Latest

  • Impact of Electric Vehicle Charging on Grid May Be Far Less Than Feared

    In recent years, the potential popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles has had utility executives up nights worrying about spikes in demand at the end of every workday as EV owners all began charging their cars upon returning home. Now, a new study from Austin, Texas–based Pecan Street Research (PSR) suggests that […]

  • Statoil Pulls Floating Offshore Wind Project in Maine

    Norwegian energy company Statoil last week canceled its $120 million project to put four 3-MW wind turbines on floating spar-buoy structures 12 miles offshore of Maine’s Boothbay Harbor. The Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) had in January 2013 approved terms of Statoil’s proposed Hywind Maine project, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management last year […]

  • NRG to Buy EME Assets for $2.6B

    NRG Energy will buy nearly 8,000 MW of generation capacity across the U.S. from bankrupt power firm Edison Mission Energy (EME) for $2.6 billion. The company entered into a plan sponsor agreement to acquire almost all EME’s assets, including EME’s generation portfolio and Edison Mission Marketing and Trading, a proprietary trading and asset management platform. […]

  • Agreement Sets Stage for Construction of New Nuclear Plant in UK

    EDF Group and the UK Government have reached an agreement in principle on the key commercial terms for an investment contract for the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. Finalization of this agreement and construction of the plant are subject to a final investment decision. The government and EDF will work together to address […]

  • North Dakota Oil Companies Sued for Flaring Natural Gas

    For the past few years, the North Dakota oil boom has run far ahead of the state’s ability to ship its oil and gas out of producing areas because of a lack of gathering pipeline infrastructure. While excess oil can be shipped by rail, the low price of natural gas has led producers to flare […]

  • EPA, EIA: Power Plant Carbon Emissions Saw Drastic Drop in 2012 (UPDATED)

    Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants plunged 10% in 2012 largely due to the coal-to-gas switch and a slight decrease in power production, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said on Wednesday. Earlier this week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported similar findings. The EPA’s 2012 data from its GHG Reporting Program, which collects annual […]

  • New Steam Generators Delivered to Davis-Besse Nuclear Plant

    FirstEnergy Corp. announced that two new steam generators have arrived in Oak Harbor, Ohio, for the company’s 900-MW Davis-Besse nuclear plant. The new steam generators are scheduled for installation during the plant’s refueling outage next spring. Fabrication began in 2009 at Babcock and Wilcox’s nuclear equipment manufacturing facility in Cambridge, Ontario. The 74-foot-long, 12-foot-wide steam […]

  • Korean Utility Plans First Underground Combined Cycle Power Plant

    The oldest power plant in South Korea is making way for something so new that no one has even attempted it before. Korea Midland Power Corp. (KOMIPO) announced earlier this year that Seoul Thermal Power Station, built in the 1930s, would be replaced with a new 800-MW two-unit combined cycle power plant—one that will be built […]

  • CPUC Issues Nation’s First Energy Storage Mandate

    The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today unanimously established an energy storage target of 1,325 MW that California’s largest investor-owned utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric, must meet by 2020. The decision will help California optimize the grid with measure such as peak reduction, contribute to […]

  • Experts Warn Utilities Need to Redefine Their Roles

    Utility roles are changing rapidly, and the utility of the future will need to be ready for a much more diversified, secure, and decentralized grid. That was one message at the Minnesota Utility Investors (MUI) 23rd Annual Meeting in Brooklyn Center, Minn., this week. MUI is a grassroots organization representing the interests of individuals and […]