Federal regulators on Friday rejected the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s plan to fast-track new generation interconnections, arguing the proposal lacked limits on the number of projects that could be considered. MISO filed its Expedited Resource Addition Study process, or ERAS, in March, to provide a framework for the accelerated study of generation it said could address urgent resource adequacy and reliability needs. Under the proposal, projects entering the ERAS process would have been studied serially each quarter and granted an expedited interconnection agreement within 90 days. But renewable energy stakeholders argued the proposal could add chaos “to an already complex process.” In a 2-1 vote, FERC commissioners denied the proposal. The ERAS proposal “places no limit on the number of projects that could be entered in the ERAS process, which could result in an ERAS queue with processing times for interconnection requests that are too lengthy to meet MISO’s stated resource adequacy and reliability needs,” Commissioners David Rosner and Lindsay See wrote in their decision. MISO’s proposed tariff language, for example, did not limit the number of interconnection requests or total megawatts of interconnection requests that are eligible to enter the ERAS queue, they noted. “MISO proposes up to 14 opportunities to enter the ERAS process through 2028, which could further impede MISO’s ability to process ERAS requests on an expedited basis,” according to the decision. FERC Chairman Mark Christie dissented, though he said he did not disagree with the majority’s criticism. “I am willing, however, to extend to both the states and MISO a trust that they would implement the ERAS proposal in a manner that would promote the construction of badly needed generation capacity that serves resource adequacy and reliability,” Christie wrote. “One thing we know with no need for further proof: This country, including MISO, is heading for a

The Trump administration has lifted its stop work order on the 810-MW Empire Wind 1 project offshore New York, allowing construction to resume, developer Equinor said Monday. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, D, said in a Monday release that “countless conversations with Equinor and White House officials” had led to the lifting of the stop work order. “Now, Equinor will resume the construction of this fully-permitted project that had already received the necessary federal approvals,” she said. “I also reaffirmed that New York will work with the Administration and private entities on new energy projects that meet the legal requirements under New York law.” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a Monday X post that he was “encouraged by Governor Hochul’s comments about her willingness to move forward on critical pipeline capacity” for natural gas.  The stop work order was issued April 16, and last week Equinor said the situation would force the company to terminate the project entirely if the situation wasn’t resolved within days, as the stoppage cost around $50 million a week. “I am grateful to Governor Hochul for her constructive collaboration with the Trump Administration, without which we would not have been able to advance this project and secure energy for 500,000 homes in New York,” Anders Opedal, president and CEO of Equinor said in a release. Opedal also thanked the president, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and several New York lawmakers “as well as labour groups and other advocates that have maintained their steadfast support for the project.” When issuing the order, Burgum said in a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that the project was “rushed through by the prior administration without sufficient analysis or consultation among the relevant agencies as relates to the potential effects from the project” and that

Dive Brief: A group of Congressional Republicans are asking their party to further tweak proposed changes to clean energy tax credits that the House Ways and Means Committee included in its reconciliation bill text. The proposed budget reconciliation bill would decrease the credits for a number of clean energy technologies after 2028 and phase them out entirely after 2031, as well as additional requirements to qualify for the credits and an early sunset for their transferability. Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Virginia Republican, led 13 other House members in a joint statement Wednesday seeking to extend the transferability mechanism through the phase-out period and make other changes. The GOP tax bill, as currently constructed, passed the House Budget Committee late on Sunday, after the committee failed to clear the bill on Friday. However, as Kiggans and the other lawmakers seek changes to the bill to further protect the clean energy tax provisions, others in the party are looking to speed up the phaseout. Dive Insight: While the original Inflation Reduction Act had technology-neutral clean energy production and investment credits available until 2032, the House Ways and Means Committee’s bill text would move the sunset dates up and phase them out over a four-year period. Companies would be able to receive 80% of the credit values in 2029, 60% in 2030, 40% in 2031, with the credits phasing out entirely in 2032. Another nuclear power production credit would be phased out on the same schedule. Kiggans and her colleagues said they commended the committee “for including reasonable phase-out schedules” for the credits, but said in the May 14 joint statement that a few more changes are needed “to fully realize the intent of these phase-out schedules.” “While many of these provisions reflect a commitment to American energy dominance through an all-of-the-above energy

Opposition to the Net Zero Teesside (NZT) gas-fired power station with carbon capture has ramped up as developers await a court decision next month on the project’s climate impact. Environmental consultant Andrew Boswell has called for ministers to remove carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) from the new carbon budget delivery plan. “Ed Miliband is doing some very good work with his ambitions for a clean power system by 2030,” said Boswell. “However, he fails to see that the plans for fossil fuel-based carbon capture which he inherited from the previous government are hugely damaging to the climate. The government is conveniently ignoring the true climate costs and impacts when they fall outside UK territory.” NZT would be the first gas-fired plant in the UK to capture carbon emissions. A final judgment on the appeal case against its impact on the climate is expected by mid-June, Boswell told Energy Voice. He has partnered with Zero Hour, the campaign for the Climate and Nature Bill, asking for ex-territorial carbon emissions to be “properly accounted for by the UK”, and adequate policies. They have teamed with climate groups and MP Watch to initiate a dialogue with government and mobilise local constituents to write to ministers. A DESNZ spokesperson said in a response to a request for comment: “Carbon capture, usage and storage is vital to boost our energy security, and the Climate Change Committee describes it as a ‘necessity not an option’ for reaching our climate goals. “There is no route to protecting jobs in our industrial heartlands and securing the future of heavy industry in the UK without it.” The government’s net zero strategy was previously thrown out of the High Court in 2022 as it initially failed to show how the plan could be feasibly delivered, including the necessary risk

London-based opinion polling firm Survation has been forced to withdraw a survey on zonal pricing after Octopus accused the company of breaching an industry code of conduct. The firm, which pulled the results on 16 May before publication, in a written response to a request for comment, admitted that questions in the survey “were not subject to our usual internal review procedures”. Government is expected to make a decision on reforming the UK electricity market by the end of next month, with discussions on regional power pricing forming a key part of the possible measures. Regional pricing would carve up the UK power market into regional zones with local power prices based on supply and demand. Energy utilities and renewable energy companies have pushed back against plans for zonal pricing, warning that it would jeopardise billions of pounds of investment in technologies such as offshore wind. Aberdeen-based communications agency True North commissioned and distributed the results from the survey on zonal pricing on 16 May under an embargo. The communications agency then contacted the media with an urgent message to rescind the results of the poll on the same day they were issued , following a complaint from Octopus. Energy supplier Octopus claimed that the survey asked people “highly leading questions”, known as ‘push polling’. A spokesman for True North said: “True North has partnered with Survation for several years, publicising numerous polls that gauge public opinion on politics and issues of importance to the Scottish business community. “Survation made us aware this particular data set had not been processed through its normal filters and apologised to True North for the error.” Survation said in an emailed response to a request to comment: “It is common practice for clients to propose draft polling questions in their own words. Survation’s role

The UK may need to build 10 times the capacity of the existing Rough offshore gas storage facility to meet its future hydrogen needs, a Holyrood committee has heard. Appearing before the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, University of Edinburgh professor Stuart Hazeldine said the UK could effectively need to build “another 20 salt caverns” onshore to provide sufficient hydrogen storage. It comes after Rough owner Centrica earlier this week warned it may shut down the UK’s largest gas storage facility without additional government support. Hazeldine made the comments as the Holyrood committee considered the future of the Grangemouth refinery and industrial complex. Grangemouth refinery owner Petroineos ceased operations at the site earlier this year, leading to the loss of 400 jobs. A joint UK and Scottish government project, known as Project Willow, has identified up to £13 billion of future investment opportunities at Grangemouth. These include the production of synthetic fuels, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and e-methanol, as well as opportunities for e-ammonia and fuel switching. Many of these require hydrogen as part of the production process, which is part of why the Scottish government has said hydrogen is one of Scotland’s “greatest industrial opportunities since oil and gas”. Grangemouth hydrogen future But for Grangemouth to produce these fuels, and jobs, the UK and Scotland will need to significantly scale up production of blue and green hydrogen production. The UK sector is also calling for clarity on the development of hydrogen transport and storage networks. But Scotland’s hydrogen sector has warned a lack of government support is leading to “disappointing results” from efforts to build up the country’s hydrogen economy. Asked by the Holyrood committee how the UK can bring down the costs of hydrogen storage, Hazeldine said the country will need to invest in more underground