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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 24 proposed to partially approve Georgia’s permit program for the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR). As it did so, it gave other states some advice: Follow Georgia’s lead and assume oversight of coal ash that power plants dispose within your borders. The preliminary approval marks another important […]

Danish renewables firm Ørsted’s 1.1-GW Ocean Wind project is the winner of New Jersey’s first award for offshore wind, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) said on June 21.  Ørsted, with support from Public Service Enterprise Group’s (PSEG’s) non-utility affiliate, vied for the award with two other offshore wind developers that submitted bids […]

A proposed 900-MW gas-fired power plant was rejected by Rhode Island regulators on June 20, leaving project developer Invenergy pondering its options for the planned facility in Burrillville. Rhode Island’s Energy Facility Siting Board, after a daylong hearing in Warwick, said the plant is not needed. Chicago, Illinois–based Invenergy can appeal the decision to the […]

Federal courts have been pretty kind to energy infrastructure in recent weeks, particularly in cases involving the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). For starters, this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit removed one of the hurdles to construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The court decided that a new presidential permit—issued […]

More than 2 million new solar PV installations were installed in the U.S. in the first three months of 2019—a new record for the first quarter of the year—according to the Wood Mackenzie/Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) U.S. Solar Market Insight report, which was released this week. Utilities led the way, installing 1.6 GWdc of […]

Authorities have initiated a far-reaching investigation into an unprecedented blackout that on June 16 hit a wide swath of South America—most of Argentina and Uruguay, and parts of Paraguay—affecting tens of millions of people.  The massive blackout—apagón—is thought to have originated in a disturbance that affected two high-voltage lines, Colonia Elia Y Mercedes and Colonia […]

Power plant SO2 and NOx emissions have decreased 92% and 84%, respectively, since Congress passed major amendments to the Clean Air Act in 1990. Meanwhile, mercury air emissions from power plants have decreased 90% since 2000, as federal limits on mercury and other hazardous air pollutants from coal-fired power plants went into effect in 2015. […]

A new report from BloombergNEF (BNEF) predicts about half of the world’s power will come from renewable resources, including solar and wind, by 2050. The group’s New Energy Outlook 2019, released June 18, noted the trend will be driven by falling prices for solar, wind, and battery storage, along with trillions of dollars of investments […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a final Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule to formally replace the Obama administration’s controversial Clean Power Plan (CPP).  Like the CPP, the June 19–issued final ACE rule will regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs), and it will be founded firmly on the agency’s 2009 Endangerment Finding. However, the ACE rule focuses […]

Siemens on June 18 said it would cut 2,700 jobs from its Gas and Power division, on top of 10,400 positions the German engineering firm last month said it would jettison as part of cost-cutting measures. The Siemens’ announcement comes one day after U.S.-based rival GE said it would cut 450 jobs at two of […]