The keys to the future of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan lie in the playbook that each state is required to develop that will allow it to meet the carbon reduction mandates. State implementation plans are regulatory schemes commonly used to get states to administer and enforce federal EPA standards under… Keep reading →
Pre-construction best practices should be implemented from the earliest stages of a power project, even when putting together financial packages. In fact, an owner’s or developer’s most important decision in the entire process may rest with the selection of the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor. Experienced owner’s and lenders’ engineers can guide developers in… Keep reading →
Until states submit their individual implementation plans, it is not clear what role nuclear will play in the Clean Power Plan. The Environmental Protection Agency says that existing nuclear plants do not count toward state emissions levels – only new construction or stations that have undergone new uprates. This has only exacerbated the industry’s current… Keep reading →
When the Environmental Protection Agency issued the final rules for the Clean Power Plan in August 2015, it delayed the start of the interim compliance period by two years, to 2022. This reportedly was done to allow additional time to build the power and gas pipeline infrastructure that the energy industry says is needed to… Keep reading →
The year 2015 marked a turning point in the evolution of the U.S. electric industry’s outlook toward security. The uncertainty surrounding the transition from Version 3 to Version 5 of NERC-CIP (North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection) has significantly diminished. Now utilities are making concerted efforts to identify and address security risks across… Keep reading →
The Price Picture: The global oil market has seen a continued growth of production while demand has remained stagnant over past year, leading to a steady drop in prices over the past 15 months, aside from a short-lived upward tick in the second quarter of 2015. As prices have fallen from above $100/barrel in July… Keep reading →
The electric utility industry is experiencing significant changes affecting virtually every part of the traditional utility business model, including the regulatory and ratemaking aspects. As utilities grapple with these issues, four key regulatory practices that utilities are seeking have emerged. According to Black & Veatch’s 2015 Strategic Directions: U.S. Electric Industry report, the top rate… Keep reading →
Innovation and new technology are highly valued among wastewater utilities, and these tools can be implemented if performance can be demonstrated through pilots or other testing. But several factors are holding back utilities from fully embracing these advancements – available capital, lack of technical understanding and a perceived apathy at the upper levels of the… Keep reading →
The U.S. natural gas industry continues to shift from its primary role as fuel for heating and cooking to the dominant fuel of choice for U.S. electrical power. This move is prompted by consistently low prices, production efficiency gains and regulatory drivers. Yet in key markets across the United States, the “rush to gas” creates… Keep reading →
U.S. electric utilities are increasingly confident that distributed generation – that is, power assets with a capacity less than 20 megawatts – will grow significantly from today’s current levels. Furthermore, while many utilities see distributed generation as a potential threat to their business, they are quite open to considering investments in that space and related… Keep reading →
