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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to release new air quality standards for coal-fired power plants this month. Division in the power industry is encouraging the EPA to set an unachievable compliance timetable.

When sootblower operation frequency is too high, a plant risks losing power generation from tube leaks; but when sootblower frequency is too low, there is a risk of boiler pluggage. Intelligent sootblowing finds the right balance between tube erosion and plant economic operation.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) earlier this month issued a proposal to revise the methodology for calculating rental rates for the use of government lands by hydropower projects. Under the proposal, FERC-regulated hydropower licensees must compensate the federal government for the use of federal lands, significantly increasing annual charges for many hydropower projects occupying federal lands.

Google, the Internet search giant that has invested millions in solar power technology, last week quietly abandoned a four-year-old project to make renewable power cheaper than coal-fired power. The company, which cited the recent dramatic decline of photovoltaic panel prices and design limitations, said other institutions were “better positioned” to take research to the “next level.”

SolarCity Corp., a solar power company that lost a $344 million conditional loan guarantee from the Department of Energy (DOE) in the political rumpus following the Solyndra’s failure, today announced it would move ahead with an ambitious five-year plan to build more than $1 billion in solar power projects for privatized U.S. military housing communities across the country.

The cumulative impact of rules proposed and finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could, over the next six years, stress the nation’s power grid "in ways never before experienced," the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) warns in a new report.

The FutureGen Alliance, a nonprofit coalition of coal producers, coal users, and coal equipment suppliers, on Monday said it was negotiating an option to buy portions of the Meredosia Energy Center in Illinois from Ameren Corp. to continue development of the FutureGen 2.0 carbon capture and storage project, an initiative begun in 2003.

Illinois’ Senate on Tuesday revived Tenaska’s plan to build its $3.5 billion Taylorville Energy Center (TEC), a 602-MW integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant designed to capture more than 50% of its carbon emissions.

Dominion Virginia Power on Friday began the restart of North Anna Power Station after garnering the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) permission and more than two months of inspections, testing and engineering, and seismic analysis to investigate effects of the Aug. 23 5.8-magnitude quake whose epicenter was only about 11 miles away from the company’s twin-reactor station in Mineral, Va.

A survey of 50 energy experts released on Tuesday by economists at The Brattle Group reveals that energy efficiency is likely to cause a drop of 5% to 15% in U.S. electricity consumption by the year 2020, relative to forecast trends. Electric peak demand is likely to drop by 7.5% to 15% and natural gas consumption is expected to drop by 5% to 10% compared to forecast trends.