Issuance of the revised final Waste Confidence Decision and Temporary Storage Rule will be delayed until at least early October, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced on Thursday.  The NRC cited “time lost” and a “lapse of appropriations” during the October 2013 government shutdown, which has forced the federal regulatory body to “reschedule several public […]

The U.S. Commerce Department will begin fresh antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of imports of certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic products from China, as well as an antidumping duty investigation of imports from Taiwan. The department announced today that the scope of the new investigations, petitioned for by SolarWorld Industries, specifically excludes products covered by existing […]

POWERnews Stay Connected Don’t miss these POWER magazine resources: Post Jobs | View Jobs | Buyers’ Guide EU Proposes 2030 GHG Emissions, Renewables Mandates Based on Economic Concerns 01.23.2014 | Sonal Patel The European Union (EU) should emit 40% less carbon dioxide than it did in 1990 and produce 27% of its energy from renewables […]

The European Union (EU) should emit 40% less carbon dioxide than it did in 1990 and produce 27% of its energy from renewables by 2030, declares a new framework on climate and energy presented by the European Commission (EC) on Wednesday.  The communication setting out the 2030 framework is now expected to be debated by the […]

 The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from new power plants violates the Energy Policy Act (EPACT) of 2005, a suit filed in federal court by the state of Nebraska alleges.  The state alleges, as have a number of Republican lawmakers, that the EPA relied on […]

FutureGen 2.0, the government-backed but long-stalled carbon capture and storage (CCS) project proposed for Meredosia, Ill., will get about $1 billion in cost-shared federal funding, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Jan. 22.  A Record of Decision (ROD) published in the Federal Register marks the DOE’s decision to provide $1 billion of financial assistance […]

A federal court on Wednesday upheld the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) 2012 determination that the 130-turbine Cape Wind offshore wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound, south of Cape Cod, Mass., posed “no hazard” to air navigation.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision in Town of Barnstable, Mass. v. FAA […]

POWERnews Stay Connected Don’t miss these POWER magazine resources: Post Jobs | View Jobs | Buyers’ Guide McCarthy Defends EPA Tactics to Tamp Down Power Plant Carbon Pollution 01.16.2014 | Sonal Patel Witnesses from four federal agencies, including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy, answered pointed questions about the president’s June 2013–released Climate Action […]

Witnesses from four federal agencies, including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy, answered pointed questions about the president’s June 2013–released Climate Action Plan (CAP) and associated rules at an oversight hearing of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works today.  Committee Chair Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) began the hearing to review President Obama’s […]

Three Wyoming coal-fired power plants will be required to install costly controls to curb nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions under a regional haze rule that was finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week. The agency disapproved parts of a state implementation plan (SIP) submitted by Wyoming in January 2011 to address regional haze. It […]

A years-long drought afflicting California could put financial pressure on a number of the state’s hydropower generators, a ratings agency warns.  Fitch Ratings on Friday said that while the financial impact could be manageable, utilities that depend on hydropower generation for the most part may be forced to use more expensive generation and purchased power […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will today miss a legally set deadline to issue finalized standards for cooling water intake structures for all existing power generating facilities under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act.  The EPA’s 2004 Phase II Cooling Water Intake Structure rules were suspended in July 2007 in response to the Second […]

POWERnews Stay Connected Don’t miss these POWER magazine resources: Post Jobs | View Jobs | Buyers’ Guide EPA Publishes Draft Carbon Pollution Rules 01.09.2014 | Thomas Overton The EPA published the latest version of its new source performance standards (NSPS) for carbon pollution from new power plants in the Federal Register on Jan. 8, setting […]

An option to curb NOx emissions from the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) near Page, Ariz., put forth by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last October has been endorsed by a coalition of the plant’s stakeholders. The EPA’s supplemental proposal incorporates in large part a Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) alternative that was submitted by a […]

Increases in spot natural gas prices generally prompted wholesale electricity price hikes across the nation from in 2013, but power prices were the highest in the Pacific Northwest and New England, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday.  Average wholesale electricity prices at the Mid-Columbia trading hub were $37.53/MWh—soaring 64% in 2013 compared to […]

POWERnews Stay Connected Don’t miss these POWER magazine resources: Post Jobs | View Jobs | Buyers’ Guide Announcement from POWER magazine Follow POWER on Twitter (@POWERmagazine) and Facebook (POWER magazine), and join the conversation in these LinkedIn Groups: POWER magazine and Women in Power Generation. Ownership Change Results in Closure of 3 Coal Units 01.02.2014 […]

The controversial federal production tax credit (PTC) bestowed on new wind farms of $0.023/kWh for the first 10 years of their operation expired on Tuesday, but the impact of that policy lapse isn’t immediately clear. Originally enacted in 1992, the federal renewable electricity PTC has been renewed and expanded numerous times—most recently by the American […]

Developers of renewable energy projects in Puerto Rico must incorporate energy storage into new installations under recently approved standards. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and the island territory’s government-owned utility, Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica (AEE) on Dec. 12 released a new minimum technical requirementthat requires new grid-connected solar and wind power projects to add […]

A new major air pollution policy package adopted by the European Union (EU) on Dec. 18 updates existing legislation to further curb air emissions from power plants.    The so-called “Clean Air package” consists of a clean air program for Europe to ensure existing air quality targets are met through interim objectives scheduled through 2030. […]

 

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The Fort Calhoun Station, Omaha Public Power District’s (OPPD’s) 478-MW nuclear reactor that was offline for nearly three years to address longstanding issues, including flooding from the  Missouri River in 2011, is ready to restart, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has deemed.  The federal regulatory body on Tuesday concluded OPPD was ready to safely restart the […]

U.S. nuclear reactor enriched uranium fuel supplier USEC will voluntarily file for bankruptcy protection as part of a restructuring plan to boost financial support for its much-watched gas centrifuge uranium enrichment project at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio.  The company announced on Dec. 16 that it had reached an agreement with majority shareholders […]

NuScale Power is the winner of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) March 2013–announced funding opportunity to help design, certify, and commercialize small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S.  The DOE’s long-awaited second award announcement means the government will invest up to half of the total project cost required to help NuScale Power’s 45-MWe SMR design […]

No environmental impacts would preclude renewing the operating licenses for two pressurized water reactors (PWR) at the South Texas Project nuclear plant in Bay City, Texas, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) concluded on Friday.  The federal regulatory body issued a final environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the proposed renewal of operating licenses for Units 1 […]

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As the Supreme Court heard arguments on the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), eight Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to force nine “upwind” states to slash their emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which contribute to the formation of ozone to the north and east. EPA […]

Coal power plant retirements could potentially increase energy prices by $3–4/MWh for on-peak hours and $1–2/MWh for off-peak hours, but if natural gas prices also rise, energy prices could rise by as much as $9–11/MWh for on-peak hours and $5–6/MWh for off-peak hours, a new report from The Brattle Group suggests.  The report, “Coal Plant […]

NRG Energy could deactivate five units at two coal-fired power plants in Maryland because new regulations proposed by the state to curb emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) will require pollution controls that cannot be economically justified, the New Jersey–based company said.  NRG last week notified regional grid operator PJM Interconnection that […]

The U.S. must first develop unsubsidized, cost-effective energy storage technologies, validate reliability and safety, establish an “equitable” regulatory environment, and boost industry acceptance before it will see the widespread deployment of energy storage systems, says a report released today by the Department of Energy (DOE) to members of the U.S. Senate.  Commissioned by Sen. Ron […]