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  • Seventeen States Sue EPA for Mandating SIP Startup, Shutdown, Malfunction Changes

    The attorneys general of 17 states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for invalidating agency-approved state implementation plans (SIPs) governing emissions from power plant startup, shutdown, and malfunction (SSM) operations. The states have asked a federal court to review the EPA’s June-issued final rule, which deems SIP provisions concerning SSM operations in 36 states […]

  • Committed to “Ambitious Schedule,” EPA Wants to Reissue MATS Rule by April 2016

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will issue revised Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) and legally required cost-benefit analyses by April 15, 2016, court documents show. In an Aug. 10 motion filed with the D.C. Circuit for White Stallion Energy Center v. EPA (12-1100), the EPA said it intends to seek remand without vacatur (which […]

  • The Clean Power Plan Is Final: Time to Find the Candles?

    On August 3, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a much-anticipated suite of regulations, featuring the final Clean Power Plan’s guidelines for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing power plants under Clean Air Act section 111(d). This package has sparked great interest, and early reactions run the gamut from enthusiastic support to entrenched opposition. […]

  • Sendai-1 Reactor Restart Marks Japan’s Nuclear Rebirth

    Nearly two years after Japan’s last nuclear power plant was shut down for safety checks, Kyushu Electric Power Co. has started up the 890-MW Sendai-1. The event marks a significant milestone for the country’s nuclear sector, which was crippled by the Fukushima disaster in 2011.  Kyushu started up Sendai-1 at 10:30 a.m. local time and […]

  • Handling Dry Sorbent Reliability

    Learn more about key processes for safely handling dry sorbents as you introduce a mercury control solution into your plant process.

  • Power Industry Wins with Final Clean Power Plan

    Though most power generators and states might have preferred to not deal at all with a new rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions, the final Clean Power Plan (CPP), released August 3, gives most of the power industry most of what it asked for in terms of revisions to the 2014 proposed plan. In any regulatory […]

  • Solar and Wind Power Each Surpass Nuclear Generation in Germany Since Mid-Year

    According to data compiled and reported by Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE—a German-based solar energy research institute—from July 1 through August 5, solar and wind energy produced 6.24 TWh and 7.09 TWh of electricity respectively, compared to 5.94 TWh of nuclear power generation in Germany. Although it’s not the first time wind production has exceeded […]

  • Alliant Energy Sells Minnesota Electric Service Territory to 12 Cooperatives

    In a deal said to be the largest ever involving electric cooperatives, a group of 12 cooperatives completed the purchase of Alliant Energy’s electric service territory in southern Minnesota, which serves more than 43,000 customers. The agreement was signed in September 2013 between Interstate Power and Light Co. (IPL)—Alliant’s Iowa utility—and Southern Minnesota Energy Cooperative […]

  • Ameren Scraps Planned Missouri Nuclear Unit, Cites Falling Renewable Costs

    Ameren Missouri has dropped plans to build a second nuclear unit at its Callaway Energy Center, citing shaky economics in the context of cheaper renewables, low demand, and other factors for its decision. “While we continue to believe nuclear power must be an important clean energy source for our company and country, as evidenced by […]

  • Energy Department to Invest in Advanced Reactor Concept Development

    Furthering efforts to encourage clean energy innovation, the Energy Department released a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) to support the research, development, and demonstration of advanced reactor concepts. The announcement represents an early step in increasing investment in nuclear advanced reactor technologies, which have the potential to provide substantially enhanced operational performance, safety, security, economics, and […]