News

Cross-border trade in energy—electricity, natural gas, and oil—has been an unanticipated boon to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, exceeding $140 billion in 2015. The Trump administration’s antipathy toward

When it comes to the Clean Power Plan (CPP), the tables have turned, but the arguments are largely the same. On November 28 and 29, during the Trump administration’s only public hearing on its plan to repeal the CPP, an Obama-era regulation aimed at reducing carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, old arguments for and […]

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) wants to sell Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility, even as state lawmakers discuss how to deal with the group’s involvement in the abandoned V.C. Summer nuclear project. Lawmakers also disagree with who should advise the state on a possible sale. Leaders of South Carolina’s House and Senate have hired […]

The bell has tolled for another U.S. coal-fired power plant. WEC Energy Group on November 28 said it would shutter its Pleasant Prairie facility in Wisconsin, another victim of energy market dynamics that include low natural gas prices, falling demand for electricity, and the continuing move by utilities toward renewable power generation sources such as […]

A decision by the Canadian province of Ontario to refurbish 10 units at the Bruce and Darlington nuclear generating stations (BNGS and DNGS) and extend the life of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station (PNGS) will likely provide a low-risk means of supplying residents low-emission, low-cost electricity, according to a November 21 report published by the […]

A U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysis of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2015 from U.S. coal consumption shows 43 states recorded lower emissions year-over-year, with just four states showing increased levels, while three states and the District of Columbia had little to no emissions. On the whole, the EIA report released in mid-November comparing […]

The fate of Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E’s) Diablo Canyon Power Plant is expected to be decided by year-end, with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) set to hear final arguments about the plant’s future on November 28. The 2.2-GW nuclear plant has operated near Avila Beach, California, since 1985. A judge in early November […]

Weak earnings associated with General Electric’s (GE’s) underperforming $10.1 billion investment in Alstom have prompted the giant conglomerate to rejigger its power business and lean more heavily on other segments. GE Power, the company’s long-standing and lucrative business unit that has installed 1.6 GW of the world’s installed capacity over its 125-year history, has also […]

U.S. utilities continue to announce closures of financially troubled and older coal-fired power plants even as government officials work on a bailout plan to keep them operating. Owners of a coal plant in Montana that has only been online since 2006 informed the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) last week of plans to shutter the […]

Siemens has announced it will cut 6,900 jobs, about half of them in Germany, over the next “several years” as the company consolidates its three power-related divisions. The November 16 announcement comes just days after U.S. power giant GE announced its own restructuring plan. Lisa Davis, a member of Siemens managing board, said in a […]