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.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will soon issue DTE Electric a combined license (COL) to build and operate an Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) at its existing Fermi 2 site in Michigan. The federal regulator announced on April 30 that it found the staff’s review adequate to make the necessary regulatory safety and environmental […]
If you work for a power generator or utility, chances are good that your company has concerns about filling open positions with qualified people. Though many utilities work closely with local community colleges, that approach often is not enough, and that’s where the Energy Providers Coalition for Education (EPCE) can help. This year for the […]
South Mississippi Electric (SME), an electric cooperative that has been Mississippi Power Co.’s (MPC’s) long-time backer in the development of the Kemper energy facility, has pulled out of the project, citing delays in project schedule and increased participation costs as reasons for its withdrawal. The cooperative that generates and transmits electricity for 11 member cooperatives […]
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz lauded the wind industry’s immense growth since 2008 at the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA’s) WINDPOWER 2015 Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Fla., but he cautioned that more was needed for a long-term low-carbon future. “Wind generation has more than tripled in the U.S. in just six years, exceeding 4.5% of […]
Taller wind turbines and longer blades could increase the technical potential for wind deployment in the U.S. by 54%, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said today as he unveiled a new report from the Department of Energy (DOE). The report, “Enabling Wind Power Nationwide,” essentially posits that if advanced turbine concepts with hub heights of 110 […]
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and the Eastern Interconnection States Planning Council have released a resource guide to help states overcome institutional barriers and coordinate on Clean Power Plan compliance. The Multistate Coordination Resources for Clean Power Plan Compliance guide—which was funded by the Energy Department—includes a multi-state planning checklist, a legislative […]
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), the manufacturer of more than 60 of the world’s 81 existing boiling water reactors (BWRs), is making a foray into the pressurized water reactor (PWR) services field. The Wilmington, N.C.–based company announced on May 12 that it has begun offering refueling services to PWR operators. Under a recent agreement, its […]
Siemens AG has completed a company reorganization to respond to the “persistently difficult environment” in the global power generation market. The global technology company, which had around 357,000 employees in 2014, said it would cut 4,500 jobs worldwide as part of efforts to streamline administrative functions. Siemens announced 7,800 jobs cuts earlier this year. Along […]
Biomass combustion should not be an approved compliance method under the Clean Power Plant because burning trees is not carbon neutral, both senators from Massachusetts told the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday. In a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) said that treating bioenergy as having […]
California will seek to reduce its greenhouse gases (GHG) by 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, a new executive action by Gov. Edmund Brown Jr. orders. Executive order B-30-15 issued on April 29 comes ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris later this year. California is one of 20 U.S. states (plus the District of […]
A new bill unveiled on May 6 by Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) champions a general right to neutrality of the interconnection of distributed energy resources (DER) and seeks to establish a set of national parameters for how DERs are governed. The day 30 on clomid no period Free Market Energy Act of 2015 would amend […]
Multinational energy giant GDF Suez will henceforth be called “Engie,” a name that reflects the global transition to a decarbonized, renewables-rich, energy-efficient, and digital economy, the company said on April 24. “As the world changes, all energies change with it,” the largest independent power producer in the world said in a statement announcing the rebranding […]
For Samy Faried, an ABB expert who has spent 15 years analyzing arc flash hazards, a new rule recently finalized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will save lives. In April 2014, OSHA published its Final Rule for Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Standards (29 CFR 1910.269 and 1926 Subpart V), which […]
If there was one thing that the panelists at Wednesday’s Executive Roundtable at the ELECTRIC POWER 2015 Convention and Exhibition in Rosemont, Ill., agreed on, it was that change—spurred by new regulations, cheap gas, and the spread of distributed generation—is coming to the power sector. Beyond that, the executives of five highly influential power companies—Dynegy, […]
A Japanese court has rejected a petition to halt the restart of two reactors at the Sendai nuclear power plant, putting the country on course again to revive its long-stalled nuclear power sector. The Kagoshima district court in southwest Japan rejected claims by residents that nearby volcanoes pose risks to the Sendai plant, and that […]
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects backed by the Department of Energy (DOE) have captured 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the agency said in an announcement highlighting the milestone. The projects contributing to the 10 million tons captured milestone are part of DOE’s Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (RCSP) Initiative and the Industrial Carbon […]
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved a final rule to improve coordination of wholesale natural gas and electricity market scheduling in light of the nation’s increased reliance on natural gas generation. FERC’s March 2014 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Order No. 809 proposed changes to nationwide gas scheduling practices, but it gave the […]
Implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) could change the use of the U.S. coal-fired generating fleet from baseload to seasonal peaking—and pose grave implications for plant economics and operating feasibility, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) suggests in new special assessment. The new report is the second […]
Investor-owned electric utilities in the U.S. spent $16.9 billion in 2013 to build transmission infrastructure, a report recently released by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) shows. The ninth annual publication of the EEI’s Transmission Projects: At a Glance highlights a cross-section of more than 170 major transmission projects completed in 2014 or planned over the […]
In what could be an industry first, Nebraska’s largest electric utility plans to replace an existing coal-fired boiler with one that uses hydrogen fuel. The Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) said on April 17 that it plans to fuel its Sheldon Station plant in Hallam, Neb., with hydrogen produced by Monolith Materials as a co-product […]
Dominion Virginia Power will close all its coal ash ponds at power plants in Virginia to comply with standards established by state and federal regulations. The company announced on April 17 that it would close ponds at four locations: Bremo Power Station in Fluvanna County, Chesapeake Energy Center in Chesapeake, Chesterfield Power Station in Chesterfield […]
Bills to eliminate incentives that have accelerated the expansion of wind power found momentum in Texas and Oklahoma last week. Texas Moves to Nix RPS, CREZ The Texas Senate on April 14 approved, by a 21–10 vote, legislation that would end the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and its Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) program. […]
The U.S. energy infrastructure needs not just substantial investment for the future but also considerable rethinking about its role and functions in order to be positioned to deal with a rapidly changing energy landscape and evolving threats from cyber attack and climate change. That was the message from William F. Hederman, Jr., Department of Energy […]
Ontario’s four largest local electricity distribution companies are working to form a large new utility Enersource Corp., Horizon Utilities Corp., Hydro One Brampton Inc., and PowerStream Inc. have made a commitment to merge and create a new utility. The companies said in a joint statement on April 16 that the proposed merger would allow a […]