Aaron Larson
Articles By

Aaron Larson

  • Power Plant Emissions Down Substantially in U.S. Since 1990

    Power plant SO2 and NOx emissions have decreased 92% and 84%, respectively, since Congress passed major amendments to the Clean Air Act in 1990. Meanwhile, mercury air emissions from power plants have decreased 90% since 2000, as federal limits on mercury and other hazardous air pollutants from coal-fired power plants went into effect in 2015. […]

  • RENEWABLE POWER Direct—June 19, 2019

    June 19, 2019 Where Is the Microgrid Market Headed? Increasingly, today’s electric power grids are interacting with microgrids and in more complex ways. Yet, much work needs to be done to integrate microgrids and flexible demand into the wide-area synchronous… Read More MHPS, Magnum Will Build 1-GW Renewable Energy Storage Facility in Utah Mitsubishi Hitachi […]

  • Future May Not Be as Rosy as It Seems for Natural Gas [PODCAST]

    The natural gas industry is doing quite well and the future looks bright to many observers. “We’re at a really great moment for the natural gas industry in the U.S. Production is growing dramatically. Shale continues to provide tremendous improvements technologically, bringing the cost down and growing the production, extending access to U.S. gas. At […]

  • In a Surprise Announcement, Colstrip Units 1 and 2 to Close by Year-End

    Talen Montana—part-owner and operator of the Colstrip Steam Electric Station—announced that Units 1 and 2 at the coal-fired power plant will be retired by year-end, well ahead of a previously announced July 2022 closure date. “The decision to retire Colstrip Units 1 and 2 comes after extensive review and exhaustive efforts over the last few […]

  • GAS POWER Direct—June 12, 2019

    June 12, 2019 The POWER Interview: GE Unleashing a Hydrogen Gas Power Future Since the 1940s, when General Electric (GE), launched its gas turbine operations, the company has pioneered and commercialized a lengthy list of gas turbine technologies, large and small. As the… Read More Piloting Boiler Startup at Lightspeed Many combined cycle power plants […]

  • POWERnews—June 6, 2019

    June 6, 2019 How the U.S. Is Investing in Advanced Coal Technologies The U.S. is investing heavily to ensure its future coal-fired power fleet will be cleaner, more efficient, and more flexible, experts said at the 9th International Conference on Clean Coal… Read More India’s Coal Future Hinges on Advanced Ultrasupercritical Breakthroughs India is striving […]

  • COAL POWER Direct—June 5, 2019

    June 5, 2019 Power Marketer to Tri-State: We’ll Buy and Close Your Coal Plants A wholesale power provider in Colorado wants to supply the state’s largest electric cooperative with power from mostly renewable sources, saying it will pay Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association to… Read More Illinois Passes Landmark Coal Ash Legislation Illinois became the […]

  • Nuclear Power Needed for Clean Energy Future

    “Without action to provide more support for nuclear power, global efforts to transition to a cleaner energy system will become drastically harder and more costly,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), wrote in his foreword to the IEA’s recently released report titled Nuclear Power in a Clean Energy System. The report […]

  • Power Company Business Models Are Evolving [PODCAST]

    The power industry is changing and power companies must evolve to stay competitive. Many businesses are transitioning from vertically integrated, centralized utility structures to more-distributed models. JEA offers a good case in point. JEA is a not-for-profit, community-owned utility located in Jacksonville, Florida. It serves an estimated 466,000 electric, 348,000 water, 271,000 sewer, and 11,000 […]

  • RENEWABLE POWER Direct—May 22, 2019

    May 22, 2019 Best Practices for Wind Project Partial Repowering Partial wind project repowering enables owners to generate more energy from their sites, extend the life and improve the availability of their projects, and take advantage of extended renewable energy… Read More Bringing the Heat: Geothermal Making Inroads as Baseload Power It’s energy that has […]

  • Industrial Gas Turbine Demand Grows [PODCAST]

    When it comes to gas turbines, size matters. Although the market for large, heavy-duty gas turbines has been challenging in recent years, demand for industrial gas turbines—generally units with output ranging from about 5 MW to 100 MW—has been growing, according to Reed Lengel, product line manager for SCC-800 solutions with Siemens Energy. “When you […]

  • GAS POWER Direct—May 15, 2019

    May 15, 2019 Siemens Will Exit Power, Gas, Renewable Businesses Siemens will spin off and give up its majority stake in its lucrative Gas and Power division—comprising its conventional power generation, power transmission, oil and gas, and related services businesses—and… Read More Insights Into Siemens’ Stunning Gas and Power, Renewables Shakeup In the days following […]

  • Control Your Own Destiny with Combined Heat and Power Systems [PODCAST]

    Combined heat and power (CHP), also known as cogeneration, is the concurrent production of electricity or mechanical power and useful thermal energy (heating and/or cooling) from a single source of energy. Although it may not be widely recognized outside of industrial, commercial, institutional, and utility circles, CHP has been providing highly efficient electricity and process […]

  • COAL POWER Direct—May 8, 2019

    May 8, 2019 Enhanced Wastewater Treatment Technology for Ash Transport Water Evolving environmental regulations have forced many coal power plant operators to re-evaluate how they handle water and ash. Many units have been retrofit with dry handling systems, but there are other… Read More Sponsored Content Don’t Let Your Efficiency Evaporate Corrosive environments. Costly blowdowns. […]

  • Safety a Major Focus of CTOTF Conference

    Marc Yeston kicked off the Combustion Turbine Operations Technical Forum (CTOTF) spring conference on April 29 in St. Augustine, Florida, with a keynote presentation focused on safety, and how power plant managers and supervisors can improve safety programs. Yeston (Figure 1) has worked as a flight paramedic, a federal and state law enforcement officer, a […]

  • Clump Weights in Offshore Mooring Systems

    Offshore moorings have a long tradition in the oil and gas industry. Even though most offshore mooring systems feature similar components, they differ a lot in design, depending on the bathymetries, the metocean data, and the design of the platform they support. But despite the wide range available in the market, the fast development of […]

  • Modifying Behavior to Protect Systems in a Malicious Threat Landscape

    The malicious threat landscape for industrial control systems (ICSs) is constantly evolving and getting more sophisticated, thereby raising the need to have visibility, implement protective controls, and perform continuous monitoring. As a result, it is important to take a look at the attack vectors of some malware/malicious events—such as Triton—that have occurred over the last […]

  • Certifying Precision Timing in the Smart Grid

    Utilities deploying precise timing in their networks have an additional choice in evaluating solutions based on whether or not the devices are IEEE certified for compliance to the appropriate IEEE 1588 Power Profile. To reach this point, years of effort from the IEEE, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and […]

  • POWERNEWS—April 25, 2019

    April 25, 2019 GE Power Engineer Implicated in Turbine Technology Theft for China’s Benefit    A former GE Power engineer and a Chinese businessman conspired to steal General Electric (GE) trade secrets related to gas and steam turbine technologies to benefit China, the U.S. Department… Read More Sempra Energy Exits U.S. Renewables Sector Sempra Energy […]

  • RENEWABLE POWER Direct—April 24, 2019

    April 24, 2019 Duke Energy Projects Lead Carolinas' Solar Expansion Duke Energy announced it will develop six utility-scale solar power projects in North Carolina, among 14 solar projects chosen as part of the state’s Competitive Procurement of… Read More Wind Industry Prepares for Massive Expansion Construction activity on wind projects across the U.S. surged to […]

  • GAS POWER Direct—April 17, 2019

    April 17, 2019 Inside NET Power: Gas Power Goes Supercritical  A project to demonstrate a novel power cycle that promises to produce low-cost, reliable, and flexible power from natural gas—while generating no atmospheric emissions, and fully capturing carbon dioxide—is inching… Read More What Are Supercritical CO2 Power Cycles? While conventional power plant cycles produce power […]

  • Pressure Mounts as Legislators Try to Save Nuclear Plants

    Time is winding down for lawmakers interested in enacting legislation to save the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear plant. That message was amplified on April 5 when Exelon Corp. filed the federally required Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The PSDAR details plans for TMI Unit 1 after its final […]

  • COAL POWER Direct—April 10, 2019

    April 10, 2019 N.C. Officials Order Duke Energy to Excavate Coal Ash Ponds North Carolina officials have ordered Duke Energy to excavate all its coal ash storage ponds in the state, saying the utility’s current plan for its coal ash sites does not… Read More Sponsored Content Don’t Let Your Efficiency Evaporate Corrosive environments. Costly […]

  • Former TVA CEO Will Take the Reins at PG&E

    PG&E Corp. announced on April 3 the appointment of William “Bill” Johnson as the company’s new president and CEO. It also announced the appointment of 10 new directors to its board of directors. The board appointments will be effective as of the next in-person board meeting, which will be held as soon as practicable, the […]

  • Working with Peers Is Critical to Power System Reliability [PODCAST]

    When conversations around the power industry turn to computer hacking, more often than not experts say it’s not a question of if, but rather, how systems have been compromised. William Doering, adjunct professor in the online Master’s in Business Administration program at Maryville University and a director with Guidehouse—a management consulting services provider—said he has participated […]

  • CEOs Say Preserving the Nuclear Power Fleet Is Imperative

    Several power-sector CEOs—appearing at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Summit in New York this week—suggested that existing nuclear power plants should not be allowed to slowly vanish from the U.S. electricity grid under market pressure caused by cheap natural gas and the growth of renewable energy. The leaders submitted that nuclear power provides important […]

  • Solar Power Is Economical Today, but Comes With Challenges

    Depending on the deployment location and competing energy prices, photovoltaic solar panels are among the most cost-effective power solutions being added to the grid today, often without subsidies and other incentives. The revelation came during a panel discussion—which included several CEOs from the power sector—that took place at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Summit […]

  • First Gas Turbine Upgrade Blending GE and Alstom Technology Unveiled

    GE introduced its GT26 HE (high efficiency) gas turbine upgrade on March 25 by announcing Uniper would be the first to install the new technology at the company’s Enfield Power Station in London, England. “We’re proud to launch our new GT26 HE upgrade with Uniper—it’s the most advanced solution we’ve ever introduced on a GT26 […]

  • Trump Ended War on Fossil Fuels, but Focus Needed on CCS [PODCAST]

    The United States Energy Association (USEA) is an association of public and private energy-related organizations, corporations, and government agencies that helps increase understanding of the world’s energy issues. Barry Worthington has been the executive director of the USEA for more than 30 years. During that time, he has seen the association grow from a two-person, […]

  • How a Major Resort Owner Manages Its Power [PODCAST]

    MGM Resorts International took a bold step in 2016 when it ended its energy-buying relationship with NV Energy and instead chose to purchase electricity from private providers. The company’s decision was driven by a desire to slash bills and boost renewables. Henry Shields, executive director of finance and analysis in the Corporate Sustainability division of […]