COAL POWER Direct

FirstEnergy Corp. has submitted a plan to build a new 1,200-MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant to serve customers in West Virginia. The company recently filed an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with state regulators that also calls for keeping two major coal-fired power plants in West Virginia operating at least through the next decade.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has moved to shift capital planning and permitting timelines for the nation’s remaining coal-fired power units, acting on two measures targeting wastewater discharge under the Clean Water Act, and separately, air-quality visibility programs and the Clean Air Act. On Sept. 29, the EPA issued a proposed rule and companion […]

Regional areas of India are withdrawing incentives for renewable energy projects and instead signing long-term contracts to buy more coal-fired power generation.

Duke Energy announced plans to build more natural gas-fired generation capacity and look at nuclear power in order to meet the increased demand for power in its Carolinas service territory. The utility also said it will delay the retirement of some coal-fired facilities as it seeks to increase the supply of electricity for data centers and manufacturing plants.

The NTPC Vindhyachal Thermal Power Station, with an installed generation capacity of 4,783 MW, comprises 13 coal-fired units and includes solar and hydropower installations. The plant continues to implement advanced emission-control technologies as part of India’s broader decarbonization strategy.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued new guidance under its New Source Review (NSR) preconstruction permitting program that could allow power plant developers to begin certain non-emissions‐related site work—such as installing concrete pads, grading, and utility trenching—before obtaining a Clean Air Act construction permit. The change, described in a sparse set of paragraphs […]

The Trump administration’s unprecedented use of emergency grid authorities entered a second phase in August 2025, as the Department of Energy (DOE) extended three critical reliability orders. The measures signal that this year’s historic string of federal interventions—staked in Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act—are likely to continue beyond the traditional summer peak and […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued its fifth 202(c) emergency order this year, directing PJM Interconnection to override environmental limits and dispatch an oil-fired power generating unit in Maryland strictly as needed to avert possible blackouts in the Baltimore region. The July 28 order, issued under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, authorizes […]

Capacity prices in PJM Interconnection’s latest auction spiked to the market’s price ceiling, hitting $329.17/MW-day across the board for the 2026/2027 delivery year—the maximum allowed under new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rules. The regional transmission organization’s (RTO’s) competitive Base Residual Auction (BRA), conducted on July 9, 2025, and released on July 22, secured 134,311 […]

Citing a mounting compliance crunch in America’s coal-fired power sector, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized new rules extending key deadlines for coal ash cleanup and management, while floating the prospect of a further 12-month delay. The changes address calls from utilities, engineering contractors, and state regulators for more realistic timeframes to assess, […]