FERC told transmission, not fuel security, is key to grid resilience
Many stakeholders weighing in on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's "holistic" look at the issue of grid resilience recommended that the effort focus more on beefing up the transmission grid and less on looking for ways to ensure fuel security.
DOE releases 5-year strategy to bolster US energy sector cybersecurity
The U.S. Department of Energy released a multiyear plan to reduce the risk of energy system disruptions from cyberattacks. The strategy aims to bring together the DOE, other federal agencies and the private sector to combat a rising tide of cyber incursions from nation-states and criminals, according to the document.
EPA plans major rulemakings targeting power industry policies
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its regulatory agenda for the rest of 2018, and it includes many items that will have major impacts on the power industry. On the calendar are plans to issue a Clean Power Plan replacement rule in June, a mercury rule and Clean Water rule in August, a coal ash rule in September and effluent rule changes in December.
US attorneys urge court to reject cities' climate claims against oil companies
The Trump administration is urging a federal court to dismiss two cities' climate change lawsuits against five major oil companies on the grounds that the responsibility for addressing the issue lays with Congress and the executive branch.
US House committee advances energy spending bill over Democratic opposition
A bill that would support developing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada while cutting funding for efficiency and renewable energy research and development cleared the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Appropriations.
Weary of continued scandals, Republican urges US EPA chief to clear the air
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski would like EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to clear up a mounting number of scandals and investigations regarding his activities and then get back to the agency's mission: protecting the environment and developing policy.
US House appropriators seek slimmer EPA budget, full repeal of Clean Water Rule
As part of a new spending bill, appropriators in the U.S. House of Representatives proposed to shave $100 million off the EPA's budget and ensure the "full repeal" of the Obama administration's Clean Water Rule.
New York proposes tougher CO2 limits on power plants as 2020 coal phaseout looms
A new draft proposal from New York seeks to impose more stringent pollution controls on existing fossil fuel-fired power plants as Gov. Andrew Cuomo moves to completely phase out coal as a generation fuel within the state by 2020.
US EPA seeks information it says cannot legally be used to set air standards
The EPA wants its science advisers to provide information on the economic and energy impacts of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards even though it cannot consider those impacts to determine if a standard should be modified.
Industry members, lawmakers assail FERC transmission order
Power industry representatives and lawmakers criticized FERC's Order 1000 for power transmission coordination and development at a hearing on Capitol Hill, with one former FERC member saying the rule's mandates should go on a "severe diet."
US eastern grid operators describe their coordinated system planning activities
The PJM Interconnection, the New York ISO and ISO New England released their 2017 Northeast Coordinated System Plan summarizing their interregional planning efforts during 2016 and 2017.
US grid operator told to plan for more risks, work with other sectors
During a conference convened by the PJM Interconnection, federal officials and industry experts said power companies can better counter threats to the grid by broadening the risks they plan for and coordinating more with other sectors they rely on to operate.
Options DOE weighing to save coal, nuclear not an 'obvious fit,' FERC head says
The old, rarely employed statutes the DOE is contemplating using to throw a lifeline to struggling coal-fired and nuclear power plants are "perhaps not the most obvious fit" for addressing baseload generation's resilience and national security contributions to the grid, FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre said.
US EPA establishes new air quality review process, starts work on ozone standard
The EPA kicked off the next review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone in a memo that also details a new "Back-to-Basics" approach to conducting reviews of critical air pollution standards.
Environmental group: Renewables and nukes both needed to cut emissions
An approaching avalanche of nuclear power plant closures threaten to send "U.S. emissions in the wrong direction," and renewable energy growth will not be enough to make up the loss of the emissions-free generation, an environmental group warned in a new report.
