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Are Hollywood portrayals of cyber attacks exaggerating the risks we face?
Since the early 1980s, when Hollywood showed “War Games,” where a teenage gamer brought the world to the edge of nuclear destruction, the entertainment industry has been frightening us about the Internet and the vital systems it supports. In the 2007 “Die Hard” movie, Bruce

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday managed a contentious 13–9 vote to approve President Obama’s nomination of Norman Bay to become head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Before the vote, the committee’s chair, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said the White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had agreed […]

Most issues concerning resource adequacy have arisen in the context of restructured wholesale and retail electric markets, rather than from traditionally regulated electric markets, a new study from the Electric Markets Research Foundation (EMRF) suggests.  The nonprofit EMRF,  established in 2012 by “academics and other experts” to fund studies on electric market issues, notes in […]

Thirty-two projects—most headed by universities—were awarded grants of various amounts totaling $100 million by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs). The projects were selected from more than 200 proposals. Of the projects, 10 were new while the other 22 received renewed funding. Awards ranged from $2 million to $4 […]

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Gina McCarthy said on Tuesday that the agency’s proposed carbon emissions rules are specifically designed to support nuclear plants that are struggling with profitability. In Chicago to campaign for support from business leaders, McCarthy said the agency has focused on about 6% of the nation’s nuclear fleet that is in […]

Siemens AG and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) announced on June 16 that they have submitted a proposal to Alstom, the French multinational conglomerate. The offer comes less than a week after the companies confirmed that they were considering a joint proposal and less than 2 months after General Electric (GE) made an offer to […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering the imposition of nationwide reporting requirements for chemicals and mixtures used in fracking operations. On May 19, 2014, the EPA published an Advanced Notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register seeking public input on the development of such a rule, including whether reporting should be mandatory […]

A make-shift explosive device found last week at a power plant south of Tucson, Ariz., caused a small, temporary fuel leak in a 50,000-gallon distillate oil tank—not a large explosion as previously reported in initial accounts.  However, the incident has triggered investigations by the FBI, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and […]

While General Electric (GE) waits for the French government to approve its bid for Alstom’s power and grid divisions, other companies are using the time to consider offers of their own. On June 11, Siemens AG and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) announced that they are joining forces to evaluate a potential proposal for Alstom. The […]

 Two workers were killed and at least 14 injured in an explosion at a coal-fired power plant in Kosovo last week. Plans to restart part of the damaged plant were underway on Thursday. The explosion, which could be heard six miles away in the capital, Pristina, occurred at about 10 a.m. on June 6 in […]