WEEK OF APR. 05, 2024

DOE’s proposed transformer efficiency rule quickly became controversial, with equipment manufacturers and utilities, and some lawmakers, warning that it would delay the clean energy transition.

Timelines to acquire new distribution transformers are already running 18 months or more, they said, and requiring a rapid restructuring of manufacturing and steel supply chains would worsen the situation.  

A DOE study released in 2022 identified more than 300 active or recently retired U.S. coal power plants suitable for hosting advanced nuclear reactors.

Though it said more rigorous evaluation is needed to evaluate suitable sites, the coal plants identified in the study met basic human and environmental safety parameters such as local population density, seismicity and flooding potential.

Beginning April 1, Hawaiian Electric customers who use rooftop solar panels have been able to enroll in the Smart Renewable Energy program, which replaces most other programs for customers who have installed rooftop solar panels, the company said in an April 1 news release.

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission approved the changes, the news release said.

The Massachusetts Commission on Energy Infrastructure Siting and Permitting on Monday sent the governor of Massachusetts a report recommending the state hasten clean energy deployment through changes to the siting process such as consolidating permits and setting deadlines for permit decisions. 

The report focuses primarily on changes that could be made to the Energy Facilities Siting Board approval process by legislative, administrative and regulatory action.

Energy storage deployment in 2023 set a record globally and more than doubled in the U.S., according to Bloomberg NEF’s Energy Storage Market Outlook.

The report credited the rapid growth in energy storage to government targets and incentives, as well as the growing need to shift energy from the time of generation to times of peak demand.

Public universities and state agencies will use the funding to form collaboratives to educate elected officials at the city and county level on the process of building and approving renewable energy and energy storage projects, a Department of Energy news release said.

“Often, the biggest barrier to deploying that clean generation is siting and permitting,” Granholm said.

Propane drove the growth in U.S. petroleum product exports, offsetting decreases in gasoline and distillate exports.

Growing 14% in 2023, U.S. propane exports averaged 1.6 million b/d in 2023, establishing an annual record high.

“Kingston is, and has been, a part of the success of this region over the last 70 years,” said TVA President and CEO.

“Retiring these units and replacing them with technology that is more reliable, more resilient, and cleaner is not an easy decision, but it’s the right thing to do for our energy security going forward.”

Surging U.S. oil production and shifting global oil flows amid geopolitical flare-ups have boosted American crude exports to record-high levels in recent months.

Now U.S. oil is encroaching on the key markets of the OPEC+ group, which has been restricting supply in an effort to boost oil prices.

See more Notable News articles such as these via Utility Dive, OilPrice.com and BIC Magazine.