Environmental

Now that the political conventions are over and Americans must choose between two presidential candidates, the rhetoric around coal’s future continues to heat up. What neither candidate is telling you, however, is that no matter who is elected in November, no matter what the makeup of the next Congress is, America’s coal age is over. […]

FirstEnergy Corp. will sell or deactivate 856 MW of coal-fired generation to reduce fleet operating costs. The company announced on July 22 that it plans to sell or deactivate the 136-MW Bay Shore Unit 1 in Oregon, Ohio, by October 2020. In addition, Units 1–4 (totaling 720 MW of capacity) at the company’s seven-unit W.H. […]

Despite escalating growth over the past decade, the U.S. solar power sector faces potentially crippling issues concerning module supply, workforce deficiencies, and grid interconnection obstacles, according to industry experts attending an international solar and energy storage convention. The country added an estimated 14.5 GW of new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in 2016, and by 2021, […]

A federal appeals court has stayed a regional haze rule finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this year that had threatened to close up to 8.4 GW of coal-fired power capacity in Texas. In a unanimous ruling on July 15, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion for […]

Southern Co.’s Kemper County energy facility—the only carbon capture and storage (CCS) integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant that is under construction—is producing syngas using lignite. The plant marked its most significant milestone to date on July 14, said Southern Co.’s Mississippi Power. It means that the first-of-its-kind technology to convert locally mined lignite […]

The “polar vortex” storm of January 2014 blew in big changes to PJM Interconnection’s operations. But these changes are now the subject of a lawsuit filed by environmental groups, alleging they discriminate against clean energy sources. The sub-zero temperatures froze coal piles and gearboxes. Natural gas plants, lacking firm contracts for fuel delivery, were unable […]

Witnesses at a Congressional hearing raised concerns about the complexity, costs, legality, and feasibility of the 3,900 final rules published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Obama administration. A large portion of those rules affect the power sector, but none are more contentious than the Clean Power Plan, regulatory and citizen interest experts […]

When gas-fired plants are required to cycle more than they were designed for, added stress on plant components isn’t the only consequence. You also need to pay closer attention to turbine catalyst systems. Traditionally, many combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant units were designed and permitted for a baseload or similar operating profile. Startups […]

When owners of the Big Stone Plant researched air quality control system technology, they considered all available options and eventually settled on a design that was not in widespread use. Now that the

As power plant reporting requirements for emissions regulations increase in number and complexity, yesterday’s data collection and reporting systems can make the job harder than it needs to be. The electrical power generation sector is reportedly the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. As such, it is the focus of the Environmental […]