Latest
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Coal
Kemper County IGCC Costs Rise and Delays Loom—Again
In what has become a regular occurrence with the Kemper County integrated gasification combined cycle power plant, Mississippi Power announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 1 that costs have risen from the most recent projections and further delays in its in-service date are possible. Though the $18 million in […]
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Coal
Is a New Hybrid System the Cure for Coal Power’s Ills?
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have combined two proven technologies to create a new hybrid system that could produce electricity, using coal as a fuel source, at nearly double the efficiency of conventional coal-fired power plants. The concept—proposed by MIT doctoral student Katherine Ong and Ronald C. Crane (1972) Professor Ahmed Ghoniem—combines […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Ohio PUC Approves FirstEnergy and AEP Subsidy Plans
Setting the stage for a drawn-out fight with ratepayer groups and other generators, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) on March 31 approved proposals from FirstEnergy and American Electric Power (AEP) that will provide guaranteed income to FirstEnergy’s Davis-Besse nuclear plant (Figure 1) and several aging coal-fired plants belonging to it and AEP. 1. […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Air Emissions Tampering Leads to Felony Charges at Power Plant
The owner and management company of the Berkshire Power Plant—a 252-MW natural gas–fired combined cycle plant located in Agawam, Mass.—agreed to plead guilty on March 30 to felony charges that the companies violated and conspired to violate the federal Clean Air Act. The indictments against Berkshire Power Co. (BPC), the owner of the plant, and […]
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Water
Maximizing Coastal Power Plant Resiliency
Entergy Tests Fiber Optic Cables to Slash Copper Use A unique pilot under way at a substation in New Orleans, La., uses fiber optic cables in a way that could help utilities reduce the use of copper wire. But
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Legal & Regulatory
Communication Was Essential to Alliant Energy’s Successful Handling of Emissions Monitoring
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is obligated to review many different federal environmental standards on a recurring basis and update them if the agency deems it necessary for the protection of
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O&M
Rigorous Turbine Validation Process Produces Sustained Reliability Exceeding 99%
Why would one want to validate a turbine design? The answer is that actual operation of new and more advanced gas turbines can reveal issues that are very difficult to predict on the drawing board. As a
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Nuclear
The Global Nuclear Power Industry Faces Localized Outlooks
Shamelessly adapting the great British novelist Charles Dickens, for the global nuclear industry, it is the best of times, it is the worst of times; it is the age of wisdom, it is the age of foolishness; it is
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Commentary
Radical Energy Breakthroughs—Without the Risk
Among the greatest revolutions of the modern world is one that most of us take for granted: electrification. When we flip on the light switch, turn on the TV, or plug in our cell phones, power is there, 99.99%