News

The Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will on July 31 put up for auction 164,750 acres offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts for commercial wind energy leasing. The auction will be the first ever competitive lease sale for renewable energy on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and it marks "the true beginning of an offshore wind market" in the U.S., experts said.

A 660-MW underground and underwater transmission project linking Ridgefield, N.J., and Manhattan in New York City began operations on Monday.

Oil Filtration Systems introduced a new series of oil purification equipment to remove varnish from hydraulic and lubrication oils. By utilizing the two leading varnish mitigation technologies, a single varnish removal system (VRS) can remove either soluble varnish or suspended varnish from oil. VRS equipment employs granular adsorbent media to remove soluble varnish found in […]

Equalizer International introduced SWi range, what it claims is the “world’s most powerful flange spreading wedges.” Designed to decrease downtime and provide a safe, efficient, and cost-effective way to access and spread flange joints, the tools are capable of generating a spreading force of up to 25T and the SWi range includes a hydraulic (SWi20/25TE), […]

ESAB Welding & Cutting Products introduced three models of the new Swift Arc series of pre-engineered, robotic welding cells: Swift Arc AL (angle-load), Swift Arc FL (front-load), and Swift Arc SL (side-load) robot cells. Each system is an economic configuration for a complete work cell and is ideal for job shops introducing robotics to their […]

HD Electric Co.’s new single-range TAG-200, multi-range TAG-200MR, and single-range TAG-330 are electronic voltage detectors designed for detecting distribution and transmission voltages. These direct contact type detectors emit both audible and visual indications when placed in contact with an energized conductor. TAGs are designed for overhead and underground applications with optional underground bushing probes. (HDElectricCompany.com)

Alliance Sensors Group launched the MR Series of linear position sensors for use in measuring the ram position of hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders. The MR Series is designed to be a drop-in form, fit, and function replacement for magnetostrictive sensors but with much more robust construction and a lower cost of ownership, specifically targeting port-mounted […]

NLB Corp. introduced the MGV24-1200, a new multi-gun valve that allows two or more high-pressure water jet lances (or other accessories) to be operated from the same 24,000 psi pump unit and can be rebuilt in the field in just five minutes. The MGV24-1200 can be used with any dump-style lance, and the lances can […]

Have you ever experienced a restaurant menu overflowing with so many tasty entrées that making your selection seemed an impossible decision? Your deliberation probably ended when the waiter began tapping a pen on his order pad and your dinner-mates gave you the evil eye. Picking a commentary topic each month is much like scanning the dinner menu. There are usually many topics that deserve a good slice and dice, but it’s the deadline that forces a decision.

Jon Wellinghoff, chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), announced on Tuesday that he would resign after a seven-year-long tenure at the gas and power market regulator.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Tuesday called for a federal investigation to determine whether Southern California Edison (SCE) intentionally misled regulators regarding the installation of faulty steam generators at the beleaguered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is buying NV Energy Inc. for $23.75 a share in cash, or around $5.6 billion. The companies said the deal was unanimously approved by both boards of directors and could be completed in the first quarter of 2014, pending shareholder approval as well as approval by state and federal regulators.

The D.C. Circuit Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by Sunflower Electric Power Corp. of a ruling requiring environmental review of Sunflower’s proposed 875-MW coal-fired power plant in Holcomb, Kansas.

A new bill introduced in the Senate seeks to encourage the development of renewable power and lower consumer costs through the deployment of energy storage technologies.

A promising new approach to securing communications networks from cyber crime uses quantum cryptography. Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) have developed a system that could be used for critical infrastructure control systems, including those at power plants.

An updated fracking rule proposed by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) last week maintains a number of requirements from a previous draft—including that well operators should disclose all chemicals used in fracturing activities on public lands—but it will improve integration with state and tribal standards and increase compliance flexibility, the agency said.

The full Senate last week confirmed Ernest Moniz as Energy Secretary while a divided Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) voted 10–8 to send the nomination of Gina McCarthy as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. Republicans agreed to lift their boycott on the McCarthy vote only after the EPA agreed to meet a number of transparency commitments.

Cost overruns of nearly $1 billion to build the 582-MW Kemper integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant in Kemper County, Miss., were underscored on Monday as Mississippi Power’s Board of Directors took the dramatic step of replacing the Southern Co. subsidiary’s leadership.

A carbon tax or cap-and-trade programs could raise trillions of dollars within the first 10 years of their enactment and avert climate change effects, but without accounting for how these revenues will be used, they could take a toll on the U.S. economy, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says in a report released on Tuesday.

Panelists at a House hearing on Tuesday held to examine steps the federal government and private sector are taking to bolster the nation’s critical infrastructure security shed light on the extent and variety of possible cyberattacks and called for flexible solutions. The hearing was held days after the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released its initial analysis of hundreds of comments submitted in response to President Obama’s February 2013 cybersecurity executive order.

The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), in a special reliability assessment released on Wednesday, called for a number of changes to address the increased reliance on natural gas for power generation, among them incorporating gas availability and gas supply issues into electric reliability assessments.

A final rule issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Thursday orders the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) to develop, by the end of the year, reliability standards that address the impact of geomagnetic disturbances (GMD) on the nation’s bulk power system. Those standards will likely require generators and grid operators to develop and implement operational procedures and conduct continuing assessments on equipment to mitigate GMD effects.

Freeport LNG Expansion LP and FLNG Liquefaction LLC received conditional authorization on May 17 to export U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Freeport LNG Terminal on Quintana Island, Texas, making it the second project to receive federal approval. Meanwhile, Canada is considering a proposed LNG export terminal in British Columbia.

Plans to build an 873-MW natural gas peaking facility at FirstEnergy’s Eastlake Plant in Ohio have been frozen on uncertainties that affect project financing—including the federal "sequester"—its developers FirstEnergy and American Municipal Power (AMP) said last week.

Sempra U.S. Gas & Power dedicated the first 150-MW phase of the 4,000-acre Mesquite Solar facility in Maricopa County, Ariz., on Friday. Potential to build out up to 700 MW of nameplate capacity could make the photovoltaic (PV) complex one of the biggest in the U.S.

In a report released on Monday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) presents data on energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for each state by year, fuel, sector, and other breakouts for the years 2000 through 2010.

A three-judge panel of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) Atomic Safety Licensing Board (ASLB) on Tuesday ruled that Southern California Edison (SCE) cannot restart Unit 2 of its shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) until the NRC holds a formal license amendment proceeding with full public participation.

Westinghouse and China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. (SNPTC) have teamed to further develop a supply chain within China for power plant equipment and components to be used in global AP1000 nuclear power plants.

A software algorithm developed by researchers from North Carolina State University promises to detect and isolate cyber attacks on networked control systems.

A three-judge panel at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit that alleges carbon dioxide emissions by several power companies contributed to global warming that intensified Hurricane Katrina.