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For more than 20 years, I have been championing the use of fuel cell powered cars to connect the natural gas distribution network of this country with the electric distribution network, making them partners in

Independent System Operator-New England celebrated its 20th anniversary last July with a solid record in its energy and capacity markets, turning around a fragmented regional electric system. Can it repeat

Georgia Power’s plan to continue construction of its Vogtle nuclear expansion project comes with changes among the contractors, with Bechtel taking over the lead and Fluor Corp., which has long served as a subcontractor, on its way out. Both companies bid to take over construction after Westinghouse Electric, the designer and principal contractor for the […]

A partnership of companies seeking to build twin AP1000 reactors as part of the Vogtle nuclear expansion in Georgia will seek to complete the project, even as costs could surge well beyond $20 billion. Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power on August 31 said the Vogtle project owners—Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia […]

Harvey—a massive weather system, which has so far killed 38 people, displaced thousands of others, and caused widespread flooding in Texas—downed 7.6-GW of generation resource capacity, along with two major 345-kV transmission lines and 85 other high-voltage transmission lines serving the Gulf Coast. As of 1 p.m. on August 30—about four days and 18 hours […]

Two workers are dead after a pipe ruptured as they were performing maintenance at an underground enclosure at FirstEnergy Corp.’s coal-fired Bruce Mansfield power plant in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. Four other workers were transported to medical facilities, suffering injuries after they were overcome by fumes released by the pipe rupture, Pennsylvania State Police confirmed. FirstEnergy said […]

Xcel Energy on August 29 said it wants to retire 660 MW of coal-fired generation capacity as part of a “Colorado Energy Plan” that also includes adding as much as 1,700 MW of renewable energy and 700 MW of natural gas-fired power generation to its portfolio in the state. A key element of the proposal […]

The Levy County Nuclear Plant is officially off the table in a new settlement agreement between Duke Energy and the Florida Public Service Commission (FPSC). The writing has long been on the wall for the plant; Duke in 2013 announced the termination of the engineering, procurement, and construction agreement for the facility. According to a […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has available up to $100 million in cost-shared funding for large-scale transformational coal technologies pilot projects.  According to an August 24 funding opportunity announcement (FOA), the money will be distributed in three phases. “The purpose of this FOA is to seek applications for projects to design, construct, and operate large-scale […]

A Houston-based microgrid company has used its on-site generators and underground natural gas pipeline system to enable H-E-B grocery stores in the Houston area to remain open despite power outages and massive flooding during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Texas utilities have reported more than 300,000 customers have been without power at various […]