In the news today…
Utilities:
- Bloomberg reports a natural gas supply disruption forcing Michigan residents to lower thermostats and automakers to suspend operations could bolster President Trump’s effort to keep coal plants operating possibly by invoking national security powers.
- Utility Dive reports extreme cold is putting the systems of grid operators PJM and MISO to the test while stoking debate over resilience with federal regulators.
- E&E Energywire reports in an unusual public rebuke, senior executives of four leading electric utilities told the nation’s largest grid operator to “expeditiously address” significant market reforms to support baseload electric generation.
- Energy News Network reports grid operator PJM says its system performed reliably during the polar vortex due to planning and lessons from a 2014 freeze.
Coal:
- Houston Chronicle reports more than half of U.S. coal mines have closed in the last decade as demand for fossil fuels decreases, according to the Energy Department.
- Associated Press reports Colorado’s new attorney general says the state will withdraw from a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s plan to reduce carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.
- Huff Post reports Murray Energy cut ties with its longtime lobbying firm shortly after President Trump announced plans to nominate Andrew Wheeler, the firm’s former lobbyist, to be the next EPA administrator.
- E&E Climatewire reports coal generation surged this week, prompting supporters to celebrate the figures as evidence of the fuel’s importance.
- E&E Energywire reports Georgia Power Co. wants to remove roughly 1 gigawatt of coal from its fleet in the coming years because the units have become too uneconomical to operate. More closures may follow, including two units at the electric company’s prized Plant Bowen, the nation’s fourth-largest coal-fired power plant.
- Forbes carries a column from Jude Clemente, a regular contributor and energy analyst, where he calls for the U.S. to better utilize advanced coal technology, citing Wood Mackenzie’s recent report highlighting the benefits of HELE deployment in the U.S.
EPA:
- E&E Greenwire reports members of the public can head to EPA’s Washington, D.C., headquarters on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, to offer comments on the proposed New Source Performance Standards from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- E&E News PM reports a half-dozen Northeastern states, joined by New York City and several environmental groups, have launched a coordinated legal challenge to EPA’s recent decision against requiring new controls for coal-fired power plants that may contribute to downwind smog problems.