By Tom Kleckner NextEra Energy’s bid to acquire Texas’ largest electric utility, which cleared a U.S. bankruptcy court earlier this week, may have to navigate some choppy waters with state regulators. At the Public Utility Commission’s open meeting Thursday, Chairman Donna Nelson and Commissioner Ken Anderson both expressed concerns with...

ACC to Hire Outside Counsel to Represent Commissioner Burns The Corporation Commission voted to hire an outside attorney to represent Commissioner Robert Burns, who is being sued by Arizona Public Service over his effort to investigate the utility’s political spending. Burns issued subpoenas to APS and its parent company, Pinnacle...

ARKANSAS EPA Finalizes State’s Regional Haze Plan EPA has finalized a federal implementation plan for compliance with its Regional Haze Rule for the state, but regulators and at least one generator say they may appeal the decision. The final rule calls for increased emissions control at three coal-fired plants and...

Riverside County Looks to Create Power Supplier Riverside County officials are advancing a plan to create an alternative retail electricity supplier that would supplant Southern California Edison in unincorporated areas of the county. The officials say that the community choice aggregator, which would purchase power directly from producers, would allow...

By Rory Sweeney AUSTIN, Texas — In a meeting with Carol Biedrzycki, you will know two things without question: If she isn’t talking, she has nothing to say. If she is talking, she will not stop until she has nothing else to say. Candor and steadfastness are qualities that Biedrzycki,...

Report Cites Emissions Drop in Nine-State RGGI A new report by the Acadia Center says that carbon emissions in the nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative compact have dropped 37% since the program began in 2008. Part I of group’s “RGGI Status Report” found that emissions have decreased in each of...

By Ted Caddell and Rich Heidorn Jr. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Exelon’s Constellation Energy Resources unit is buying Consolidated Edison’s retail energy business as it continues its efforts to hedge against falling wholesale power prices. Constellation’s purchase of the retail division of ConEdison Solutions will give it another 560,000 residential, commercial...

By Robert Mullin Critics of CAISO’s most recent draft proposal of principles for governing a Western RTO contend the ISO is moving too quickly to get a plan to California lawmakers before the close of the current legislative session in September. Speaking at a joint state agency workshop in Sacramento...

By Tom Kleckner Staff from ERCOT and SPP began discussions last week to determine how to work together on Lubbock Power & Light’s planned move to the ERCOT grid. The grid operators conducted a staff-only call July 21 at the behest of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which has...

By Tom Kleckner Interest in bankrupt Energy Future Holdings’ Texas transmission and delivery subsidiary Oncor continues to grow, even as the troubled company struggles to emerge from Chapter 11 without a massive tax bill. NextEra Energy and Berkshire Hathaway Energy are thought to be the leading contenders for Oncor, the...