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Electric cooperatives are poised to increase their use of electric water heaters as a demand response (DR) and energy storage tool in their service territories.

A national action plan issued by the White House seeks to take near-term actions to enhance cybersecurity awareness and protections, including investing more than $19 billion in resources for cybersecurity. The Cybersecurity National Action Plan (CNAP) announced on February 9 is the “capstone” of more than seven years of efforts by the Obama administration to tackle […]

Dealing a major blow to the Obama administration’s climate agenda, the U.S. Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote stayed implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan (CPP) pending a decision on its legality in the D.C Circuit Court of Appeals. The one-page order gives no explanation for the court’s action, but issuance […]

Duke Energy is considering the sale of all or most of its international power plants, about 4,400 MW dispersed throughout Central and South America. The company’s international business segment, Duke Energy International (DEI), was forced to make the disclosure in light of a required statement from its Brazilian subsidiary, Duke Energy International, Geração Paranapanema S.A. […]

Canadian utility Fortis wants to acquire ITC Holdings Corp., the largest independent electric transmission company in the U.S., to benefit from “low-risk” regulated power markets. The deal valued at about $11.3 billion will allow Fortis to enter the U.S. regulated power market overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), providing a “unique, highly diversified, […]

The 400-MW Iowa Hill pumped storage project, planned for a site east of Sacramento as a means of dealing with ever-growing renewable generation in the area, has been canceled by its developer, the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD), because of spiraling costs. The Iowa Hill project (Figure 1) was a planned expansion of the Upper […]

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) issued a $6.6 million fine to Duke Energy on February 8 for environmental violations related to the February 2014 coal ash spill from the Dan River power plant near Eden, N.C. Although the fine is not insignificant, it pales in comparison to the $102 million the company […]

Case Study: MPW’s Automation Simplifies RO Replacement Process for Indiana Energy Plant

Entergy Corp.—owner and operator of the Indian Point nuclear power plant located in Buchanan, N.Y.—announced on February 6 that it had discovered elevated levels of tritium in samples from three of its groundwater monitoring wells at the facility. The samples were taken as part of the plants ongoing comprehensive groundwater-monitoring program. Although the company said […]

Reports out of Germany suggest that the city of Aachen plans to sue the Tihange nuclear power plant over what it claims is the plant’s failure to adequately address safety issues at the facility. Aachen—a city with roughly 250,000 people—is located about 71 km (44 miles) west of Cologne on Germany’s border with Belgium and […]