dollars while limiting the participation of state-supported clean energy resources.
White House grants FERC Commissioner McNamee ethics waiver in PJM proceeding
The White House has granted Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Bernard McNamee an ethics waiver to participate in a closely watched proceeding for a delayed PJM Interconnection capacity market auction involving three of his former clients.
Legal challenge to ISO-NE fuel security program could pose novel questions
A legal challenge to an ISO New England program for winter fuel security could provide the first test for a recent Federal Power Act amendment aimed at addressing electricity rate and other tariff filings that take effect when regulators are unable to act on them.
US EPA staff estimates 50,000 deaths annually under current soot standards
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials have released a draft policy assessment for fine particulate matter, estimating that current federal air quality safeguards for the harmful soot-forming pollutant are set at a level that could allow tens of thousands of deaths annually.
Shareholder advocates say new SEC policy to prompt litigation, less transparency
Shareholder advocates worry the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's plan to be more selective in weighing in on corporations' requests to block shareholder resolutions could tip the scales in favor of companies, prompt more litigation and generally make the process less transparent.
US SEC will no longer rule or publish findings on some shareholder resolutions
The U.S. SEC announced that starting with the 2019-2020 proxy season, staff will end its default practice of writing and publishing its rulings on corporations' requests to block shareholder resolutions. Moreover, the agency may opt not to weigh in at all on some requests and could instead leave it to the companies and shareholders to potentially duke it out in court.
Group backing US carbon tax sharpens proposal, adds members
A broad coalition of companies and environmental organizations has finalized the pillars of its plan to create an economywide U.S. carbon tax that the group estimates will halve nationwide carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by 2035. The proposal still faces an uphill battle to gain Republican support in the U.S. Congress, however, where top GOP lawmakers remain leery of a carbon tax's economic impacts.
Democrats target fossil fuels, express nuclear worries at climate town hall
In a marathon seven-hour town hall, Democratic presidential candidates detailed their plans to fight climate change, many of which propose reducing or eliminating fossil fuel use in the U.S. power and transportation sectors.
