EnergyOnline
Services

RSS FEED

EnergyOnline.com rss

News

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

Industry News

Efficient Coal Generation Counted Towards Maine Renewable Target

LCG, Aug. 15, 2002--A requirement for 30 percent renewable-source power generation set within 1997 restructuring legislation in Maine is being met in part by cogeneration fueled by coal.

The allowance for coal being burned to produce both electricity and steam to help meet the renewables target was part of a compromise among legislators and interest groups, such as paper pulp mills. The percentage of power generated from varous sources is indicated to customers of Central Maine Power Co. in a regular status report. According to the report, the breakdown includes: oil, 26.3 percent; nuclear, 26 percent; coal, 18.2 percent; natural gas, 6.5 percent, for a total of 77 percent fossil fuels.

According to Maine's public advocate, Stephen Ward, coal is an "eligible resource" in meeting the 30 percent renewable target. It is considered so because cogeneration is a more efficient process than simple burning of coal for electricity alone. A note reads, "For the purposes of meeting the 30 percent portfolio requirement, 64.3 percent of the coal resource meets the eligible resource requirement of MPUC chapter 311." This means that "eligible resource" coal contributes 11.7 percent of the generation total, while biomass contributes 11.3 percent, hydro is at 10.3 percent, and municipal trash at 1.4 percent.

Some biomass plants in the state which produced power in 1997 no longer operate, due to their being uncompetitive.
Copyright © 2026 LCG Consulting. All rights reserved. Terms and Copyright
UPLAN-NPM
The Locational Marginal Price Model (LMP) Network Power Model
Uniform Storage Model
A Battery Simulation Model
UPLAN-ACE
Day Ahead and Real Time Market Simulation
UPLAN-G
The Gas Procurement and Competitive Analysis System
PLATO
Database of Plants, Loads, Assets, Transmission...
CAISO CRR Auctions
Monthly Price and Congestion Forecasting Service