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FERC Proposes NEPA Revisions to Streamline Air Quality Analyses and Accelerate Natural Gas Projects

LCG, October 16, 2026--The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced on Thursday its new proposal to revise and accelerate its review of air quality effects for proposed natural gas projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The draft policy statement highlights revisions designed to (i) avoid unnecessary delays and duplicative analysis and (ii) deliver greater regulatory certainty and a streamlined path forward for project applicants.

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AEP Announces 702-MW Bloom Fuel Cell Project to Serve Google in Wyoming

LCG, October 14, 2026--American Electric Power (AEP) today announced plans for a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Google, under which AEP will invest approximately $4 billion to advance a new 702-MW fuel cell generation project located near Cheyenne, Wyoming. Google will acquire power from Cheyenne Fuel Cell, LLC, which is approximately 92 percent owned and controlled by AEP and 8 percent owned by funds advised by Basalt Infrastructure Partners, LLP. AEP and its partners plan to start construction this year and to be fully operational by the end of 2028.

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Industry News

Britain's Ofgem Says Power Firms Have 'Rigged Market'

LCG, Aug. 13, 2001--The head of Britain's Office of Gas and Electricity Markets has warned that power companies have deliberately manipulated Neta, the new electricity trading market, to keepwholesale prices high, The Independent, an English newspaper, reported yesterday.

Ofgem chief executive Callum McCarthy said that since the new energy trading arrangements were set up in March, he suspected that companies had knowingly abused the market. "There have been some instances where prices have unusually changed, which looks very hard to justify in normal market conditions," he said.

McCarthy's complaint could be a ploy to gain additional clout for his agency. His comments come as the Department of Trade & Industry is due to decide whether to give Ofgem full powers to investigate such abuses, the paper noted.

McCarthy said that price fixing is more difficult under the new trading arrangements that it was under the previous power pool, but he believes companies still withhold generating capacity to influence prices. Without the new powers he is seeking, "the market will be more open to manipulation, and quite simply electricity prices will be higher. Ofgem has an obligation to protect the interests of consumers," he said.

Ofgem previously had included in its business licenses a "good behavior" clause under which companies could be put out of business for suspected abuse of market power. When British Energy Plc and AES Corp. of the U.S. refused to sign such contracts, the matter went to the British Competition Commission, which ruled last year there was no need for the clauses.

McCarthy has been pushing to have the clauses restored, in one form or another, ever since.

The Electricity Association, a trade organization in the UK, said in a letter to the Department of Trade & Industry that it was "strongly opposed" to Ofgem's proposals and that new abuse clauseswould deter new generators from entering the market.

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