Sean Sexstone

Georgia Power's rise to meet surging energy demands with ambitious new projects is a mixed tale of progress and contention. On the bright side, their approved proposal marks a milestone: 1,400 MW of new gas and oil-fired generation is poised to bolster the reliability of Georgia's energy grid amidst twofold customer growth. 🌱🔌 Yet, this step is not without its drawbacks. Environmental advocates voice their unease, spotlighting the plan's heavy lean on fossil fuels and looming rate hikes for consumers. 🏭💰 The balance, however, teeters towards innovation. The green light for three new units at Plant Yates and a 750 MW power purchase, carries a hefty $3 billion tab, yet Georgia Power's commitment to distributed energy resources and solar and battery technology pilots heralds a sustainable pivot. The promise of nearly doubling renewable resources by 2035 shines as a beacon of hope in the transition towards clean energy. 💡♻️ In face of criticism, notably the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy's remarks on lackluster ratepayer protection and tepid clean energy advancements, it's imperative to ask: How will Georgia Power mesh these new fossil fuel projects with their renewable aspirations to craft a future that's both energy-rich and environment-friendly? 👥🌿 #GeorgiaPower #RenewableEnergy #SustainableFuture

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The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has made issued its final environmental assessment of the #windenergy area in the Gulf of Maine. Read more at https://lnkd.in/girFEeXm. #offshore #offshorewind #offshoreenergy

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Great article from Sara Baldwin. Power Demand Reduction (DR) on the consumer side is a critical component to balancing our growing grid power needs. But we must go beyond traditional DR that curtails power and give the customers a means to reduce their own peak power behind-the-meter. Affordable, high-power energy storage is the key.

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In case you missed it: The largest U.S. grid operator, PJM, recently held its annual power market auction, and the results are astonishing. The auction resulted in a price of $269.92 per megawatt-day for most of the PJM region, a significant increase from the $28.92 per megawatt-day price in the 2024/2025 auction. This 800% increase will have far-reaching effects across PJM's 13-state footprint, which includes the northeast part of Indiana. #energy #reliability #affordability #PJM #GridOperator https://lnkd.in/gv-75kfj

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Responding to growing demand, Duke Energy, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Nucor Corporation execute agreements to explore new and innovative approaches to support carbon-free energy generation to help utilities serve the future energy needs of large businesses in North Carolina and South Carolina. The announcement was made at The White House Summit on Domestic Nuclear Deployment. In memorandums of understanding (MOUs) signed this month, the companies proposed developing new rate structures, known as “tariffs” in the utility industry, designed specifically to lower the long-term costs of investing in clean energy technologies like new nuclear and long-duration storage through early commitments. Read more: http://spr.ly/6045ebdyf

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Mark Nelson, Managing Director of Radiant Energy Group, appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box this morning to discuss the latest developments in big tech investments in nuclear energy. His appearance coincided with Amazon's announcement of a $500+ million investment to develop nuclear reactors in partnership with X-energy. During the interview, Nelson highlighted the emerging trend among tech giants: "What we'll start to see is a race between the biggest tech companies to make bigger and bigger, more immediate investments in nuclear power." Nelson emphasized the significant shift in the industry's approach to energy: "After a decade of pointing the public, the government, and non-profits in one direction...what we're seeing now is that the big tech companies are finally stepping up to a leadership position...to deploy the nuclear that will benefit all of society." These insights underscore the pivotal role nuclear energy is poised to play in powering the future of technology and data centers. Check out the full interview below: https://lnkd.in/gq_KqqVG

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Pumped storage around the world continues to grow, but in specific geographic locations (as you would expect). As we have seen in hydro-electric generation, their continues to be turbine/generator upgrades - further improving the efficiency and the capacity. #pumpedstorage #energystorage #hydro https://lnkd.in/gQBZJzht

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Want insights from tested practitioners from the latest State of Sustainable #Fleets Market Brief? Nate Springer, TRC, and Jay Traugott, Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ), explore the future of clean #transportation, electricity demands of fleet #electrification, state of #hydrogen fuel cell technology & more in this informative interview: https://okt.to/yji2bG #trccompanies

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Duke Energy sees a need for incremental gas-fired #power to meet demand growth: CEO ▪️ Power demand growth quickly accelerates ▪️ Seeks to relicense all its #nuclear power units ⬇️Story linked in comments #ONGT #electricity #naturalgas

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Duke Energy sees a need for incremental gas-fired #power to meet demand growth: CEO ▪️ Power demand growth quickly accelerates ▪️ Seeks to relicense all its #nuclear power units ⬇️Story linked in comments #ONGT #electricity #naturalgas

Utilities and grid operators will continue to pass costs to their ratepayers. Many of these costs come from poor long-term investments in upgrading infrastructure, over time combined with more energy demand and a larger mix of energy sources. The only way to fix your energy costs long term and decarbonize is on site microgrid solutions. Let me know if you would like to save money on energy costs and decarbonize at the same time. From the article: The main driver for the rate increase in the BGE zone are the RMR contracts for Talen’s Brandon Shores and Wagner power plants, which the company had planned to retire in mid-2025, according to the report. Under the contracts, the power plants will continue operating until transmission lines are built to address the area’s reliability issues — which PJM expects will occur by the end of 2028. Power plants with RMR contracts don’t participate as supply-side resources in capacity auctions, which reduced the amount of available capacity in the BGE zone and drove up capacity prices there, according to Synapse. The RMR contracts for the Talen power plants likely drove up capacity prices across PJM by about $5 billion, Synapse said. #energycost #microgrid #vpp #carbonneutral https://lnkd.in/gizfHX-k

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Prices for electricity are skyrocketing in Virginia. A 1,600% increase in the electricity auction prices in just three years! This is largely driven by inadequate generation capacity in VA. Fortunately, VA Power is building a massive offshore wind farm. That will help with the capacity shortage and put downward pressure on electricity prices. Unfortunately, that plant is projected to cost nearly $10 BILLION (that often means $12 to $15 billion in the utility industry.). When that plant goes on line, the construction cost will be added to the rate base and to rates. That will put huge upward pressure on electric rates in VA for decades. The bottom line is that electricity prices are going up in Virginia. Note that the VA Dept of Energy is proposing more natural gas fired generation. In the interest of both capacity and cost, that is probably a good idea.

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On Electric Power Supply Association's latest Energy Rush episode, NERC's President & CEO Jim Robb, joined by experts from PJM Interconnection and ClearView Energy Partners, LLC shared critical insights into the #future of grid #reliability and how the #energy sector can meet rising demand: https://ow.ly/S4V550SYOWx

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We applaud Congressman Balderson's recent legislation focused on improving interconnection of critical power plants to the grid. Interconnection reform is a vital part of addressing reliability and price concerns, and today's legislation is a positive step forward. EPSA President and CEO Todd Snitchler commended Rep. Balderson on his leadership in electric grid reliability. “This legislation appropriately creates a process that recognizes when reliability concerns require that certain investments be prioritized in the interconnection queue," Snitchler stated. "The proposal is designed to recognize when reliability may be at risk and respond in a prudent and targeted manner." Read the rest of Snitchler's statement in EPSA's press release here: https://lnkd.in/gQa2ERxc #EPSAnews #pressrelease #interconnectionreform #energynews

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August peak load in ERCOT is expected to reach 77,517 MW, meanwhile, a loss in dispatchable resources is anticipated. This spells trouble for energy reliability in ERCOT. An increase in dispatchable resources like energy storage is critical to bring down the threat of Energy Emergency Alerts and power outages. https://lnkd.in/gvrjefXa

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Great article on achieving reliability with high levels of renewable resources, and the important roles of transmission and storage. https://lnkd.in/e5tyQWtp

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