A Cynical Utility Industry Shows Its Cards (Shift Risk to Ratepayers and Kill...
The U.S. utility industry in its annual presentation to investment bankers and analysts last week laid its cards on the table, albeit in cynical fashion. A “Wall Street Briefing” presented and...
View ArticleWestern NY Area Labor Federation Affirms Commitment to Just Transition
The Buffalo News reported yesterday that the Western New York Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, re-elected its officers at its annual meeting this weekend, and included the issue of “’just transitions,’...
View ArticleSome Utilities Getting Out Ahead of EPA Clean Power Plan
Some utilities are moving aggressively ahead with emissions reductions, through energy efficiency and renewable energy, according to an article by Eric Wolff in SNL Financial. The article highlights...
View Article‘Economics—Not Taxes or the Environment’ Is Driving Huntley Closing
T.J. Pignataro for the Buffalo News: It was economics – not taxes or the environment – that drove the business decision. “We don’t foresee any scenario where the plant would be economically viable,”...
View ArticleOpportunity Knocks With Closing of Coal-Fired Power Plant in Upstate New York
When we published our report about the fading financial viability of the aging Huntley Generation Station in early 2014, the facts showed the facility was all but destined to close. It had marginal...
View ArticleA Choice in Upstate New York as NRG Closes Its Huntley Power Plant
On Aug. 28, NRG Energy announced its intention to retire the Huntley Station power plant in upstate New York. Huntley currently pays a total of $6 million in revenue to our local municipalities and...
View ArticleNRG Continues to Seek Bailout for Failing Upstate New York Power Plant
Scott Waldman for Politico: A struggling coal-burning power plant outside Buffalo is looking into how much it would cost for ratepayers to subsidize it for another few years of operation. NRG Energy...
View ArticleData Bite: The Shrinking U.S. Coal-Fired Electricity Map; Here’s a Snapshot...
Where better to get a picture of the coal industry’s rapidly declining share of the electric generation pie in the U.S. than Ohio, a battleground state for energy issues? Coal historically has made...
View ArticleLessons for When the Power Plant in Your Town Closes
NRG Energy’s Huntley plant in Tonawanda, N.Y., closed three months ago because the NRG couldn’t make a profit off selling Huntley power into the market. “We don’t foresee any scenario where the plant...
View ArticleNew York Town’s Post-Coal Transition Seen as Model for Colstrip, Montana
Eric Tegethoff for Public News Service Montana: Although the fate of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan is up in the air now that Donald Trump has been elected president, at least...
View ArticleOn the Blogs: ‘A Working Class Buffalo Suburb Retired a Coal Plant the Right...
Elizabeth McGowan in Grist: Sixteen months ago, the coal-fired Huntley Generating Station, which sits on the banks of the Niagara River, stopped producing power for first time since World War I. Erie...
View ArticleOp-Ed: New York Town Finds Life After Coal
Buffalo News: When NRG Energy announced the retirement of the Huntley Power Generating Station on River Road, the Ken-Ton School District and the town and county municipalities were facing a total loss...
View ArticleU.S. Coal Bailout Plant Would Benefit a Select Few: Murray Energy,...
Politico: “Customers get less than nothing while a few companies and their investors get a whole lot of something,” Nora Mead Brownell, a Republican former electricity regulator, said of Perry’s plan,...
View ArticleIEEFA report: ‘Holy Grail’ of carbon capture continues to elude coal...
Nov. 19, 2018 (IEEFA) — A study published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis concludes that costly efforts undertaken in North America to develop workable, economic...
View ArticleU.S. pension funds push big utilities to adopt carbon-free generation plans
Reuters: Top U.S. pension funds are asking electric utilities to accelerate efforts to cut carbon emissions but will not force the issue with proxy resolutions this spring, hoping market shifts and...
View ArticleUtility executives push transition from coal to cleaner energy sources
E&E News: Patti Poppe used to drive around with an “I ‘heart’ COAL” bumper sticker, but now the CEO of Michigan-based CMS Energy Corp. is eager to talk about phasing out the fossil fuel. “There’s...
View ArticleStrata Solar’s new battery storage project in California will replace planned...
Greentech Media: Another of the world’s largest battery projects is moving forward with construction in Southern California amid the coronavirus slowdown. Strata Solar will begin construction in July...
View ArticleIEEFA U.S.: Solar will push much of remaining Texas coal fleet offline
July 14, 2020 (IEEFA) — New utility-scale solar is poised to push much of the remaining coal-fired power fleet across Texas into retirement in the next few years, finds a new report by the Institute...
View ArticleIEEFA U.S.: Mothballing of Petra Nova carbon capture project shows likely...
August 3, 2020 (IEEFA) — A research brief published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) concludes that the abrupt recent shutdown of the Petra Nova coal-fired...
View ArticleIEEFA op-ed: Glenrock’s CO2 capture facility hopes are based on wishful thinking
Glenrock Energy wants to invest in a carbon dioxide (CO2) capture facility at PacifiCorp’s Dave Johnston Unit 4 coal plant in Converse County. The facility would inject CO2 captured from the coal plant...
View Article