Public Power Current

The U.S. Secretary of War, in coordination with the U.S. Secretary of Energy, will seek to procure power from the U.S. coal generation fleet by approving long-term power purchase agreements, or entering into any similar contractual agreements, with coal-fired energy production facilities to serve Department of War installations or other mission-critical facilities under a Feb. 11 Executive Order signed by President Trump.

The PJM Board of Managers on Feb. 12 approved multiple transmission projects to reinforce the reliability of the electric grid.

The Florida Municipal Electric Association recently launched its Florida Public Powercast.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin on Feb. 12 signed a final rule repealing the 2009 Endangerment Finding as it applies to motor vehicles and engines under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act.

The U.S. Department of Energy on Feb. 11 announced $175 million in funding for six projects to modernize, retrofit, and extend the useful life of coal-fired power plants that serve rural and remote communities across the United States.

City Water, Light and Power employees achieved a major safety milestone in 2025, recording the lowest accident rate in the utility’s history and sending more employees home safely at the end of each workday, the Illinois public power utility reported in late January.

NuScale Power on Feb. 12 said that it will partner with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to utilize an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled nuclear design framework for a 12-NuScale Power Module™ (NPM) configuration "to strategically explore how fuel could be even more efficiently and effectively managed across multiple reactors at a single site."

U.S. Sens. Jim Risch (R-ID) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) on Feb. 10 introduced the Accelerating Reliable Capacity (ARC) Act, which would authorize federal backstop authority to help utilities and reactor operators cover cost overruns of advanced nuclear reactor projects.