May 29, 2024

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm last week celebrated the completion of Units 3 and 4 at the Vogtle nuclear power plant with a call for the U.S. triple its nuclear capacity by 2050 and build 98 new reactors of similar capacity. That will prove, to put it mildly, difficult, given the challenges Southern Co. faced. A new report from the Nuclear Innovation Alliance lays out exactly why that is.

The Energy Department also issued an update on another difficult-to-build clean technology: floating offshore wind. A progress and priorities report lays out more than 50 milestones reached since the White House’s Floating Offshore Wind Shot was launched in September 2022, including $950 million contributed to the initiative from DOE and other departments. 

And EPA announced another round of IIJA awards for states to purchase electric school buses, this time $900 million. Administrator Michael Regan was in Jackson, Miss., to make the announcement, and take a ride on one of the city’s new models. 

Here’s what else we have from this past week: 

• Empire, Sunrise Wind Back Under Contract in NY 

• EPRI: Clean Energy, Efficiency Can Meet AI, Data Center Power Demand 

• Md. Governor Creates Climate Subcabinet
  

• NYPA Unveils Expanded Grid Simulation Lab 
  

• Offshore Wind Projected to Save New Englanders $630M per Year 

• Panel Provides Update on Energy Storage in Mass. 

• Report: Home Retrofit Benefits Maxed by Combining Fed Funds with Other Sources 

• White House Launches Initiative with 21 States on Grid Modernization 

See you next week!