Thomas W. Overton
Articles By

Thomas W. Overton

  • POWERnews–Jan. 8, 2015

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  • Ginna May Be Next Nuke Plant on Chopping Block

    Exelon’s R.E. Ginna Power Station in western New York may be the next U.S. nuclear plant to shut down in the face of competitive pressures if the company cannot get approval to substantially increase the rates it charges for the plant’s electricity. Ginna had a power purchase agreement with Rochester Gas & Electric that expired […]

  • U.S. Gas Production Still at Record Highs Despite Collapse in Oil Market

    The breathtaking collapse in crude oil prices this past fall, which has seen benchmark prices drop from over $110 a barrel last year to under $50 this past week, has had little effect on U.S. natural gas production, which continues to set records. According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. dry natural […]

  • California Governor Wants to Raise State’s RPS Target to 50%

    With California already on track to meet its goal of getting 33% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, Gov. Jerry Brown announced on Jan. 5 that he would seek to raise the renewables portfolio standard (RPS) target to 50% by 2030. In his inaugural speech opening his fourth term (he previously served from […]

  • FPL Gets Approval to Invest in Gas Wells

    The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) on Dec. 18 approved Florida Power & Light’s (FPL’s) request to invest in natural gas wells in Oklahoma. NextEra subsidiary FPL, one of the largest natural gas consumers in the country—it burns more gas than any other electric utility, about 2 Bcf/d—filed the request this past June. The plan […]

  • Natural Gas Overwhelmingly Replacing Coal, Says Report

    The growth in natural gas–fired generation in the U.S. since 2007 has overwhelmingly displaced coal-fired generation, according to a report from the Breakthrough Institute released Dec. 15. Consistent with the impressions of power sector observers, but in contrast to previous claims by environmental groups that growth in gas is offsetting renewables and nuclear while coal […]

  • Congress Extends Production Tax Credit for 2014

    In one of its last actions for the year, Congress passed a bill extending a variety of tax breaks, including the Production Tax Credit (PTC) through the end of 2014. The PTC, along with many other tax breaks in the bill, had expired at the end of 2013. The extension will allow them to be […]

  • Europe’s Largest Battery Storage Project Begins Operations in UK

    Said to be the largest such facility in Europe, a 6-MW/10-MWh lithium-ion battery storage project in Bedfordshire northwest of London in the U.K. officially began operations on Dec. 15. The £18.7 million Smarter Network Storage project, a collaboration between S&C Electric Europe, Samsung SDI, and Younicos, is installed at an electric substation in the town […]

  • What the CROmnibus Means for the Power Sector

    The omnibus continuing resolution (popularly referred to as the “CROmnibus”) passed by Congress late in the evening on Dec. 13 to keep the U.S. government running through 2015, contains a number of provisions affecting the power generation sector. DOE. Executive branch agencies received a mix of cuts and expansions. The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) $10.2 […]

  • GAS POWER Direct–Dec. 17, 2014

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