Green World Blog
News, views & musings for our nuclear-free, carbon-free future
-
Clean energy vs nuclear: the battle intensifies
Former top Obama aide Rahm Emanuel is now Mayor of Chicago. And he’s joined forces with clean energy advocates who have a different vision of the state’s energy future than Exelon. Photo from Wikipedia. In theory, the “all of the above” energy policy has a certain amount of appeal: why should government pick winners and…
Read More -
Obama energy budget continues “all of the above” delusion
President Obama’s FY 2016 budget proposal released this week isn’t going to be adopted as is, that’s pretty obvious considering he’s facing a Congress that, if he suggested repealing Obamacare, probably would vote against it just because it was his proposal. But that’s on the big stuff–taxes, infrastructure, health care. When it comes down to…
Read More -
NEA wants a nuclear future (but isn’t likely to see one)
Not likely to a best-seller, except perhaps in the science fiction/fantasy category: the cover of NEA’s new report. Last week, the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), a subdivision of sorts of the International Energy Agency, composed of the remaining true believers in nuclear power, released a report calling on the world to more than double the…
Read More -
Some utilities get it (believe it or not)
Graph from survey of utility execs by Utility Dive. Every year (well, this is the second year), the trade website Utility Dive conducts a survey of about 400 electric utility execs across the country to find out what they think about the future of their business. The good news about the survey this year is…
Read More -
The solar wars come to Indiana
No, this isn’t Indiana. Yet. Some state legislators want to make sure this type of thing never comes to their state. It’s hard holding back the future. Indiana is, perhaps aside from Utah and Oklahoma, about as red as red states come. It’s never been exactly a leader in forward-looking energy policy, although it did…
Read More -
FirstEnergy wants a big bailout too
FirstEnergy’s decrepit Davis-Besse reactor has been one of the least reliable reactors in the nation, with a long history of serious safety problems. The two largest nuclear power utilities, Exelon and Entergy, aren’t the only ones looking for ratepayer bailouts for uneconomic power plants. Add Ohio’s FirstEnergy to the list, which is seeking subsidies that…
Read More -
Exelon’s proposed takeover of Pepco: what’s at stake
Exelon’s attempt to take over the mid-Atlantic utility Pepco is running into obstacles in DC, Maryland and Delaware. The merger may be critical to Exelon’s long-term survival. Exelon is the nation’s largest nuclear power utility, but burdened by a bevy of uneconomic nuclear reactors, it hasn’t been performing well financially in recent years and was…
Read More -
Yes, America wants solar and wind, not nukes
Investing in solar power now brings a better return than investing in the S&P 500. Graphic from NC Clean Energy Technology Center. Just in case there was any doubt, “Americans ‘overwhelmingly’ prefer solar and wind energy to coal, oil, and nuclear energy, according to a Harvard political scientist who has conducted a comprehensive survey of…
Read More -
It’s put up or shut up time for Exelon
Exelon’s Dresden nuclear complex (Unit 1, on the right, has been closed since 1978) may–or may not–be one of Exelon’s supposed uneconomic nuclear plants. For a year now, Exelon has been complaining–loudly–that some of its Illinois reactors are uneconomic (though it hasn’t necessarily been consistent about which ones those are). And the nuclear giant has…
Read More -
Illinois report deals unexpected blow to Exelon: its uneconomic nukes really aren’t needed
Artist’s rendition of an Exelon building in Baltimore. The nuclear giant didn’t get what it wanted–grounds for a ratepayer bailout– from Illinois state agencies. Last May, the Illinois legislature responded to months of mounting hysteria from Exelon that several of the utility’s reactors in the state were losing money and might be forced to close…
Read More