General

Ten witnesses from federal and state regulatory agencies, a public power entity, environmental groups, and power companies today outlined a number of threats to the bulk power system’s reliability in a Senate hearing to assess whether enough was being done to keep the lights on. General measures to address day-to-day issues affecting reliability—such as tree […]

I spent the week before this issue went to press at IHS Energy’s CERAWeek in Houston, listening and talking to many of the attendees representing 55 countries during the annual event that examines strategic

Second Nuclear Unit in Northeast China Begins Operation. The second nuclear unit at the Hongyanhe plant (Hongyanhe-2) in northeast China’s Liaoning Province entered commercial operation on Feb. 25

3D metal printing is still an experimental process in nearly all industries, used primarily for prototypes and test products. But if Siemens and GE have their way, it will soon become a standard means of

Mention the word “drone,” and most people will have a mental picture of what a drone is and does. They likely will think first of military drones carrying missiles and other weapons that could malfunction

At a keynote address at CERAweek 2014 in Houston, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz reiterated the Obama administration’s support for all U.S. fuel sources while pursuing a low-carbon future but rarely mentioned nuclear power. Prompted by POWERnews, Moniz later outlined the administration’s actions to address spent nuclear waste.  Following the D.C. Circuit’s ruling in November 2013 […]

What’s the utility of the future going to look like within two or three decades? That was a question put to former Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, Great Plains CEO Mike Chesser, and former chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission Ron Binz by the head of the Brookings Institute’s Energy Security Initiative (ESI) last […]

Legally binding targets to slash the European Union’s (EU) carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 40%, increase the bloc’s renewables’ share to 30%, and improve energy efficiency by 40%—all by 2030—were strongly backed by the European Parliament on Wednesday.   The EU’s directly elected parliamentary institution adopted a resolution by a vote of 341–263 to set […]

Legally binding targets to slash the European Union’s (EU) carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 40%, increase the bloc’s renewables’ share to 30%, and improve energy efficiency by 40%—all by 2030—were strongly backed by the European Parliament on Wednesday.   The EU’s directly elected parliamentary institution adopted a resolution by a vote of 341–263 to set […]

Power produced by South Africa represents 40% of Africa’s total—yet that country is facing a crippling supply shortfall. Emergencies are offset with imports from its neighbors in southern Africa, some of which are electricity poor, and others that are latent supply giants. “Power Africa,” the recently announced U.S. initiative that earmarks $7 billion in public […]

You’ve no doubt heard that U.S. power plant emissions have been dropping overall and that one of the reasons has been decreased thermal generation resulting from essentially flat demand. As of Jan. 1 this

EU’s Highest Court Says French Onshore Wind Tariff Is Illegal. The Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) ruled on Dec. 19 that a French regulatory mechanism allowing network distributors—namely

The RCTrms-3ph current transducer from Power Electronic Measurements offers a relatively convenient, safe, and accurate solution for measuring current in three phases. It has a thin, clip-around, flexible

It seems as if each week brings further bad news for coal power plants. Recently, Consumer’s Energy sought relief to close three power plants, South Carolina Electric & Gas announced it would cease

The European Union (EU) should emit 40% less carbon dioxide than it did in 1990 and produce 27% of its energy from renewables by 2030, declares a new framework on climate and energy presented by the European Commission (EC) on Wednesday.  The communication setting out the 2030 framework is now expected to be debated by the […]

My earlier post graded my first five predictions for 2013. This post grades the remaining five posts and suggests my overall grade for 2013.   In past years, my best overall grade was a B+. I’m still hopeful I can better that score. 5. The EPA Fracks Gas. On the same day the Environmental Protection Agency […]

I have presented my top 10 predictions for the year in the January issue for the past several years. I then graded myself against the actual events of the year and presented the results at the end of that year. My grades over the past three years ranged from mid- to high-B, which wasn’t bad […]

A tidal wave of pent-up federal regulations could surge across much of the electricity industry in 2014. In recent years, Congress has been unable to enact new laws in energy, which has led a frustrated

The management at a 1,094-MW coal-fired power plant in the Midwest sought to augment their hardwired public-address (PA) system. With hundreds of employees working in varied conditions, a means of

The business environment for generating companies worldwide continues to become increasingly complex, and not just as a result of regulations. Even in the U.S., the concerns and constraints faced by generators

Now more than ever, we see the U.S. power market sharply focused on maximizing return on investment. We see power producers responding to economic uncertainty, high costs for new emission controls, and a

This is expected to be the year when modest economic growth at last returns to a recession-hit Europe. Recent depressed power demand from industry has already allowed the 27 countries of the European Union

In the early 1980s, a man named George Mitchell, who owned an independent oil and gas company in Houston, began to see a distressing trend in his company’s future. Mitchell Energy supplied natural gas to a

Christoph Frei The global energy environment is increasing in complexity and uncertainty. We are in a much more challenging world than previously envisaged. The World Energy Council’s (WEC) analysis has

Rising energy costs necessitate new ideas and techniques for heat recovery—such as the Hitec Economizer from GEA Heat Exchangers. It is designed for equipping or retrofitting gas turbines and boilers, as

First Kundankulam Unit Synchronized to Grid. The state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) on Oct. 22 synchronized to the grid the first of two units at the Kundankulam Nuclear Power

By 2035, renewables will hold a 30% share of the global power mix but just 1% of the world’s fossil fuel–fired power plants will be equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS), reports the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its newly released World Energy Outlook (WEO-2013). The annual report presents a central scenario in which global […]

Industrial lighting company Larson Electronics has announced the release of a new explosion-proof LED light designed for portable mounting to ladders, scaffolds, and railings for convenient operation. The

Crystal Engineering introduced a 15,000 psi version of its popular XP2i test gauge. The ultra-rugged, intrinsically safe, easy-to-use test gauge joins the recently released GaugeCalHP Pressure Comparator and

Before this month, it’s likely few Americans had even heard of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), let alone understood what it does. An unprecedented battle over Ronald Binz, the former head of the Colorado Public Utility Commission (CPUC) whom President Obama nominated in June to replace outgoing FERC chairman Jon Wellinghoff, may have changed […]