Sonal Patel is a national award-winning multimedia journalist and senior editor at POWER magazine with nearly two decades of experience delivering technically rigorous reporting across power generation, transmission, distribution, policy, and infrastructure worldwide.
FuelCell Energy has entered into a $37 million deal to acquire Dominion Energy’s 14.9-MW fuel cell project in Bridgeport, Connecticut, a project it developed and built, and has operated since it began operations in December 2013. The project, one of the largest of its kind in the world, is powered by five Direct FuelCell stationary […]
Entergy Louisiana, Cleco Power, and Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) have secured a power sales agreement (PSA) to buy power generated by the 80-MW Toledo Bend hydroelectric plant—but only for five years. The Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) on October 26 approved the PSA, providing new life, albeit briefly, for the 1963-licensed Toledo Bend project, […]
November 1, 2018 PJM: Fuel Supply Resilience Is Sound Fuel delivery systems in PJM Interconnection’s vast footprint can generally withstand an extended period of stress and remain reliable, though extreme scenarios could impact the grid, the nation’s largest system… Read More Sponsored Content GE helps get power flowing again faster after storms GE's Energy Management […]
Fuel delivery systems in PJM Interconnection’s vast footprint can generally withstand an extended period of stress and remain reliable, though extreme scenarios could impact the grid, the nation’s largest system operator concluded in a high-profile study. PJM, whose system covers 13 states and 65 million people, launched the study this May as the federal government, […]
After Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida, as a category 4 storm on October 10, it moved across Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and southeastern Virginia on October 11, and finally out into the Atlantic on October 12. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration office, the storm […]
Despite significant milestones to become a fully regulated utility, FirstEnergy Corp. on October 25 reported third-quarter losses of $512 million on revenue of $3.1 billion. The results largely reflect charges related to the court-approved settlement in the bankruptcy cases of its competitive subsidiaries FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) and FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC), the company said. […]
October 25, 2018 Reports: Trump Administration Supports GE Over Siemens in $15B Iraq Deal Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding on October 15 to develop power plants in the country with General Electric (GE). The Financial Times on October 18 said the $15 billion deal… Read More Sponsored Content GE helps utilities move toward a carbon-neutral […]
Entities with industrial control systems (ICS) associated with bulk electric system (BES) operations must develop and implement plans that include security controls for supply chain management, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ordered in a final rule that formally adopts three new critical infrastructure protection (CIP) reliability standards. FERC on October 18 issued Order No. […]
NRG Energy, which recently shed a substantial portion of its competitive generation portfolio and has shifted efforts to stimulate growth of its retail business, unveiled a simplified renewables procurement process that does not require a power purchase agreement (PPA). The company on October 18 launched “Renewable Select,” a plan that it says transforms the “lengthy […]
October 18, 2018 Distributed Energy Is Disrupting the Power Industry: Is the Sky Falling? Utilities are faced with many disruptive changes in the power market. Customers are demanding cleaner energy and turning to distributed generation as a solution. One expert suggested power companies must… Read More Sponsored Content GE helps communities prepare for tomorrow's energy […]
BlackEnergy, the malware used in a cyberattack that prompted a large-scale blackout in Ukraine in December 2015, has a successor—GreyEnergy. A group is using the malware to target industrial networks outside Ukraine, researchers from Slovakian cybersecurity firm ESET warn. The researchers said in an October 17–released white paper that analysis of the previously undocumented GreyEnergy […]
The White House may have shelved an effort to force grid operators to buy power from uneconomic coal and nuclear plants amid opposition inside the administration, Politico reported on October 15. The publication reported “four people with knowledge of the discussions” have confirmed that opposition from the president’s own advisers on the National Security Council […]
Dominion Energy has filed an application to extend the operating licenses for two 45-year-old nuclear reactors at the Surry Power Station through 2052 and 2053—when they will be 80 years old. Surry’s Unit 1 and 2, located near Newport News, Virginia, are three-loop Westinghouse pressurized water reactors (PWRs) that began operation in December 1972 and […]
First ground has been broken on a 10-MW pilot of a novel supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) technology, a $119 million project that will refine the sCO2 power cycle and demonstrate component performance and scalability. Construction of the Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) pilot plant at the 15-acre facility at Southwest Research Institute’s (SwRI’s) San Antonio, […]
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to rehear a case that challenges nuclear subsidies in Illinois, effectively dealing a blow to a group of competitive generators, which have fought the measure for several years. In an order issued on October 9, the appellate court said its full judicial panel had voted to deny […]
October 11, 2018 Hydropower Bill Overwhelmingly Clears Senate, Heads to President’s Desk The U.S. Senate has cleared a major water infrastructure bill that contains several provisions promoting hydropower development, sending it to the president’s desk. The Senate passed S. 3021, “America’s Water… Read More Sponsored Content GE brings power to the world's most challenging locations […]
The U.S. Senate has cleared a major water infrastructure bill that contains several provisions promoting hydropower development, sending it to the president’s desk. The Senate passed S. 3021, “America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018,” on October 10 through a bipartisan vote of 99–1. Because the House of Representatives unanimously passed the bill in a voice […]
Packing 150 mph winds, Hurricane Michael has made landfall along the Florida Panhandle. The almost–Category 5 storm might well be the strongest to hit the Emerald Coast in more than 100 years. Not since Hurricane Opal, back in 1995, has there been a storm even remotely as strong as Michael to strike the coastal area. Causing major havoc […]
Below is a list from the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of all its large-scale coal demonstration projects, starting with the most recent, with a link to each respective project landing page. In a report prepared for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources that was released on October 1, 2018, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says […]
Nearly half of the $2.66 billion spent by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) since 2010 to develop advanced fossil energy technologies was dedicated to nine carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects—but only three were active at the end of 2017, and only one was at a power plant. In a report prepared for […]
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued key safety and design approvals for the Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR1400), a South Korean third-generation nuclear reactor design. The U.S. regulatory body on September 28 issued a final safety evaluation report and a standard design approval (SDA) for the APR1400, which is designed by South Korean state-owned […]
October 4, 2018 Nuclear Power Roundup: New Milestones Reached on Several Reactors A handful of nuclear power projects around the world completed notable achievements recently: Rostov 4 entered commercial operation, Tianwan 4 achieved first criticality, the Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear power plant… Read More Sponsored Content Stay Connected with Mobile Devices in the Power Sector […]
Natural gas combined cycle, wind, and residential solar photovoltaic technologies may be the least-expensive way to generate power across a wide swathe of the U.S., an interactive map published and recently updated by the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Energy Institute shows. The interactive chart (Version 1.4.0, retrieved on October 4, 2018), first published […]
Industry aggressively fought the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) when the Obama administration proposed it in 2011 and finalized it in February 2012, warning it would precipitate the closure of a swathe of coal capacity nationwide. Six years later, the rule appears to have had a sizable impact on the power sector, but not […]
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed it has submitted proposed changes to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) to the White House for review, despite urging by the industry to let the rule stand. EPA spokesperson John Konkus told POWERon October 2 that the agency does not intend to withdraw the existing MATS. It […]
While the larger conversation about plant economics and mass retirements in the U.S. has been focused on coal and nuclear power plants, the nation’s much smaller biomass power industry is grappling with similar issues in markets where cheap natural gas, wind, and solar generation resources are proliferating. See more at: “U.S. Biomass Power, Dampened by […]
Spurred by the shale gas revolution, natural gas’s stunning rise to dominate the U.S. power profile has been echoed by a number of countries, particularly in the Middle East. In Europe, where domestic natural gas production is actually in decline—and consensus is that shale gas won’t likely play a major role on the continent—natural gas […]
Though experts say biomass should continue to play a key role in the U.S. renewable power portfolio for its baseload properties, contributions to forest management, and other reasons, a swathe of uneconomic
New York’s subsidies of nuclear power are legally sound, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has concluded. The decision comes two weeks after the Seventh Circuit upheld a similar measure in Illinois. The development marks a victory for the nuclear industry, which has been financially crippled by the rise of cheap gas […]
September 27, 2018 [BREAKING] Vogtle Owners Vote to Continue Nuclear Expansion Project The four co-owners of the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project in Georgia have voted to continue construction of two new reactors at the site near Waynesboro. The vote on September… Read More Sponsored Content GE's Reservoir helps utilities store the sun for a […]