In large part because of swelling supplies of natural gas, and failing crude oil prices that have helped depress gas prices around the world, as well as because of its environmental advantage over fuel oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is garnering growing interest as a generation fuel. While huge, multi-billion-dollar LNG import and export terminals […]

Dealing a major blow to the Obama administration’s climate agenda, the U.S. Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote stayed implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan (CPP) pending a decision on its legality in the D.C Circuit Court of Appeals. The one-page order gives no explanation for the court’s action, but issuance […]

The 400-MW Iowa Hill pumped storage project, planned for a site east of Sacramento as a means of dealing with ever-growing renewable generation in the area, has been canceled by its developer, the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD), because of spiraling costs. The Iowa Hill project (Figure 1) was a planned expansion of the Upper […]

  Look out Tesla, the Germans are coming. The U.S. residential energy storage market took another step forward on January 29 when German firm sonnen announced that it was partnering with solar manufacturer SolarWorld to offer residential solar-plus-storage systems in the U.S., much like the systems announced by Tesla and Solar City last April. Unlike […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said on January 27 that it had approved the applications for license renewal submitted by Exelon Corp. for Units 1 and 2 of the Braidwood Generating Station in Braceville, Ill. Braidwood, the state’s largest nuclear plant, was originally built by Commonwealth Edison. The two-unit plant operates two Westinghouse pressurized water […]

By a 6–2 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court on January 25 ruled that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had authority under the Federal Power Act (FPA) to issue rules requiring equal market participation by demand response (DR) resources. FERC Order 745, issued in 2011, required the nation’s Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Regional Transmission […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced on January 15 that it was awarding up to $40 million each in cost-shared funding to Southern Co. and X-Energy to “support work to address key technical challenges to the design, construction, and operation of next generation nuclear reactors.” It also announced on January 18 that it was awarding […]

The month-old agreements that seemed to provide a lifeline for an array of coal-fired and nuclear power plants in Ohio owned by American Electric Power (AEP) and FirstEnergy have come under attack by other generators who say they can meet the demand at a lower cost to state taxpayers. AEP reached an eight-year power-purchase agreement (PPA) […]

Power News   Current Issue | Find a Job | Post a Job Okeechobee Clean Energy Center to Give Florida Yet Another Big CCPP Florida regulators on Jan. 5 approved the 1,600-MW Okeechobee Clean Energy Center under development by NextEra Energy subsidiary Florida Power & Light (FPL) near Vero Beach. The plant will be the […]

Florida regulators on Jan. 5 approved the 1,600-MW Okeechobee Clean Energy Center under development by NextEra Energy subsidiary Florida Power & Light (FPL) near Vero Beach. The plant will be the fifth advanced combined cycle power plant FPL has commissioned since 2009. The three-unit Okeechobee plant will join the 1,335-MW 3,750-MW [Ed.-Corrected 1/14/16] West County […]

State renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) provide around $7.4 billion in annual economic benefits and substantial reductions in water withdrawals and consumption, according to a new study from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and National Renewable Energy Laboratory released on Jan. 6. The study, “A Retrospective Analysis of the Benefits and Impacts of […]

Power News Don't miss these POWER magazine resources: Post Jobs | View Jobs | Buyers' Guide Iranian Cyberattack Infiltrated Control System of New York Dam Hackers believed to be connected to Iran infiltrated the control system of a small dam outside New York City in 2013, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. […]

Georgia Power (GP) announced on Jan. 4 that the owners of the expansion project at the Vogtle nuclear power plant (GP, Oglethorpe Power Corp., the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and Dalton Utilities) have settled all pending litigation with the original project contractors, Westinghouse and CB&I. According to GP, the settlement resolves “all claims currently […]

The autonomous region of Xinjiang has an important strategic position in China’s economy—which consumes more energy than any other nation—yet several conditions limit the most effective use of its fuels. This article provides an overview of the situation. Since ancient times, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang) has been in a particularly important position in […]

Hackers believed to be connected to Iran infiltrated the control system of a small dam outside New York City in 2013, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The Bowman Avenue Dam in Rye Brook, about 20 miles northeast of the city, is small and used only for flood control. While the hackers […]

Russia and India will finalize a deal for Units 5 and 6 of the Kudankulam nuclear plant during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow this week, according to reports in the Indian media. Russia has been on a major drive to sell its nuclear technology abroad, while India has been on a similar campaign […]

Power News Current Issue | Find a Job | Post a Job COP21 Climate Deal Draws Praise, Fire Delegates of 195 nations, including the U.S., on Dec. 12 reached a landmark deal at the Paris COP21 conference that commits the world to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in an effort to combat the effects of […]

Delegates of 195 nations, including the U.S., on Dec. 12 reached a landmark deal at the Paris COP21 conference that commits the world to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in an effort to combat the effects of climate change. Though scientists have said global temperature increases need to kept below 2 degrees C to avoid […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan (CPP) is likely to be complicated at least as much by political and legal opposition as by technological challenges in reducing carbon emissions, several speakers at POWER magazine’s inaugural conference on legal issues in the generation industry noted on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas. “Navigating Legal Implications of […]

The power sector should view the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recent drive to tighten regulations on air and water emissions as an opportunity to improve its efficiency and environmental footprint rather than as an obstacle, said EPA General Counsel Avi S. Garbow at POWER magazine’s inaugural conference on legal issues in the generation industry. “We want […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Nov. 20 issued a supplemental finding that consideration of costs does not affect its previous conclusion that regulation of coal- and oil-fired power plants is “appropriate and necessary” under section 112 of the Clean Air Act. The finding was in response to a June decision by the U.S. Supreme […]

The U.S. Senate late on Nov. 17 passed a pair of resolutions that would overturn recent Environmental Protection Agency rules on power plant emissions, rules that form the core of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. The two resolutions, S.J. Res. 23 and S.J. Res. 24, were passed under a little-used provision known as the Congressional Review […]

Another month, another premature nuclear plant retirement. About two weeks ago, Entergy finally threw in the towel on the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Scriba, N.Y., a move that came as a surprise to exactly no one who has been paying attention to the merchant nuclear business in the U.S. the past few […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Nov. 16 proposed updates to the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) with the intent of reducing NOx emissions from power plants in the eastern half of the U.S. The proposed CSAPR update identifies cuts in power plant NOx emissions in 23 states. The EPA said these cuts can be […]

The German battery storage market took a leap forward as German generating company Steag announced on Nov. 4 that it will invest €100 million in six 15-MW battery storage projects at several of its power plants in Germany. The batteries are expected to come online mid-2016 through early 2017. The facilities will be sited at Steag’s generating […]

Power News Current Issue | Find a Job | Post a Job Propane Power Is Grabbing Growing Share of Gas-Fired Market   As liquefied natural gas (LNG) continues to draw attention in the gas market, with the first new U.S. LNG export terminal in decades coming online next year, another liquefied gas—propane—is beginning to expand […]

The cabinet of Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition has endorsed changes to the German electricity market, ensuring their passage into law. “This is the largest reform of the electricity market since the energy markets were liberalised in the 1990s, and it will make the electricity market fit for the 21st century,” said Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel. […]

Certain types of coal-fired power plants are capable of meeting the 636 kg CO2/MWh emissions limit in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) new source performance standards for new plants without relying on carbon capture and storage (CCS), but doing so will require leveraging cutting-edge technologies to improve efficiency, according to a new study from the Electric […]

  As liquefied natural gas (LNG) continues to draw attention in the gas market, with the first new U.S. LNG export terminal in decades coming online next year, another liquefied gas—propane—is beginning to expand its share of the mix as propane power options continue to grow. While propane-powered engines and microturbines have been around for […]

  Dominion subsidiary Dominion Virginia Power on Nov. 6 became the first U.S utility to notify the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of its intent to file a second license renewal application for one of its nuclear plants. Dominion intends to seek a 20-year extension for the two-unit, 1,676-MW Surry Power Station in Virginia. The announcement […]