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Articles by David Schlissel
Small modular reactors: still too expensive, too slow and too risky
Description The rhetoric from small modular reactor (SMR) advocates is loud and persistent - this time will be different because the cost overruns and schedule delays that have plagued large reactor construction projects will not be repeated with the new designs. But the few SMRs that have been built (or have been started) paint a different picture - one that looks startingly similar to the past. Significant construction delays are still the norm and costs have continued to climb.
Why blue hydrogen is a big mistake
The Google antitrust trial has been frustratingly locked down — the NYT just filed a motion to open it up
NuScale. Ni nueva, ni necesaria - El Salto - Edición General
Artículo publicado originalmente en Beyond Nuclear International. Demasiado tarde, demasiado caro, demasiado arriesgado y demasiado incierto. Así se describe en pocas palabras el proyecto de pequeño reactor modular (SMR) de NuScale, que lleva desarrollándose desde el año 2000 y que no empezará a funcionar comercialmente antes de 2029, si es que lo hace.
Should U.S. DOE risk funding methane-based Hydrogen production when CCS is still not proven?
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is allocating $8bn for building regional clean hydrogen hubs. Decisions on who to fund are being made now and will be completed by the end of this year. Any methane-based hydrogen project that achieves a 95% carbon capture rate will be sufficiently “clean” to qualify for the federal funding.
NuScale Power, the canary in the small modular reactor market
David Schlissel is the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis director of resource planning analysis. NuScale Power is hoping to be among the first of about a dozen companies trying to take advantage of the much-hyped market for small modular nuclear reactors, or SMR. So far, however, the Oregon-based company is looking like the first canary in the coal mine.
Small Modular Reactor cost overruns: the same old problems haunt new nuclear in Utah
Much hope is being placed on Small Modular Reactors (SMR) making new nuclear plants competitive. But David Schlissel at IEEFA summarises their research into the publications, updates and statements coming from the stakeholders involved with the SMR by UAMPS (Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems) and NuScale Power Corporation that shows that costs are going out of control, a persistent problem in the nuclear industry.
IEEFA U.S.: Surging energy prices accelerating pace of wind, solar and battery adoption
IEEFA outlook finds more than half of U.S. electricity supply to be carbon-free by end of 2026 April 4, 2022 (IEEFA)—Surging global energy prices are supercharging the already rapid pace of growth in solar, wind and battery storage projects, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis U.S. 2022 Power Sector Outlook. Last year, IEEFA predicted that wind, solar and hydro would account for almost 30 percent of the U.S. electric power market by the end of 2026.
IEEFA U.S.: Federal blue hydrogen incentives: No reliable past, present or future
Decades of carbon capture experiments with oil, gas and coal missed targets and sources of emissions February 8, 2022 (IEEFA U.S.) – An IEEFA analysis of new federal hydrogen program incentives challenges the track record, current rationale and market future for “blue” hydrogen produced from natural gas. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act propels the energy transition forward with proven technologies and promising innovations like renewable energy and storage technologies.
IEEFA U.S.: Price tag for new reactors at Vogtle Plant in Georgia climbs past $30 billion
Delays, mismanagement, overruns may leave Georgia Power ratepayers with enormous cost burden January 20, 2022 (IEEFA)—Once estimated at more than $14 billion, the price tag for two new reactors at Georgia Power Company’s Plant Vogtle site has now climbed past $30 billion, and both units will be more than six years late in coming online, according to a report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
IEEFA U.S.: Southern Company demolishes part of the $7.5 billion Kemper power plant in Mississippi
Kemper plant is a cautionary tale of runaway costs and failed promises Two explosions rocked the Kemper power plant on Saturday as can be seen from footage posted on Twitter. The images dramatize the demise of a “clean coal” project that eventually ballooned in cost from an estimated $3 billion to $7.5 billion.
Coal-fired carbon capture projects are a waste of tax dollars
The following is a contributed article by Dennis Wamsted, an energy analyst and editor at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), and David Schlissel, director of resource planning analysis at IEEFA. The federal government's support for carbon capture projects at coal-fired power plants may be politically necessary (see Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.), but it is environmentally and fiscally misguided.
IEEFA U.S.: Investors hesitate to fund San Juan Generating Station CCS retrofit
Enchant Energy’s carbon capture project is significantly behind schedule as it struggles to secure investors May 27, 2021 (IEEFA) – Enchant Energy and the City of Farmington have failed to convince potential investors that retrofitting New Mexico’s San Juan Generating Station for carbon capture is financially viable, according to a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
IEEFA: Carbon capture goals miss the mark at Boundary Dam 3 coal plant
Carbon capture at SaskPower’s Boundary Dam 3 facility falls far short of projections April 20, 2021 (IEEFA) — An announcement by a Canadian power company that it’s met carbon capture goals shouldn’t be taken at face value, according to a briefing note released today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. SaskPower, the operator of the Boundary Dam 3 coal plant, said March 31 that its project had captured 4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) since its 2014 opening.
Outlook USA: even with battery costs, Wind and Solar can undercut Coal and Gas by 2023-24
IEEFA has published its U.S. Power Sector Outlook 2021. Its authors, Dennis Wamsted, Seth Feaster and David Schlissel summarise and explain the projections. They say that coal and gas are set to become the biggest losers as renewable generation climbs quickly. The future for wind and solar – coupled with storage to address intermittency – is looking very good.
IEEFA U.S.: Energy transition to renewables likely to accelerate over next two to three years
Coal, gas set to become biggest losers as renewable generation climbs quickly March 31, 2021 (IEEFA) — The speed and scope of the energy transition to renewables will pick up pace over the next two to three years, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis’ U.S. Power Sector Outlook 2021.
Wind tops coal as number one generation source on major US grid
Wind surpassed coal as the primary power generation source last year for the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), an independent grid operator that provides electricity for a vast territory stretching from the Texas Panhandle to the Canadian border. An analysis by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found the growth has been driven by the near tripling of wind resources over a five-year period and improved wind turbine designs.
Letter: Project Tundra carbon capture will not benefit ratepayers
Letters Project Tundra, a plan to retrofit the 43-year-old power plant with unproven carbon capture and storage technology, likely will add much more to their bills. Written By: Dennis Wamsted and David Schlissel | Nov 15th 2020 - 1pm. × The roughly 150,000 North Dakota and Minnesota customers who rely on the Square Butte Electric Cooperative and Minnkota Power Cooperative for power from the aging, coal-fired Milton R. Young Unit 2 facility already are paying more for electricity than they should.
IEEFA U.S.: Mothballing of Petra Nova carbon capture project shows likely fate of other coal-fired CCS initiatives
Red flags for investors - risks for Enchant Energy’s initiative in New Mexico and Project Tundra in North Dakota August 3, 2020 (IEEFA) — A research brief published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) concludes that the abrupt recent shutdown of the Petra Nova coal-fired carbon capture plant in Texas should be seen as a strong signal for investors to avoid such projects.
IEEFA U.S: NTEC acquisition of aging Four Corners coal plant would constitute ‘another expensive mistake’ - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
Report: Throwing good money after bad in New Mexico July 15, 2020 (IEEFA) — The Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC) would lose at least $350 million over the next 10 years if it proceeds with a proposal to expand its stake in the ailing Four Corners power plant, concludes a report published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
IEEFA: Record-low solar PPAs are another nail in carbon-capture's coffin
In a loud signal on where markets are moving, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission last week approved two record low power purchase agreements (PPA) to buy power from projects proposed to serve southern New Mexico and west Texas customers. One project will add 100 megawatts of solar for $15 per megawatt-hour. The other will add 100 MW of solar and 50 MW of dispatchable storage for about $30 per MWh, including a monthly capacity charge for the storage component of the project.
A North Dakota Utility Wants to Build the World’s Largest Carbon Capture Facility at a Power Plant
The Milton R. Young Station, close to the town of Center in North Dakota, is as unremarkable as coal-fired power plants come. But if its owner Minnkota Power Cooperative has its way, the plant could soon be famous the world over. The Grand Forks-based electric cooperative has launched Project Tundra, an initiative to build the largest power plant-based carbon capture facility in the world, with construction commencing as early as 2022.
Guest viewpoint: New law could cost Hoosier utility customers $128 million
Hoosiers could be on the hook for an additional $128 million because of a controversial new law that narrowly passed the Indiana General Assembly last month. House Bill 1414 was created to protect the coal industry and preserve the status quo for another year while the newly-formed 21st Century Energy Policy Task Force reviews Indiana’s energy landscape and reports back to the Legislature and governor in 2021.
IEEFA report: Indiana electric utility customers could pay $128 million more through 2026 - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
HB1414 means two aging coal plants likely to stay open, a setback for consumers and businesses April 8, 2020 (IEEFA U.S.) – Hoosiers could be on the hook for an additional $128 million as a result of House Bill 1414 which was passed by the Indiana General Assembly in March, according to a report released today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), an Ohio-based energy think tank. State legislators and Gov.
IEEFA report: Proposed carbon capture retrofit of San Juan Generating Station does not add up - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
‘Rational investors or regulators’ are unlikely to back Enchant Energy Feb. 12, 2020 (IEEFA) — A proposal to turn the San Juan Generating Station in northwestern New Mexico into a carbon-capture project is doomed by core flaws in the business model put forth by its promoter, concludes a report published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
IEEFA Webinar: Carbon Capture project for San Juan NM coal plant is financially unviable - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
Proposal based on false promises presents major risks On Wednesday, February 12 at 1:00 p.m. EST, IEEFA’s Director of Resource Planning Analysis, David Schlissel, will present a webinar coinciding with the release of the IEEFA report: Enchant’s Proposed Carbon Capture Project at the San Juan Generating Station: False Promises and Major Risk Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is often promoted by proponents as a technology that brings benefits to ratepayers, local communities and the environment.
Enchant Energy Archives - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
Press Release and David Schlissel IEEFA Webinar: Carbon Capture project for San Juan NM coal plant is financially unviable Proposal based on false promises presents major risks On Wednesday, February 12 at 1:00 p.m. EST, IEEFA’s Director of Resource Planning Analysis, David Schlissel, will present a webinar coinciding with the release of the IEEFA report: Enchant’s Proposed Carbon Capture Project at the San Juan Generating Station: False Promises and Major Risk Carbon Capture and Storage...
IEEFA report: Major water and other stressors raise risks for India’s coal sector - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
Over-capacity, water shortages and rising renewables increase pressure September 4, 2019 (IEEFA) ‒ India’s coal-fired energy sector is facing increasing pressure due to generator over-capacity, water shortages and the rise of low-cost renewables, according to a report released today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and the Applied Economics Clinic (AEC).
IEEFA op ed: Reality of carbon capture not even close to proponents’ wishful thinking - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
Guest editorial in the Denver Post by IEEFA's director of resource planning analysis, David Schlissel August 4, 2019 (Denver Post) — Jon Caldara’s op-ed on Xcel’s Colorado Energy Plan attacks the utility company and the broader environmental community, saying that the latter is motivated primarily by feelings of virtue rather than cold hard facts. Guess what? The facts are not in Caldara’s favor.
Guest Commentary: Reality of carbon capture for Xcel plants not even close to proponents’ wishful thinking
Jon Caldara’s op-ed on Xcel’s Colorado Energy Plan attacks the utility company and the broader environmental community, saying that the latter is motivated primarily by feelings of virtue rather than cold hard facts. Guess what? The facts are not in Caldara’s favor. The only evidence Caldara presents for his opposition to the planned closure of two of the Comanche coal-fired plants is a study done for the U.S. Department of Energy by a former DOE employee.
IEEFA report: ‘Holy Grail’ of carbon capture continues to elude coal industry; ‘cautionary tale’ applies to domestic and foreign projects alike - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
Study details lack of economic feasibility around North American initiatives; costly and/or failed efforts at Duke’s Edwardsport, NRG’s Petra Nova, SaskPower’s Boundary Dam, and Southern Co.’s Kemper plant; technology seen as unworkable and too expensive for fast-changing electricity-generation markets Nov.
IEEFA update: Big risk to taxpayers in FirstEnergy settlement on coal plants - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
The overriding risk that remains from a federal court settlement this week around the FirstEnergy Solutions bankruptcy in Ohio is that taxpayers in three states will be left holding the bag on cleaning up after the company. This is no small-ticket item.
IEEFA update: Duke Energy’s costly Edwardsport coal-gasification project continues to underperform - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
Duke Energy’s 5-year-old gasified coal power experiment in Edwardsport, Ind., has turned out to be a catastrophe for ratepayers. That’s the main conclusion of the testimony I submitted yesterday to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on the plant, which was sold at the outset as a cost-effective integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) project that burns gasified coal, or syngas.
Trump’s bogus national security case to save failing power plants will cost consumers
Trump is invoking wartime powers and 'national security' to save coal plants. But there's no energy crisis and he can't stop the future. It's renewables. For all the serious national security threats currently facing our country, it seems like a waste of time and resources to use a nearly 70-year-old defense law to rescue failing, outdated industries. Yet that is precisely what the Trump administration is planning to do.
IEEFA op-ed: A U.S. coal bailout wouldn't stop electric sector transition - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
It seems a waste of time and resources to call on a nearly 70-year-old defense law to rescue certain failing and outdated sectors of the energy industry. Yet that is precisely what has been proposed. The Trump administration is floating a plan to use the Defense Production Act of 1950, enacted as a drastic national-security measure to be deployed in time of war, to prop up failing coal and nuclear power plants.
IEEFA update: The American wind-energy horse is out of the barn - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
Almost a decade has gone by now since U.S. wind-turbine power purchase agreements were priced at $70 per megawatt-hour. Technology advances and efficiency gains have since driven a seemingly relentless drop in such prices.
IEEFA Update: An Effort in Congress to Bail Out the U.S. Coal Industry at Taxpayers’ Expense - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
Having failed to obtain bailouts for failing coal plants and mines by way of policy actions from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the coal industry has now turned to its friends in Congress. Rep. Larry Bucshon, a Republican from Indiana, is promoting House Bill HR 5270, the Electricity Reliability and Fuel Security Act, which would provide a bailout for the coal industry of about $3.5 to $3.7 billion per year for each of the next five years.
Bailing out the coal industry at the expense of the taxpayer
Having failed to obtain bailouts for failing coal plants and mines by way of policy actions from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the coal industry has now turned to its friends in Congress. Rep.
Regulatory relief didn't help coal industry in 2017 and can’t save it in 2018
If you want to understand the future of the U.S. coal-mining industry, it’s best to start with the growing number of coal-fired electric generating plants that are closing — and then consider why this trend is gaining pace. Since generating plants come in many sizes, the best measure of them is by total amount of generating capacity in megawatts (MW) of all the plants closed.
IEEFA Update: In Campaign to Prop Up Navajo Generating Station, Peabody Energy Seeks a Victory Again at Somebody Else’s Expense - Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis
The last time Peabody Energy got involved with developing a new power plant it ended in financial chaos for 200 Midwest communities that had been talked into taking part. Peabody was the lead proponent of the Prairie State Generating Center in Marisa, Illinois, which opened in 2012 promising cheap electricity for the towns and cities who are left now with a high-priced mess on their hands.
West Virginian governor lobbies for $15 coal subsidies | Corporate Knights
Just how big a giveaway to the Appalachian coal industry is West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice talking about as he lobbies the White House for a $15-per-ton subsidy for coal producers in the region? Central and Northern Appalachia coal fields produced 167 million tons in 2016, which not incidentally was its lowest year of production since the 1970s.
IEEFA Update: Electricity Auctions Across Major Swaths of U.S. Spell Further Distress for Fading Coal Plants
Coal-fired electricity plants across much of the U.S. earn their revenues by selling megawatt hours (MWh) into competitive wholesale capacity markets in the capacity that generation represents in megawatts (MW). The trends in the revenue these plants earn through selling their capacity in periodic auctions are increasingly worrisome for their owners. Energy market prices have been low for years—and are expected to remain so for the foreseeable future.
U.S. wind, solar prices on downward slope, even without tax credits
Wind and solar power purchase agreement (PPA) prices have declined dramatically in recent years, establishing a trend that continues. The levelized prices for power from utility-scale solar projects (5 MW and larger) declined by 73 percent from a capacity-weighted average of $154.20 levelized (in real $2015 dollars) in 2009 to an average of $41.10 per MWh levelized in 2015. Recent solar PPAs in California, the Southwest and Texas are priced as aggressively as $35/MWh levelized, or lower.
IEEFA Update: Even Without Tax Credits, Prices for U.S. Wind and Solar Are on a Downward Slope
Wind and solar power purchase agreement (PPA) prices have declined dramatically in recent years, establishing a trend that continues. The levelized prices for power from utility-scale solar projects (5 MW and larger) declined by 73 percent from a capacity-weighted average of $154.20 levelized (in real $2015 dollars) in 2009 to an average of $41.10 per MWh levelized in 2015. Recent solar PPAs in California, the Southwest and Texas are priced as aggressively as $35/MWh levelized, or lower.
IEEFA Update: Kemper, Edwardsport, and ‘Clean Coal’
If the “clean coal” integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technology promoted at home and abroad by the U.S. utility industry sounds too good to be true, it’s because it is. That’s why Moody’s Investors Services warned the other day that it might downgrade the credit of Mississippi Power Company because of the declining competitiveness of the company’s Kemper County IGCC plant. IGCC is experimental and expensive and may well always remain so.
IEEFA Indiana: Another Coal-Fired Plant That Should Be Retired
Indianapolis Power & Light Company, a subsidiary of Virginia-based AES Corp. that provides electricity to almost a half million people in central Indiana, isn’t known for always doing right by its ratepayers. A spectacular case in point is the company’s current campaign to get the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to allow what in essence is a ratepayer bailout for an aging power plant well past its prime.
IEEFA Update: Wind Is Blowing Away Fossil-Generated Power in Middle America
Wind generation has grown by more than 11 million megawatt-hours (MWh) in just a year in the huge ERCOT market of Texas. The increase, which has driven wind’s share of generation to 48 million MWh in the first 11 months of 2016 from 36 million MWh in the first 11 months of 2015, has displaced over 11.6 million MWh of electricity that would otherwise have been produced at fossil-fired plants.
Wind Energy Is Behind A Historic Shift in US Electricity Production
Wind generation has grown by more than 11 million megawatt-hours (MWh) in just a year in the huge ERCOT market of Texas. The increase, which has driven wind’s share of generation to 48 million MWh in the first 11 months of 2016 from 36 million MWh in the first 11 months of 2015, has displaced over 11.6 million MWh of electricity that would otherwise have been produced at fossil-fired plants.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Coal production in the United States has declined enormously in recent years due to the simple reason that the coal-fired power industry is producing less of the country’s electricity than ever. As recently as 10 years ago, coal-fired power plants provided half of America’s power needs. Today that number is closer to 30 percent — and falling.
Prairie State Energy Campus
You are here: Home » Subject » Prairie State Energy Campus Prairie State Energy Campus IEEFA Research Cost of Coal From Mine-Mouth Prairie State Plant Isnt the Bargain That Was Promised By Tom Sanzillo, Director of Finance, IEEFA Read More ? 2014 – Another Year of Unmet Promises for the Prairie State Energy Campus (pdf) By David Schlissel, Director of Resource Planning Analysis, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis Read More ?
Opinion | After Bankruptcies, Coal’s Dirty Legacy Lives On
Perhaps the most glaring instance of self-bonding gone bad is Peabody Energy. Leading up to its bankruptcy, Peabody had been frantically trying to preserve its $1.47 billion in self-bonding agreements in states where they had been called into question by regulators. Two other major coal companies, Alpha Natural Resources and Arch Coal, recently filed for bankruptcy, leaving hundreds of millions in reclamation guarantees in limbo.
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