Latest

Hydropower is booming, but unless you live in China, Latin America, or Africa, you may have missed it. Global installed capacity of hydroelectric generation has grown by more than 25% over the past decade

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized revisions to technology-based effluent limitations guidelines and standards, setting the first federal limits on the levels of toxic metals in wastewater discharges from steam electric power plants.  The new rule sets stringent new requirements for the discharge of arsenic, mercury, selenium, and nitrogen in wastewater streams from flue […]

Georgia Power plans to close all 29 of its coal ash ponds to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) December 2014–finalized rule and forthcoming guidelines governing effluent limitations. The Southern Co. subsidiary will consult with state regulators, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and the Georgia Public Service Commission, to develop and finalize the plan within […]

An old saying often attributed to Mark Twain is, “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.” Listening to the conflicting information presented by a variety of senators during a hearing on Capitol Hill Sept. 29, one has to wonder if Twain was covering a Senate hearing when he penned the phrase. The only witness at the […]

Before the official start of its Minds + Machines event in San Francisco this week, GE announced the launch of its “Digital Power Plant” during a briefing for the trade press. A formal announcement was to follow in the afternoon. Dick Ayres, general manager of software solutions, power generation services, explained that the company’s Predix […]

Duke Energy announced on Sept. 29 that it had agreed to pay a $7 million fine to resolve all groundwater issues with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) relating to its 14 facilities in the state. The settlement comes after Duke appealed a proposed $25.1 million fine the NCDEQ levied in March. The […]

The nation’s nuclear fleet has performed impressively through the first eight months of 2015. Plant outages averaged less than 3% of total U.S. nuclear capacity during the all-important peak summer season this year—from June through August. The result is far better than even the lowest range of data from any of the past five years. […]

In its latest effort to ram down carbon emissions and address air pollution, China will strictly limit public financing to coal and other high-carbon projects and begin a national program in 2017 to cap and trade greenhouse gas emissions.  The country’s emission trading system will cover power generation, steel, cement, and other key sectors. China […]

In presentations to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the nation’s regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) on Sept. 17 outlined measures they are taking to prevent issues if faced with extreme weather this winter.  The measures are to prevent widespread generation outages as occurred during the Jan. 6–7, 2014, polar vortex. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced on Sept. 21 that it has begun a special inspection at the Callaway nuclear plant in Fulton, Mo., to investigate the failure of three of four control valves that regulate water flow to the plant’s steam generators. The review follows a reactor trip that occurred on August 11. According […]