Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson on Thursday announced she would step down after President Obama’s state of the union address later this January.

Japanese firm Toshiba Corp. is reportedly holding discussions with three parties to sell off up to 16% of its subsidiary, U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Co.

A long-sought extension of the wind energy tax credits are included in the “fiscal cliff” bill signed today by President Obama. Unlike past extensions, it allows the credit to cover wind farms that begin construction—not just those that begin operations—in 2013.

Hiring an owner’s engineer may add some upfront expense to your O&M budget, but over the long term, it can reap big savings in successfully navigating planned and unplanned outages.

As 2013 opens, the coal industry is waiting anxiously on a variety of proposals for regulating coal ash. A reclassification as hazardous waste could deal another blow to coal, but some industry observers suspect the worst is not yet to come.

A 2007 study sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security confirmed some of the industry’s worst fears about the grid’s vulnerability to terrorist attack. That study has remained under wraps until recently–and its findings are even worse than you may suspect.

Combined heat and power offers many advantages for distributed generation. But leveraging them requires some careful planning and forethought.

When the Kissimmee Utility Authority needed to fire up its customer outreach, it was time to turn up the gas and get cooking.

Human beings have a tough time balancing risks rationally–but this task isn’t made any easier by how the media communicates information about them. Often, the usual approach makes things even worse.

Forethought and analysis have their place, but good leaders need to be ready to act boldly when the time comes.

How do you get "beyond" perfection? With a willingness to course-correct and an awareness of when it’s necessary.

President Obama enters 2013 with a solid win in his pocket—and a host of challenges and decisions awaiting him.

The pendulum has recently swung back against nuclear as gas-fired power has surged in response to low prices and abundant supplies. Can nuclear ever regain its edge?

North American shale gas was supposed to realign the generation fleet here and abroad (thanks to anticipated exports) far into the future. Turns out, that’s not exactly how the near term is shaping up. Despite stagnant (and even putrid) economies and legislative bodies in the U.S. and EU, there promises to be sufficient market volatility to keep everyone alert.

For the first time, U.S. generation from coal and natural gas was equal in 2012, although just momentarily. Gas dominated early in the year, but as gas prices rose in response to supply and demand forces, coal use rebounded. Expect more of the same give-and-take in 2013.

The availability and low price of natural gas enticed many U.S. utilities to fuel switch on a grand scale in 2012. Increased demand has put upward pressure on prices, moving coal back to the top of the dispatch order in some regions. Expect the price momentum to shift often in 2013.

Exports of natural resources have given Russia increased global political and economic clout. But domestically, the world’s fourth-largest generator of electricity has had to embark on the most ambitious reforms ever undertaken to modernize dilapidated Soviet-era power infrastructure and incentivize a massive capacity expansion to support a revived economy.

Solar flares have proven destructive effects on transmission grids, but there are many other “black swan events” that threaten modern civilization. Experts disagree about which protective steps should be taken today.

Once you synthesize all the elements of the Golden State’s clean energy strategy and extrapolate current trends, it’s easy to see that an impending break with the traditional power generation paradigm is coming, intended or not.

Larson Electronics’ Magnalight.com unveiled a wheeled, cart-mounted explosion-proof LED light with swivel mounting. Designed for versatility and easy light placement, the EPLCD-48-100LED Explosion Proof Low Profile LED Light provides the convenience of a wheeled car-mounted lighting system combined with the versatility of a swivel-mounted lamp. This LED light provides high output and the ability to […]

Looking back over the past year’s predictions, I graded myself a “strong B,” slightly down from the past two years (a detailed discussion of my individual scores is available as an online supplement to this issue). Like coal, I’m expecting a comeback in 2013.

Endress+Hauser’s newly released Proline Promag L800 battery-powered electromagnetic flowmeter is an ideal flow measurement device for water and wastewater systems located at remote sites. The flowmeter has an integrated Global System for Mobile Communications and General Packet Radio Services (GSM/GPRS) cellphone system that allows data, such as alarms or totalizer counts, to be transmitted as […]

Global generating capacity is poised to soar by more than 72%, to 9,340 GW, by 2035 from 5,429 GW in 2011, despite retirement of about 1,980 GW, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts in its World Energy Outlook 2012, released in November.

Chicago-based Nord-Lock added a new dimension of safety to bolt security with the launch of the Nord-Lock X-series washer, which combines Nord-Lock’s wedge-locking protection against spontaneous bolt loosening (due to vibration and dynamic loads) with an exclusive spring effect that protects against slackening due to settlement and relaxation. The principle of Nord-Lock X-series washers includes […]

The recent explosive growth of massive solar plants in some of the world’s most remote deserts has stolen some of the spotlight from smaller solar installations that float on water. But in November, a concept proposed by researchers at Norwegian foundation DNV (Det Norske Veritas) for a dynamic floating offshore solar field concept stirred up myriad possibilities, particularly for congested urban regions such as coastal megacities.

Vanton Pump and Equipment Corp.’s portable, nonmetallic Flex-I-Liner rotary peristaltic pump evacuates drums and totes containing acids, caustics, salts, chlorides, and reagent grade chemicals, without corrosion of the pump or contamination of the fluid. The self-priming design has no seals to leak or valves to clog, and the pump can run dry for extended periods […]

About 1,199 new coal-fired facilities (as defined by the World Research Institute)—a total installed capacity of 1,401 GW—were being proposed globally as of July 2012, spread across 59 countries.

The NVision Handheld laser scanner is a powerful portable scanning device that is capable of capturing 3D geometry from objects of almost any size or shape. The scanner is attached to a mechanical arm that moves about the object, freeing the user to capture data rapidly with a high degree of resolution and accuracy. As […]

Navigant’s Operational Excellence Awards are presented annually to those North American coal-fired generation plants that have demonstrated excellence in cost-efficient reliable plant performance over the preceding five-year period. The data used to select the winners derives from Navigant’s Generation Knowledge Service fossil database.

Power plant operators, managers, and other professionals from across Southeast Asia met in Hong Kong in early November for the second annual Asian Sub-Bituminous Coal Users’ Group meeting, created to share information and best practices related to safety, handling, combustion, characteristics, and risk management of the fuel.