News

The nation’s 99 nuclear plants produce about 19% of the country’s power, but they also contribute about $60 billion annually to gross domestic product (GDP), a new Brattle Group report finds.  The report, “The Nuclear Industry’s Contribution to the U.S. Economy,” prepared for pro-nuclear group Nuclear Matters says, “Several factors are at play that may […]

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy remains firm in her resolve to create a landmark rule to reduce carbon emissions from power plants later this year. Speaking at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington, D.C., during an event sponsored by AREVA and hosted by The Christian Science Monitor, McCarthy said, “Last week’s ruling will […]

Mississippi Power must rebate $281 million in funds collected since 2013 for rate increases related to the lignite-fired power plant under construction in Kemper County, the Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) ordered on Tuesday.  The state regulatory body also ordered the company and its parent company Southern Co. to stop collecting Kemper’s rate on customer […]

Five of Germany’s largest lignite power plants will be mothballed to allow the country that is already phasing out nuclear power to meet ambitious climate goals by 2020.  In what it called a “milestone decision,” the government on July 2 agreed to scrap plans to impose a controversial—and by some accounts, illegal—climate tax for conventional […]

A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals surprising aspects about how federal subsidies for electricity have been distributed, how the power generation mix has shifted, and how consumption has transformed since 2001.  The June 29–released report, “Generation Mix has Shifted, and Growth in Consumption has Slowed, Affecting System Operations and Prices,” responds […]

Thirteen states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the recently finalized Clean Water Rule, which they say illegally puts the federal government in charge of a majority of water and land resources in the U.S.  North Dakota, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, […]

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, PREPA, Wednesday made a $415 million payment to its creditors (mostly hedge fund investors), avoiding a default and giving the troubled government-owned utility more time to work out a deal to restructure its $9 billion debt. Had the utility defaulted, according to financial experts, it could have triggered the default […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) released details from its security inspection program for commercial nuclear power reactors and Category I fuel cycle facilities, finding only one “failure to protect designated target set components effectively” during the 23 NRC-evaluated force-on-force (FOF) exercises conducted in 2014. Although not perfect, the marks are far better than inspection results […]

China on June 29 submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) for reducing carbon emissions to the United Nations in preparation for the COP21 climate negotiations in Paris later this year. The INDCs are formal pledges toward a hoped-for binding agreement. The Chinese pledge builds on its November agreement with the U.S. In its INDC, […]

Wind is no longer a niche alternative energy industry, American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) CEO Tom Kiernan told attendees at WINDPOWER 2015.  Despite policy hurdles, the wind sector has seen exponential growth and formidable cost reductions; it has the government’s endorsement for a low-carbon future; and it’s making up an ever-larger share of the nation’s […]

In a 5–4 decision announced on June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) rules limiting mercury and other hazardous air pollutants released from power plants. In April 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), ruling in a 2–1 decision […]

A bill that would halt the Clean Power Plan’s compliance deadlines until litigation on the rule has been completed has passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a 247–180 vote.  The Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 2042) now goes to the Senate, where the GOP is working on a similar measure to suspend the Environmental Protection […]

Several Arizona and New Mexico–based utilities will be required to install pollution controls at the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant to curb sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) under a settlement reached with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department. The settlement involves the Arizona Public Service Co. (APS), the operator and primary […]

The last of three conditional commitments offered by the Department of Energy (DOE) to the coalition building two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia was finalized on June 24, allowing the project to be fully financed.  Since it conditionally offered $8.33 billion in loan guarantees in 2010, the DOE has issued $6.5 billion in guarantees […]

Several major nuclear announcements surfaced from around the world this week. South Korea plans to retire its oldest nuclear reactor early, Nigeria selected two sites for the construction of four nuclear reactors, while Pakistan approved the construction of two China-assisted reactors.  KHNP Moves to Retire Kori 1 Early  Amid growing concerns about the safety of […]

With plans already approved for the closure of 12 of its coal ash basins, Duke Energy on June 23 recommended the full excavation of 12 additional basins located in North Carolina. The company proposed excavating five basins each at its Cape Fear Plant in Moncure and its H.F. Lee Plant in Goldsboro. Additionally, it recommended […]

Taking action on climate change could reduce electricity demand between 1.1% and 4% and save the U.S. $10 billion to $34 billion in power system costs by 2050, says a new report released by the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) touting the U.S. economic, health, and environmental benefits of global climate action.  […]

SaskPower, the Saskatchewan provincial utility that made history last year by developing the first full-scale post-combustion carbon capture retrofit for an operating coal-fired power plant, has taken the next step in fostering development of the technology. Its Carbon Capture Test Facility (CCTF) has officially been launched in Estevan, Saskatchewan. The June 18 launch was attended […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) first-ever national standards for the disposal of coal ash are ridden with complications, warned witnesses at a Senate oversight hearing.  The June 17 hearing before the full Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) featured five witnesses representing a coalition of state environmental agency leaders, the American Coal Ash Association, […]

At least 25 of the European Union’s (EU’s) 28 member nations are on track to meet renewable energy targets, putting the bloc well on its way to meet its legally binding target of producing 20% of its energy with renewables by 2020, a new report shows.  The European Commission’s (EC’s) 2015 report released on June […]

Southern Co. announced on June 16 that construction has been completed on a new FLEX dome—a structure built to house emergency equipment needed to respond to an extreme external event—at its Vogtle nuclear plant. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requiring U.S. nuclear plants to build protected structures like the FLEX dome in response to […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed ozone rule came under scrutiny in two U.S. House of Representatives hearings held during the past week.  The House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on energy and power on June 12 heard testimony on the rule from Janet McCabe, the EPA’s acting assistant administrator for the Office of […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 4 released a draft assessment of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on the nation’s water supplies, concluding that there was no evidence of widespread impacts but conceding that data on the subject is limited. The assessment, conducted at the request of Congress, follows water used for […]

At the annual Power-Gen Europe Conference held in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven called for greater leadership as Europe tackles de-carbonization, distributed energy, and market integration. She began her presentation by highlighting one of the biggest changes to Europe’s power markets: The May 20 decision to […]

What separates investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and public power companies these days? Less than you might imagine. In early June, while the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the trade association for IOUs, was holding its annual meeting in New Orleans, I was in Minneapolis at the annual conference of the American Public Power Association (APPA), which represents […]

The D.C. Circuit rejected challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed carbon rules for existing power plants, ruling that it has no authority to review rules that aren’t yet final.  “Petitioners are champing at the bit to challenge EPA’s anticipated rule restricting carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. But EPA has not yet […]

Ten projects selected on June 8 to receive funding through the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s (NETL’s) Advanced Combustion Systems Program could lower costs and improve the performance of combustion systems that generate power with near-zero emissions, the Department of Energy (DOE) said.  The projects, which are mostly based on oxycombustion and chemical looping, include the […]

Tesla and energy storage firm Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) on June 4 announced a deal for 500 MWh of storage capacity using Tesla’s utility-scale Powerpack batteries, which it introduced last month. A portion of the contract—50 MW, 200 MWh—will go toward meeting AMS’s commitment with Southern California Edison (SCE) under the utility’s procurement deal last […]

The Department of Interior (DOI) has approved the first three solar energy projects from its Western Solar Plan. The projects total 440 MW and will be built on public lands in Clark County, Nev.  Under the Western Solar Plan, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has designated 19 solar energy zones covering roughly 298,000 acres […]

China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. (SNPTC)—general contractor of the first four AP1000 units being built in China—and China Power Investment Corp. officially announced a merger in a move to reinforce the country’s plans to eventually export reactors. The new company, State Power Investment Corp., will own assets worth more than $112.94 billion. SNPTC was […]