Electric Utilities

The Trump administration's impending repeal of an Obama-era finding that greenhouse gasses pose a threat to public health could lead to a new avenue for filing suits against power-plant operators, among other companies. Legal experts warned that the policy reversal could lead to an increase in "public nuisance" lawsuits, which were previously blocked by the Supreme Court's 2011 ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency should regulate greenhouse gas emissions instead of courts. Legal experts say that now that the EPA has abandoned this regulatory effort, it is likely that the legal shield created in 2011 will unravel. Robert Percival is...

The U.S. Transportation Department announced on Tuesday that it is proposing to increase the 'American content' of federally-funded electric vehicle charging stations from a minimum of?55% up to a maximum percentage, and to require their production in the United States. This could present significant obstacles to the use the funds. In 2023, the Biden administration agreed to waive certain "Buy America' requirements for the $5 Billion government-funded program that aims to expand electric vehicle charging stations. Once the changes are finalized, the proposal would go into effect immediately. The Department of Energy believes that manufacturers are able to manufacture EV...

The latest example of local opposition to the expansion of server warehouses in the U.S. is a county commission that denied Talen Energy's request on Tuesday to rezone hundreds of acres of land. Residents in the surrounding communities had been protesting the project for months, voicing their concerns about the impact on the environment and the increase of power bills. Talen said in a press release that it would continue to monitor the situation. The company stated that it was grateful for the opportunity to have a continuing conversation with Montour County residents and leaders about the proposed project. This...

Solstice Advanced Materials announced on Tuesday that it would?increase production of uranium-hexafluoride?by about 20% at its Metropolis Works facility?in Illinois by 2026.?As increasing nuclear demand?strains?the U.S. fuel?supply?chain?. The producer of specialty chemicals that Honeywell spun off in October said that the expansion will increase its output from 2024 to over 10 kilotonnes. Metropolis is currently the only US facility capable of converting uranium to uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a critical input for enriching nuclear fuel. Global nuclear fuel supply chains are becoming tighter due to renewed interest in nuclear energy, driven by concerns about energy security and the rising demand for...

Duke Energy announced on Tuesday that it had increased its five-year investment?plan for power infrastructure to $100 billion. This is an 18% increase from the previous?iteration. It has now become the largest capital spending plan?for any U.S. regulated utility. U.S. energy companies are increasing their spending plans at record levels, as power demand forecasts in the United States rise after years of stagnation. The growth is driven by the proliferation and energy-intensive data centres of the tech industry. U.S. energy demand is expected to hit Record highs The U.S. Energy Information Administration has stated that the U.S. will reach a...

Duke Energy, a utility company, forecast higher profits for the current year on Tuesday due to strong power demand. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the rapid expansion of AI data centres?and accelerating energy consumption in homes and businesses will drive U.S. electricity demand to new highs by 2026. As part of its long-term plan to?meet the sharply increasing electricity demand in the Carolinas, the utility firm also considered adding large nuclear reactors and extending life of certain?coal plant. In a recent statement, CEO Harry Sideris stated that "We are well-positioned for 5% to 7 % EPS growth by...

WEC Energy Group Inc, a Wisconsin-based U.S. utility company, announced on Thursday it would increase its capital expenditure by $1 billion in the next five year as it increases output to power Microsoft's data centers. Big Tech is ?racing ?to build energy-intensive data centers to support artificial-intelligence initiatives, pushing electricity demand to record highs and prompting deals with U.S. power companies. Wisconsin, other Mid-Atlantic and Southern U.S. states and the Midwest are currently seeing most of the new requests for data center power. Microsoft, which purchased 2,000 acres in 'WEC territory for data centers, was approved by regulators to expand...

WEC Energy Group Inc reported a profit for the fourth quarter that exceeded Wall?Street expectations. This was due to an increase in residential?and?commercial sales, as well as?utility?sector?continued benefiting from steady demand. U.S. utilities are supported by a steady demand for electricity from small and mid-sized businesses and households, but high regulatory, financing, and operating costs continue to put pressure on the sector. As data centers dedicated to artificial-intelligence and cryptocurrency grow, and customers electrify their heating and transport, power consumption will also rise. Milwaukee-based company that serves 4.7 million customers in Wisconsin, Illinois Michigan and Minnesota said'residential electric usage increased...

PacifiCorp urged the Oregon court of appeal on Wednesday to reverse rulings that exposed the Berkshire Hathaway owned utility to potential wildfire liabilities worth $52 billion. The Portland, Oregon utility denied claims by thousands of Oregonians that it caused wildfires in 2020 because it 'negligently failed to shut down power lines during the Labor Day Weekend windstorm. PacifiCorp says a judge made a mistake by allowing victims of four separate wildfires, separated by more than 100 miles (161 kilometers), to sue together in a class action. This included damages caused by a lightning-sparked fifth wildfire. Utility also claimed that the...

Keidanren Japan's largest business lobby has invited Elliott Investment Management, an activist investor, to a private meeting on March 5, to discuss corporate governance issues. This was revealed in a notice to member firms. Elliott has recently been active in Japan, taking stakes in large companies like Toyota Industries, Tokyo Gas and Kansai Electrical Power. They are all members of the lobbying group. This rare meeting highlights the growing influence of shareholder activist in Japan. Keidanren is a corporate pillar that seeks to have a direct dialogue with the most powerful hedge fund in the world. A portfolio manager for...

MOSCOW, January 25. The town that is home to Russia's largest naval base had to switch over?to an emergency generator after old power lines collapsed during bad weather. This cut off electricity and some heating. Severomorsk is the most important naval command in Russia. It's located on the Kola bay of the Barents Sea. The Russian Navy's most important command is located in the closed town of Severomorsk, which is home to Russia's largest fleet of ballistic missile submarines. It also controls a vast arsenal of nuclear warheads and missiles as well as repair yards. Andrei Chibis, governor of the...

U.S. Electric Grid Operators on Saturday increased precautions to prevent power shortages and rotating blackouts, as the?cold weather that affected nearly half of the country's residents increased stress?on their operations. The PJM interconnection, the largest regional?grid in the United States that?serves 67,000,000 people in the East & Mid-Atlantic, reported a temporary spike in spot wholesale prices on Saturday morning to almost $3,000 per megawatt-hour from levels as low as $200 per MWh. Stormy weather and temperatures around 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 C), pushed up demand for electricity and caused some operators to close down natural gas production in key basins....

A Trump administration official who is familiar with the plan revealed that President Donald Trump will launch a?strategic critical minerals stockpile? with $12 billion of seed money from the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The investment is a 'last ditch effort by Washington to counter what they perceive as Chinese price manipulation for minerals such as lithium, nickel, and rare earths, which are vital to items like electric vehicles, high-tech weapons, and many other products. Bloomberg News reported that the project, Project Vault will combine private financing with a $10 Billion loan from the EXIM Bank in order to stockpile minerals for...

Tokyo Electric -Power announced on Thursday that its subsidiary TEPCO Power grid will "sell" up to 26 million shares of its Kandenko affiliate as part restructuring efforts to improve the financial health of its company and pursue growth. The sale of shares, which is valued at approximately 150 billion yen (979 million dollars) based on Kandenko’s closing price on Thursday, forms part of Tepco’s plan, announced on Monday, to raise?about?200 billion yen by selling assets over the next three-year period. Tepco stated that the proceeds will be used to?capital invest in order to maintain a stable supply of electricity and...

On Saturday, almost 4,000 flights in the U.S. were cancelled ahead of a monster storm that already has?cut off power to thousands utility customers as far as Texas? and threatens to paralyze east states with heavy snowfall. Forecasters predicted that a monster winter storm, which has already 'cut power to thousands of utility customers as far west as Texas,' and threatened to paralyze eastern states with heavy snowfall, will sweep across the eastern two thirds of the country on Sunday, and continue into next week. Donald Trump, who called the storms historic, approved federal disaster declarations on Saturday in South...

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), after completing inspections, will restart a reactor on Wednesday at the?Kashiwazaki - Kariwa?nuclear plant. This is its first move of this kind since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. TEPCO announced that it would bring online the 1,36 gigawatt reactor (GW) No. 6 after 7 pm (1000 GMT). The reactor No. 6, which is one of seven in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa's nuclear power plant, can produce 8.2 GW at full capacity. TEPCO investigated an alarm malfunction. TEPCO reported that the equipment was working normally as of early Wednesday morning. Reactor No. Reactor No. Reactor No. Reactor No. 7...

NHK, the public broadcaster, reported Monday that Tokyo Electric Power has delayed its'restart of Kashiwazaki and Kariwa nuclear power plants, which was originally scheduled for 'January 20th. TEPCO would have had to restart its reactors for the first time since Fukushima Daiichi was struck by a powerful tsunami in 2011. The company planned to restart Unit No.6 in Kashiwazaki Kariwa on January 20th and Unit No. The company had planned to restart Unit No.6 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa on Jan 20 and Unit?No. NHK, citing its sources, stated that the delay was caused by an alarm malfunction which occurred during equipment tests...

The nuclear watchdog in Japan said that it will order Chubu Electric Power on Wednesday to submit a report detailing?falsified data? and pause the review of its utility's application?to restart?its only atomic power plant. The Nuclear Regulation Authority in Japan (NRA) warned that it would take a harsh action against Chubu Electric after discovering the utility had manipulated data used for the reviews of its No. The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) of Japan had?previously?warned against a severe response towards Chubu Electric, including scrapping the review altogether after it was revealed that data used in the reviews of reactors No. Hamaoka,...

Experts say that the Japanese plan to grant authorities the authority to order foreign investors retroactively to divest acquisitions aims to protect major companies and supply chains. However, it is unlikely to curb increased M&A activity, they add. Japan proposed Wednesday amendments to its foreign investment screening laws that would give authorities the option to force foreigners into selling investments they deem to be a risk to national or economic security. The proposals are part of a push by the Japanese government to reduce risks associated with a?an?inflow?of foreign money into Japan's economy and to maintain control over its key...

The European Commission announced on Monday that it had opened an investigation to determine whether the public support that Czech Republic plans to provide for?the construction and operation of two new nucleonic units is in compliance with EU State Aid rules. After EDF France's appeals were rejected, the Czech Republic's Competition Authority in April cleared the path for the signing of contracts with South Korea for two units in Dukovany worth at least $400 billion Czech crowns ($19.30billion) after they?rejected their appeals. In a press release, the Commission stated that it had "doubts" about the 'appropriateness' and 'proportionality? of the...

An official from the China National Nuclear Corporation's (CNNC) research arm said that China would begin commercial operation of the Linglong One small modular reactor in the first half of 2026. The APC100 reactor, also known as APC100 was the first SMR approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2016. The first project to use the Linglong One technology, CNNC's project on China's island of Hainan began in 2021. Wang Zhenqing of the China Institute for 'Nuclear Industrial Strategy', spoke at an international energy conference in Beijing. SMRs can be built faster and smaller than traditional reactors, and...

Swakop Uranium is a subsidiary owned by the China General Nuclear Power Group. It has entered into a joint venture agreement with Namibia’s water utility, NamWater to build Namibia's second desalination plant near Swakopmund. The plant is only the second one of its kind in Africa. It will help to bolster water supply to the country's biggest uranium mining operation, Husab. In a joint statement released on Tuesday, partners of the joint venture said that negotiations had ended successfully. The project implementation phase will now begin. Swakop Uranium holds 70% of the stake, and NamWater has the rest. According to...

U.S. utilities are racing to sign supply deals with data-center operators as the artificial-intelligence boom sparks a surge in power demand, setting the stage for higher profits in the coming quarters. Goldman Sachs reported in May that data centers will account for 8% (compared to 3%) of the electricity generated in the U.S. in 2030. Here are some of the deals that utilities have announced for 2024 and 2025. NextEra Energy has expanded its partnership to Alphabet’s Google Cloud in order to increase data center capacity across the U.S. by multiple gigawatts, and improve energy infrastructure. Meta Platforms has signed...

Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki stated on Friday that the restart of Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomari Nuclear Power Plant in northern Japan was considered a real option at this time. Suzuki said he would take a final decision about the restart of the project after completing on-site inspections, and collecting feedback from the surrounding communities. The Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan approved a safety assessment for Tomari's 912-megawatt reactor No. The final step in the 12-year-long process of restarting Tomari's reactor No. Suzuki stated that, given the regulatory approvals, the new emergency response plan of the government, and the expectation...