POWER

Entergy Nuclear on Friday temporarily suspended reviews of two new nuclear license applications specific to GE-Hitachi’s Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR), while Dominion said it will explore alternative nuclear power options for its proposed North Anna Unit 3 in Virginia.

Illinois on Monday effected legislation that creates a framework for developing coal gasification projects with carbon dioxide capture and storage, and which requires emissions from these electric generation facilities to be as clean as those from natural gas generators.

As the Florida Public Service Commission reportedly considered implementing a “clean” standard, not just a “renewable” standard, last week FPL Energy changed its name to better reflect its green credentials.

In a major economic stimulus speech at Virginia’s George Mason University on Thursday, President-elect Barack Obama pledged to boost production of alternative energy and improve energy efficiency. He also urged the nation to begin building a smart grid.

Electricité de France (EDF) last week mobilized all its nuclear, hydraulic, and thermal energy generation resources in order to meet France’s climbing electricity consumption, which resulted from an exceptional bout of cold weather.

Weeks after a containment pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant ruptured and caused a massive coal ash flood, the federal utility is now also working to repair a gypsum pond at its Widows Creek Fossil Plant in Alabama, after gypsum slurry overflowed into the creek Friday.

Investment research firm Morningstar Inc. named Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. as its 2008 CEO of the Year, citing key investments in energy companies such as General Electric and Constellation Energy as reasons that cemented the award.

By Kennedy Maize Spare me the hype about electric cars. Allegedly “green” technology was a theme at the latest Detroit auto show, as chronicled by the New York Times last Sunday. Sorry, I don’t buy it. Been there, done that, didn’t work. In the early 1980s, electric cars were going to be the way to […]

By Kennedy Maize Can you spell “poser?” Here’s my offering: “Eric Massa (D-N.Y.)” Massa, newly elected Congressman from New York’s 29th district (that’s Corning, the glass folks), showed up in Washington earlier this week to be sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives in the 111th Congress, having arrived in the city […]

Progress Energy Florida (PEF) on Monday signed a contract with Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC and The Shaw Group Inc.’s Power Group for the engineering, procurement, and construction of two nuclear units for a proposed nuclear power plant in Levy County, Fla.

A mission including representatives from more than 30 of the world’s leading commercial nuclear companies is scheduled to visit India over the next week, reported The Times of India.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is reviewing proposed transmission projects for the next five years totaling $3 billion, the state’s main grid operator said in a report filed with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

Japan, the island nation with nearly a tenth of the world’s active volcanoes, may soon see a resurgence in geothermal power. For the first time in 20 years, several Japanese companies have announced plans to build new geothermal power plants, Reuters reported on Monday.

Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp. last week asked a district court for additional time to decide whether to install expensive pollution controls or close two coal-fired units at its R.E. Burger Plant in Shadyside.

Joseph Kelliher, head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), announced Wednesday that he will step down as chairman effective Jan. 20. Kelliher said that although his term as commissioner would not end until 2012, he would immediately recuse himself from FERC business and explore other career opportunities.

Dynegy Inc. and LS Power Associates last week said they had dissolved a 2006 joint development venture that planned to expand Dynegy power plants and build new ones in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, and Nevada, partly because of credit and regulatory uncertainties.

If the rotating equipment and boiler are a plant’s brawn, then a control system that efficiently integrates myriad plant functions is its brains. Luckily, in a power plant, we can perform a brain transplant when the control system becomes unreliable or too costly to maintain. But first, you have to justify that surgery.

Concern about the shortage of skilled workers for the energy industry has grown considerably over the past few years. Most discussions have focused on the shortage of engineers, but recently concerns about the scarcity of technical crafts have arisen as well.

Resin-Bonded Filter Cartridges Maximize Performance Pentair Industrial has introduced its Resflex Series Resin Bonded Filter Cartridges, with a unique, proprietary two-stage design. The cartridges’ outer spiral wrap efficiently removes large particles and agglomerates. This prefilter wrap provides increased surface area and intensifies cartridge strength, while eliminating residual debris. Resflex’s inner layers provide superior particle removal […]

Chances are you have endured the tedious process of removing fuel piping when maintaining just about any gas turbine, especially aero-derivative engines that are usually swapped out rather than repaired in place. One of the most time-consuming jobs after reassembling the fuel piping is checking for leaks at all the flanges. In a large frame-size turbine, that means sealing up to 64 flanges and then removing the seals after the leak testing.

Meeting growing energy demand while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the most critical challenges facing our world today.

Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association (WHCEA) is an electric distribution utility located in Rockford, Minn., that has been serving Wright County and western Hennepin County near Minneapolis with electricity since 1937. WHCEA is a not-for-profit, member-owned energy and service cooperative dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of its members and providing reliable services. Its field operations department consists of 35 fleet members who focus on building and maintaining electric power lines.

Why is it that so many of our New Year’s resolutions are focused on self-enrichment, yet they are the first promises we break? The typical resolutions — "get more exercise" or "stop smoking" — are recycled yearly. Surveys find that most resolutions are abandoned or forgotten by, appropriately, Ground Hog Day. I believe it’s time to reboot our resolution-setting software and refocus on others instead of ourselves.

News items of interest to power industry professionals. GE Hitachi Nuclear Trade Delegation to India Postponed. In late November, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) announced that its president and CEO, Jack Fuller, would lead a 50-member U.S. trade mission to India Dec. 2–9. It was to be the first civilian nuclear energy delegation to visit […]

Conventional pump mechanical seals, lip/contact seals, and packing as sealing methods work well when you’re pumping clean liquids, but operators eventually find shaft fretting and wear on the sleeves and shaft when pumping high-solids liquids. To solve this problem, Inpro/Seal Co. recently released its new Water Mizer Shaft Seal, which uses water to maintain the […]

Though an abundant supply of freshwater has been taken for granted in many parts of the world, its availability is becoming less certain, even in North America. Water is a valuable resource and commodity that needs to be efficiently managed to minimize waste, reduce energy consumption, and control cost, especially for power generation. The industry must respond by seeking out more efficient ways to use water, such as by implementing water recycling and reuse strategies, especially for critical equipment like cooling towers.

HD Electric Co.’s new FT-1 Fuse Tool assists in the removal and installation of most cutout-type overhead fuse links. The Fuse Tool has a 7-inch fuse receiver that provides increased safety and greater control by keeping the fuse link securely in place during removal and installation. The built-in switch hook is then used to close […]

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed an executive order expanding the state’s renewables portfolio standard (RPS) requirement to 33% by 2020. The executive order formalizes what has been generally assumed for some time: A 33% RPS requirement will be needed for California to achieve its ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals.

A pneumatic saw and universal pipe trolley kit that eliminates the need for heavy, clamshell saws for cutting all types of alloys and concrete-lined pipe are available from ESCO Tool of Holliston, Mass. The Esco APS-438 Air-Powered Saw and WrapTrack let users cut 6-inch to 60-inch outer-diameter pipe accurately without a heat-affected zone and are […]

The U.S. power industry’s story in 2009 will be all about change, to borrow a now-familiar theme. Though the new administration’s policy specifics hadn’t been revealed as POWER editors prepared this report, it appears that flat load growth in 2009 will give the new administration a unique opportunity to formulate new energy policy without risking that the lights will go out.