Latest

The past week saw a flurry of Congressional hearings probing how the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed carbon pollution rules will affect grid reliability and the economy.  On Reliability  The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday summoned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) four sitting commissioners and future chair Norman Bay to testify on […]

According to a report released this week by Mycle Schneider Consulting—a Paris-based independent consultant—nuclear power’s share of global commercial primary energy production declined to only 4.4%, a level not seen since 1984. In the report, “The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2014,” Mycle Schneider suggests that “the nuclear industry is in decline.” One piece of […]

The 135-MW Quinto Solar Project, a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant under construction in California’s Central Valley, officially broke ground on July 29. San Jose–based SunPower Corp. is building the plant in Los Banos, and will sell power from the facility to Southern California Edison under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The project is due for […]

Interest in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) carbon pollution standards for existing power plants—the “Clean Power Plan,” proposed under the authority of the Clean Air Act Section 111(d)—was so high that the agency had to add double the days and double the rooms at all four locations this week. At all locations, power industry speakers […]

Per a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will no longer require Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) or Title V permits for large sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Office of Air and Radiation head Janet McCabe told the agency’s 10 regional administrators in a July 24 memo.  The memo outlines […]

In an effort to reduce air pollution from the Navajo Generating Station (NGS)—a coal-fired power plant located near Page, Ariz.—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule on July 28 that will result in the permanent shutdown of one of NGS’s three units. The EPA had issued an initial proposal in February 2013 but invited […]

Duke Energy Progress announced on July 28 that it was buying out the interests owned by North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) in two nuclear plants and two coal plants in North Carolina for $1.2 billion. The sale between Duke Energy Progress, Duke Energy’s Carolina subsidiary, and NCEMPA represents all of NCEMPA’s generation assets. […]

Of the four public hearings scheduled this week on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan—aka, carbon pollution standards proposed under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act—all but one are scheduled for states (and the District of Columbia) bordering the East Coast. A preview of the Denver hearing suggests that substantive comments from […]

The idea of a small, self-sustaining power system is hardly new. Microgrids have been around for decades, and in a sense the power industry itself began with a collection of microgrids serving urban areas more than a century ago. In recent years, however, a confluence of factors has made them a hot topic of debate

Microgrids offer advantages for reliability and bringing more renewables onto the grid.