Environmental

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the need for cheap electricity in Southeast Asia will drive global demand for coal for power generation through 2040, even as many countries continue to retire coal-fired plants and cancel projects for new coal facilities. IEA, which is set to release its World Energy Outlook 2017 on November 14, […]

Comments on the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) proposed grid resiliency rule from an assortment of state agencies, trade groups, environmental organizations, and organized market entities flooded the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) docket before the tight three-week timeframe expired Oct. 23. The DOE’s “Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule” proposed on Sept. 29 directs FERC—an independent regulatory […]

The Trump administration unabashedly supports coal, and regulations designed to phase out its use in U.S. power production are being reviewed. But while other nations continue to rely on coal for much of their power, they also are increasing their use of natural gas and renewables, including heavyweight coal users such as China and India. […]

Under President Obama, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced a host of rules and compliance requirements targeting power plants and the oil and gas sector. One such rule, the Effluent Limitation

Working on a small patch of land bordered on one side by Lake Michigan and on the other three by the small city of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the team tasked with the installation of a state-of-the-art air quality

It may not be the newest plant in the Tennessee Valley Authority fleet, but the Gallatin Fossil Plant has been retrofitted with some of the latest technology available to the coal power industry. It’s got

The rapid adoption of electric vehicles (EVs)—both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)—is expected to transform global electricity consumption through 2040, three

Construction Scheduled for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Plant in South Korea. Hanwha Energy  on August 25 approved formation of a subsidiary,  Daesan Green Energy , to build a 50-MW hydrogen fuel cell plant in the

In its largest investment to date, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) is teaming up with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to contribute $1 billion to the Egyptian Government’s

On Sunday, September 24, Germany finalized voting in its 2017 federal elections. Citizens were able to vote by mail ahead of Sunday’s election or they could chose to efficiently breeze through a voting center, make a physical “X” next to, first, the local direct candidate of their choice. And then make a second mark next […]

California’s legislature last week wrapped up its 2017 session without authorizing the broad expansion of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) into other Western states or passing a zero-carbon bill, which would have put the state on a path to 100% clean energy by 2045. It did, however, succeed in passing bills to encourage development […]

  Chances that an 895-MW project to expand Sunflower Electric Power Corp.’s coal-fired Holcomb Station in Kansas will ever be completed are “remote,” a key project partner said. Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association—a Denver-based power generator owned by 43 electric cooperatives that partnered with Sunflower in 2005 to build the new unit—in an August 10-Q […]

Steam electric power plants preparing to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) effluent limitations guidelines (ELG) and standards as they concern bottom ash transport water and flue gas desulfurization (FGD) waste streams will get—for now—a two-year reprieve under a new rule the agency finalized on September 12. The ELG rule, which was finalized by […]

For deploying a novel, groundbreaking gas-battery hybrid technology along with environmentally significant upgrades within a tight installment window, and despite logistical hurdles, Southern California

For more than 20 years, I have been championing the use of fuel cell powered cars to connect the natural gas distribution network of this country with the electric distribution network, making them partners in

Independent System Operator-New England celebrated its 20th anniversary last July with a solid record in its energy and capacity markets, turning around a fragmented regional electric system. Can it repeat

Xcel Energy on August 29 said it wants to retire 660 MW of coal-fired generation capacity as part of a “Colorado Energy Plan” that also includes adding as much as 1,700 MW of renewable energy and 700 MW of natural gas-fired power generation to its portfolio in the state. A key element of the proposal […]

Nine states in New England and the Mid-Atlantic region have said they will cut emissions from power plants by 65% below 2020 levels by 2030, expanding a cap-and-trade program designed to reduce carbon output usually associated with power plants. States in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) agreed to increase emissions cuts by an additional […]

A federal judge on August 4 said the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) must dig up coal ash at one of its power plants and move it to a lined waste site. The order came in a suit filed by the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association (TSRA) and the Tennessee Clean Water Network (TCWN), who said coal […]

In water-strapped California, managing power plant water usage is more important than ever. Southern California Edison implemented novel closed circuit reverse osmosis systems at five of its gas-fired

If the province of Saskatchewan does not join Canada’s carbon pricing scheme, it will be unable to benefit from the nation’s recently announced Low Carbon Economy Fund. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said

During his electoral campaign, South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed to end the country’s reliance on coal and also said the nation would move away from nuclear energy. He took a major step in that

The relationship between affordable and reliable electric power and the economy, standard of living, and physical well being of Americans is beyond doubt. In the past several years, the burden of environmental

Wind power production continues to increase in the U.S., with a more than 40% increase in the number of wind projects under construction or in advanced development this year compared to the same time last year, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). The group announced the figures during a July 27 meeting in […]

A Tennessee utility company on July 20 said tests on drinking water in the vicinity of a coal-fired power plant in Memphis showed no detectable evidence of arsenic, lead, and other toxins. The Sierra Club asked state officials to perform the tests after high levels of arsenic were found in monitoring wells at the Allen […]

The Trump administration wants to revitalize the coal industry, but they will not do so by imposing regulation on the natural gas industry, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry told reporters July 18 at a joint press conference with International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol. “Would the Department of Energy (DOE) be a participant in […]

A spokesman for Dominion Energy said the company will begin working on a new plan for dealing with leaking piles of coal ash at a retired coal plant in Virginia after a federal judge ruled the company’s current remediation at the site is not acceptable. U.S. District Judge John Gibney Jr. on July 13 ordered […]

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) said it will hold off on installing wastewater pollution controls at its largest coal plant in Indiana as industry groups continue to challenge the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) ruling that led to the installation plan. NIPSCO asked Indiana regulators in November 2016 to approve a $400 million plan for […]

Xcel Energy plans to add about 1,550 MW of wind power to its portfolio in the Upper Midwest with the addition of seven wind farms expected to be operational by year-end 2020. The additions are among 11 new wind farms announced over the past year by Xcel in seven states that would add a total […]

A long-shuttered Tennessee nuclear power plant project has been reborn as a solar farm, with the energy produced there made available for use by local residents and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The Phipps Bend Nuclear Power Plant project in Surgoinsville was canceled by TVA in 1981, a victim of the negative sentiment toward nuclear […]