Early last month, Governor Eliot Spitzer and Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo—both New York Democrats—asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to reject Entergy Nuclear’s application to extend the…
Power
Monthly Issue | January 15, 2008
Dominion applies for new Virginia reactor In late November, Dominion became the third power company to formally propose building what would be the first new U.S. nuclear unit in more…
INSTRUMENTATION & CONTROL Single-window control of CHP plant’s energy converters In February 2005, APS Energy Services and its Northwind Phoenix subsidiary together began building a gas-fired combined heat and power…
The U.S. Congress continues to debate proposals that would mandate that a set amount of the nation’s electricity come from renewable energy sources such as wind, the sun, or biomass.…
Predicting the U.S. power industry’s 2008 performance requires understanding how utilities and other plant developers respond to risk and uncertainty. Three years ago, mercury controls had the undivided attention of…
Continued economic growth in the U.S. over the next several years will inevitably drive growth in electricity consumption (Figure 1). Meeting the projected 40% increase in national demand by 2030…
When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water,” wrote Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard’s Almanac (1746). Power plant owners are becoming very familiar with that economic lesson. The…
Extending the economic operating life of aging steam plants remains a priority at many utilities, given the challenge of obtaining permits for new generation and the lower cost of life-extension…
Modern equipment can be sensitive to brief disturbances on utility power mains. Electrical systems are subject to a wide variety of power quality problems that can interrupt production processes, affect…
Despite all the hype over the past few years about the potential devastation caused by large-scale baby boomer retirements, recent studies say that age is responsible for only 15% of…