Latest

  • NYISO: RGGI Has Not Caused GHG Increases in Nonparticipating States from Increased Imports

    A study conducted by the New York Independent System Operator Inc. (NYISO) to evaluate whether the cost of compliance with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)—a regional cap-and-trade program—has caused an increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in neighboring non-RGGI areas such as Pennsylvania concluded RGGI has not caused an increase in emissions or significantly affected the pattern of power supply.

  • USDA Approves $2.1B in Loans for Rural Power and Infrastructure Projects

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Thursday announced approvals of loans worth $2.1 billion to 43 projects in 27 states that would help rural electric utilities build and upgrade infrastructure in rural America.

  • India Sees Tight Power Supplies Amid Severe Coal Shortages

    Heavy rain in key mining areas in India has caused a critical coal shortage and restricted supplies to several major coal-fired power plants in the nation that fuels 55% of its power capacity with coal.

  • NextEra Commissions 5-MW Concentrating Solar PV Facility

    NextEra Energy Resources today powered up the 5-MW Hatch Solar Center, in Hatch, N.M., a project it says is the largest operating concentrating photovoltaic solar power plant in North America.

  • 25 States Ask Federal Court to Delay EPA Utility MACT Rule

    Twenty-five states and the U.S. Territory of Guam on Monday filed an amicus brief and urged a federal court to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to delay its proposed Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology (Utility MACT) rule by one year, until at least Nov. 16, 2012. The EPA has said it is on track to finalize the rule this November.

  • Finnish EPR Project Delayed Again

    The start of operations at the Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima’s (TVO’s) Olkiluoto 3 nuclear power plant, Europe’s first EPR, which is under construction in Finland, could be postponed until 2014. The $4 billion project, originally due to come online in 2009, is years behind schedule and has been consistently plagued with faulty materials and planning problems since construction began in 2005.

  • Georgia, Xcel Join Growing List of Entities Legally Challenging EPA’s CSAPR

    Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens on Thursday filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), which was finalized by the EPA this summer. On Monday, Xcel Energy also filed suit against the EPA, asking the agency to reconsider its methodology for calculating allowable emissions.

  • DOE Stops Short of Delegating Transmission Siting Authority to FERC

    Instead of transferring to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) its authority to conduct congestion studies and establish a process for designating national transmission corridors under section 216 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), as it was considering last month, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the Department of Energy would work “more closely” with FERC in reviewing new transmission projects.

  • New England Grid Faces Myriad Challenges Amid Changing Power Sector Landscape

    An analysis released by ISO New England on Thursday identifies several challenges that could dramatically change New England’s grid, including the retirement of generators and the integration of renewable resources.

  • PPL to Build New Line, Substations in Pennsylvania

    PPL Electric Utilities on Tuesday said it would build 57 miles of a new 230-kV power line from the Wilkes-Barre area in Pennsylvania to an area west of Hawley, Wayne County, as well as three new substations to improve service for homes and businesses in northeast Pennsylvania and the Poconos.