February 7, 2025
RTO Insider
FERC’s Christie Discusses Making Electricity More Affordable at NASEO
FERC Chair Mark Christie
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FERC Chair Mark Christie gave public remarks to NASEO's conference, laying out some of the major issues the agency will tackle under his leadership.
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BPA transmission line in Oregon
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SPP Sets Deadline for Markets+ Funding Agreements

Financial backers of Phase 2 of SPP’s Markets+ have until Feb. 14 to submit executed funding agreements, the RTO said.

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The eight short-term reliability projects approved by SPP's Board of Directors
SPP
SPP Board Approves 8 Urgent Short-term Projects
SPP’s Board of Directors approved eight short-term reliability projects, a $3.15 billion package with immediate transmission needs for this year through 2028.
RTO Insider
The Eaton Fire burned over 14,000 acres, with thousands of structures either damaged or destroyed.
Shutterstock
SCE Probes Link Between Equipment and Eaton Fire

Southern California Edison told the California Public Utilities Commission it is reviewing videos suggesting a link between its equipment and the devastating Eaton Fire.

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NYPA Argues Clean Path Potential Benefits Outweigh Cost
The New York Power Authority updated its petition to the Department of Public Service to get priority status for the transmission portion of the Clean Path project.
RTO Insider
Canadian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson addresses the Atlantic Council in D.C. on Feb. 4.
Atlantic Council
North American Trade War Averted as Canada, Mexico Strike Deals
A North American trade war was delayed for a month at least as Canada and Mexico struck deals with President Trump that delayed potential tariffs for a month.
Wash. Governor Orders Study to Explore Data Center Impact
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed an executive order to create a team that will explore the impact of data center growth on the Evergreen State.
PJM Network Upgrades Boost Cost of Dominion OSW Project 9%
Dominion Energy reported that its Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project will cost 9% more than initially expected, thanks to higher-than-expected PJM network upgrade costs.
ERO Insider
EMC Engineering Services
NERC Updates FERC on IBR Registration Progress
In a filing, NERC told FERC it estimates more than 850 inverter-based resources will need to be registered under new criteria.
Stakeholder Soapbox: Preparing for NERC Registration and Compliance with New IBR Rules
Consultant Terry Brinker warns about potentially hundreds of facilities being included in NERC's IBR rules, where fines and penalties can be as high as $1 million a day per violation.
Texas RE Calls ITCS Recommendations ‘Very High Level’
A representative of Texas RE emphasized that NERC plans to build on last year's Interregional Transfer Capability Study.
NetZero Insider
The first turbine installed at Ørsted’s Revolution Wind project is shown in 2024.
Ørsted
Equinor, Ørsted, Vestas Say US OSW Market in Trouble
Three companies closely involved in offshore wind power development offered a glum assessment of the sector’s prospects in the U.S.
DOE Official to NASEO ‘There is not an Energy Transition’
Hrkman got a respectful, if not enthusiastic reception from state energy officials at the NASEO conference, many of whom are waiting to see if they will receive the billions in IRA and IIJA dollars they were awarded for a range of clean projects.
NJ Abandons 4th OSW Solicitation
Gov. Phil Murphy called offshore wind a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to build a new industry and create jobs, but said he supported the BPU’s decision.
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Xcel Energy
Xcel Sees Little Effect from Executive Orders on Energy
Xcel Energy CEO Bob Frenzel said the Trump administration’s energy-related executive orders will have little effect on the company’s operations.
House Hearing Examines How to Ensure US ‘Energy Dominance’
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy looked into how to meet demand growth in its first hearing of the new Congress, which showed a clear partisan divide on how to meet it.
Georgia Power Proposes Nuclear Uprate, Delay in Fossil Retirement
Georgia’s largest electric utility said the moves are driven by 8.2 GW of anticipated load growth through the end of 2030
LS Power Files Complaint Against MISO over Indiana ROFR
LS Power has lodged a complaint against MISO for treating Indiana’s right of first refusal law as if it’s in effect when it’s under a preliminary injunction.
The Palo Verde Generating Station is the site of all three of Arizona's commercial nuclear reactors. Three utilities are assessing the possibility of expanding nuclear generation within the state.
Shutterstock
Arizona Electric Utilities Team Up to Pursue Nuclear
Arizona Public Service, Salt River Project and Tucson Electric Power announced they are jointly exploring the possibility of adding nuclear generation. 
The 2021 Dixie fire, which started when a tree fell onto a PG&E distribution line, burned 963,309 acres in California including most of the town of Greenville.
U.S. Forest Service
Senate Wildfire Bills Address Tx Corridor Clearing, Other Measures
A bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate would make it easier for utilities to clear trees around power lines on U.S. Forest Service land by not requiring a timber sale for the cut-down material.
ERO Insider
A BGE substation in Maryland
Tonyglen14, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Neo-Nazi Convicted in Baltimore Grid Attack Conspiracy
Brandon Russell was convicted of masterminding a 2023 plan to damage electric substations in a plot to "completely destroy" Baltimore.
FERC, NERC Praise Grid Performance in Cold Snap
FERC and the ERO have launched a review into the electric grid's performance during January's extreme cold weather that brought record low temperatures and snowfall to the Southeastern U.S.
FERC Upholds $150K Penalty for Facility Misratings
NERC's monthly spreadsheet notice of penalty listed 22 infringements of facility ratings standards across multiple regions.
Weather, Supply Chain Top SERC Risk Rankings
In a webinar, SERC Reliability staff identified the biggest concerns from the regional entity's biennial risk report.
Todd Bennett of Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. on the Standards Committee's monthly conference call
NERC
Cold Weather Standard Set for Posting
NERC's Standards Committee expects to have the latest version of the cold weather standard ready to post for a formal comment period by Jan. 27.
ERCOT's Monthly Outlook for Resource Adequacy report for March shows the highest risk of an energy emergency alert around 7 p.m. Central time.
ERCOT
ERCOT Forecasts Highest March Risk of EEAs in Early Evening
A report from ERCOT projects that the highest risk of energy shortfalls in March's peak day will occur around 7 p.m. Central time.
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NetZero Insider
While U.S. panel manufacturing has hit more than 50 GW of capacity, the nation is still lagging on the upstream side, with only 2 GW of cell manufacturing online and no wafer or ingot facilities yet available.
SEIA
SEIA: US Now Manufacturing More Solar Panels Than It Installs
The U.S. has enough solar panel manufacturing capacity to produce more than 51 GW of panels per year, with another 17.5 GW under construction and 23.5 GW of additional capacity announced.
Puget Sound Energy Partners with Tech Co. to Promote Hydrogen
Puget Sound Energy and Modern Hydrogen have launched an initiative aimed at expanding hydrogen technology among large gas customers to meet decarbonization goals.
NY Quantifies Slow Progress Toward Renewables
The latest update on New York’s Clean Energy Standard shows a work in progress, with only 23.2% of customer electric load met by renewables statewide in 2023.
Judge Issues Restraining Order on Trump Admin over Funding Pause
D.C. District Court Judge Loren AliKhan issued a temporary restraining order on OMB from pausing all federal grants and loans.
Chris Wright
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Senate Confirms Trump’s Energy, Interior Secretaries
The U.S. Senate voted to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of energy, Chris Wright, 59-38, days after confirming Doug Burgum as secretary of the interior.
Hydro-Québec's Manic-5 Reservoir on the Manicouagan River
Hydro-Québec
Uncertainty Remains Around Energy Tariffs amid Last-minute Deals
As the Trump administration forged last-minute agreements with Canada and Mexico to postpone steep new tariffs, the energy industry fretted about potential fallout for cross-border supply chains and wholesale electricity markets