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Sally Jewell, who has been CEO of REI, a privately held outdoor recreation gear retail corporation organized as a consumers’ cooperative, has been nominated as the next secretary of the interior, the White House announced on Wednesday.

FutureGen 2.0, a government-backed project that involves the upgrade of a coal-fired power plant in Meredosia, Ill., with oxy-combustion technology to capture 90% of that plant’s carbon emissions and then sequester them underground, has entered its second phase, the Department of Energy (DOE) said on Monday.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) imposition of a federal implementation plan (FIP) to curb regional haze that could force coal-fired power plants in Arizona to install $1 billion in pollution controls was challenged by the state in federal court last week.

The beleaguered Crystal River Nuclear Plant in Citrus County, Fla.—which has been in shutdown and offline since late 2009 due to damage to its containment building—is to be retired, Progress Energy Florida announced on Tuesday.

In a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, state utility regulators and nuclear utilities rejected claims in a recent Department of Energy (DOE) filing that Nuclear Waste Fund fees were necessary, and they called on the court to temporarily suspend the fees.

The growing momentum toward exports of liquefied natural gas is creating a stir in Washington. A fair review of the issues suggests this is one dispute the power industry can afford to stay out of.

The shift toward greater reliance on natural gas for power generation is not just a story of greater efficiency and lower emissions. There are also lurking risks to reliability unless the natural gas and electricity industries can plan carefully for the future.

Duke Energy’s once coal-heavy fleet is making a big transition to gas. Two new advanced combined cycle plants, and a third set to start up later this year, are a key part of the North Carolina–based firm’s drive to modernize its portfolio.

>Gas-fired power has a growing and well-established niche in providing load-following for wind farms. But two recent reports suggest the demand on these plants may be greater than anticipated, as long-term output from wind may be falling short of original projections.

>Finding ways to deliver the gas for the next generation of gas-fired power plants is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the power sector in the coming decade.