News

Plant will provide clean, affordable and reliable energy to Louisiana customers WESTLAKE, La. – Entergy Louisiana’s state-of-the-art Lake Charles Power Station began commercial operation March 28, providing another source of reliable and clean energy to a region that has seen substantial growth in recent years. “We are excited to announce Lake Charles Power Station achieved […]

It has now sealed Scandinavian deals for the two variants of the Siemens Gamesa 5.X platform highlighting its strong fit with northern Europe markets The company will supply eight SG 5.8-170 to Danish developer Eurowind Energy A/S. The turbines will operate at up to 6.2 MW delivering unmatched annual energy production Wind turbines to be […]

PGE’s Dolna Odra Plant will be equipped with two GE 9HA.01 gas turbines and two STF-D650 steam turbines to deliver world-class efficiency and flexibility for the combined cycle power plant 1.4 gigawatt (GW) plant will produce the equivalent electricity needed to power approximately 1 million Polish households while meeting the most rigorous environmental standards for […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on March 28 told industry that it is prepared to grant requests from individual nuclear generators for exemptions from work-hour controls specified in its rules to help provide more flexibility to the sector as it grapples with workforce issues related to the COVID-19 public health emergency. The objective of the […]

The two-unit expansion of the Plant Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia reached another milestone March 27, with the placement of the Unit 4 containment vessel top head. Friday’s work comes about one year after the Unit 3 containment vessel top was lifted into place. “Placement of the Unit 4 top head is a culmination […]

The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), one of the nation’s nine regional transmission organizations (RTOs) that operate the power grid, now has some of its staff living at two of its control  centers in suburban Albany, New York. The move comes as other RTOs and utilities consider having staff shelter-in-place at their respective operations […]

A study published by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) shows peak demand and energy use decreased as much as 21% in some areas as a result of actions taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The report—COVID-19 Bulk System Impacts: Demand Impacts and Operational and Control Center Practices—was released on March 27. It reviews […]

Adopting a new temporary policy that gives it more “enforcement discretion,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said March 26 it does not expect to seek penalties for civil violations of the agency’s rules that result from the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy adopted Thursday addresses concerns that regulated facilities are facing potential worker shortages, travel restrictions, […]

Two agencies aligned with the power generation industry, including the group representing state public service commissioners who regulate utility services, including energy, telecommunications, and water, are asking state regulators to designate utility company workers as essential to the nation’s critical infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the National Association […]

The International District Energy Association (IDEA), a group founded in 1909 to help the district energy sector share information, held a COVID-19 Working Group Conference Call on March 23 to discuss emergency preparedness measures underway at district energy systems around the world. IDEA is providing this call as a free webinar, available here. IDEA has […]

Challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. nuclear industry has asked the Trump administration to ensure nuclear workers, suppliers, and vendors will have access to nuclear plants and personal protective equipment (PPE) during the 2020 spring and fall refueling outage seasons and beyond. All but two of the nation’s nuclear sites had scheduled planned outages  […]

Honeywell International’s uranium conversion plant in Metropolis, Illinois, has received the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) approval to run for 40 more years. The approval for the nation’s sole conversion facility is key to ensure it can continue supplying  uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a basic component of enriched nuclear fuel used in commercial nuclear power reactors. The […]

The $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill passed by the U.S. Senate on March 25 should provide some economic relief to the nation’s households and businesses, but the renewable energy industry is disappointed the bill does not extend investment tax credits and other incentives to keep wind, solar, and other projects moving forward. Clean-energy industry groups […]

As the economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, one thing has become very clear – the solar industry is at risk. A survey of our member companies conducted over the past ten days provides further proof points to this story: the data clearly shows that solar companies and workers are being put out of […]

As nearly 20 million New Yorkers adjust their lives in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the changing patterns of behavior are reducing and shifting electricity consumption, according to the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). Read more in this blog post from NYISO, and visit the organization’s website. — Follow updates about the impacts to […]

There are parallels between COVID-19 responses and the management of the electrical grid of the future. Concepts like “flattening the curve” and “self-quarantine” are concepts not only crucial in the current pandemic, but in electricity distribution systems globally. While we at Introspective Systems practice social distancing, working remotely, and watching record demands asked of hospitals and the […]

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis grows, our first priority should be to assist those whose health and welfare are at most risk. Access to affordable water and energy is a crucial need at all times, but never more than now as the COVID-19 pandemic grows. NRDC supports calls for utility disconnection moratoriums and other protections for our most vulnerable […]

The U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) surveyed members of its industry and found that almost two-third of respondents say they already are experiencing coronavirus-related delays, due to disruptions in the global supply chain, travel restrictions, and the downturn in equity markets that is cutting investment in projects. The ESA said more than one-third of those […]

The agency that regulates nuclear power in the U.S. is preparing to allow reactor operators to work longer shifts, and could also issue new rules that would let facilities put off some maintenance and plant inspections. The actions are in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Comments during a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) conference call on […]

Power industry analysts who’ve spoken with POWER agree there will be an impact to power load due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the loss of much of the U.S. commercial and industrial demand for power, and certainly an uptick in the amount of demand from the residential sector as more people work from home, away […]

Pacific Gas & Electric has agreed to plead guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of unlawfully causing a fire after it was blamed for the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California, the deadliest wildfire in state history. The utility reached the agreement with the Butte County District Attorney’s office on March […]

U.S. electric utilities and other energy companies are preparing to have key personnel remain at power plants and operations centers to ensure the facilities remain online during the coronavirus pandemic. The federal government considers power plants part of the nation’s critical infrastructure. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for working with power […]

Energy groups continue to assess the industry disruption caused by the coronavirus, with the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) on March 19 saying the global pandemic is putting  $43 billion of wind industry investments and payments at risk. Utilities, grid operators, and other have been altering their routines as state and local governments call for […]

The power industry and technology worlds are filled with acronyms. It’s often hard to know what they all mean. Mark Reisig, director of Product Marketing at Aras, was a guest on The POWER Podcast. He explained how digital technology is being utilized to bring products to market and track assets throughout their lifecycle. The process […]

Oklo, developer of the 1.5-MW Aurora micro-reactor, has submitted the first-ever combined license application (COLA) for an advanced non-light water reactor (LWR) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The move formalizes the start of a new era for nuclear regulation in the U.S. The Silicon Valley company, which last year received a first-of-its-kind site use […]

Utilities and power generators worldwide are altering their business practices and developing strategies for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s particularly critical for the power industry, as a reliable supply of electricity is essential to prevent even more economic disruption. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lists utilities among the 16 industries that the […]

A new report from a half-dozen environmental groups says global banks financed $2.7 trillion of fossil fuel projects from December 2015, when the Paris Agreement on climate was reached, through year-end 2019. The report said funding for such projects has increased in each of the past four years. “Banking on Climate Change 2020,” published March […]

The president of the Solar Energy Industries Association on March 17 said the solar industry is seeing “a pretty significant crisis” along with the overall economy due to the global coronavirus pandemic, as the situation likely will limit growth in the solar sector this year. Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the SEIA, told […]

Silicon Valley-based SunPower on March 16 said it has secured grid capacity for about 11 MW of power after a winning bid in ISO New England’s 14th Forward Capacity Auction (FCA), in which companies predict the cost of making power in 2023. The auction, which closed in February, saw a record low price of $2 […]

Energy Harbor Corp., the new name for the former FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) after FES’s bankruptcy, on March 13 said its Beaver Valley nuclear plant in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, will remain open. FES in March 2018 had told state regulators it would close the plant in 2021 because it was no longer economic to operate. Energy Harbor […]