In this episode, host Bill Derasmo sits down with Nis Benn, the visionary co-founder and chief commercial officer at Hyme Energy. Benn shares his unique career journey that led him to revolutionize grid-scale thermal energy storage solutions. They delve into the dynamic challenges and opportunities within the energy sector, exploring how policy shapes the adoption of renewables. Tune in to uncover the groundbreaking world of renewable energy stored in molten salt and be inspired by the future of sustainable innovation.

On February 10, 2025, Pluvia LLC (“Pluvia”) filed a petition for a declaratory order, asking FERC to clarify its jurisdiction to issue a preliminary permit for the construction, operation, and maintenance of transmission lines and other facilities to develop wholesale interstate transmission of electricity between Puerto Rico and the mainland United States.  In its petition, Pluvia proposes to purchase electricity from the interstate transmission system on the U.S. mainland, store energy in Storage As Transmission-Only Assets (“SATOA”) or other storage devices, and ship the stored energy as sea cargo to Puerto Rico.  Pluvia explains that, if approved by FERC, its proposal would establish an alternative to undersea cables as a basis for FERC’s Federal Power Act (“FPA”) jurisdiction in Puerto Rico.

On February 27, 2025, FERC granted a complaint filed by BP Energy Retail Company California LLC (“BP Energy” or “Company”) under sections 206 and 306 of the Federal Power Act appealing a penalty the California Independent System Operator Corporation (“CAISO”) assessed against BP Energy under a section of CAISO’s Open…

On February 28, 2025, FERC granted a request by Holtec Palisades, LLC (“Holtec”) for waiver of certain provisions of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (“MISO”) Open Access Transmission, Energy and Operating Reserve Markets Tariff (“Tariff”) to prevent the termination of interconnection service to the Palisades Nuclear Plant (“Palisades”). Absent the requested waiver, Palisades’ interconnection service in MISO was set to terminate on May 20, 2025, which would have delayed its return to commercial operations as Palisades progresses through the recommissioning process. According to Holtec’s waiver request, Palisades is set to become the first suspended nuclear plant to return to active service in the United States.

On February 20, 2025, FERC denied Great Basin Transmission, LLC’s (“Great Basin”) request for two transmission incentives for Great Basin’s Southwest Intertie Project-North Transmission Line and associated upgrades to Great Basin’s existing One Nevada Transmission Line (together, the “Project”). FERC found that Great Basin did not demonstrate that the Project…

On February 20, 2025, FERC found that the PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”) Open Access Transmission Tariff (“OATT”) appears to be unjust and unreasonable because it does not address with clarity or consistency the rates, terms, and conditions of service that apply to co-location arrangements and therefore directed PJM to show cause as to why the OATT, the Amended and Restated Operating Agreement of PJM, and Reliability Assurance Agreement Among Load Serving Entities in the PJM region (collectively, “Tariffs”) are just and reasonable or explain what changes to the Tariffs would remedy FERC’s concerns regarding co-location arrangements.  In a separate order issued on February 20, 2025, FERC also rejected a proposal from certain Exelon transmission-owning utilities (“Exelon Companies”) to revise their transmission rate schedules attached to the PJM OATT to clarify that co-located load that is synchronized to the grid must be designated as network load or receive point-to-point transmission service.

On February 20, 2025, FERC Chairman Mark Christie announced an upcoming Commissioner-led technical conference on resource adequacy in Regional Transmission Organization (“RTO”) and Independent System Operator (“ISO”) regions. The technical conference will take place over two days at FERC headquarters in Washington, D.C. on June 4, 2025, and June 5, 2025.

On January 24, 2025, FERC reinstated a certificate of public convenience and necessity (“CPCN”) for Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company’s (“Transco”) Regional Energy Access Expansion Project (“Project”) after the D.C. Circuit vacated and remanded FERC’s initial order certificating the Project (“Certificate Order”).

In January 2023, FERC granted Transco a CPCN…

On January 24, 2025, FERC withdrew its 2022 draft Greenhouse Gas (“GHG”) Policy Statement and terminated the associated proceeding. FERC determined that, after reviewing the entire record, issues concerning GHG emissions are better analyzed on a case-by-case basis when raised by parties in proceedings. Commissioners Phillips, Rosner, and Chang issued a joint concurrence noting that, although FERC is withdrawing its draft GHG Policy Statement, FERC still considers GHG emissions under its National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) analysis and balances project benefits with potential adverse consequences under the Natural Gas Act (“NGA”).

On January 28, 2025, FERC accepted the New York Independent System Operator, Inc.’s (“NYISO”) proposed revisions to its Market Administration and Control Area Services Tariff (“Services Tariff”).  The revisions define the demand curves in the Installed Capacity (“ICAP”) Market for the 2025/2026 Capability Year and implement a quadrennial process, known as the Demand Curve reset (“DCR”), which outlines the methodologies and inputs for subsequent annual updates to the ICAP Demand Curves for the 2026/2027, 2027/2028, and 2028/2029 Capability Years.