Austin Energy awards Recurrent Energy a contract for Texas' largest solar power plant; Indianapolis Power & Light receives approval from IURC to invest $600 million in gas turbine power station; Tucson Electric Power to purchase solar power from Avalon Solar Project; Xcel Energy and SunPower sign a PPA for a 50-MW solar plant in Colorado; American Electric Power plans to replace existing wire on transmission line running from Ohio to West Virginia; Midcontinent ISO amends its tariff to allow for short-term variations in net load requirements; FERC approves ISO New England's "Pay-for-Performance" plan.

Wireless sensors open new, novel applications for utilities, replacing expensive cabling network options to sense incipient equipment failures.

Overlooked in planning, and undervalued by today’s low natural gas prices, energy efficiency offers a valuable hedge against fuel price volatility.

The electric utility industry is inefficient: the firms are too small, lacking economies of scale achievable through mergers and acquisitions.

With the local grid infused with distributed generation, static relay settings must yield to a more dynamic approach to ensure network security.

China is currently the world leader in investment in and development of new nuclear power facilities.

The existing U.S. nuclear fleet, representing 100GW or 20% of our electric generation, is in economic peril and in danger of declining even more rapidly than expected.

Why the U.S. must maintain current levels of nuclear energy production to achieve carbon reduction goals.

Closer coordination between FERC and CFTC (and perhaps also with DOJ) will increase enforcement risk for energy industry traders.