Puerto Rico’s energy infrastructure must be redesigned and rebuilt with an emphasis on resilience—and that will require wide-ranging, long-term efforts, the Department of Energy (DOE) says in a new report. In its June 20 report, “Energy Resilience Solutions for the Puerto Rico Grid,” the agency lists a number of recommendations for the government of the […]

American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) proposed $4.5 billion Wind Catcher Energy Connection project—the largest single-site wind project in the nation—has garnered approval from the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC).  The LPSC on June 20 approved a settlement agreement related to the project, which is proposed by AEP subsidiary Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO). Under the proposal, […]

For the first time since it began conducting sector outlooks, Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the regulated utility sector from stable to negative. The new outlook reflects a surge in financial risks in the sector as more individual companies in the regulated space funnel funds to debt. Using an analysis of 42 of the largest […]

June 14, 2018 Siemens Reportedly Considering Sale of Gas Turbine Business Siemens AG, the parent company of Siemens Power and Gas, is contemplating the sale of its lucrative but lately troubled gas turbine business, according to one major news outlet. Citing… Read More Sponsored Content Is It Time to Modernize Your Power Generation Control Systems? […]

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on June 11 slapped sanctions on five Russian firms and three Russian individuals for several “significant” malicious cyber-enabled activities, including cyber intrusions in the U.S. energy grid. The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the sanctions are authorized under President Obama’s Executive Order 13694, “Blocking the Property of Certain […]

Tests of a boiler combustion tuning system employing artificial intelligence (AI) at a Taiwanese coal-fired power unit verify improvements to fuel economy that could ultimately reduce costs by up to $1 million annually, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) announced on June 11. Verification testing of the AI-enabled combustion tuning system was conducted at Unit 2 […]

Employees at Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s 385-MW coal-fired Dry Fork Station are all safe after a tornado touched down at the plant’s site in Gillette, Wyoming, on June 1. The company described the harrowing hour before and after the tornado hit the plant and surrounding area. Though the plant “mostly avoided damage,” employee safety protocol […]

June 7, 2018 Exelon CEO Clarifies Headline-Grabbing No-Grid-Emergency Comment Chris Crane, CEO of Exelon Corp., seemed to take umbrage with the way comments he made on June 5 were reported by Utility Dive. The website published the headline “Exelon… Read More Sponsored Content Microgrids have the Potential to Reduce Power Outages and Electric Costs With […]

A long-stalled plan to repower NRG Energy’s coal-fired 435-MW Dunkirk power plant in Chautauqua County, near Buffalo, New York, to natural gas may be scrapped, owing to uncertainty involving New York Independent System Operator’s (NYISO’s) interconnection process, the company said. NRG mothballed all four units at the plant by January 2016 during four years of […]

The Trump administration’s attempt to prop up uneconomic “fuel secure” generators in competitive markets is just the latest in a string of recent “extra-market” interventions that experts said imperil independent organized markets for electricity. In a recent white paper, Raymond Gifford and Matthew Larson, energy partners at Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP, said the restructured administrative […]