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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.
 

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) June 2–proposed carbon rule for existing power plants favors nuclear, renewable, and natural gas combined cycle sources, but it also grants coal-heavy states wide flexibility to meet carbon goals with continued coal use, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told lawmakers at a Senate oversight hearing on Wednesday.  Six Democrats and six […]

Forced outages at Entergy’s two Indian Point nuclear units proposed by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to protect fish are “unnecessary” and a “terrible idea,” a company official testified at a public hearing on Tuesday.  The DEC has proposed Entergy shutter the two units for at least 42 outage days every summer […]

A standard to enhance physical security at critical power system facilities submitted by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) will need modifications before it can be approved, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said last week.  FERC ordered NERC on March 7 to develop and submitnew reliability standards requiring owners and operators of the […]

Speaking at the Energy Innovation Symposium in Washington D.C. on July 23, Southern Co. CEO Tom Fanning said that he would love “to announce another nuclear plant” later this year. But Fanning made it clear during his keynote address to attendees at the Bipartisan Policy Center’s American Energy Innovation Council–sponsored event that he favors an […]

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) on July 21 formally requested permission from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with NRG Energy for up to 633 MW from the proposed Carlsbad Energy Center. The move is what SDG&E and NRG hope is the last chapter in a […]