At the close of 2009, the U.S. geothermal industry had seen seven new geothermal power plants come online in the previous 12 months. In 2010, only one new power plant was completed.

How easy is it to hack a generator’s SCADA system? It’s so easy it scares the heck out of the guy who used to run network security for the Bonneville Power Administration. It’s so easy he can’t tell us any details, for security reasons. That’s why we should all be scared.

FERC has surrendered jurisdiction over station power in California, putting merchant generators nationwide at risk of disadvantage to utility generators.

The late Dr. Carl Sagan once observed, “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology (S&T).” I would add that those who know the least about S&T are often the ones responsible for determining policy and funding priorities. One good example of this problem is the piecemeal approach taken to developing carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies.

After the 2008 incident involving the failure of a large surface impoundment containing wet coal ash, the EPA began investigating all coal-fired power plants employing this wet coal ash management method. Now a new dry ash management technology offers coal-fired power plants an environmentally suitable alternative for handling coal ash that also increases energy efficiency.

Perhaps the most echoed sentiment at the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA’s) WINDPOWER 2011 Conference & Exhibition, which took place May 22 to 25 in Anaheim, Calif., was the call to extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC), the industry’s policy driver, before it expires at the end of 2012. But that wasn’t the only theme. The throngs of companies and organizations that are shaping the rapidly emerging sector around the world had different notions of the factors that help or hinder the growth of wind power, and POWER was there to listen to their perspectives about everything from grid integration, to offshore energy, to technology innovation.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is starting to sort out the often mysterious and vexing issues surrounding reliability penalties as the federal agency and the North American Electric Reliability Corp. work through their evolving relationship. The case involves an outage at the Turlock Irrigation District in California.

Gas turbine makers GE, Siemens, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in the last week of May separately profiled unprecedented results from development or testing of three innovative combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) technologies.

Since 1972, titanium-tubed power plant surface condensers have been providing corrosion-free service. Recent process advances are making the material suitable for even more applications.

It’s the middle managers, not the charismatic strategists in the executive suite or the creative propeller-heads in R&D, who really make organizations run, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel at the end of May officially endorsed a plan to shut down all 17 of the nation’s nuclear power plants by 2022. The decision, which gives the power-intensive nation just over a decade to find new sources of power for 23% of its energy needs, has had reverberations all over the world, though the future of nuclear—through growth in developing nations—continues to look sturdy.

In a surprising decision, a federal agency surrendered some of its regulatory authority—and parts of the industry don’t approve. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission declined to defend its jurisdiction over station power in the California power market, potentially giving an economic advantage to utility generators nationwide and putting merchant generators at a disadvantage.

In the last issue of MANAGING POWER we looked at some of the important points to keep in mind when writing an employee handbook to ensure that employees will actually will read it and adhere to its policies. This concluding article covers 10 of the most important policies that should be included.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) in May discovered—after calibrating water gauges—that the water level in the reactor pressure vessel of Unit 1 at the quake- and tsunami-ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant may have dropped to such low levels that the fuel was completely uncovered. This caused almost all the fuel pellets to melt and fall to the bottom of the vessel at a relatively early stage in the accident—roughly 15 hours after the March 11 earthquake that killed an estimated 28,000.

If you needed additional proof that the power industry is changing, the ELECTRIC POWER keynote and panel discussions over the past few years have provided it—top-of-mind issues have been significantly different each year. For the 2011 keynote speaker and panelists, the challenges of reliability, regulatory compliance, financing, and getting the fuel mix right took center stage. In the wake of Japan’s nuclear crisis, safety also featured prominently.

Enterprise resource planning software has swept the power industry, promising to improve coordination and management. Has it lived up to the hype? One ERP vendor says the programs often underperform.

As the Daiichi nuclear crisis has governments around the world reconsidering their nuclear-heavy energy plans and scrutinizing the safety of existing reactors and third-generation designs, several developers are touting the merits of small modular reactors (SMRs).

Risk, risk management, and the specter of Fukushima ran through the nuclear track at May’s ELECTRIC POWER Conference in Chicago. The reality of risk, driven home by the horrendous events in Japan, was a recurring theme in many presentations, in questions to speakers, and in the conversations among delegates during informal moments.

Central banks in the past 18 months have injected a flood of money into financial markets. This liquidity in the system has allowed many marginal companies to issue bonds and avoid looming bankruptcy. Now is the time to take steps to protect yourself from the effects of a failed business relationship.

In a an analysis released this May, nonprofit UK group Carbon Trust admits that there is “still considerable uncertainty as to whether wave and tidal systems will play a meaningful role in meeting global energy needs,” but it suggests, based on high and low scenarios, that up to 240 GW of marine capacity could be deployed globally by 2050. Roughly 75% of this capacity will come from wave and the remainder from tidal energy.

In today’s solid-fueled power plant, managing emissions and moving materials more defines the task than the traditional work of making megawatts. That’s the message that emerged from the coal and solid fuels track at this year’s ELECTRIC POWER.

Many leaders believe that an open door policy will improve employee communications and group productivity. On the other hand, there are five reasons why a closed-door policy may have more benefits to your organization.

Indonesia Sees Surge in Contracts for New Power Plants. Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest economy, but because it is stricken by chronic power shortages that limit economic growth, the nation’s government is pushing for massive infrastructure improvements. A consortium of Japan’s Electric Power Development (J-Power), Itochu Corp., and Adaro Energy, an Indonesian coal miner, on […]

Driven by state RPS requirements and the desire to diversify their energy sources, U.S. utilities continue to add more renewable power to their generation portfolios. As a result, they must deal with a number of important issues, including resource availability that varies geographically.

Have you ever made a hiring mistake? The candidate had the right credentials, experience, and the price was right. When the new employee never meets minimum expectations, what should you do?

In April, California Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed Senate Bill 2 (SB2) into law. When it becomes effective later this year, SB2 will be the primary legislation governing implementation of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) program.

In the U.S., developers of thermal and photovoltaic solar plants face a number of challenges in their efforts to deploy more utility-scale solar power. Some trends, however, are helping solar proponents move this renewable energy source closer to becoming a mainstream generating option.

A record 400 attendees participated in KEMA’s 22nd annual Executive Forum in San Antonio, Texas, in late April to debate and discuss the “retail resurgence” of competitive electricity sweeping America.

Hach Co. unveiled its DR 3900 spectrophotometer featuring state-of-the-art radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Hach, which describes the device as being “similar to a GPS telling you when to turn,” also says that the DR 3900 requires less training and increases confidence in the test results. This helps water and wastewater facilities prevent measurement errors. […]

Following the conclusion of the KEMA conference (see previous story), Mark Axford had the opportunity to talk with Phillip Tonge, recently appointed president of Spark Energy LP. Spark Energy is a retail energy provider (REP) of electricity and natural gas in 16 states that have opened their markets to competition for industrial, commercial, or residential customers.