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Ontario’s provincial government has persuaded the owner of an unpopular 280-MW natural gas-fired power plant that was already under construction in the City of Mississauga to relocate the project to an existing power plant site in southwestern Ontario. The agreement settles legal challenges to the government’s proposals to cancel the project.

Dr. Allison Macfarlane, an expert on nuclear waste issues and a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, was on Monday sworn in as the 15th person chosen to lead the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). She will serve a term ending June 30, 2013.

About 700 nuclear engineers on Monday joined 144 others in a strike that has lasted more than a month, after failing to reach a labor pact with Candu Energy, a subsidiary of Canada’s SNC-Lavalin Group.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed H.R. 5892, the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act, by a vote of 372–0. The bipartisan bill—championed by Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.)—seeks to facilitate the development of small hydropower and conduit projects and direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to study the feasibility of a streamlined two-year permitting process. The legislation now moves to the Senate.

New York’s State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) last week adopted rules that set limits on carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants as well as require new or expanding electric generating facilities in that state to evaluate the potential disproportionate impacts on nearby environmental justice communities.

In a bid to spur the construction of new power plants and offset a power crunch, the regional grid operator has forecast, the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas last week voted to raise the wholesale price cap for electricity prices on Aug. 1 by 50%, to $4,500/MWh from $3,000/MWh.

A settlement to resolve alleged violations of the New Source Review (NSR) provisions of the Clean Air Act reached between the Dairyland Power Cooperative (DPC), federal entities, and the Sierra Club will force the Wisconsin utility to invest about $150 million in pollution control technology, retire three coal units at its 210-MW Alma Station, and pay a civil penalty of $950,000.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday granted PNM a 90-day stay in the effectiveness of the federal plan that would force the Albuquerque, N.M.–based utility to install pollution controls at its 1,800-MW San Juan Generating Station by September 2016 to meet visibility requirements of the Clean Air Act in New Mexico.

The Department of the Interior (DOI) on Monday announced the release of final environmental impact statements for a proposed wind power complex in Wyoming with a nameplate capacity of 3,000 MW and publication of an environmental assessment for commercial wind leases and site assessment activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

ESAB Welding & Cutting Products introduced a new addition to the Weld Warrior line of personal protection equipment. The company’s FR Line of flame-retardant clothing is designed to give maximum protection to the professional welder while providing comfort in the most demanding environments. The new FR Line includes The Jersey—a lightweight pullover that is perfect […]