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 new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals surprising aspects about how federal subsidies for electricity have been distributed, how the power generation mix has shifted, and how consumption has transformed since 2001. The June 29–released report, “Generation Mix has Shifted, and Growth in Consumption has Slowed, Affecting System Operations and Prices,” responds […]
Thirteen states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the recently finalized Clean Water Rule, which they say illegally puts the federal government in charge of a majority of water and land resources in the U.S. North Dakota, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, […]
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, PREPA, Wednesday made a $415 million payment to its creditors (mostly hedge fund investors), avoiding a default and giving the troubled government-owned utility more time to work out a deal to restructure its $9 billion debt. Had the utility defaulted, according to financial experts, it could have triggered the default […]
Wind is no longer a niche alternative energy industry, American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) CEO Tom Kiernan told attendees at WINDPOWER 2015. Despite policy hurdles, the wind sector has seen exponential growth and formidable cost reductions; it has the government’s endorsement for a low-carbon future; and it’s making up an ever-larger share of the nation’s […]
A bill that would halt the Clean Power Plan’s compliance deadlines until litigation on the rule has been completed has passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a 247–180 vote. The Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 2042) now goes to the Senate, where the GOP is working on a similar measure to suspend the Environmental Protection […]
Several Arizona and New Mexico–based utilities will be required to install pollution controls at the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant to curb sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) under a settlement reached with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department. The settlement involves the Arizona Public Service Co. (APS), the operator and primary […]
The last of three conditional commitments offered by the Department of Energy (DOE) to the coalition building two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia was finalized on June 24, allowing the project to be fully financed. Since it conditionally offered $8.33 billion in loan guarantees in 2010, the DOE has issued $6.5 billion in guarantees […]
Several major nuclear announcements surfaced from around the world this week. South Korea plans to retire its oldest nuclear reactor early, Nigeria selected two sites for the construction of four nuclear reactors, while Pakistan approved the construction of two China-assisted reactors. KHNP Moves to Retire Kori 1 Early Amid growing concerns about the safety of […]
Taking action on climate change could reduce electricity demand between 1.1% and 4% and save the U.S. $10 billion to $34 billion in power system costs by 2050, says a new report released by the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) touting the U.S. economic, health, and environmental benefits of global climate action. […]
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) first-ever national standards for the disposal of coal ash are ridden with complications, warned witnesses at a Senate oversight hearing. The June 17 hearing before the full Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) featured five witnesses representing a coalition of state environmental agency leaders, the American Coal Ash Association, […]
At least 25 of the European Union’s (EU’s) 28 member nations are on track to meet renewable energy targets, putting the bloc well on its way to meet its legally binding target of producing 20% of its energy with renewables by 2020, a new report shows. The European Commission’s (EC’s) 2015 report released on June […]
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed ozone rule came under scrutiny in two U.S. House of Representatives hearings held during the past week. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on energy and power on June 12 heard testimony on the rule from Janet McCabe, the EPA’s acting assistant administrator for the Office of […]
At the annual Power-Gen Europe Conference held in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven called for greater leadership as Europe tackles de-carbonization, distributed energy, and market integration. She began her presentation by highlighting one of the biggest changes to Europe’s power markets: The May 20 decision to […]
What separates investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and public power companies these days? Less than you might imagine. In early June, while the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the trade association for IOUs, was holding its annual meeting in New Orleans, I was in Minneapolis at the annual conference of the American Public Power Association (APPA), which represents […]
The D.C. Circuit rejected challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed carbon rules for existing power plants, ruling that it has no authority to review rules that aren’t yet final. “Petitioners are champing at the bit to challenge EPA’s anticipated rule restricting carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. But EPA has not yet […]
Ten projects selected on June 8 to receive funding through the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL’s) Advanced Combustion Systems Program could lower costs and improve the performance of combustion systems that generate power with near-zero emissions, the Department of Energy (DOE) said. The projects, which are mostly based on oxycombustion and chemical looping, include the […]
Germany’s tax on nuclear fuel rods is not against European Union (EU) law, the bloc’s top court has ruled. The decision from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union on June 4 may be detrimental to utilities that own nuclear power plants, which have already paid about $5.67 billion in the levies that […]
The Department of Interior (DOI) has approved the first three solar energy projects from its Western Solar Plan. The projects total 440 MW and will be built on public lands in Clark County, Nev. Under the Western Solar Plan, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has designated 19 solar energy zones covering roughly 298,000 acres […]
China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. (SNPTC)—general contractor of the first four AP1000 units being built in China—and China Power Investment Corp. officially announced a merger in a move to reinforce the country’s plans to eventually export reactors. The new company, State Power Investment Corp., will own assets worth more than $112.94 billion. SNPTC was […]
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 […]