Investor-owned utilities spent $17.5 billion on transmission projects in 2013 and will spend at least $43 billion more through 2024, according to an annual report by the Edison Electric Institute. Of the projects featured in the report, 43% are large interstate projects; 75% support renewables integration; 49% are member-company collaborations with others; and 75% are high-voltage projects 345 kV and above.
More: EEI
NextEra ‘Most Admired’ Utility in Forbes List
NextEra Energy has been named No. 1 among electric and gas utilities on Fortune magazine’s 2014 list of the “World’s Most Admired Companies.” The company, with principal subsidiaries Florida Power & Light and NextEra Energy Resources, said this is the eighth straight year it was named tops in its industry.
NextEra was followed closely in the rankings by Dominion Resources, while Duke Energy, American Electric Power and PPL also made the list.
More: Forbes
NRG Buys a Top-10 Solar Roof Installation Business
NRG Energy has acquired Roof Diagnostics Solar, the eighth-largest solar installer in the U.S. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The 475-employee Roof Diagnostics has offices in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and expansion plans for California. NRG is one of the larger solar developers (through NRG Solar) and retail providers of green energy (through Green Mountain).
More: Greentech Media
PPL Reconnects Reactor Following Valve Repair
PPL restarted the Unit 2 reactor at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant last week after a five-day outage for a valve repair. The reactor was being brought online after a planned shutdown for routine maintenance when operators discovered a leak in what the company said was a non-safety-related water supply pump.
Unit 2 has been under increased scrutiny by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission after four unplanned shutdowns, two with complications, since December 2012. The reactor is one of six in the nation in the NRC’s most serious category, “degraded cornerstone.” PPL is implementing a plan to address the issues under NRC oversight.
More: Citizens Voice
Exelon, Dynegy Called Vulnerable in New Era
Morningstar analysts named Exelon, Dynegy and Pinnacle West as three companies most vulnerable to “a solar-powered ‘death spiral’ roiling the electric industry.” Companies like Exelon and Dynegy will suffer most, the analysts said in a Utilities Observer report, as centralized generation loses value to competitive solar at customers’ homes.
At the same time, the analysts said NRG Energy, Edison International and SunPower are three companies poised to do well in the new environment.
More: Forbes
— Compiled by Kathy Larsen and David Jwanier