News

Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp. has dropped the price of several assets as it continues to work toward closing a deal to sell five of the company’s natural gas-fired power plants, along with a hydroelectric facility, to an equity group that specializes in energy investments. FirstEnergy this week said it had cut the price of the facilities […]

A group has launched a new wave of cyberattacks aimed at severely disrupting operations in the European and North American energy sectors, IT security firm Symantec warns. Dragonfly, a group that has been in operation since at least 2011, has re-emerged over the past two years, the firm said in an official blog posting on […]

Utility workers from across the country have been in Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, and crews are now staging in Florida in preparation for Hurricane Irma as the storm crosses the Caribbean, with officials expecting property damage and power outages from the massive tropical system. Crews from several areas are converging on the […]

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

Canadian Solar Expands Solar Power in Japan. Canadian Solar in July started commercial operation of its latest group of photovoltaic solar power plants in Japan as it continues to build its solar presence in

The Drax Group operates the UK’s largest power station, and in a country where government leaders have said all coal generation needs to be retired by 2025, Drax is moving forward with plans to convert its

The combination of solar power and water is in use around the world, with various solar arrays placed on lakes to provide renewable energy from the sun. However, a project in Portugal has found a new way to

The potential financial benefits from Industry 4.0 are apparent to plant owners in almost all sectors. The wind power industry is no exception, and existing vendors such as GE (Predix/Digital Windfarm)

Unit 3 at the Grand River Energy Center in Chouteau, Oklahoma, was the Grand River Dam Authority’s first construction project in 30 years. Yet, the team put this distinct project—one of the largest and

A partnership between one of the nation’s largest utilities and one of the world’s largest construction contractors resulted in the 1,100-MW Paradise Combined Cycle Plant in Drakesboro, Kentucky, next door

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

Georgia Power’s plan to continue construction of its Vogtle nuclear expansion project comes with changes among the contractors, with Bechtel taking over the lead and Fluor Corp., which has long served as a subcontractor, on its way out. Both companies bid to take over construction after Westinghouse Electric, the designer and principal contractor for the […]

A partnership of companies seeking to build twin AP1000 reactors as part of the Vogtle nuclear expansion in Georgia will seek to complete the project, even as costs could surge well beyond $20 billion. Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power on August 31 said the Vogtle project owners—Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia […]

Harvey—a massive weather system, which has so far killed 38 people, displaced thousands of others, and caused widespread flooding in Texas—downed 7.6-GW of generation resource capacity, along with two major 345-kV transmission lines and 85 other high-voltage transmission lines serving the Gulf Coast. As of 1 p.m. on August 30—about four days and 18 hours […]

Two workers are dead after a pipe ruptured as they were performing maintenance at an underground enclosure at FirstEnergy Corp.’s coal-fired Bruce Mansfield power plant in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. Four other workers were transported to medical facilities, suffering injuries after they were overcome by fumes released by the pipe rupture, Pennsylvania State Police confirmed. FirstEnergy said […]

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 […]

The Levy County Nuclear Plant is officially off the table in a new settlement agreement between Duke Energy and the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC). The writing has long been on the wall for the plant; Duke in 2013 announced the termination of the engineering, procurement, and construction agreement for the facility. According to a […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has available up to $100 million in cost-shared funding for large-scale transformational coal technologies pilot projects.  According to an August 24 funding opportunity announcement (FOA), the money will be distributed in three phases. “The purpose of this FOA is to seek applications for projects to design, construct, and operate large-scale […]

A Houston-based microgrid company has used its on-site generators and underground natural gas pipeline system to enable H-E-B grocery stores in the Houston area to remain open despite power outages and massive flooding during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Texas utilities have reported more than 300,000 customers have been without power at various […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) new grid study is based on analyses of federal government data collected between 2002 and 2017, a period it notes fostered critical developments in the nation’s power sector. Here are some of report’s most thought-provoking charts. [gss ids=”109885,109881,109883,109877,109865,109867,109869,109875,109873,109871″] For an in-depth analysis about the DOE’s grid study, see: DOE Grid Study Points Finger […]

In a long-awaited study of electricity markets and grid reliability, the Department of Energy has called out natural gas as the No. 1 reason for retirements of coal and nuclear plants, breaking from the Trump administration’s prior talking point blaming regulations and renewables for the nation’s shrinking coal and nuclear fleets. The report attributes four […]

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) much-anticipated study on grid resilience and reliability elicited immediate chatter from a variety of industry stakeholders, from power generators and trade groups to environmental and clean energy advocates. The 187-page study essentially notes that unprecedented changes are transforming the electricity industry. Over the past 15 years, market forces—namely, cheap natural […]

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 lawsuit filed in South Carolina wants state-owned utility Santee Cooper to sell the parts from a coal-fired power plant project it suspended in 2009, saying customers should receive the proceeds as payback for Santee Cooper raising residential and commercial rates after the project was stopped. Conway, S.C., attorney George Hearn Jr. filed the lawsuit […]

A settlement Mississippi Power reached on August 21 with stakeholders of the Kemper County facility will ensure customers won’t be subjected to rate increases associated with the now-abandoned gasification portion of the project. While that will affect revenues, the resolution could soften controversy surrounding the project and avoid protracted legal and financial turmoil, the company […]

Houston-based Calpine Corp., which confirmed in July it was looking for a buyer, announced August 18 it has agreed to be bought by Energy Capital Partners (ECP) in a $5.6 billion deal. ECP is a private equity firm that focuses on investments in North American energy infrastructure. The purchasing group also includes a consortium of […]

Final rules issued by Massachusetts agencies to help the state meet its stringent climate goals will require 21 in-state power plants to tamp down their carbon emissions annually. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) last week published a set of six rules designed to complement an […]

Exelon could begin construction as soon as next week on an expansion of its 135-MW West Medway oil-fired peaking plant in West Medway, Massachusetts. The company’s plan to add two units and 200 MW of generation to the existing three-unit facility was deliberated for 29 months by state and local officials before a state board […]

The December 2015 extension of the federal production tax credit (PTC) for wind power brought on a massive push for wind energy generation, according to the Department of Energy’s 2016 Wind Technologies Market Report. Nationwide, 8,203 MW of new capacity was added in 2016 and $13 billion was invested. “Supported by favorable tax policy and […]