Latest

  • Papering Energy: Do Your Contracts Have the Right ‘Power’?

    I have spent years in law firms and in-house legal departments counseling clients in the energy sector with respect to their contracts and the related process they utilize in papering their deals. What I have learned is that the pitfalls awaiting a company that isn’t effectively papering its deals and/or following a streamlined and clear […]

  • Europe Taps Electric Boilers to Balance the Grid

    For engineering management and engineers, the total power market is rapidly changing globally. Consequently, North American district heating networks and industrial processors are taking note of key developments in the European power market today. Specifically, Finland has set one of the most advanced climate policies in the region, committing to carbon neutrality by 2035.

  • Grid Enhancing Technologies Do Exactly What They Say

    The world’s electricity grids are facing unprecedented strain as demand surges from electrification, data centers, and renewable energy integration, while aging infrastructure struggles to keep pace. Traditional approaches to grid expansion—building new transmission lines and substations—face mounting challenges including sometimes decade-long permitting processes, escalating costs that can reach billions per project, and growing public resistance […]

  • Trump Administration Issues Third Emergency Order to Prevent PJM Power Shortfall

    The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued its third Section 202(c) emergency order in the past two weeks, this time to bolster reliability in PJM Interconnection by compelling Constellation Energy to keep Units 3 and 4 of its dual-fuel Eddystone Generating Station in Pennsylvania open beyond their scheduled retirement date of May 31, 2025. The […]

  • Natural Gas, Energy Storage at Heart of New Group’s Data Center Power Concept

    A startup company led by former executives with major technology and energy groups is betting on the use of natural gas and battery energy storage to provide data centers with on-site power, freeing those sites from reliance on the traditional power grid.

  • Why Grid Hardening Needs to Be Smarter, Not Just Stronger

    While many utilities are hardening power grid infrastructure by upgrading poles and wires—a necessary step—brute force solutions alone won’t be enough. To truly future-proof the grid, resilience must be rooted in intelligence via systems that anticipate, adapt, and respond dynamically.

  • Tackling Weld Failures in Thermal Energy Storage Tanks

    Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants with thermal energy storage (TES) systems face significant material challenges. Specifically, industry-standard 347H austenitic stainless steel used in the manufacture of molten salt tanks can be subject to severe stress relaxation cracking (SRC). The results of a consortium project could have an answer for the problem. The findings suggest that […]

  • Main Stop Control Valve and Bucket Replacements

    Sponsored by:
    MD&A

    MD&A performed a major inspection and scheduled repairs of a Toshiba® 130 MW steam turbine. During this planned outage, along with a LP turbine inspection, the combined main stop/control valve (MSV/CV) was replaced, as well as the L-0 and L-1 buckets. MSV/CV Replacement Replacement of the combined main stop / control valve (MSV/CV) was requested […]

  • DOE Issues Rare Emergency Order to Delay Michigan Coal Plant Retirement Amid MISO Grid Risk

    The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued an emergency order to delay the closure of Consumer Energy’s 1,560-MW J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant in West Olive, Michigan, citing urgent reliability concerns for the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) grid as the Midwest braces for peak summer electricity demand.  The rare order, issued May 23 by Energy […]

  • Regulators Approve Plans for Two New Gas-Fired Plants in Wisconsin

    Regulators in Wisconsin have approved We Energies’ plan to invest about $1.5 billion for construction of two new natural gas-fired power plants in the southeastern part of the state. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin on May 22 said it backs the utility’s proposal for gas-fired facilities in Oak Creek in Milwaukee County, and Paris […]