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Duke Energy announced on Feb. 17 that it was preparing to sell its interests in 13 power plants in the Midwestern U.S. and exit the commercial generation market in that region. “Our merchant power plants have delivered volatile returns in the challenging competitive market in the Midwest,” said Lynn Good, president, CEO, and vice chairman […]

California leads the nation in installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity, with almost 150,000 systems large and small in operation and more than 2 GW of total capacity. Worldwide, California would rank 7th in installed solar capacity (PV and thermal) were it a separate country. All that activity is leading to some major changes in the […]

3D metal printing is still an experimental process in nearly all industries, used primarily for prototypes and test products. But if Siemens and GE have their way, it will soon become a standard means of rapidly producing small numbers of industrial parts. Siemens announced in December that it would begin using 3D printing—also known as […]

Gas market regulators and observers have been warning for several years that the rapid shift toward reliance on natural gas was creating a risk of shortages in the event of unplanned demand shocks. A series of mild winters in the 2010s reduced demand for heating, freeing up supplies and pipeline capacity for power generation. Even […]

The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Station, the world’s largest concentrating solar power (CSP) facility, was dedicated Thursday afternoon at a ceremony keynoted by U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. In his remarks, Moniz hailed the Obama administration’s leadership on supporting renewable energy projects. “President Obama and the Department of Energy [DOE] are committed to ensuring […]

The first generation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies could increase wholesale power prices by 70% to 80%, but second generation technologies could halve those costs, an Energy Department official told lawmakers at a House hearing on Tuesday. “I continue to believe that coal is actually a required part of a vibrant American economy—part […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking comment on its interpretation of provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005), which it claims do not alter the agency’s determination that the best system to reduce carbon emissions for new coal and gas-fired power plants is partial carbon capture and storage (CCS).  The issue […]

Scientists at the  U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have achieved a significant milestone in the development of fusion energy: achieving fuel gains greater than 1 for the first time ever at any facility. Ignition—when the energy released is equal to or greater than the energy required to confine the fuel—remains the […]

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today released its final version of a national framework for improving critical infrastructure cybersecurity. The “living” document will be updated as industry reports back on its implementation. The “Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity” is essentially composed of a core, tiers, and profiles. The core presents five […]

What’s the utility of the future going to look like within two or three decades? That was a question put to former Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, Great Plains CEO Mike Chesser, and former chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission Ron Binz by the head of the Brookings Institute’s Energy Security Initiative (ESI) last […]