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The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday declined to reconsider a ruling that voided a permit to build the John W. Turk., Jr. power plant—the nation’s first ultrasupercritical pulverized coal power plant. Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) now says it will continue construction of the plant that is 28% complete under an option to sell power in other markets.

President Obama’s meeting with 23 senators of both parties at the White House on Tuesday appears not to have moved either side on comprehensive energy and climate legislation. But from various reports, a new bill being drafted by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), which seeks to limit a cap-and-trade program to just the utility sector, seems to gaining traction in Washington.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) last week introduced legislation to promote the domestic production of rare earth elements—metals and their compounds that are used in high-temperature superconducting technologies, windmills, and battery technologies. China currently controls a majority of that market.

A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that examines the future of natural gas through 2050 from the perspectives of technology, economics, and politics concludes that natural gas will play a leading role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the next few decade if older, inefficient coal plants are replaced with modern combined-cycle gas generation.

China’s Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGNPC) plans to start commercial operation of a nuclear reactor at the Ling Ao II nuclear power plant this October. The reactor will be the 12th to supply power to China. A second unit is set to begin operation in 2011.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced final disapproval of the flexible permit program that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) had submitted for inclusion in its clean-air implementation plan, saying that the program “does not meet several national Clean Air Act requirements.” The move is the latest in an escalating dispute between the federal agency and the state over air pollution rules.

The past week brought varied reports from Washington on the status of comprehensive climate change and energy bills. Unable to gain votes to pass the much-publicized American Power Act, Senate Democrats are considering scaling back the economy-wide bill to just the utility sector. Meanwhile, individual senators are stepping up efforts to push one bill that restrains the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases from stationary sources and another that establishes a so-called “cap-and-dividend” program.

The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) on Monday issued an order denying Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.’s (BGE’s) application to deploy smart meters to all its customers because ratepayers would be saddled with financial and technological risks. The move “deeply disappointed, frustrated, and frankly surprised” the utility, because the smart grid project had received a $200 million federal stimulus grant from the Department of Energy last October—the largest amount awarded to a utility.

Southern Co. on Friday said it had agreed to terms with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for $8.3 billion in loan guarantees to build two AP1000 nuclear reactors at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Burke, Ga. The conditional commitment could accelerate the start of construction for the first U.S. nuclear plant in more than 30 years.

The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) underwent an overhaul at a meeting last week in Accra, Ghana. Transformative changes reflect global developments that have occurred since the partnership was established in 2007, and include a new name—the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation—and a new mission statement.