Bank goes green with Bullfrog Power

NEIMA advances NRC regulatory modernization, creating a licensing framework for advanced reactors, improving uranium permitting, capping reactor fees, and mandating DOE planning for excess uranium, boosting transparency, accountability, and innovation across the US nuclear sector.

Key Points

NEIMA is a US law modernizing NRC rules and enabling advanced reactor licensing while reforming fees.

✅ Modernizes NRC licensing for advanced reactors

✅ Caps annual reactor fees and boosts transparency

✅ Streamlines uranium permitting; directs DOE plans

Bipartisan legislation modernising US nuclear regulation and supporting the establishment of a licensing framework for next-generation advanced reactors has been signed by US President Donald Trump, whose order boosting U.S. uranium and nuclear energy underscored the administration's focus on the sector.

The Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernisation Act (NEIMA) became law on 14 January.

As well as directing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to modify the licensing process for commercial advanced nuclear reactor facilities, the bill establishes new transparency and accountability measures to the regulator's budget and fee programmes, and caps fees for existing reactors. It also directs the NRC to look at ways of improving the efficiency of uranium licensing, including investigating the safety and feasibility of extending uranium recovery licences from ten to 20 years' duration, and directs the Department of Energy, which oversees nuclear cleanup and related projects, to issue at least every ten years a long-term plan detailing the management of its excess uranium inventories.

Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of the US Nuclear Energy Institute, described NEIMA as a "significant, positive step" toward the reform of the NRC's fee collection process. "This legislation establishes a more equitable and transparent funding structure which will benefit all operating reactors and future licensees," she said. "The bill also reaffirms Congress’s support for nuclear innovation by working to establish an efficient and stable regulatory structure that is prepared to license the advanced reactors of the future."

Marilyn Kray, president-elect of the American Nuclear Society, said the passage of the legislation was a "big win" for the nation and its nuclear community. "By reforming outdated laws, NRC will now be able to invest more freely in advanced nuclear R&D and licensing activities. This in turn will accelerate deployment of cutting-edge American nuclear systems and better prepare the next generation of nuclear engineers and technologists," she said.

The bill was introduced in 2017 by Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming. It was approved by Congress on 21 December by 361 votes to 10, having been passed by the Senate the previous day, even as later Biden's climate law developments produced mixed results.

NEIMA is one of several bipartisan bills that support advanced nuclear innovation considered by the 115th US Congress, which ended on 2 January. These are: the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act (NEICA); the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act; the Nuclear Utilisation of Keynote Energy Act; the Advanced Nuclear Fuel Availability Act, a focus sharpened by the U.S. ban on Russian uranium in the fuel market; and legislation to expedite so-called part 810 approvals, which are needed for the export of technology, equipment and components. NEICA, which supports the deployment of advanced reactors and also directs the DOE to develop a reactor-based fast neutron source for the testing of advanced reactor fuels and materials, was signed into law in October.

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Texas wholesale electricity price spike disrupts ERCOT markets as Griddy and other retail energy providers face surge pricing; customers confront spot market exposure, fixed-rate plan switching, demand response appeals, and deep-freeze grid constraints across Texas.

Key Points

An extreme ERCOT market surge sending real-time rates to caps, exposing Griddy users and driving provider-switch pleas.

✅ Wholesale index plans pass through $9,000/MWh scarcity pricing.

✅ Retailers urge switching; some halt enrollments amid volatility.

✅ Demand response incentives and conservation pleas reduce load.

Some retail power companies in Texas are making an unusual plea to their customers amid a winter storm that has sent electricity prices skyrocketing: Please, leave us.

Power supplier, Griddy, told all 29,000 of its customers that they should switch to another provider as spot electricity prices soared to as high as $9,000 a megawatt-hour. Griddy’s customers are fully exposed to the real-time swings in wholesale power markets, so those who don’t leave soon will face extraordinarily high electricity bills.

“We made the unprecedented decision to tell our customers — whom we worked really hard to get — that they are better off in the near term with another provider,” said Michael Fallquist, chief executive officer of Griddy. “We want what’s right by our consumers, so we are encouraging them to leave. We believe that transparency and that honesty will bring them back” once prices return to normal.

Texas is home to the most competitive electricity market in America. Homeowners and businesses shopping for electricity churn power providers there like credit cards. In the face of such cutthroat competition, retail power providers in the region have grown accustomed to offering new customers incredibly low rates, incentives and, at least in Griddy’s case, unusual plans that allow customers to pay wholesale power prices as opposed to fixed ones.

The ruthless nature of the business has power traders speculating over which firms might have been caught short this week in the most dramatic run-up in spot power prices they’ve ever seen, and even talk of a market bailout has surfaced.

Not all companies are asking customers to leave. Others are just pleading for them to cut back to reduce blackout risks during extreme weather.

Pulse Power, based in The Woodlands, Texas, is offering customers a chance to win a Tesla Model 3, or free electricity for up to a year if they reduce their power usage by 10% in the coming days. Austin-based Bulb is offering $2 per kilowatts-hour, up to $200, for any energy customers save.

Griddy, however, is in a different position. Its service is simple — and controversial. Members pay a $9.99 monthly fee and then pay the cost of spot power traded on Texas’s power grid based on the time of day they use it. Earlier this month, that meant customers were saving money — and at times even getting paid — to use electricity at night. But in recent days, the cost of their power has soared from about 5 to 6 cents a kilowatt-hour to $1 or more. That’s when Fallquist knew it was time to urge his customers to leave.

“I can tell you it was probably one of the hardest decisions we’ve ever made,” he said. “Nobody ever wants to see customers go.”

Griddy isn’t the only one out there actively encouraging its customers to leave. People were posting similar pleas on Twitter over the holiday weekend from other Texas utilities and retail power providers offering everything from $100 rebates to waived cancellation fees as incentives to switch.

Customers may not even be able to switch. Rizwan Nabi, president of energy consultancy Riz Energy in Houston, said several power providers in Texas have told him they aren’t accepting new customers due to this week’s volatile prices, while grid improvements are debated statewide.

Hector Torres, an energy trader in Texas, who is a Griddy customer himself, said he tried to switch services over the long weekend but couldn’t find a company willing to take him until Wednesday, when the weather is forecast to turn warmer.

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Yukon Renewable Energy Funding backs wind turbines, grid-scale battery storage, and transmission line upgrades, cutting diesel dependence, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and strengthening Yukon Energy's isolated grid for remote communities, local jobs, and future growth.

Key Points

Federal support for Yukon projects adding wind, battery storage, and grid upgrades to cut diesel use and emissions.

✅ Three 100 kW wind turbines will power Destruction Bay.

✅ 8 MW battery storage smooths peaks and reduces diesel.

✅ Mayo-McQuesten 138 kV line upgrade boosts reliability.

Kluane First Nation in Yukon will receive a total of $3.1 million in funding from the federal government to install and operate wind turbines that will help reduce the community’s diesel reliance.

According to a release, the community will integrate three 100-kilowatt turbines in Destruction Bay, Yukon, providing a renewable energy source for their local power grid that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create local jobs in the community.

A $2-million investment from Natural Resources Canada came from the Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities Program, part of the Government of Canada’s Investing in Canada infrastructure plan, which supports green energy solutions across jurisdictions. Crown-Indigenous Relations’ and Northern Affairs Canada also contributed a $1.1-million investment from the Northern REACHE Program.

Also, the Government of Canada announced more than $39.2 million in funding for two Yukon Energy projects that will increase the reliability of Yukon’s electrical grid, including exploration of a potential connection to the B.C. grid to bolster resiliency, and help build the robust energy system needed to support future growth. The investment comes from the government’s Green Infrastructure Stream (GIS) of the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan.

Project 1: Grid-scale battery storage

The federal government is investing $16.5 million in Yukon Energy’s construction of a new battery storage system in Yukon. Once completed, the 8 MW battery will be the largest grid-connected battery in the North, and one of the largest in Canada, alongside major Ontario battery projects underway.

The new battery is a critical investment in Yukon Energy’s ability to meet growing demands for power and securing Yukon’s energy future. As an isolated grid, one of the largest challenges Yukon Energy faces is meeting peak demands for power during winter months, as electrification grows with EV adoption in the N.W.T. and beyond.

When complete, the new system will store excess electricity generated during off-peak periods, complementing emerging vehicle-to-grid integration approaches, and provide Yukoners with access to more power during peak periods. This new energy storage system will create a more reliable power supply and help reduce the territory’s reliance on diesel fuel. Over the 20-year life of project, the new battery is expected to reduce carbon emissions in Yukon by more than 20,000 tonnes.

A location for the new battery energy storage system has not been identified. Yukon Energy will begin permitting of the project in 2020 with construction targeted to be complete by mid-2023.

Project 2: Replacing and upgrading the Mayo to McQuesten Transmission Line

Yukon Energy has received $22.7 million in federal funding to proceed with Stage 1 of the Stewart to Keno City Transmission Project – replacing and upgrading the 65 year-old transmission line between Mayo and McQuesten. The project also includes the addition of system protection equipment at the Stewart Crossing South substation. The Yukon government, through the Yukon Development Corporation, has already provided $3.5 million towards planning for the project.

Replacing the Mayo to McQuesten transmission line is critical to Yukon Energy’s ability to deliver safe and reliable electricity to customers in the Mayo and Keno regions, mirroring broader regional transmission initiatives that enhance grid resilience, and to support economic growth in Yukon. The transmission line has reached end-of-life and become increasingly unreliable for customers in the area.

The First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun has expressed their support of this project. The project has also been approved by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board.

Yukon Energy will begin replacing and upgrading the 31 km transmission line between Mayo and McQuesten in 2020. Construction is expected to be complete in late 2020. When finished, the new 138 kV transmission line will provide more reliable electricity to customers in the Mayo and Keno regions and be equipped to support industrial growth and development in the area, including the Victoria Gold Mine, with renewable power from the Yukon grid.

Planning work for the remainder of the Stewart to Keno City Transmission Project has been completed. Yukon Energy continues to explore funding opportunities that are needed to proceed with other stages of the project.

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SDG&E Ramona Microgrid delivers renewable energy and battery storage for wildfire mitigation, grid resilience, and PSPS support, powering the Cal Fire Air Attack Base with a 500 kW, 2,000 kWh lithium-ion system during outages.

Key Points

A renewable, battery-backed microgrid powering Ramona's Air Attack Base, boosting wildfire response and PSPS resilience.

✅ 500 kW, 2,000 kWh lithium-ion storage replaces diesel

✅ Keeps Cal Fire and USFS aircraft operations powered

✅ Supports PSPS continuity and rural water reliability

It figures to be another dry year — with the potential to spark wildfires in the region. But San Diego Gas & Electric just completed a renewable energy upgrade to a microgrid in Ramona that will help firefighters and reduce the effects of power shutoffs to backcountry residents.

The microgrid will provide backup power to the Ramona Air Attack Base, helping keep the lights on during outages, home to Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service's fleet of aircrafts that can quickly douse fires before they get out of hand.

"It gives us peace of mind to have backup power for a critical facility like the Ramona Air Attack Base, especially given the fact that fire season in California has become year-round," Cal Fire/San Diego County Fire Chief Tony Mecham said in a statement.

The air attack base serves as a hub for fixed-wing aircraft assigned to put out fires. Cal Fire staffs the base throughout the year with one two airtankers and one tactical aircraft. The base also houses the Forest Service's Bell 205 A++ helicopter and crew to protect the Cleveland National Forest. Aircraft for both CalFire and the Forest Service can also be mobilized to help fight fires throughout the state.

This summer, the Ramona microgrid won't have to rely on diesel generation. Instead, the facility next to the town's airport will be powered by a 500 kilowatt and 2,000 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery storage system that won't generate any greenhouse gas emissions.

"What's great about it, besides that it's a renewable resource, is that it's a permanent installation," said Jonathan Woldemariam, SDG&E's director of wildfire mitigation and vegetation management. "In other words, we don't have to roll a portable generator out there. It's something that can be leveraged right there because it's already installed and ready to go."

Microgrids have taken on a larger profile across the state because they can operate independently of the larger electric grid, where repairing California's grid is an ongoing challenge, thus allowing small areas or communities to keep the power flowing for hours at a time during emergencies.

That can be crucial in wildfire-prone areas affected by Public Safety Power Shutoffs, or PSPS, the practice in which investor-owned utilities in California de-energize electrical power lines in a defined area when conditions are dry and windy in order to reduce the risk of a power line falling and igniting a wildfire, while power grid upgrades move forward statewide.

Rural and backcountry communities are particularly hard hit when the power is pre-emptively cut off because many homes rely on water from wells powered by electricity for their homes, horses and livestock.

In addition to Ramona, SDG&E has established microgrids in three other areas in High Fire Threat Districts:

The microgrids in Butterfield Ranch and Shelter Valley run on diesel power but the utility plans to complete solar and battery storage systems for each locale by the end of next year, as other regions develop new microgrid rules to guide deployment.

SDG&E has a fifth microgrid in operation — in Borrego Springs, which in 2013 became the first utility-scale microgrid in the country. It provides grid resiliency to the roughly 2,700 residents of the desert town and serves as a model for integrated microgrid projects elsewhere in delivering local electricity. While the Borrego Springs microgrid is not located in a High Fire Threat District, "when and if any power is turned off, especially the power transmission feed that goes to Borrego, we can support the customers using the microgrid out there," Woldemariam said.

Microgrid costs can be higher than conventional energy systems, even as projected energy storage revenue grows over the next decade, and the costs of the SDG&E projects are passed on to ratepayers. As per California Public Utilities Commission rules, the financial details for each of microgrid are kept confidential for at least three years.

SDG&E's microgrids are part of the utility's larger plan to reduce wildfire risk that SDG&E files with the utilities commission. In its wildfire plan for 2020 through 2022, SDG&E expected to spend $1.89 billion on mitigation measures.

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Nighttime Thermoelectric Generator converts radiative cooling into renewable energy, leveraging outer space cold; a Stanford-UCLA prototype complements solar, serving off-grid loads with low-power output during peak evening demand, using simple materials on a rooftop.

Key Points

A device converting nighttime radiative cooling into electricity, complementing solar for low-power evening needs.

✅ Uses thermocouples to convert temperature gradients to voltage.

✅ Exploits radiative cooling to outer space for night power.

✅ Complements solar; low-cost parts suit off-grid applications.

Two years ago, one freezing December night on a California rooftop, a tiny light shone weakly with a little help from the freezing night air. It wasn't a very bright glow. But it was enough to demonstrate the possibility of generating renewable power after the Sun goes down.

Working with Stanford University engineers Wei Li and Shanhui Fan, University of California Los Angeles materials scientist Aaswath Raman put together a device that produces a voltage by channelling the day's residual warmth into cooling air, effectively generating electricity from thin air with passive heat exchange.

"Our work highlights the many remaining opportunities for energy by taking advantage of the cold of outer space as a renewable energy resource," says Raman.

"We think this forms the basis of a complementary technology to solar. While the power output will always be substantially lower, it can operate at hours when solar cells cannot."

For all the merits of solar energy, it's just not a 24-7 source of power, although research into nighttime solar cells suggests new possibilities for after-dark generation. Sure, we can store it in a giant battery or use it to pump water up into a reservoir for later, but until we have more economical solutions, nighttime is going to be a quiet time for renewable solar power. 

Most of us return home from work as the Sun is setting, and that's when energy demands spike to meet our needs for heating, cooking, entertaining, and lighting.

Unfortunately, we often turn to fossil fuels to make up the shortfall. For those living off the grid, it could require limiting options and going without a few luxuries.

Shanhui Fan understands the need for a night time renewable power source well. He's worked on a number of similar devices, including carbon nanotube generators that scavenge ambient energy, and a recent piece of technology that flipped photovoltaics on its head by squeezing electricity from the glow of heat radiating out of the planet's Sun-warmed surface.

While that clever item relied on the optical qualities of a warm object, this alternative device makes use of the good old thermoelectric effect, similar to thin-film waste-heat harvesting approaches now explored.

Using a material called a thermocouple, engineers can convert a change in temperature into a difference in voltage, effectively turning thermal energy into electricity with a measurable voltage. This demands something relatively toasty on one side and a place for that heat energy to escape to on the other.

The theory is the easy part – the real challenge is in arranging the right thermoelectric materials in such a way that they'll generate a voltage from our cooling surrounds that makes it worthwhile.

To keep costs down, the team used simple, off-the-shelf items that pretty much any of us could easily get our hands on.

They put together a cheap thermoelectric generator and linked it with a black aluminium disk to shed heat in the night air as it faced the sky. The generator was placed inside a polystyrene enclosure sealed with a window transparent to infrared light, and linked to a single tiny LED.

For six hours one evening, the box was left to cool on a roof-top in Stanford as the temperature fell just below freezing. As the heat flowed from the ground into the sky, the small generator produced just enough current to make the light flicker to life.

At its best, the device generated around 0.8 milliwatts of power, corresponding to 25 milliwatts of power per square metre.

That might just be enough to keep a hearing aid working. String several together and you might just be able to keep your cat amused with a simple laser pointer. So we're not talking massive amounts of power.

But as far as prototypes go, it's a fantastic starting point. The team suggests that with the right tweaks and the right conditions, 500 milliwatts per square metre isn't out of the question.

"Beyond lighting, we believe this could be a broadly enabling approach to power generation suitable for remote locations, and anywhere where power generation at night is needed," says Raman.

While we search for big, bright ideas to drive the revolution for renewables, it's important to make sure we don't let the smaller, simpler solutions like these slip away quietly into the night.

This research was published in Joule.

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Port of Vancouver Wind Turbine Blades arrive from China for a Saskatchewan wind farm, showcasing record oversized cargo logistics, tandem crane handling, renewable energy capacity, and North America's longest blades from Goldwind.

Key Points

Record-length blades for a Canadian wind farm, boosting renewable energy and requiring heavy-lift logistics at the port.

✅ 27 blades unloaded via tandem cranes with cage supports

✅ 50 turbines headed to Assiniboia over 21 weeks

✅ Largest 250 ft blades to arrive; reduced CO2 vs coal

A set of 220-foot-long wind turbine blades arrived at the Port of Vancouver from China over the weekend as part a shipment bound for a wind farm in Canada, alongside BC generating stations coming online in the region.

They’re the largest blades ever handled by the port, and this summer, even larger blades will arrive as companies expand production such as GE’s blade factory in France to meet demand — the largest North America has ever seen.

Alex Strogen described the scene as crews used two tandem cranes to unload 27 giant white blades from the MV Star Kilimanjaro, which picked up the wind turbine assemblies in China. They were manufactured by Goldwind Co.

“When you see these things come off and put onto these trailers, it’s exceptional in the sheer length of them,” Strogen said. “It looks as long as an airplane.”

In fact, each blade is about as long as the wingspan of a Boeing 747.

Groups of longshoremen attached the cranes to each blade and hoisted it into the air and onto a waiting truck. Metal cage-like devices on both ends kept the blades from touching the ground. Once loaded onto the trucks, the blades and shaft parts head to a terminal to be unloaded by another group of workers.

Another fleet of trucks will drive the wind turbines, towers and blades to Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Canada, over the course of 21 weeks. Potentia Renewables of Toronto is erecting the turbines on 34,000 acres of leased agriculture land, amid wind farm expansion in PEI elsewhere in the country, according to a news release from the Port of Vancouver.

Potentia’s project, called the Golden South Wind Project, will generate approximately 900,000 megawatt-hours of electricity. It also has greatly reduced CO2 emissions compared with a coal-fired plant, and complements tidal power in Nova Scotia in Canada’s clean energy mix, according to the news release.

The project is expected to be operating in 2021, similar to major UK offshore wind additions coming online.

The Port of Vancouver will receive 50 full turbines of two models for the project, as Manitoba invests in new turbines across Canada. In August, the larger of the models, with blades measuring 250 feet, will arrive. They’ll be the longest blades ever imported into any port in North America.

“It’s an exciting year for the port,” said Ryan Hart, chief external affairs officer.

The Port of Vancouver is following all the recommended safety precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic, including social distancing and face masks, Strogen said, with support from initiatives like Bruce Power’s PPE donation across Canada.
As for crews onboard the ships, the U.S. Coast Guard is the agency in charge, and it is monitoring the last port-of-call for all vessels seeking to enter the Columbia River, Hart wrote in an email.

Vessel masters on each ship are responsible for monitoring the health of the crew and are required to report sick or ill crew members to the USCG prior to arrival or face fines and potential arrest.

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