News

Following a 26-month environmental and safety review, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week approved a 20-year license extension for the NextEra Energy Duane Arnold Energy Center (DAEC) near Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

One of the key updates in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s early release reference case for its 2011 Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) was an update of anticipated power plant capital costs that is good news for solar power and bad news for nuclear power.

On Thursday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted 9-1 to adopt a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that is scheduled to start in 2012. The program will affect power plants and other industrial facilities that emit carbon dioxide.

On Dec. 20, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is proposing actions under the greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting program to address issues about the public availability of certain data that some businesses may consider to be confidential. The total emissions for each facility is still required to be reported to the EPA and released to the public.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced yesterday that it had finalized a $1.45 billion loan guarantee for building Abengoa Solar’s Solana, the world’s largest parabolic trough concentrating solar plant (CSP). The 250-MW project in Arizona will require a total investment of around $2 billion.

Advocates and developers of renewable power in the U.S. got an early Christmas present late Dec. 16 when the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in passing a one-year extension of the Department of Treasury Section 1603 tax grant program (TGP) as part of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010.

It appears as if owners of industrial boilers, heaters, and solid waste incinerators may get a reprieve from new, more stringent emissions rules, which were  expected to be put into effect in January.

On Dec. 8, Exelon COO Chris Crane announced that the company will operate the Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey until 2019, after which the plant will retire. That makes it an early retirement, as the plant is federally licensed to operate until 2029.

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) expressed disappointment on Monday at the dismissal by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit of the association’s suit against the Department of Energy’s continued assessment of nuclear waste fees. However, it noted that the court did leave a window open for future action.

On Thursday,  Duke Energy Indiana, the Indiana Utility Consumer Counselor, the Duke Energy Indiana Industrial Group, and Nucor Steel jointly notified the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) that they are withdrawing their Sept. 17 settlement on cost increases associated with Duke Energy’s Edwardsport coal gasification power plant near Vincennes, Ind. The parties agreed to enter into new settlement negotiations.