For years, expanding nuclear power has been part of the conversation about America's energy future. Now, two major developments show how that conversation is turning into action In Texas, the first small modular nuclear reactors have begun the grid-connection process. Blue Energy Global has applied to connect as many as five 300-megawatt reactors to the Texas electricity grid, representing up to [...]

For years, there has been broad agreement that America needs more energy infrastructure. The harder part has been figuring out how to actually get it built. Last week, four Senate leaders from both parties came together around one of the more significant bipartisan energy efforts we have seen from this Congress: a sweeping permitting reform agreement designed to help America [...]

A moment is taking shape across the country’s energy sector. People may disagree about which resources to build, where to build them, and how to pay for them. But there is growing recognition that the grid itself needs attention. The U.S. Department of Energy announced plans this week to help fund 31 grid improvement projects across 26 states. The projects are expected [...]

Data centers have quickly become the latest target in New Jersey’s ongoing energy debate. Concerns about electricity demand, water use, and infrastructure costs should absolutely be discussed and considered. Communities deserve transparency, and existing ratepayers should not be forced to subsidize new development. But that is not the entire story, and simply saying no is not a solution. In Loudoun [...]

For decades, building new nuclear power in New Jersey was essentially off the table. That's changed quickly. As the New Jersey Utilities Association recently wrote, New Jersey has gone from “no nukes” to actively pursuing new nuclear generation. The association’s support adds another important voice to a growing coalition that recognizes the same basic reality: New Jersey needs more reliable, in-state [...]

Data centers have quickly become the latest source of fear in New Jersey’s energy debate. They are portrayed as massive, power-hungry facilities built solely to fuel artificial intelligence. But AI is only the leading edge of a much larger digital economy that has relied on data centers for decades. Every time you send an email, stream a show, swipe a [...]

New Jersey is studying potential changes to how electric utilities invest, earn returns, and recover costs. The decisions that emerge from this process could influence customer bills, grid investment, utility accountability, and who bears the risks associated with New Jersey’s changing energy system. The Board of Public Utilities recently completed Phase 1 of its utility business model study, concluding that [...]

Across the country, states are taking a fresh look at nuclear energy—and acting on it. New York is pursuing five gigawatts of new nuclear power by 2040. Illinois is seeking at least two gigawatts and has already identified communities interested in hosting projects. Governors across the political spectrum increasingly recognize that nuclear power will be essential to meeting rising electricity [...]

The best infrastructure investments are often the ones no one notices. The cyberattack that never interrupts water service. The attempted breach that never reaches customer information. The aging equipment replaced before hackers can exploit it. The backup system ready when something goes wrong. Those protections cost money. When they work, nothing happens. That matters as New Jersey water systems confront [...]

New Jersey has officially improved from the eighth-most expensive state in America for utility bills to the ninth-most expensive. But before we break out the bubbly and celebrate, let's take a moment to look at what it means for the people actually paying those bills. So yes, New Jersey moved down one spot in the national rankings. But that was [...]

Congratulations are in order. On June 30, the New Jersey Legislature approved Ben Hertz-Shargel by unanimous consent to become the next President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, clearing the way for Governor Mikie Sherrill to officially install him as the state's top utility regulator. Hertz-Shargel brings an impressive résumé to one of the most consequential jobs in [...]

For years, NJ has sought quick fixes for rising electricity bills. Cap prices. Change auction rules. Shift costs. Find someone to blame. This week, the state released a report that reaches an important conclusion: There is no silver bullet. That's an important admission. Because while there are steps that may help around the margins, none of them change the underlying [...]

Last week lawmakers highlighted legislation that would repeal the PJM Return on Equity (ROE) Adder, a change estimated to save New Jersey ratepayers between $45 million and $60 million annually. With electricity costs high after a decade of bad policy – any and all savings are welcome. However, let's put the numbers in perspective. It is important to keep in mind [...]

There are bad policy decisions. Then there are policy decisions so spectacularly misguided that they eventually require the government to tell people whether or not they're allowed to cool their own homes in extreme summer heat. Europe spent years shutting down reliable nuclear generation, restricting domestic energy production, and chasing an intermittent-only energy future that was never capable of providing [...]

The federal government has been undertaking the largest energy deregulation effort in Department of Energy history. According to their release: Now look, we understand that honest and well meaning people can debate and disagree on the specifics and merits of each regulation, but there is one goal that is clear: Build energy infrastructure faster. The message from Washington is simple: [...]

While New Jersey policymakers continue pretending like natural gas doesn't have a future, the rest of the country is already living in it. Reuters took a deeper look about the state of Natural gas around the country: Think about that for a moment. Production is up. Demand is up. Exports are up. Data center electricity demand is up. Manufacturing demand [...]

Last week's news that Holtec is considering four advanced small modular reactors at the former Oyster Creek site is more than another energy announcement. It is further evidence that New Jersey is finally having a serious conversation about its energy future. If built, these reactors would generate more than twice the output of the original Oyster Creek plant while providing [...]

Natural gas isn't going away, not matter how much some people may want it to. A new report highlighted by Utility Dive finds that maintaining electric reliability requires firm, dependable natural gas supplies and stronger coordination between the gas and electric sectors: This shouldn't be controversial. As electricity demand surges from any number of factors including data centers, manufacturing growth, [...]

For years, we've been told that communities should embrace new infrastructure like solar when it delivers broad public benefits. Well now Nvidia has new partnership with infrastructure that is not being embraced the same way. From a recent headline in Inc: You see community solar advocates have made the case repeatedly for community solar that there is: No direct investment [...]

We got an early surprise this year with a spike before the Memorial Day holiday sending temperatures up into the high 90's for multiple days. Immediately we saw a maximum generation alert and load management alert issued for the PJM footprint. The early heat this year once again highlights the challenges we are facing in terms of generating enough energy [...]

Well here we are. After years of layering on mandates, carbon markets, compliance schemes, allowance trading systems and enough regulatory complexity to require its own zip code, officials are now acting "shocked" that electricity prices are going up. The latest RGGI allowance spike is apparently forcing a sudden realization that when you artificially increase the cost of producing energy, those [...]

We've talked regularly about the need for more energy in the system and last week, the Tidelands council gave a win for common sense energy policy issuing final regulatory approval to the NESE Pipeline: Make no mistake, regardless of what critics try to make people believe, this is a massive environmental and safety victory. During the period this project has [...]

As NJ continues to talk about affordability without much actual getting done when it comes to energy, we can look to our neighbors NY and PA and see them taking action. According to a memo from the NY State Energy Research and Development Authority, which is not a partisan organization, if changes aren't made to their already enacted energy policies, [...]

If you were hoping that a new administration would usher in a new era of transparency and openness at the BPU, we've got news for you. You're going to be disappointed. Let's check out what happened at the last meeting. You see since we haven't already paid enough for consultants to produce absolutely no new energy already in the last [...]

We've got some serious word games going on in the energy space and it's past time we stop the talk. Between 2004 and 2016, we acted more and talked less. In the process, New Jersey reduced its reliance on importing electricity from the PJM grid, eventually becoming a net exporter: We did that all while reducing emissions. But now the state [...]