The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires certain incidents to be recorded and reported, which generates a set of statistics that many companies use to gauge safety performance. However, other metrics may be better predictors. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires all employers with more than 10 employees, and whose establishments are not […]

Most readers will receive this issue while they are experiencing Northern Hemisphere winter, with its colder temperatures and higher energy bills, so it’s fitting that several articles address efficiency. You’ll find discussions of combined heat and power (CHP) as well as a refresher on the various ways to enhance thermal unit efficiency and thereby improve […]

American Electric Power, one of the premier generating utilities in the U.S., is caught between a deregulated rock—wholesale competitive capacity markets that don’t, in the company’s opinion, value solid equipment over ephemeral demand response—and a regulatory hard place of increasing federal government rules that devalue on-the-ground coal-fired generation. Add the competitive challenge of cheap natural […]

The world will fall short of the goal of providing universal sustainable electricity access by 2030 set by the United Nations and World Bank without “immediate concerted action” by governments, industry, and the international community, according to a survey of utilities around the world conducted by the Global Electricity Initiative (GEI). The GEI is a […]

An increasing supply of low-cost higher-chlorine coal is prompting many U.S. generators to give the fuel serious consideration in spite of its reputation for causing corrosion. Though corrosion can be a consideration, it’s not always caused simply by the fuel switch. Understanding the various chemical interactions, as well as operational and emissions pros and cons, […]

An unnamed power company and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have partnered to test a concept proven to work at a small scale that applies pulsed electron beam technology to slash coal plant nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide (NOx) emissions. The concept (Figure 3) essentially involves directing electron beams from a cathode into the […]

Thomas H. Adams The American Coal Ash Association (ACAA) welcomed the publication on Dec. 19 of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Final Rule regulating coal ash disposal as a “non-hazardous”

Germany Approves Plan to Slash Carbon Emissions. Germany’s cabinet on Dec. 3 approved a new policy package to meet ambitious targets that would reduce the nation’s carbon emissions at least 40% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. The plan proposes that 22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions will be saved by power plants, […]

The long-drawn-out political impasse on Australia’s review of its Renewable Energy Target (RET) has generators reeling from what they say are “constant policy changes and distortions from successive interference by governments.” Australia’s RET, which has been in operation since 2001, was increased in 2010 to require that about 20% of the nation’s then-projected demand in […]

Nuclear power station water storage tanks, located above ground or underground, are constructed of aluminum, stainless steel, or carbon steel. All have naturally occurring electro-chemical processes that can eventually deteriorate the metal, resulting in leaks. Defects that develop on the underside of tank floors are particularly difficult to detect and measure. The Nuclear Energy Institute […]

One oft-cited roadblock to widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) is a lack of charging infrastructure, commonly referred to as electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), or charging stations. While Tesla is well known for designing electric vehicles that can travel more than 250 miles on a single charge, most PEVs can only travel 60 […]

Combining electric power production with use of steam for heating, cooling, and industrial processes is an old idea that had a brief boom in the U.S., kicking off the rise of non-utility generation. Since then, combined heat and power, or cogeneration, has become a niche market player. What happened? In the late 1990s, the University […]

Despite its efficiency and environmental benefits, combined heat and power (CHP) generation has languished at around 10% of worldwide capacity for more than a decade. But a global review shows growth in some sectors and promising new technology on the way. The statistics are both eye-opening and somewhat depressing. Globally, according to the International Energy […]

As it struggles to grow its economy while improving air quality in urban areas, China is updating its energy delivery infrastructure. A key part of that plan is switching from coal-fired to gas-fired combined heat and power plants. To push efficiency even further, some plants are turning to synchronous clutches. The developed world has done […]

The threats to power industry operations—and the reliable supply of power that we all depend upon for daily life—are no longer theoretical. A roughly 250% spike in reported industrial control system incidents over the past four years demonstrates that regulations alone will not protect power infrastructure. Everyone who works in this industry needs to develop […]

One of the persistent challenges for power sector cybersecurity is integrating operational and information technology teams and functions, especially when they include remote or third-party systems. A new military-grade security approach provides industrial control system security without compromising ease of daily operations. What do power generating companies have in common with The Boeing Co.? The […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the availability of more than $59 million in funding to support solar energy innovation. Of that total, $45 million is intended “to quickly move innovative solar manufacturing technologies to market” and more than $14 million is designated for 15 new projects to help communities develop multi-year solar deployment […]

Careers in POWER Featured Article: How U.S. Power Generators Are Preparing for 2015 Careers in POWER Featured Article: CIP 2-3-15 … READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS IN POWER GENERATION Senior Manager, Hydro Generation – Pacific Gas & Electric CompanyBurney, California Sr Compliance Analyst – NERC – Duke EnergyCharlotte, North Carolina Power Generation Safety Coordinator, Specialist V – Portland General…… READ MORE » […]

Careers in POWER Featured Article: How U.S. Power Generators Are Preparing for 2015 Careers in POWER Featured Article: CIP 1-27-15 … READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS IN POWER GENERATION Senior Electrical and Controls Engineer – Madison Gas & Electric CompanyMadison, Wisconsin Financial/Business Analyst – Platte River Power AuthorityWellington, Colorado Associate Civil Engineer – City of Redding Redding, California Supervisor…… READ MORE » […]

President Obama’s State of the Union (SOTU) address on Tuesday night held no surprises about energy issues. The word “energy” only appeared twice in the president’s speech—once in mention of the nation’s “booming energy production” and once with regard to how we produce and use energy. The word “power” came up twice with respect to […]

Careers in POWER Featured Article: How U.S. Power Generators Are Preparing for 2015 Careers in POWER Featured Article: How U.S. Power Generators Are Preparing for 2015 Careers in POWER Featured Article: How U.S. Power Generators Are Preparing for 2015 Careers in POWER Featured Article: CIP 1-20-15 … READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS IN…… READ MORE » […]

Careers in POWER Featured Article: Rapid Cycling: The Human Factor Careers in POWER Featured Article: CIP 1-13-15 … READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS IN POWER GENERATION Generation Plant Maintenance Manager – Portland General ElectricClatskanie, Oregon Environmental Services Specialist – City of AnaheimAnaheim, California Staff Electrical Engineer – Midwest Regional Service Center – BASF Corporation Wyandotte, Michigan Senior…… READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said today that a delay in issuing final rules affecting carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants, which were due this week, will help the agency release a set of more coordinated rules covering new, existing, and modified plants. The carbon dioxide rule for new plants—issued under Section 111(b) […]

The controversial Cape Wind power project planned for development off Nantucket Island in Massachusetts has suffered what may be a fatal blow, The Boston Globe reported today. According to the newspaper and several other independent reports, the two local utilities that had contracts to buy power from the offshore wind farm terminated their contracts as […]

Careers in POWER Featured Article: Obama in SOTU: “All-of-the-Above” Energy Strategy Is Working Careers in POWER Featured Article: CIP 1-6-14 … READ MORE »   FRESH JOBS IN POWER GENERATION Quality Control Manager – C4 Welding, Inc. Sauk Rapids, Minnesota Instrument Maintenance Technician – ComEd, an Exelon Company Clinton, Illinois Sales Representative – Manufacturers’ Association Member Company York,…… READ MORE » […]

Much has been made recently of Mexico’s energy sector reforms, and because those reforms are still in being implemented, it can be useful to compare their progress with the outcome of previous reforms in Latin America. (A condensed version of this material appears in the January 2015 print issue of POWER: “Can Mexico’s Electricity Reform […]

As the global electric power industry continues to develop clean, high-quality energy capacity for sustainable development, the position of small hydropower has changed. In the past few decades, small hydropower development in China has experienced positive momentum, but there are still problems to be solved. To solve these problems, various relationships within the small hydropower […]

Almost a year ago, workers began pouring concrete for the basemat of the first small modular reactor (SMR) in the western hemisphere. Despite the hype over SMRs in the U.S., with hundreds of millions of

The Black Oak Wind Farm project is an 11.9-MW wind facility under development in Tompkins County, N.Y., a few miles west of Ithaca. For the most part, Black Oak is unremarkable—the community-owned facility

The global power industry is becoming increasingly complex. Trends toward greater amounts of variable renewable energy are changing the requirements for conventional power plants. Energy market policies are