Latest

  • Respect Your Refractory

    Because refractory is out of sight inside the gas flow path of a steam generator and its auxiliaries, it’s also often out of mind. That is, until the refractory fails and causes a forced outage.

  • Power 101: Improving the Performance of Boiler Auxiliaries, Part III

    Efficient boiler operation requires boiler auxiliary equipment to operate in harmony. In this third and last installment of our Power 101 series, we examine ways to decrease the auxiliary power requirements of boiler auxiliaries.

  • House Panel Hustles Through Bill Blocking EPA Climate Rules

    In an anti-climactic markup that featured little new debate and no amendments by opposing Democrats, the House Energy and Power Subcommittee approved Republican legislation to block Obama administration action on climate change by stripping the Environmental Protection Agency of its Clean Air Act authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

  • EPA Requiring Three Oklahoma Coal Plants to Scrub or Use Gas

    In an unusual ultimatum, the Environmental Protection Agency said that it is proposing to take over visibility portions of the Oklahoma Clean Air Act implementation plan to require three coal-fired power plants in the state either to switch to natural gas or install sulfur dioxide scrubbers within three years.

  • Air Rules Could Risk 11% of PJM Generation

    Anticipated clean air regulations could force the retirement of as much as 19,000 MW of coal capacity in the Mid-Atlantic—or 11% of the region’s generation—unless power prices rise to levels that make operation of the plants profitable, according to the independent market monitor for PJM Interconnection.

  • Put the REINS on EPA

    The "Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny" Act could put the kibosh on the EPA’s greenhouse gas regulatory surge.

  • Bipartisan Policy Center: Grants for Wind, Solar More Effective Than Tax Credits

    As chief executives of 34 renewable energy companies urged congressional Republican and Democratic leaders to support the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program, a study released by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) suggests grants are a simpler and more effective way to help finance projects than tax credits.

  • GEA: 12% Geothermal Projects Under Development in 2011

    With geothermal power being produced in nine states—and with 123 projects across 15 states under development—the U.S. leads the world in geothermal energy production, a new report from the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) shows.

  • DOI Determines No Competitive Interest, Starts Offshore Wind Lease Process for Delaware Waters

    The Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) on Thursday said they had begun a process to offer Bluewater Wind Delaware the first commercial wind lease off the coast of Delaware under the “Smart from the Start” Atlantic Offshore Wind program.

  • California Assembly Passes 33% by 2020 RPS

    California’s Assembly on Tuesday passed a renewable energy mandate that would require the state’s power companies to generate 33%—up from the current 20%—of their power from renewable sources by 2020. The mandate is the most ambitious in the U.S.