Despite the hype, solar power still accounts for a fraction of U.S. electricity production, according a recent report by the Energy Information Administration.

The December 2014 Short-Term Energy Outlook estimates solar generation will make up only 0.6% of electricity generation in 2015. “While solar growth has historically been concentrated in customer-sited distributed generation installations, utility-scale solar capacity slightly more than doubled in 2013,” the EIA said.

“EIA expects that utility-scale solar capacity will nearly double again between the end of 2013 and the end of 2015, with about two-thirds of this new capacity being built in California.”

More: Fierce Energy

NRC Inspectors Find Radiation Monitoring Problems at Entergy’s Palisades Plant

Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors cited Entergy’s Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan for using an improper methodology to measure radiation levels that workers received during a refueling outage earlier this year.

An NRC spokesperson said no workers were overexposed, but proper procedures were not followed, constituting a safety violation. An Entergy spokesman said the company tried to use a new monitoring technology, but it was improperly implemented. The violation could result in increased oversight.

More: MLive

Midwest Railroad Coal Delivery Topic of FERC Panel Discussion

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will discuss concerns about the coming winter, coal stockpiles and railroad congestion at its meeting on Thursday.

Competition with shale-oil producers for railroad capacity has put pressure on timely deliveries of coal, causing worries that Midwest power plants may have trouble securing adequate coal deliveries this winter.

The meeting will feature a panel discussion with staffers from FERC and the Surface Transportation Board, as well as representatives from Minnesota Power, BNSF Railway and MISO.

More: FERC

Senate Confirms 2 New TVA Directors

The Senate voted 86-12 to confirm Democrats Ron Walter and Virginia Lodge to the Tennessee Valley Authority board. They will serve five-year terms on the nine-member board that oversees the TVA.

Walter, a television executive, and Lodge, a business consultant and former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Human Services, are succeeding Barbara Haskew and Bill Sansom.

Walter and Lodge pledged to recuse themselves from any decisions involving TVA’s unfinished Bellefone Nuclear Plant. Both appointees had previous contacts with Chattanooga businessman Franklin Haney, who is advocating a private financing plan to complete the two-reactor plant in Alabama.

More: Chattanooga Times Free Press

Department of Energy Issues $12.5B Nuclear Loan Program

The Department of Energy is offering $12.5 billion in loan guarantees for advanced nuclear energy projects that would reduce, avoid or sequester greenhouse gas emissions.

“This solicitation will help the U.S. build the next generation of safe and secure nuclear energy projects by providing the critical financing needed for innovations that have not been widely deployed at commercial scale in this country,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said.

The Advanced Nuclear Energy Projects solicitation is one of four loan programs totaling $40 billion aimed at boosting low-carbon technologies. The other programs include $8 billion for fossil energy projects, $4 billion for renewable- and energy-efficiency projects and $16 billion for vehicle manufacturing.

More: Department of Energy

FERC Gets High Rankings in Employee Satisfaction

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ranked fifth out of 25 mid-sized federal agencies in employee satisfaction and commitment, according to a survey of government agencies.

The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service gave FERC a 73.3 out of 100 in employee satisfaction and commitment, and a 77.5 in work-life balance. Only the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Government Accountability Office, Smithsonian Institution and Federal Trade Commission scored higher in the “2014 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” survey.

FERC’s Office of General Counsel won the No. 1 spot among agency divisions with an 88.8.

More: FERC; The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government