Constellation Energy agreed to buy Calpine for $16.4 billion, combining two of the country’s largest electricity generators at a time when their product is in high demand from tech companies. Including the assumption of debt, Constellation on Friday valued the cash-and-stock deal for the privately held Calpine at $26.6 billion. The value of power generators has...
Author: Wall Street Journal
‘The Power of Nuclear’ Review: Reactors and Detractors
The Indian Point nuclear power plant, on the banks of the Hudson River about 30 miles north of New York City, first opened in 1962 and was greatly expanded in the 1970s. For many years it was a monument to technological optimism. On a site smaller than that of a shopping mall, the plant’s two...
A Lawless NRC Obstructs Safe Nuclear Power
A new federal lawsuit may finally unleash nuclear energy’s potential. On Dec. 30, Texas and Utah, along with the startup company Last Energy, sued to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to stop breaking the law and start letting small, modular nuclear reactors operate without crushing overregulation. This could be the most consequential legal challenge to America’s nuclear...
Green-Energy Firms’ Pitch to Trump: You’re Going to Need a Lot of Power
Green-energy companies are freaking out, trying to figure out how to navigate the Republican sweep of the White House and Congress. After being a favorite punching bag of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign, they are contacting incoming cabinet appointees, hunting for friendly members of the transition team and calling on Republican members of Congress, according to executives....
The Biden LNG Export Gambit Fails
The November election changed America’s direction in many ways, but none more than energy policy. For an example, consider the Biden Administration’s political two-step designed to give a President Kamala Harris the ability to block liquefied natural gas export projects. Recall that in January President Biden, prodded by White House climate adviser John Podesta, announced the Administration was...
National Grid to Invest Up to $44.5 Billion in U.K. Electricity Transmission
National Grid plans to ramp up investment in its electricity-transmission business as the world accelerates the transition from fossil fuels to clean power. This follows a trend of energy utilities across Europe that are increasing investments to update old grids as they bet on a boom in power demand amid rising electrification, industrial decarbonization, and artificial-intelligence...
Global Environmentalists Find Seeds of Hope in English Nature Credits
For some farmers in England, it makes more sense not to farm. By parking up their tractors and turning their land over to nature, some English landowners are now able to make more money than if they sowed their fields with crops or put cattle out to graze. “The business case for small-scale farming is...