Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski made clear on Sunday that the comprehensive energy plan she plans to unveil next month will include transmission and clean energy provisions.
In an interview with Platts TV, Murkowski said the movement of energy, both renewables and fossil fuels, will be a priority in her plan. "It's not just what comes out of the ground or what we can can generate from a renewable perspective. It's how are we smarter in using our energy, how do we move our energy from here to there," she said.
Investor-owned utilities want the public and lawmakers, frustrated with delays in restoring service after major storms, to know that they plan to invest billions of dollars in new transmission projects in the coming decade.
An annual report issued late last week by the Edison Electric Institute highlights more than 100 planned transmission projects totaling about $64 billion in expected spending from 2011 through 2022.
The Energy Department has come under criticism from its inspector general for the handling of an electric transmission line project that received $152 million of federal financing, which the IG says has come to “a standstill, with no progress being made, The Washington Post reports.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked the Justice Department to join the European Union's probe of possible oil price manipulation, Reuters reports.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Allison Macfarlane said the NRC can't consider a public hearing on the San Onofre nuclear plant until June, when an appeal period of an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruling ends.
Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., introduced a bill that would ensure that only domestically-made biofuels can be used to meet the Renewable Fuel Standard, The Chattanoogan reports.
A federal judge refused to reconsider a ruling that upheld the Interior Department's power to ban new hard rock mining projects on federal land, The Associated Press reports.
Tesla Motors increased the value of its stock and debt offerings 30 percent to $1.08 billion to gather reserves and pay back its Energy Department loans, Bloomberg reports.
Poland called on the European Union to end energy subsidies for fossil fuels and renewable sources and cut oil imports to better combat climate change, Bloomberg reports.
The first well reports from the Utica shale in Ohio show a significant supply of natural gas but not as much oil as some energy companies were expecting, Reuters reports.
