Among the surprises in President Barack Obama’s second Inaugural Address on Monday was his promise to address the challenges of climate change and sustainable energy. An independent draft report released about a week earlier on climate change and its impacts in the U.S. may have helped to fuel his renewed resolve on these intertwined issues.

A federal court on Tuesday ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exceeded its authority when it established a screening tool that could allow some new power plants to be exempted from certain requirements under the EPA’s October 2010-finalized rule aimed at curbing emissions of particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter.

A proposal released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday could require owners of the 2.3-GW coal-fired Navajo Generating Station (NGS) near the Arizona-Utah state line to install emission controls worth $1.1 billion to improve visibility at 11 national parks and wilderness areas in the Southwest.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Friday narrowly approved a determination that U.S. industry is materially injured or threatened with material injury by imports of unfairly subsidized utility-scale wind towers from China and Vietnam. The ITC’s determination gives the Department of Commerce the green light to issue antidumping and countervailing duty orders on imports of those products from the two countries.

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., 19 January 2013 — This is a story without much significance beyond the usual cautionary tale about bureaucracies, which hardly needs retelling. But it is amusing nonetheless. So I present for your amusement and edification, the tale of the vanishing nuclear plants. The International Atomic Energy Agency, which watches over […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) quietly unveiled a new strategy for the management and disposal of the nation’s spent nuclear fuel on Friday. The strategy calls for a phased, consent-based approach to siting and implementing a nuclear waste management and disposal system, and it endorses building a pilot interim storage facility by 2021.

A report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergence Response Team (ICS-CERT) reveals that infected USB drives spread common and sophisticated malware in the control systems at two power plants in separate incidents late last year.

An agreement reached between the Virginia Attorney General’s office, Dominion Virginia Power, and Appalachian Power proposes to reduce financial incentives associated with the utilities’ generation of renewables and construction of new fossil fuel–fired power plants.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is the latest key administration official who plans to step down after the beginning of President Barack Obama’s second term on Jan. 21.

More than 107 GW of operating capacity in the U.S. electric power market were bought and sold over 2012, mostly as a result of three large mergers or acquisitions, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) found in an analysis of power plant capacity purchases released on Wednesday.

A federal appeals court last week denied a motion from developers of new coal- and oil-fired power plants to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finalize its reconsidered Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for new sources by March and help them avoid a regulatory Catch-22 posed by a looming rule to curb greenhouse gas emissions in new plants.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week completed the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the DTE Electric Co.’s proposed new Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) at its Enrico Fermi Nuclear Plant.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the grid operator that oversees 85% of Texas’ electric load, should consider additional potential solutions to address its worrisome resource adequacy and provide a plan outlining measures it will take to increase woefully low reserve margins, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) said in a strongly worded letter last week.

A fire in the main transformer of the South Texas Project (STP) Electric Generating Station’s Unit 2 on Tuesday evening automatically tripped the reactor in Bay City, Texas, and powered on emergency diesel generators.

Two U.S. nuclear reactors that have long been idled—one for roughly two years and the other for three—may see even longer periods of shutdown, new reports suggest. Federal regulators said significant work remains before the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant in Nebraska can be restarted, while Progress Energy Florida on Monday told the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) that it was a week away from submitting a draft report evaluating repair options for its Crystal River reactor.

Georgia Power on Monday said it was seeking state regulatory permission to decertify and retire 15 coal- and oil-fired generating units—a total capacity of 2,061 MW—citing several factors, including costs to comply with existing and future environmental regulations, economic conditions, and lower natural gas prices.

A settlement reached with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act will require Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) to invest about $300 million in pollution control technology, pay a civil penalty of $1.2 million, and spend $6 million on environmental mitigation projects.

The announced resignation of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson may as soon as this week be followed by one from Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Last week, meanwhile, Senate Republicans announced new committee assignments.

A 200-MW biomass power plant in Polaniec, Poland, that is owned by GDF Suez and began operations in November is being billed as the largest in the world to use a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler.

Leaders of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Friday called on the Department of the Interior to investigate whether coal companies are understating the value of coal mined on federal and tribal lands to avoid paying full royalties.

The fourth quarter of 2012 saw continued growth in gas power development, with at least 8 GW of new projects announced for the U.S. alone.

Sooner or later, every plant owner will face a natural disaster. Careful planning, preparation, and teamwork are key to getting through in one piece.

Despite the promise of renewable energy for the future, natural gas is certain to remain the cheapest, most efficient generation resource for the next few decades.

With gas supplies looking strong and a variety of factors exerting negative pressure on other generation resources, 2013 looks to be a solid year for gas-fired power.

Not everyone is thrilled to have a power plant go up in their neighborhood, but residents of a Michigan town in need of jobs and investment are celebrating theirs.

Increased cycling is now a fact of life for many combined cycle power plants, even those once used for baseload. The shift in regime can have many associated costs, not all of which are obvious.

Shale gas production continues to surge as demand for cheap gas grows. But will state and federal regulation and a wave of local bans choke off the boom?

The shale gas boom is expected to add considerably to the world’s energy mix in coming decades. But this energy-intensive industry is also going to need its own power. How much? Try at least 100 GW worldwide.

In a settlement with the federal government, Kentucky Utilities has agreed to spend $57 million to install a sulfuric acid mist emission control system, replace a coal-fired boiler, and pay a civil penalty of $300,000 to resolve alleged Clean Air Act violations at its 2-GW coal-fired Ghent Station.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Dec. 20 finalized changes to a specific set of adjustments to Clean Air Act that apply to a coal, oil, natural gas and biomass boilers and certain solid waste incinerators.