Business

The shale gas revolution has so far been a U.S. phenomenon. But hydrocarbon-containing Devonian shale formations are far from a U.S. or even North American phenomenon. Geologic forces didn’t follow political boundaries in the Devonian period 400 million to 300 million years ago. Indeed, the continents then were not where they are today by large […]

Duke Energy will retire four coal units and possibly two oil-fired units under terms of a settlement reached between the company and four citizen and environmental groups over outstanding air permits for the company’s Edwardsport Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) project. The agreement resolves a long-standing dispute over air permits for the now-operational IGCC plant […]

  If you’ve seen U.S. coal industry executives casting wistful glances across the Atlantic recently, there’s a reason. In the U.S., natural gas is enjoying a boom unseen in decades, perhaps ever. New production from shale should make the country a net exporter within a decade. New gas-fired plants are starting up almost as fast […]

  As environmental regulations continue their forward march and gas prices remain low compared to historic rates due to increased domestic supply, the number of power plants changing their primary fuel source to natural gas has increased dramatically. In 2011 and 2012, just more than 5.5 GW of power plant capacity switched to burning primarily […]

Despite frail demand for natural gas in Europe and difficulties in upstream production growth in the Middle East and Africa, the “Golden Age” of natural gas will remain in full swing until at least 2018, recent projections from the International Energy Agency (IEA) show. A medium-term outlook released by the Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization in […]

When Gary Leonard, General Electric’s global technology director for aero-thermal and mechanical systems technologies, spoke with POWER Contributing Editor Mark Axford at this year’s Gulf Coast Power

HDE’s Quick-Check Transformer & Capacitor Testers provide a quick and easy test of the primary and secondary sides of de-energized transformers and capacitors for opens or shorts. The Quick-Check

In his climate change speech earlier this summer, President Obama announced a major policy shift: The U.S. government will end financing for virtually all new coal power plants oversees. In the wake of that

Mexico Creates Council to Meet Clean Energy Target. The Mexican Energy Secretariat on July 5 announced creation of the Renewable Energy Council , a body designed to spearhead eight initiatives outlined in a

New Mexico could host the nation’s first buried long-distance high voltage direct current (HVDC) electric transmission network if an ambitious project proposed by Tres Amigas LLC gains traction. The merchant transmission entity whose mission it is to unite the nation’s three power grids to achieve its renewable energy goals unveiled the 2,000-MW New Mexico Express […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has fully allocated funds to support Babcock & Wilcox’s (B&W’s) initial project period for its mPower small modular reactor (SMR) technology. The North Carolina–based company was the only winner selected in November 2012 of the DOE’s competitively bid SMR Licensing Technical Support Program, an initiative designed to boost the accelerated […]

Two federally sponsored reports submitted to the Eastern Interconnection States’ Planning Council (EISPC) suggest that the rapid expansion of natural gas could force the closure of between 35 GW and 60 GW of U.S. coal power capacity over the next five years and weaken market forces that now bolster existing nuclear plants. An Energy Department–funded […]

Oklahoma will seek a rehearing of its regional haze case against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before the full 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, state Attorney General Scott Pruitt confirmed on Wednesday. On July 19, a divided three-judge panel threw out the state’s claims  that the EPA had “impermissibly rejected” a State Implementation Plan (SIP) […]

An enforcement action filed in federal district court by the Department of Justice last week alleges Luminant Generating Co. made unauthorized changes to its Big Brown and Martin Lake coal-fired power plants in Texas that violated the Clean Air Act. The case filed under seal in the Northern District of Texas (Dallas division) follows a […]

Europe’s Gas Power Plant Carnage Intensifies Another 1.2 GW of gas-fired generation has been idled in Germany as utilities scramble to rein losses that are pegged to falling wholesale electricity prices and a surge in renewable power generation. Norwegian power company Statkraft put into “wet reserve” the 800-MW Knapsack 1 and 417-MW Herdecke power plants, […]

Courtesy: Pemex Rapid growth in U.S. gas exports to Mexico already is having profound effects north of the border, and things will only get more interesting. Gas producers in the Eagle Ford and other Texas shale plays are finding the new buyers they need. But gas consumers in the Southwest—caught with a losing hand of […]

Although nearly all energy experts agree that demand for electric energy in Texas will outstrip supply in the coming years, developers of new power generation facilities are facing significant headwinds. The cause of the problems is a unique mix of circumstances.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Tuesday unanimously approved a bipartisan bill that bolsters efforts by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to craft a cybersecurity framework.

A technology developed by the University of Delaware (UD) and NRG Energy that provides a two-way interface between electric vehicles and the power grid earlier this year became an official paid resource on PJM Interconnection’s regional grid (Figure 4). One of the first of its kind, the project proves the so-called “vehicle-to-grid” (V2G) concept can sell electricity from electric vehicles.

UN Report on Global Renewable Energy Investment. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) released its report Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2013 on June 11, finding that renewable energy investment at the global level was $244 billion in 2012. However, global investments in renewable energy fell 12% compared to 2011 due to dramatically lower […]

A municipal utility in the South may not be where you’d expect to find an exemplary smart grid implementation, but that’s just fine with EPB Chattanooga. Its leaders are raking in the kudos—including POWER’s 2013 Smart Grid Award—and their community is attracting new businesses in response to a fiber-optic-based system that has helped raise the profile of their city and bolster the sustainability of their utility.

The Senate last week confirmed Gina McCarthy as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a bipartisan vote of 59–40.

A final rule issued last week by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to foster competition and transparency in ancillary services markets creates new opportunities for energy storage technologies to help transmission customers self-supply their own Regulation and Frequency Response service requirements while opening up certain ancillary services markets to all generators selling at market-based rates.

Twelve attorneys general last week filed a lawsuit in federal court requesting for access to documents related to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) so-called "sue and settle" practice with advocacy groups.

Gina McCarthy moved closer to a Senate confirmation as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator after Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) confirmed he wouldn’t further block a long-delayed vote on her nomination.

A bill approved by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Wednesday could prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from finalizing new rules that cost more than $1 billion if the Energy Department determines they will hurt the economy.

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld an earlier district court decision that Clean Air Act liabilities do not transfer to new owners when a facility is sold, while the Third Circuit upheld an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule to limit sulfur dioxide emissions from a Pennsylvania coal-fired power plant on request of New Jersey, a downwind state.

A bipartisan Senate bill introduced on June 27 seeks to break gridlock over a permanent nuclear waste repository by establishing a new nuclear waste administration and creating a consent-based process for siting nuclear waste facilities.

Soaring power demand in New York, California, and Ontario over the past week forced grid authorities to institute conservation measures.