The U.S. added 1,146 MW of utility-scale solar generation in the first half of 2014—the most ever for a first- and second-quarter period—but natural gas continued to lead new additions, though its margin may be shrinking, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. Through the first six months of 2014, the U.S. added 2,179 MW […]

The Montana Public Service Commission (MPSC) on Sept. 4 approved Northwestern Energy Corp.’s request to purchase 11 hydroelectric power plants in the state from PPL Montana for $880 million. The plants, which comprise PPL Montana’s entire hydroelectric profile, total 630 MW of generation. Nine are run-of-river plants; the other two, the Mystic Lake Dam in […]

Nearly four years to the day after eight people were killed in a natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, two judges of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) ruled on Sept. 2 that Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) must pay a record $1.4 billion in fines and penalties for its role in the disaster. […]

In a sweeping ruling that will upend a nation that depends on coal for 60% of its electricity, the Supreme Court of India ruled on Monday that the country’s previous process for awarding coal mine contracts was illegal. Under the mine licensing process that ran from 1993 to 2010, mining blocks were handed out by […]

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) employees fell victim to email “phishing” attempts three times in the past few years, allowing intruders into the agency’s email system, according to an internal report by the Office of Inspector General obtained by news site Nextgov.com. The internal NRC investigation revealed that twelve employees clicked on a link in […]

Long viewed as a potential “next big thing” for power generation—often drawing unwarranted hyperbole in the process—and more recently as niche distributed generation, fuel cells are finally beginning to make some noise at grid scale. Hydrogen- and natural gas–powered fuel cells have been deployed over the past decade in behind-the-meter and microgrid applications for on-site […]

Oregon’s Department of State Lands (DSL) on Aug. 18 formally denied Ambre Energy’s application to build a coal export terminal in Boardman on the Columbia River. The project would have shipped up to 9 million tons per year (mtpa) of coal by barge to Port Westward near Clatskanie, where it would be loaded on bulk […]

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With three recent requests to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has signaled it may seek to slow the recent drive to export liquefied natural gas (LNG). Three times this year, the Texas regional office of the EPA has asked FERC to consider wider impacts of increased greenhouse gas emissions […]

French utility EDF shut down two nuclear plants that it operates in the UK after routine inspections uncovered possible defects in one reactor. The two power plants, both with two units, are of the same design, and shutdowns were ordered for the other three reactors as a safety precaution. The affected plants are Heysham 1 […]