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Battery storage has emerged from the fringes of the power sector to challenge both industry conventions and traditional generation. Where it goes from here, however—the future of battery storage technology—is a matter of some debate. Both storage firms and energy storage experts at the Energy Storage North America (ESNA) conference in San Diego Oct. 13-15 […]

Integrating California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO’s) and PacifiCorp’s networks—the two largest high-voltage transmission grids in the West—could yield billions of dollars in shared cost reductions within the first 20 years alone through efficiencies, a new study says.  The report commissioned by PacifiCorp stems from a memorandum of understanding signed by the independent system operator (ISO) […]

OKG, owner and operator of the three-unit Oskarshamn nuclear power plant on Sweden’s east coast, announced on Oct. 14 that it would permanently shut down Units 1 and 2 at the facility, while continuing to operate the larger and newer Unit 3. OKG’s majority owner E.ON is driving the decision. The German-based company has been […]

Energy storage needs better energy storage policy. Speaking at the Energy Storage North America (ESNA) conference in San Diego on Oct. 12, Garrett Fitzgerald, senior associate with the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), was frank about the challenge facing energy storage technologies: They’re starting to get well ahead of the regulatory regimes that are needed to […]

Within the space of less than a week, four deals have been announced that will result in ownership changes at five power plants in the U.S. Northeast. Calpine Buys Another Gas Plant Calpine Corp. announced on Oct. 13 that it has agreed to acquire the Granite Ridge Energy Center, a 745-MW combined cycle gas-fired power […]

A federal court last week granted a motion barring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing the Clean Water Rule, which critics say is “exceptionally expansive.” A three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Oct. 9 granted the stay sought by 31 states […]

Entergy Corp. will permanently close its 680-MW Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Mass., by June 2019, owing to poor market conditions, reduced revenues, and increased operational costs, the company said today.  The New Orleans–based company said it has notified grid operator ISO-New England (ISO-NE) that the reactor that began operations in 1972 would not […]

Coal has been the dominant source of electricity in the U.S. power mix for more than a century, but that may be coming to an end sooner than expected. For only the second time ever, but also the second time this year, gas generated more electricity in the U.S. than coal. According to statistics from […]

Alberta-based Carbon Engineering is inaugurating a pilot project today in Squamish, British Columbia, that will capture carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere. The company, funded by private investors, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and oil sands financier Murray Edwards, has developed technology based on research conducted by Harvard University–based Professor David Keith’s research groups […]

Philip Moeller, a Bush-nominated commissioner at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and outspoken critic of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan for its cost and reliability implications, will step down at the end of this month.  Moeller, a Republican, joined FERC in 2006, nominated by President George W. Bush. Obama re-nominated him […]