News

S&P Global covered a new DOE report on fossil energy development in Appalachia region of Va., quoting Virginia AEE's Harry Godfrey that notes new direction of state toward clean energy. Read excerpts below and the entire S&P Global piece here. 

A U.S. Department of Energy report encourages continued government intervention to help attract private investment into energy production and manufacturing in the Appalachian region. Few other regions have the potential for new growth "at a scale not seen since the Industrial Revolution," the DOE said in the report, released June 30. It casts Appalachian economic viability during the recovery from economic slump associated with the coronavirus pandemic as a key indicator for prospects for overall US economy...

E&E News noted AEE's role in a coalition's call for PJM to consider carbon pricing. Read excerpts below and the entire E&E News piece here (sub. req.). 

A broad coalition of power generators, industry groups and think tanks is pushing the nation's largest grid operator to examine cost-effective, market-based ways to address climate change. More than 30 groups — including Advanced Energy Economy, the American Council on Renewable Energy, the Natural Gas Supply Association and the R Street Institute — called on PJM Interconnection LLC yesterday to double down on efforts to examine carbon pricing in its electricity markets. The PJM region spans 13 Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia...

June 30, 2020 Washington D.C. – As U.S. policymakers look for cost-effective ways to tackle climate change, a diverse coalition of power generators, trade associations, and think tanks last week sent a letter encouraging PJM to continue its examination of the policy options and implications of carbon pricing in its market. The request comes at a time when many states in PJM either have, or are considering, policies that reduce carbon emissions in the electric sector and are grappling with how best to reconcile those policies with wholesale markets.

S&P Global covered the DOJs ruling requiring FERC to rapidly address pipeline disputes and power market proceedings, quoting AEE's Jeff Dennis. Read excerpts below and the entire S&P Global piece here. 

A federal appeals court ruling requiring the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to move faster to address pipeline disputes also carries major implications for how the agency handles contested power market proceedings, according to legal experts. Calling the practice a "stalling tactic," a full panel of judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on June 30 ruled 10-1 that FERC can no longer use what are known as "tolling orders" to give itself indefinite time to act on rehearing requests that effectively bar parties from seeking judicial review...

Smart Energy Decisions published Caitlin Marquis' column about key issues in keeping corporate clean energy and sustainability programs going forward during the covid-19 crisis. Read excerpts below and the entire Smart Energy Decisions piece here. 

As companies adjust to a new normal during COVID-19, develop strategies to ride out the economic storm, and navigate various state reopening schedules and rules, sustainability teams face their own challenge: assessing whether and how the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout will affect progress toward their company’s renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals. 

Energy News Network covered the Va. State Corporation Commission's inquiry on electric vehicles, quoting AEE's Matt Stanberry and Virginia AEE's Harry Godfrey. Read excerpts below and the entire Energy News Network piece here.

State legislators jumpstarted a major grid decarbonization initiative by greenlighting the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which kicks in July 1. However, reining in Virginia’s next fossil fuel frontier — transportation emissions — is a more enormous, complex and far-reaching undertaking. Statewide, the sector has long outpaced electric utilities, accounting for 45% of its heat-trapping gases. Enter electric vehicles, hailed as a key solution to that pollution...

Houston Chronicle covered FERC plans for a conference on carbon pricing mechanisms, quoting AEE's Jeff Dennis. Read excerpts below and the entire Houston Chronicle piece here (sub. req.). 

The nation’s top energy regulator is looking into what role it might play in state efforts to set a price on greenhouse gas emissions, stepping into a politically fraught arena as the federal government comes under increasing pressure to address climate change. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees the nation’s power and natural gas markets, has set up a conference in September to discuss legal and regulatory issues around carbon pricing mechanisms that charge power plants, factories facilities and other large emitters for their emissions.

Federal Energy Regulator Kicks Off Conversation on How Carbon Pricing in Competitive Power Markets Could Spur Cost-Effective Emissions Reductions 

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2020 – The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Wednesday seized a timely opportunity to facilitate a conversation on how competitive power markets can cost-effectively achieve carbon emissions reduction goals, says the Carbon Price Coalition, a diverse group of power generators, trade associations and think tank experts that in April called on FERC to explore the issue.

Greentech Media covered how PG&E could recover from bankruptcy, quoting AEE's Amisha Rai. Read excerpts below and the entire GTM piece here.

PG&E faces a long and difficult road ahead. The San Francisco-based utility is emerging from bankruptcy with a massive debt load that could make it harder to raise the tens of billions of dollars of investment needed to prevent its power grid from causing more devastating wildfires. It’s struggling to find cost-effective ways to protect millions of customers from fire-prevention blackouts that may need to continue for years...

E&E News covered the appointment of experienced FERC and Hill senior staffer Jehmal Hudson as Virginia SCC commissioner by Gov. Ralph Northam, quoting Virginia AEE's Harry Godfrey. Read excerpts below and the entire E&E News piece here (sub. req.). 

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has appointed longtime Federal Energy Regulatory Commission official and ex-congressional lawyer Jehmal Hudson to the state's top regulatory body. Hudson is slated to replace Patricia West, whose term on the State Corporation Commission expired four months ago.