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  • U.S., Canada, Mexico Commit to 50% Carbon-Free Power by 2025

    The U.S., Mexico, and Canada today announced an unprecedented goal to procure 50% of North America’s total power generation from renewables, nuclear, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and energy efficiency technologies by 2025. President Obama, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, and the President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto, announced the continental goal, part of […]

  • Brexit Implications for UK Nuclear Power

    When the UK, the European Union’s (EU’s) second-largest economy, voted to leave the union on June 23, reactions were swift and sometimes unexpected, but what does the Brexit vote mean for the nuclear power industry, which is an increasingly global one? Based on comments made at this week’s World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE) outside Paris, the […]

  • California Governor, Legislature, Agree on Major Overhaul of CPUC

    California Gov. Jerry Brown and members of the California legislature have agreed on a package of “sweeping” reforms designed to overhaul the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), increase transparency, and change how the CPUC conducts much of its business. The changes come in the wake of repeated disclosures of illegal ex parte meetings and communications […]

  • World Nuclear Exhibition Addresses Challenging Markets and New Solutions

    The second World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE) began on June 28 in Le Bourget, just outside Paris, with the usual mixed messages about the need for and challenges of nuclear power globally. During the opening ceremony, Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), noted that the event was being held in the same […]

  • U.S. Nuclear Power Plant Closures [Slideshow]

    According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, nuclear power has accounted for about 20% of electricity generated in the U.S. each year since 1990. In fact, the U.S. nuclear fleet out produced France—the country with the next highest nuclear generation—by more than two to one in 2012. Russia was a distant third, generating less than […]

  • District Energy Systems Improve Efficiency and Reduce Carbon Emissions

    Although it’s not widely publicized, a majority of the energy used to generate electricity is wasted in the form of heat discharged to the environment. For better or worse, that’s just the way a typical thermal power plant works. Fuel, such as coal, biomass, natural gas, or uranium (in the case of nuclear plants), is […]

  • Utility Paradigm Changing Globally in Response to Distributed Energy and Digitization

    Enrico Viale, head of global thermal generation for the Italian energy company Enel, kicked off an international power industry event yesterday with a keynote presentation describing the “needs” of utilities in the future.

  • MPW Blog: Wet Scrub vs. Dry Scrub Options – Part 1

    Painting Shop Management: Exploring Wet Scrub vs. Dry Scrub Options—Part 1
    Having options usually means weighing positives vs. negatives, benefits vs. costs. When it comes to paint shop management for large-scale operations, we provide two unique and comprehensive cleaning and maintenance options. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) encounter two common issues during their automotive production: paint overspray

  • How the FAA’s First-Ever Commercial Drone Rules Could Affect Power Companies

    The first operational rules finalized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for routine commercial use of drones could have major implications for utilities and power companies, which are increasingly using them for operations and maintenance. The new rules (Part 107 of the Federal Aviation Regulations) that apply to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)—or drones—weighing less than […]

  • PG&E Moves to Retire 2.3-GW Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant

    Diablo Canyon, the two-reactor nuclear power plant on the central California coastline, will be permanently shuttered by 2025 under a renewables-boosting initiative announced today by its owner, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). The company on June 21 unveiled a “joint proposal” with labor and environmental groups that seeks to increase investment in energy efficiency, energy […]