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Now, onto a format change: we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback on making Grid Brief, well, briefer. And with more themed days. Today, we’re unveiling the first change: Monopoly Area Monday. From now on, Mondays will take a look at electricity generation in America outside the major power markets with monopoly utilities still own the poles, wires and power plants. Put Monday and Wednesday (where we look at America’s power markets' generation) together, and you’ll have an overall picture of what’s keeping the lights on nation-wide.

Monopoly Area Monday

As ever, we’ll be using data from the Energy Information Administration to take a look at electricity generation in the monopoly areas. Here’s a map to orient you as we move through:

We’ll be looking at the Southeast (broken up into the Carolinas, TVA, Southern, and Florida) and the Northwest as a whole.

Here’s nationwide generation over the last week:

Nothing surprising: natural gas was the head honcho, nuclear sat reliability in second despite the handful of times coal eked it out.

The Carolinas

The Carolinas boasted nuclear as their top source of generation. Natural gas came in second, with coal in third. At several brief junctures, solar overtook coal.

Tennessee Valley Authority

America’s largest public power entity, TVA, also saw nuclear come in at number one. Natural gas came in second while coal and hydro traded off holding third place.

Southern Company

Southern’s mix looks more like those of America’s power markets. Natural gas is the star of the show with nuclear and coal in second a third, respectively.

Florida

It is hard to be more reliant on natural gas than Florida. Earlier this year, the Florida Municipal Power Agency came out agains the EPA’s crackdown on gas generation emissions for this reason. Read our coverage here.

Northwest

The Northwest is one of the biggest regions on America’s grid map. Its generation profile reflects a politically, topographically, and geographically heterogenous batch of states. Hydro, natural gas, and coal all had their turn at number one over the course of the week. Wind faded as the week dragged on, sinking below solar.

Some western balancing authorities are set to join the Southwest Power Pool over the next few years. Read more about that here.

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Conversation Starters

• Canada’s Trans Mountain Pipeline is about to triple its capacity. “Line fill is set to commence some time in the next quarter, with the process expected to take between six and seven weeks, Trans Mountain said on Friday. Line fill will require 4.5 million barrels of crude oil and is the last step before crude deliveries from the pipeline can begin,” reports Oilprice.com. “The $22.6 billion Trans Mountain expansion project will triple the pipeline’s capacity to 890,000 barrels per day.”

• Germany considers continuing its energy price caps. “Germany plans to extend the electricity and gas price caps it introduced last year until March 2024 and the European Commission is examining the measure,” reports Reuters. “Berlin last year introduced a 200-billion-euro ($211.26 billion) relief package to help companies and households shoulder soaring electricity and gas bills following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a drop in Russian gas exports.”

• California pushes for more rigorous climate disclosures. “The California legislature has passed two climate-related legislative measures to standardize climate disclosures, align public investments with climate objectives and raise the criteria for companies to promote climate action,” reports Utility Dive. “Senate Bill 253 mandates disclosures of scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by certain large businesses operating in the state. Senate Bill 261 requires public disclosures of climate-related financial risks and related countermeasures from a wider range of large companies. Both bills, passed by the California Senate and Assembly in mid-September, have been presented to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, D, to sign or veto by Oct. 14. If these bills are signed into law, facilities managers in affected companies should begin to set up systems and procedures for compliance, experts say.”

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