80 is the New 60? Considering I’m fairly old myself, I like the vibe. But that’s the session name for the panel at NARUC’s upcoming winter meeting discussing nuclear plant second license renewals and the impact on the grid’s decarbonization. The session will be on February 10.
Then there’s the session on FERC Order 2222, on distributed resources in wholesale markets. The Commission is always creative at naming its landmark orders. About the only aspect of its rules that we can all agree on. The session will be on February 9.
A guest essay by Commissioner Sadzi Martha Oliva of the Illinois Commerce Commission, with policy advisor Kealie Vogel and legal intern Greta Gangestad.
Coal plants produced 19.98 percent of the grid’s generation in 2020, for the entire continental U.S. So coal generation came in under one-fifth for the first time. Though ever so slightly (by two-hundredths of a percent).
While zero-emission nuclear, hydro, wind and solar produced 38.53 percent. That’s nearly two-fifths. And nearly twice coal’s percentage.
All this happened because coal generation dropped almost nineteen percent from 2019 to 2020. As a result, carbon dioxide emissions dropped by around ten percent.
