Utility trends

IEEFA Research

IEEFA: Bangladesh’s power system overcapacity problem is getting worse  

IEEFA: Bangladesh’s power system overcapacity problem is getting worse  

Overcapacity, along with increased reliance on expensive coal and LNG imports, threaten to increase the cost of power generation

20 January 2021 (IEEFA Bangladesh): Overcapacity in Bangladesh’s power system has worsened and threatens to deteriorate further according to a new briefing note released by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) today. Data from the Bangladesh Power Development Board’s (BPDB) latest annual report shows that overall power capacity utilisation in fiscal year […]

and January 20, 2021 Read More →
IEEFA U.S.: FERC gives blank check approval to pipeline builders, while investors and consumers pick up costs

IEEFA U.S.: FERC gives blank check approval to pipeline builders, while investors and consumers pick up costs

Commission’s 21-year-old pipeline policy puts contracts ahead of utility customers

December 17, 2020 (IEEFA) — The federal agency responsible for approving interstate gas pipeline projects is basing its decisions on contracts rather than on today’s consumer energy needs or the public interest, according to a report released today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. The report—FERC’s Failure to Analyze Energy Market Forces—details […]

, and December 17, 2020 Read More →
IEEFA U.S.: Virginia coal plant’s future isn’t bright: preparation for transition should commence now

IEEFA U.S.: Virginia coal plant’s future isn’t bright: preparation for transition should commence now

Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center (VCHEC), one of the newest in U.S., risks closure due to market forces

December 16, 2020 (IEEFA)—Retiring the Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center (VCHEC) will bring unnecessarily abrupt economic hardship to Wise County if state and local officials do not begin to plan now for a transition, concludes a report published today by the Institute for Energy Economic and Financial Analysis. The 8-year-old coal-fired power plant, owned by […]

, and December 16, 2020 Read More →
IEEFA Philippines: NPC-SPUG shift can drive savings to P13.5 billion per year

IEEFA Philippines: NPC-SPUG shift can drive savings to P13.5 billion per year

Shift from diesel to renewables can save electric coops P1.4-1.7 billion over next decade

3 December 2020 (IEEFA Philippines): The record-breaking disasters in the Philippines this year highlight the potential for renewable energy to power small island and isolated power grids and save the country up to P13.5 billion per year, and electric cooperatives an additional P1.4 to P1.7 billion over the next decade, finds a new report from […]

and December 3, 2020 Read More →
IEEFA: Japanese and Korean investment in risky PJM gas-fired power calls for strategic decisions

IEEFA: Japanese and Korean investment in risky PJM gas-fired power calls for strategic decisions

Investing in gas-fired power plant development faces substantial climate risk

2 December 2020 (IEEFA): Japanese and Korean investors should reassess the growing financial risks to both their new and existing gas-fired power projects in the United States’ Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) system, finds a new report by Norman Waite at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The report, Growing Risks to PJM Network’s […]

and December 2, 2020 Read More →
IEEFA U.S.: Colorado electric wholesaler is alienating cost-conscious co-ops with its fossil commitments

IEEFA U.S.: Colorado electric wholesaler is alienating cost-conscious co-ops with its fossil commitments

Tri-State currently plans using coal through 2050 and expanding into gas; projected rate increases of 55% by 2050

Nov. 17, 2020 (IEEFA) — One of the biggest power suppliers to rural electric co-ops in the U.S. is putting its business model at risk as members clamor for better access to renewable energy, more affordable rates, and more say in how they buy or produce power, concludes a report released today by the Institute […]

and November 17, 2020 Read More →
IEEFA update: Peabody Energy flirts with bankruptcy—again

IEEFA update: Peabody Energy flirts with bankruptcy—again

Bear market for coal, new financial pressures push world’s largest coal company towards default

Just three-and-a-half years after emerging from its previous bankruptcy, Peabody Energy—the world’s largest private coal miner—admitted to investors on Monday that it could face yet another trip to bankruptcy court in the coming months. Coal bankruptcies in the United States have become increasingly common. Cheap gas and renewable power have steadily replaced coal in the […]

and November 12, 2020 Read More →

IEEFA: Acuerdo de LUMA Energy allana camino para que los reguladores de Puerto Rico repitan errores pasados

Múltiples problemas en el contrato que pueden contribuir al fracaso de una red segura, confiable y resiliente

12 de octubre de 2020 (IEEFA) – Un importante contrato firmado con el consorcio LUMA Energy puede impedir que Puerto Rico construya un sistema eléctrico seguro, confiable y resiliente,  según un nuevo informe del Instituto de Economía Energética y Análisis Financiero. El acuerdo para operar la red de la isla se produjo a raíz de […]

and October 12, 2020 Read More →
IEEFA U.S.: Investors in gas-fired projects in largest regional power system face substantial risks

IEEFA U.S.: Investors in gas-fired projects in largest regional power system face substantial risks

Eleven PJM projects under development may fail to prove financially viable

October 5, 2020 (IEEFA) — The landscape for developers of natural gas-fired power plants in the nation’s largest regional power system has shifted dramatically over the last decade, according to a joint study by the Applied Economics Clinic and the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. The Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) system coordinates the flow […]

, and October 5, 2020 Read More →
IEEFA report: Vietnam’s new power development plan must optimize renewables and avoid fossil fuel lock-in

IEEFA report: Vietnam’s new power development plan must optimize renewables and avoid fossil fuel lock-in

EVN’s financial constraints leaves the utility with little room for error

22 September 2020 (IEEFA Vietnam): Implementing Vietnam’s soon-to-be-launched next Power Development Plan will ultimately depend on the country’s ability to mobilize more innovative sources of offshore financing, finds a new report by think tank the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). Vietnam is poised to launch Power Development Master Plan 8 (PDP 8) […]

, and September 22, 2020 Read More →

More News and Commentary

Tampa Electric to close 445MW Unit 3 at Big Bend coal plant in 2023, 18 years early

Florida Politics: Tampa Electric announced this week its plans to double the number of homes it powers by solar energy from 100,000 today to 200,000 by 2023. “These significant milestones are improving the land, water and air for all Tampa Electric customers,” said Nancy Tower, President and CEO of Tampa Electric. “We are saving our […]

January 22, 2021 Read More →

Florida city gives final approval to close 360MW McIntosh Unit 3 coal plant

The Ledger: Lakeland Electric got approval to move forward with decommissioning Unit 3 this March. It has struck a $23.4 million deal to close its power gap. Lakeland commissioners unanimously approved Lakeland Electric’s plan to begin decommissioning McIntosh Unit 3 on March 31, three years ahead of the prior timeframe of fall 2024. This will […]

January 22, 2021 Read More →
IEEFA: Bangladesh’s power system overcapacity problem is getting worse  
and

IEEFA: Bangladesh’s power system overcapacity problem is getting worse  

Overcapacity, along with increased reliance on expensive coal and LNG imports, threaten to increase the cost of power generation

20 January 2021 (IEEFA Bangladesh): Overcapacity in Bangladesh’s power system has worsened and threatens to deteriorate further according to a new briefing note released by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) today. Data from the Bangladesh Power Development Board’s (BPDB) latest annual report shows that overall power capacity utilisation in fiscal year […]

and January 20, 2021 Read More →
IEEFA U.S.: Colorado’s newest coal plant, needing extensive repairs (again), was idle for a year

IEEFA U.S.: Colorado’s newest coal plant, needing extensive repairs (again), was idle for a year

Utility commission launches investigation of Comanche Unit 3 costs; seamless replacement of power adds to case for early closure

Xcel Energy’s troubled Unit 3 at the Comanche Generating Station in Colorado was offline for almost an entire year after being closed for repairs—even as customers started paying the $11.7 million cost of fixing previous problems. The latest in a long saga of failures at Comanche 3 started on Jan. 13, 2020, when it was […]

January 15, 2021 Read More →

Florida Power & Light closes its last coal-fired power plant in the state

Power Engineering: Florida Power & Light’s last coal-fired plant in that state has officially closed. The formal retirement of Indiantown Cogeneration Plant came as the clock struck midnight on Dec. 31. FPL acquired the plant three years earlier for the sole purpose of shutting it down. FPL is owned by NextEra Energy Inc. Another NextEra […]

January 15, 2021 Read More →

Total takes first big step into U.S. utility-scale solar market

Renewables Now: French energy giant Total SE has signed an agreement with 174 Power Global to create a 50/50 joint venture (JV) aimed at developing 12 utility-scale solar and storage projects for 1.6 GW of combined capacity in the US. Total said Thursday that these projects have been transferred from a pipeline developed by 174 […]

January 14, 2021 Read More →

EIA: Record 15.4GW of utility-scale solar capacity to be added to U.S. grid in 2021

PV Tech: A record amount of utility-scale PV capacity is expected to be connected to the grid in the US this year, with Texas accounting for more than a quarter of solar additions, according to new data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Developers and plant owners forecast 15.4GW of new utility-scale PV coming […]

January 13, 2021 Read More →

Minnesota Power sets retirement dates for last coal plants, aims for 2050 carbon-free generation

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Minnesota Power will shutter and convert its last two coal power plants by 2035 as it moves toward a promised 100% carbon-free energy mix by 2050. The Duluth-based utility, which serves a broad swath of northeastern and central Minnesota, announced the timeline Tuesday ahead of the company filing a detailed 15-year plan […]

January 13, 2021 Read More →

Kentucky utilities seek replacement power for three retiring coal units

S&P Global Market Intelligence ($): Louisville Gas and Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities Co. are seeking generation capacity to meet a potential energy shortfall being created by the expected retirement of three coal units by 2028. The PPL Corp. subsidiaries expect to retire units 1 and 2 at the Mill Creek plant in Jefferson County, […]

January 12, 2021 Read More →

Australia’s Origin Energy unveils plans for 700MW battery at Eraring coal plant

Renew Economy: The race for Australia’s largest big battery is heating up, with Origin Energy unveiling plans for a massive 700MW big battery to be located at the company’s Eraring power station in the New South Wales Hunter region. Origin Energy’s plans for the big battery would include up to four hours of dispatchable power, […]

January 12, 2021 Read More →
more entries