If his goal was to stimulate a conversation with a rapid approach to concluding action, Energy Secretary Rick Perry has scored a victory with his recently proposed Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule. During the past couple of weeks, the insular world of energy policy wonks has talked of little else, numerous congressional hearings have been held […]
Atomic politics
Perry Acts To Prevent Predatory Pricing From Pushing Nuclear And Coal Competition Out Of Market. FERC To Value Resiliency And Pipeline Independence
One of the most sweeping changes to the U.S. electricity supply market in the past two decades may be implemented before the coming winter heating season. The brief bottom line of the change is that eligible power sources will be able to participate in a details-to-be-determined rate structure that allows the owner to recover its “fully allocated costs” […]
Palisades Nuclear Plant Will Continue Operating Through 2022; Neighbors Ecstatic
Workers, school system administrators, neighbors, local businessmen and elected officials screamed and danced with excitement when Entergy announced that it would continue to operate the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant through 2022, when its current power purchase agreement expires. Entergy stated that it “will continue to make all necessary investments and maintain appropriate staffing, in accordance with […]
Nuclear Generator Movable By Cargo Plane. Not Only Possible, But Proven In Early 1960s
Last week was National Clean Energy Week. On Tuesday, there was a wide ranging symposium with talks about nuclear energy, wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectricity, carbon capture and sequestration and natural gas. Early in the day, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke participated in a panel discussion moderated by former […]
Atomic Show #258 – Energy and the Modern State With Professor George Gonzales
Dr. George Gonzales is an energy-focused political scientist and professor at the University of Miami. He has written a number of books about the relationships between energy, the environment, international relations, and political decision making. His upcoming work is titled Energy and the Modern State; it is scheduled to be published in 2018. On this […]
U.S. DOE to Follow Industry Lead In Setting Priorities Under Trump
R. Shane Johnson recently briefed representatives of the U.S. nuclear power industry about the the strategies and programs that the Department of Energy (DOE) is developing to implement the Trump Administration’s vision for nuclear energy. Johnson is the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy. He’s the senior career civil servant in […]
New York’s Zero Emission Credit For Upstate Nuclear Plants Upheld
Just over a year ago, I visited Albany, New York to attend a public hearing held by the New York Public Service Commission. I joined a number of friends – new, old and formerly just virtual – who were there to find out if the NYPSC would make the important decision to give upstate nuclear […]
Pro nuclear movement can appear confused to left and right
Last week Ketan Joshi (@KetanJO) published a piece titled Nuclear power’s tense contradiction. Ketan is a thoughtful science and technology writer who earned a science degree (neuroscience and psychology) from Sydney University and has worked in the renewable energy industry. He is also deeply interested in politics and identifies with the left. His article is […]
House Science, Space And Technology Gets Sage Advice From Energy Innovators
The witnesses testifying at Tuesday’s hearing on Energy Innovation in front of the House Committee on Science, Space & Technology provided forceful and specific examples of the important role that the Department of Energy has played in supporting commercially valuable research and development. They shared their thoughts about ways to improve outcomes, streamline processes, and […]
Clean Nuclear Energy Handed Decisive Win In U.S. District Court
In July 2017, District Court Judge Manish Shah, U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois, handed a decisive victory to nuclear energy supporters and plant owners in a case that challenged Illinois’s right to choose the mix of fuels used to produce power inside its borders. The plaintiffs opposed the “Future Energy Jobs Act” recently passed […]
Moon Jae-in Making Friends By Promising To Buy More Gas
During his successful campaign to become South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in promised to dramatically increase South Korea’s natural gas consumption. Within weeks of taking office, he took several concrete steps towards fulfilling that promise. He announced the near-term closure of 10 coal plants, he allowed the operating license to expire as scheduled for South Korea’s […]
Gas Interests Opposing U.S. Nuke Industry’s State-by-State Strategy
The nuclear industry’s strategy of working in individual U.S. states to obtain support for financially stressed plants has stalled. Despite successfully implemented efforts in New York and Illinois to provide assistance that is narrowly targeted at a handful of especially vulnerable units, no other state has been able to get a support measure out of […]
