Category: FERC/NERC

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TVA Submitted the Nation’s First Construction Permit Application to the NRC for a new Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Plant

TVA.com: Scott Fiedler

TVA-Clinch-River-GE-SMR
Image: TVA.com Clinch River, GE SMR

TVA announced it was “the first utility in the U.S. to submit a construction permit application (CPA) for the GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GVH) small modular reactor (SMR) BWRX-300 technology to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission – the agency that issues licenses for constructing, operating and decommissioning nuclear power plants.

This CPA is TVA’s next step in pursuing an SMR at its Clinch River site, near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and establishing America’s energy dominance to power artificial intelligence, quantum computing and advanced manufacturing.

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Could Advanced Conductors Like AECC Technology Replace ACSR Transmission and Distribution Lines for Power Grid Improvements?

EnergyCentral.com: Jason Huang & T&DWorld.com: Gene Wolf

OH-TL-&-DL-Reliability
Image: T&DWorld.com: Gene Wolf

Since aluminum conductor steel reinforced (ACSR) technology took over nearly all of power utilities’ transmission lines and overhead distribution lines, there has not been many advancements in newer and more feasible power delivery conductors. The ACSR technology has been around for over a century, but a new conductor technology is shaping up as an optimal replacement.

“AECC (Aluminum Encapsulated Carbon Core) technology represents a natural evolution that combines advanced conductor performance with traditional conductor safety and reliability. The design uses a pre-tensioned carbon fiber core protected by a seamless aluminum encapsulation layer, paired with annealed aluminum trapezoidal outer strands.”

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“Advanced conductor technologies are gaining acceptance with utilities and grid operators. Reconductoring with advanced conductors can put a huge dent in the transmission capacity shortage”

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Public Power Regulators Grant AEP’s Request for Data Center Owners to Fund Infrastructure Improvements

DailyEnergyInsider.com: Kim Riley

Data-Centers-to-Fund-Elec-Grid-Improvements
Image: DailyEnergyInsider.com: Shutterstock

“The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO)” recently awarded AEP of Ohio to partner with data center owners for “establishing financial obligations” to support electrical grid infrastructure improvements that directly accommodate them.

The ruling provides a huge win for AEP, reducing the need for other AEP rate payers to be partially expensed through gradual rate increases to fund AEP’s required energy grid upgrades for bringing new data centers online. New data center owners will be “required to pay a minimum of 85% of AEP’s energy they are subscribed to use to help cover the costs of bringing power to those facilities.”

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How Will Solar and Wind Energy Continue to Thrive with Tax Credits Being Phased Out?

EnergyLiveNews.com

Solar-and-Wind-Struggle-Less-Tax-Credits
EnergyLiveNews.com: Shutterstock

Recent changes in U.S. policy and approved “legislation are slashing federal support for both wind and solar renewable projects.” As the tax credits and clean energy incentive benefits for constructing new green power plants are hastily eliminated, how much will the wind and solar markets decline?

This change in American policy “is likely to throw fresh uncertainty over renewable energy investments, especially as the sector struggles to keep pace with surging electricity demands across the U.S.”

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The Forecast for Renewable Resources Could Rise 300 Percent Based on Future Energy Demands

NBCNews.com – Energy, Spencer Kimball (CNBC)

NBC-News-Renewables-Farm-Palm-Springs-CA-Getty-Images
NBCNews.com-Renewables Farm, Palm Springs, CA (Mario Tama-Getty Images)

“Renewable energy demand will triple over the next seven years as data center growth accelerates to facilitate the proliferation of artificial intelligence, NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum said Wednesday.

NextEra added 3,000 megawatts of renewable and storage projects to its order backlog in the second quarter. Of those, 860 megawatts — or 28% — come from agreements with Google to power the tech company’s data centers.”

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FBI Warning of Cyber Attacks to Power Grid Weaknesses

EnergyCentral.com (source CNBC)

EnergyCentral.com (CNBC) - FBI-Warnings
EnergyCentral.com (CNBC) – FBI-Warnings

In the U.S., with the increased connections to the power grid by cleaner, greener, carbon-free electric generation, and renewable resources, the FBI has issued a warning for the nations power system. “The federal government is becoming more concerned about vulnerabilities with new energy systems being a target for cyberattacks.”

Adversaries and hackers are looking at potential weaknesses in the power sector with “private and individual owners of renewable power systems.”

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