News

Coal Plant Owners Seek to Shut 3.2 GW in PJM in Face of Economic, Regulatory and Market Pressures | Emissions News

March 22, 2022

Ethan Howland reports in Utility Dive that power plant owners have started the process of potentially retiring 3,228 MW of coal-fired generation in the PJM Interconnection's footprint this month, according to the grid operator's generator deactivation list. Another 1,024 MW of coal shut down last year. Looking at the explanations for the planned retirements, our Julia Criscuolo, ESAI Power's Manager of Renewables and Emissions, said about a third are driven by environmental regulations, a quarter by unfavorable economics and roughly 20% by "end of life" plant issues.

EPA Wastewater Rules and PJM Coal Retirements | Emissions Watch Blog

March 1, 2022

Coal-fired power plants are subject to a myriad of federal environmental regulations that have led to significant retirement waves when plant owners face capital expenditures for compliance that cannot be supported by market revenues. Many coal plant owners are now facing significant potential compliance costs due to rules regulating disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCRs). CCRs, also known as coal ash, are produced from the process of burning coal and operating flue gas desulfurization equipment at coal-fired facilities.

Regulations Affecting Coal Combustion Residuals (CCRs) Under EPA Rules | Energy Watch Blog

February 24, 2022

ESAI Power's latest issue of EnergyWatch™ discusses regulations affecting coal combustion residuals (CCR) under EPA rules for wastewater discharge and CCR disposal and handling. Several coal-fired plants in PJM have announced retirement plans or are at-risk of retirement due to compliance requirements with these rules. Clients of our Energy Watch service received an accompanying spreadsheet with data about the affected plants. Also included are ESAI's Power and Natural Gas forward pricing forecasts in PJM, NYISO, ISO-NE.

ISO-NE FCA16 Auction Parameters and Capacity Price Forecast | Capacity Watch Blog

January 14, 2022

In ESAI’s latest Capacity Watch report, we analyze the ISO-New England Forward Capacity Auction, FCA16. Clearing Prices are expected to decline from the FCA15 Auction due to a decrease in Net Installed Capacity Requirements (Net ICR) and Net Cost of New Entry (Net CONE).

Record LNG Exports Drive Domestic Demand | Natural Gas Watch Blog

January 5, 2022

In just 15 years, the U.S. has gone from a net importer of LNG to becoming the world’s largest Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) exporter in 2022. The U.S. will surpass Qatar and Australia with an estimated 14 Bcf/day in exports by the end of 2022, up from 10 Bcf/d of export capability with the completion of the first wave of export facilities in mid-2021. LNG exports continue to be the most significant driver of U.S. natural gas demand.

FERC Orders PJM To Change Reserve Market Rules, Delay Capacity Auctions | Capacity News

December 23, 2021

Ethan Howland reports in Utility Dive that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday ordered the PJM Interconnection to revise its reserve market rules, which will delay the grid operator's upcoming capacity auction. This was a reverse of an earlier decision. In a 3-1 vote, FERC reaffirmed its previous decision to direct PJM to consolidate tier one and tier two reserve products, but said it had erred by approving changes to the grid operator's operating reserve demand curves (ORDC), which help set the price for reserves. Our Scott Niemann, Director and Principal of ESAI Power said, “This rule change seems like a small detail, but the ripple impacts may be more significant and touch a lot of aspects of the PJM market."

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Capacity Watch: Provides a regional 10-year capacity price forecast and an in-depth analysis of current market issues. affecting price outcomes. Impacts of reserve margin surpluses and forward capacity market values.
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News

Coal Plant Owners Seek to Shut 3.2 GW in PJM in Face of Economic, Regulatory and Market Pressures | Emissions News

EPA Wastewater Rules and PJM Coal Retirements | Emissions Watch Blog

Regulations Affecting Coal Combustion Residuals (CCRs) Under EPA Rules | Energy Watch Blog

ISO-NE FCA16 Auction Parameters and Capacity Price Forecast | Capacity Watch Blog

Record LNG Exports Drive Domestic Demand | Natural Gas Watch Blog

FERC Orders PJM To Change Reserve Market Rules, Delay Capacity Auctions | Capacity News

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