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.
A federal judge on Thursday halted implementation of the Clean Water Rule that is controversial for its broad definition of “Waters of the U.S.” one day before it was to go into effect, saying it was likely that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overstepped its authority when it promulgated the “exceptionally expansive” rule. Judge Ralph […]
An official four-year-long investigation into the Solyndra debacle confirms that the bankrupt maker of cylindrical solar photovoltaic panels misled the Department of Energy (DOE) to get a $535 million federal loan guarantee, but it also reveals that the DOE didn’t properly vet those facts, missing opportunities to catch inaccuracies, possibly due to political pressure. The […]
The Department of Interior (DOI) has approved the 485-MW Blythe Mesa Solar project, a photovoltaic (PV) project that will be built in Riverside County, Calif. RRG Renewables’ project will be built on 3,587 acres of private land—”primarily lands that have already been disturbed by agricultural use,” the agency pointed out—under the jurisdiction of Riverside County […]
The U.S. and China on Tuesday finalized a memorandum of understanding that will allow them to jointly advance carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and other clean coal technologies for commercial use. The agreement between the Department of Energy (DOE) and China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) was set up on Aug. 26 during the U.S.–China […]
Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s restart of Sendai 1—the first Japanese reactor to begin operation under new safety standards after the Fukushima disaster—hit a technical hiccup last week, prompting the company to halt ramp up of power output. The utility said on Aug. 21 that it had suspended increasing output at the unit after an alarm […]
The U.S. Court of International Trade has upheld a determination by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that imports of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules from China materially injured domestic solar companies. The decision dated Aug. 7 (but made public on Aug. 21) rejects claims by Chinese firms Trina Solar, Wuxi Suntech Power, […]
The bulk of newly announced federal funding for research and development of carbon capture technologies will be committed to post-combustion capture, pre-combustion capture, and biological carbon dioxide (CO2) use. The Energy Department on Aug. 13 outlined 16 projects that it chose to receive funding through the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL’s) Carbon Capture Program. The […]
U.S. wind power is becoming more widespread and costs are generally on the decline, but the sector is troubled by policy uncertainties, a new report from the Energy Department says. After a lackluster year in 2013, wind power capacity additions in the U.S. rebounded nearly 8% in 2014, driven by recent improvements in the […]
The attorneys general of 17 states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for invalidating agency-approved state implementation plans (SIPs) governing emissions from power plant startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM) operations. The states have asked a federal court to review the EPA’s June-issued final rule, which deems SIP provisions concerning SSM operations in 36 states […]
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will issue revised Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) and legally required cost-benefit analyses by April 15, 2016, court documents show. In an Aug. 10 motion filed with the D.C. Circuit for White Stallion Energy Center v. EPA (12-1100), the EPA said it intends to seek remand without vacatur (which […]
Nearly two years after Japan’s last nuclear power plant was shut down for safety checks, Kyushu Electric Power Co. has started up the 890-MW Sendai-1. The event marks a significant milestone for the country’s nuclear sector, which was crippled by the Fukushima disaster in 2011. Kyushu started up Sendai-1 at 10:30 a.m. local time and […]
Ameren Missouri has dropped plans to build a second nuclear unit at its Callaway Energy Center, citing shaky economics in the context of cheaper renewables, low demand, and other factors for its decision. “While we continue to believe nuclear power must be an important clean energy source for our company and country, as evidenced by […]
Editor’s note (Aug. 3): Adds compliance cost details, key changes The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) final Clean Power Plan will seek to tamp down the nation’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the power sector by 32% from 2005 levels by 2030—about 9% more ambitious than its original proposal. The first-ever final national standards to limit […]
Broad, bipartisan energy legislation that would allocate federal funding to grid technology research and demonstration along with a number of other initiatives, including cybersecurity and the energy-water nexus, has cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee with an 18–4 vote. The committee’s chair, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Ranking Member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) […]
France’s state-owned utility EDF will snap up between 51% and 75% of troubled nuclear giant AREVA’s reactor business in a possible $2.96 billion deal. While the French government owns about 87% of AREVA and 85% of EDF, the utility that operates the nation’s aging 58-reactor fleet, it has pledged to look at all options to […]
Though the U.S. Senate voted 64–29 this week to renew the charter of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im), the House may adjourn for its summer break without taking action on the issue. Congress let the Ex-Im bank’s charter lapse for the first time in its 81 years of continuous operation on June […]
As part of a remedy package to appease the European Commission, Alstom will accept $331 million less than the original $13.63 billion purchase price offered by General Electric (GE) to close the deal. The much-anticipated deal has come under close scrutiny by the European Commission, which opened a full-scale antitrust investigation into the deal on […]
NextEra Energy’s $4.3 billion bid to buy Hawaiian Electric Industries faces big, perhaps insurmountable, obstacles before the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, which opened the record on the deal last week. The commission published the public filings in the case, which were overwhelmingly negative. Hawaii’s governor, David Ige, panned the deal in a press conference on […]
The U.S. House of Representatives on July 23 passed by a 258–166 vote a coal ash bill that industry and states say is much-needed, but which the White House has threatened to veto. The Improving Coal Combustion Residuals Regulation Act of 2015 (H.R. 1734) sponsored by Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.) seeks to implement standards finalized […]
Renewables giant SunEdison will acquire emerging distributed energy firm Vivint Solar’s 523-MW rooftop solar portfolio in a $2.2 billion acquisition deal that signals momentum for the business model that has challenged the bottom lines of traditional utilities. SunEdison and Vivint Solar signed a definitive merger agreement on July 20. It will involve the acquisition of Vivint […]
Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) have introduced a much-awaited coal ash bill in the Senate that they say will provide more certainty than will the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) final rule alone. The bill introduced on July 17 is companion legislation to a measure introduced by Reps. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and David […]
Emerging energy technologies such as rooftop solar, microgrids, and distributed generation could adversely affect reliability of the nation’s grid, a new report from the Electric Markets Research Foundation (EMRF) warns. The non-profit research entity whose mission it is to fund studies on significant electric market issues notes in its report, “Changing Uses of the Electric […]
Interstate Power and Light (IPL) will be forced to spend $620 million to retire 10 coal-fired units and retire, refuel, or install pollution controls at several others in Iowa under a settlement reached with the federal government. The Alliant Energy subsidiary has long anticipated the settlement announced on July 15 by the Environmental Protection Agency […]