Latest
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O&M
Simplify Outage Planning to Increase Collaboration
Many elaborate planning tools are available to help managers prepare for power plant outages. However, there is something to be said for keeping things simple. One modest tool that some NRG Energy facilities
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O&M
The Oft-Neglected Isolated Phase Bus Deserves Your Attention
A power plant’s isolated phase bus is generally reliable, and therefore, maintenance is frequently overlooked. However, the system is too important to neglect. Assessing its condition during minor outages
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Connected Plant
Cybersecurity: Keeping Current on a Moving Target
What it means to have a secure energy generating facility has changed in recent years as the threat of cyberattacks grows. As the nation’s energy sector becomes increasingly interconnected, it is more
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Legal & Regulatory
U.S. Nuclear: From Hope to Despair
A decade ago, the annual Platts nuclear energy conference in Washington was brimming with optimism over a coming “nuclear renaissance,” as licensing requests poured into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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Commentary
Reports of the Electric Grid’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
There have been numerous pronouncements recently about the upcoming demise of the bulk power grid as consumers are projected to move toward decentralized green energy sources. We don’t believe that the end
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IIOT Power
New Approaches for Transformer Operation and Maintenance
Technology advancements and new regulatory requirements could reshape how power plant owners operate and maintain large power transformers. Experts outline emerging strategies and call attention to overlooked
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Renewables
Growth of Solar Power in China Offers Lessons for U.S., Study Says
The U.S. should capitalize on China’s formidable experience to put its own domestic solar power sector on a more “economically sensible” path, researchers from Stanford University said in a new report. The March 21–released report, “The New Solar System,” which was funded by a research grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), offers a […]
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Coal
States Not Obligated to Spend Resources on Clean Power Plan Compliance, Pruitt Says
State governors are not obligated to spend resources to comply with the Clean Power Plan, which has been stayed by the Supreme Court, a “guidance” letter from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt says. The three-paragraph letter, dated March 30, notes that the Supreme Court set a “precedent” when it stayed the rule governing […]
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Nuclear
How Westinghouse, Symbol of U.S. Nuclear Power, Collapsed
Crippled by financial setbacks stemming from the half-built AP1000 reactor projects in Georgia and South Carolina, Westinghouse Electric Co., a company with a storied legacy symbolic of American nuclear power, has taken the desperate step of filing for bankruptcy protection. While owners of the two nuclear construction projects are monitoring the situation, the development could […]
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Environmental
Climate Science Hearing Devolves into “Food Fight”
In a somewhat combative hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee on March 29, scientists with varied views on the subject of climate change debated how the research of climate change skeptics should be handled by the scientific community. The hearing frequently descended into personal attacks between the four witnesses […]