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Coal
AEP to Retire 585-MW Coal-Fired Unit in Ohio
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.
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Environmental
EPA’s McCarthy Moves Closer to Confirmation
Gina McCarthy moved closer to a Senate confirmation as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator after Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) confirmed he wouldn’t further block a long-delayed vote on her nomination.
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Nuclear
High Inlet Temperatures Forces Pilgrim Nuclear Plant to Power Down
Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in the Manomet section of Plymouth on Cape Cod Bay, Mass., was on Tuesday forced to reduce power to 85% after its salt service water inlet temperature exceeded technical specifications.
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Coal
Federal Courts Tackle Clean Air Act Liability, Cross-State Emissions
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit 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 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.
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Coal
EPA Extends Deadline for Four Corners Decision as Ariz. Re-Examines Deregulation
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week gave Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) six more months to decide on the future of its 2-GW coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant near Farmington, N.M., recognizing "uncertainties" posed by Arizona’s recent move to consider deregulation of the state’s electric sector.
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Coal
DOE to Offer Up to $8B in Loan Guarantees for Advanced Fossil Energy Projects
Last week, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced a draft loan guarantee solicitation for “innovative and advanced” fossil energy projects that “substantially reduce greenhouse gas and other air pollution.”
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Solar
BLM Withdraws Solar-Designated Federal Lands from Mining Claims
A public land order approved by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Friday extends the withdrawal of 303,900 acres of federal land within 17 zones designated for solar power from new mining claims.
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Coal
FirstEnergy to Shutter 2 GW of More Coal Capacity on MATS Cost Concerns
FirstEnergy Corp. plans to shutter two coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania this fall—a total capacity of 2,080 MW—citing high costs of compliance with current and future environmental rules and a "continued low market price for electricity."
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Business
Power Conservation to Preserve Reliability Urged in Ontario, N.Y., Calif.
Soaring power demand in New York, California, and Ontario over the past week forced grid authorities to institute conservation measures.
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Coal
Hawaii Power Companies to Deactivate Oil Plants, Ramp Up Renewables
Three Hawaiian power companies plan to deactivate a total of 226 MW of oil-fired generating units, convert remaining baseload plants to cycling duty, and substantially ramp up use of renewables by 2016.
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Nuclear
Competition for SMR DOE Funding Heats Up
Three companies vying for a $452 million cost-sharing funding opportunity through the Energy Department to help commercialize their small modular reactor (SMR) designs made major announcements over the past weeks.
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Nuclear
Remembering Masao Yoshida, Nuclear Engineer, Fukushima Plant Chief
Masao Yoshida, a nuclear engineer who served as plant chief during the March 11, 2011, catastrophe at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (TEPCO’s) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, died on Tuesday from esophageal cancer. He was 58.
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Environmental
Senators Introduce Bipartisan Nuclear Waste Administration Bill (Updated)
A bipartisan Senate bill introduced on June 27 seeks to break gridlock over a permanent nuclear waste repository by establishing a new nuclear waste administration and creating a consent-based process for siting nuclear waste facilities.
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Coal
Binz to Be Nominated for FERC Chairman Position (Updated)
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said on June 27 that President Barack Obama has announced his intent to nominate Ronald Binz as FERC commissioner. It had been widely anticipated that Binz would be named the new chair of the regulatory body.
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News
Obama Promotes Power Africa Partnership Plan in Tanzania
In remarks on July 2 at Symbion Power Plant in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, President Obama elaborated on his new “Power Africa” initiative, which aims to increase electricity availability in Africa, where nearly 70% of the population lacks access to electricity.
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Coal
EPA Settles with Deseret to the Tune of $35,000
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a Clean Air Act settlement with Utah-based Deseret Generation & Transmission Co-operative (Deseret) resolving alleged violations at the coal-fired Bonanza Power Plant.
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Legal & Regulatory
Turmoil, Confusion Continues at the National Labor Relations Board
The legal turmoil surrounding the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) continues as a federal appeals court has struck down another pro-labor ruling by the board, while challenging its authority to act at all. At the same time, in a directly related matter, the membership of the board and whether it has a legal quorum continues, with Congress getting into the act.
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Finance
Master Limited Partnerships: Useful Tool or Green Finance Gimmick?
A legal tax avoidance tool for small investors in the oil and gas industry is getting a lot of buzz among renewable energy financial gurus and advocates. But are “master limited partnerships” a path to new piles of money for green energy, or just a passing fancy? And should MLPs replace the current panoply of lucrative tax gimmicks available for renewables, or be available on top of such items as the production tax credit, investment tax credits, accelerated depreciation, and state and local renewable energy mandates?
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Business
What Are (Our) Words Worth?
The wrong words at the wrong time can cost a lot of money. But creative uses for the right words can create value in unexpected places.
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Legal & Regulatory
Management Views: Phil Sharp
MANAGING POWER talks to energy veteran and president of Resources for the Future Phil Sharp about the complexities of energy policy.
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Commentary
Time to Pull the Plug on MOX
Despite good intentions, the program to turn Cold War-era plutonium into mixed-oxide reactor fuel has been an expensive failure. It’s time to consider other options.
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Commentary
Risk and Feedback in Leading People
Tempting as it may be to put off tough conversations with subordinates, doing so almost always leads to bigger and bigger problems down the line.
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Commentary
How the Wind Production Tax Credit is Anti-Nuclear
The PTC has led to unprecedented growth in wind capacity. But the distortions it creates in the energy market are damaging future prospects for nuclear power.
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Legal & Regulatory
TREND: State Renewable Mandates Survive Attacks
Despite a broad-based assault across the country, state renewable portfolio standards have survived this round, with a few seeing expansion.
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Legal & Regulatory
CBO Scopes Out Pros and Cons of a Carbon Tax
A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office confirms that a carbon tax would mean substantial revenues for the government. But the impacts would be many, varied—and unequal.