A divided three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently rejected Oklahoma State’s challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) implementation of a regional haze rule to limit emissions from power plants in the state.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has upheld an earlier district court decision that Clean Air Act liabilities do not transfer to new owners when a facility is sold, while the Third Circuit has upheld an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule to limit sulfur dioxide emissions from a Pennsylvania coal-fired power plant on request of New Jersey, a downwind state.

American Electric Power (AEP) has opted to retire—instead of refueling with natural gas—its 585-MW coal-fired Muskingum River Plant Unit 5 in Beverly, Ohio, in 2015.

At the average coal-fired power plant, the battle to reduce net heat rate is complicated by skin-tight maintenance budgets, staff reductions, and—for some—the switch from baseload to mid-peaking service. The most fruitful approach to improving a plant’s heat rate is to optimize combustion in its boiler, particularly by minimizing the amount of “stealth” air in-leakage.

Understand how to best use a new tool-in this case, the measurement of oxidation-reduction potential—and avoid another on-line gadget.

The headwinds battering the coal power industry show no signs of slackening, as upcoming regulations and unfavorable economics promise to force another round of retirements.

Without some serious progress on improving its infrastructure and market structure, New England is facingchallenges to reliability with its increased reliance on natural gas, says the head of ISO-NE.

The Senate last week confirmed Gina McCarthy as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a bipartisan vote of 59–40.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold its second competitive lease sale for renewable energy on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore Virginia this September.