Nearing completion of its transmission planning rulemaking, FERC said it is forming a new working group with state regulators with a focus on reliability.

The power industry is facing an increasingly delicate balancing act as policies drive some generators to retirement, while major new loads are popping up and making planning more difficult.

Utility executives told state regulators that natural gas and nuclear power will be part of the electric mix for decades as the industry decarbonizes.

Both FERC Chairman Willie Phillips and Sen. Joe Manchin want to pass policies this year that speed up the roll out of transmission, they said at the NARUC conference.

The use of hydrogen, both for transportation fuel and blended into natural gas, is a hot topic among engineers and power producers.

MISO CEO John Bear and PJM CEO Manu Asthana expressed concerns about gas-fired resources retiring prematurely at NARUC's Annual Meeting in California.

FERC Senior Counsel on Environmental Justice and Equity Conrad Bolston explained how the commission has been working to improve its environmental justice efforts in recent years.

The new toolkit helps state energy officials and utility commissions build programs for cybersecurity in distributed solar resources.