POWERnews

France, which currently gets more than 75% of its electricity generation from nuclear, may close as many as 17 reactors by 2025, according to Minister of Environment Nicolas Hulot. In an interview with RTL radio on July 10, Hulot stated that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who took office in mid-May, intends to see through the […]

A federal appeals court has ruled the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) should not have denied a 2012 proposal by PJM in which the regional power operator sought to revise its minimum offer price rule (MOPR). The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on July 7 said FERC went beyond its “passive and reactive role” under […]

U.S. officials said Russian government hackers have broken into systems at U.S. nuclear power plants and also have made cyber intrusions into the business systems of other energy companies, according to several reports over the past week. Cybersecurity experts say the threats against U.S. facilities are real and likely to continue, as power plant operators […]

Xcel Energy plans to add about 1,550 MW of wind power to its portfolio in the Upper Midwest with the addition of seven wind farms expected to be operational by year-end 2020. The additions are among 11 new wind farms announced over the past year by Xcel in seven states that would add a total […]

New Jersey officials this week said the state’s Board of Public Utilities is funding feasibility studies for a series of microgrids across the state that could provide needed power to municipalities at times of critical need, such as after a natural disaster. The board said the idea is designed to further the State Energy Master […]

A long-shuttered Tennessee nuclear power plant project has been reborn as a solar farm, with the energy produced there made available for use by local residents and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The Phipps Bend Nuclear Power Plant project in Surgoinsville was canceled by TVA in 1981, a victim of the negative sentiment toward nuclear […]

The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has set the commonwealth’s much-anticipated energy storage target at 200 MWh to be achieved by January 1, 2020. Last week, it also issued a joint request for proposals for 400 MW of offshore wind energy. The announcements made this week follow an energy bill signed into law by […]

Florida regulators next week will consider whether to support an exemption to a state rule, a move that could speed the approval process for a new 1,163-MW natural gas-fired power plant on the state’s Atlantic coast. Florida Power & Light (FPL), the nation’s third-largest electric utility, has proposed the $888 million power plant for Broward […]

Citing its backing for the long-stalled Yucca Mountain permanent spent nuclear waste repository in Nevada, the Trump administration has asked a federal court to reject a petition filed by Texas in which the state sought a court-supervised process to take over administrative proceedings so as to guarantee licensing and eventual construction of project. Texas filed […]

  More grim news emerged for financially strapped Westinghouse after the Delaware Supreme Court reversed a chancery court decision that the company was counting on to recoup $2 billion from an acquisition dispute with Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I). The court rejected Westinghouse’s contention of CB&I’s calculations of its final purchase price—even though it paid […]

  Operations and start-up of the lignite gasification portion of the Kemper County Energy Facility, marred by exorbitant delays and cost overruns, will be suspended immediately, Mississippi Power announced on June 28. The Southern Co. subsidiary plans to continue running a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant that was completed as part of the $7.5 […]

Although President Trump has been promoting a pro-coal energy agenda, there are four things killing coal that the administration may not be able to remedy. That was the message Bill Ritter Jr. delivered to American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Power and Energy Conference & Exhibition attendees during his keynote address on June 27. Ritter […]

A coal-fired power plant in northeastern Arizona can continue operating until at least the end of 2019 after the Navajo Nation Council approved a lease extension for the facility. The three Arizona utilities and one Nevada utility that own the plant along with the federal Bureau of Reclamation had said in February 2017 they would […]

 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Army, and Army Corps of Engineers have proposed a rule to rescind the controversial Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, which asserts federal authority over small bodies of water. The rule, also known as the “Clean Water Rule,” was promulgated by the EPA and the U.S. Army […]

The nation’s power grid may or may not have reliability issues if too many renewables are added to the energy mix, according to conflicting statements by Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Commissioner Colette D. Honorable. Speaking June 27 at the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) 2017 Conference in Washington, D.C., […]

Groups opposed to financial relief for Connecticut’s 2,111-MW Millstone Nuclear Power Station continue to press their case against subsidies for the plant as state lawmakers prepare for a special session to prepare a state budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. The regular 2017 legislative session ended June 7. Dominion Energy in […]

SCANA Corp. subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. (SCG&E) and Santee Cooper—owners of the two-unit expansion of the V.C. Summer nuclear plant—have extended an interim assessment agreement with Westinghouse to allow the project’s owners to “continue to make progress on the site.” The companies on June 26 extended the agreement to August 10, but it […]

If the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back the Clean Power Plan (CPP) are successful, the nation could miss out on 560,000 potential jobs and a boost of $52 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP), according to a report released by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). “From states with relatively small populations like Maine and Montana […]

The Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) at an open meeting on June 21 unanimously passed a motion instructing its counsel to prepare an order pursuing potential solutions regarding the Kemper County Power Generation Facility. In a press release, the MPSC said the “Kemper Facility should operate using only natural gas.” The commission said it wanted […]

A newly released update to the Power Sector Carbon Index, developed by Carnegie Mellon University with the support of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS), found that U.S. power plant emissions averaged 955 lb of CO2 per MWh during the first three months of 2017. 1. Carnegie Mellon University Power Sector Carbon Index. The index shows […]

A bipartisan bill extending a production tax credit (PTC) for advanced nuclear power facilities passed the U.S. House on a voice vote on June 20. The bill, introduced by Congressman Tom Rice (R-S.C.), seeks to give facilities that use novel nuclear power technologies more investment certainty. The nuclear PTC was established under the Energy Policy […]

The Trump administration says it’s not going to pick winners and losers when it comes to energy generation, but it sure doesn’t seem to like wind and solar, judging from a recent presentation by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. The nation needs a diverse energy mix, including nuclear, coal, natural gas, and renewables, several energy industry […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said PJM can restart two coal-fired units at Dominion Energy’s Yorktown, Va., power plant, two months after the aging units were shut down because they could not meet federal emissions standards. The emergency order from the DOE, issued June 16, allows the units to run during the hot summer […]

Georgia Power officials say the utility continues to work with its partners in the troubled Vogtle nuclear plant to firm up construction timelines and determine the costs to complete two new units at the facility. At the same time, a group opposed to the project and two long-time project consultants say ballooning costs should put […]

Increased use of less-expensive natural gas and renewable sources of energy for power generation is putting financial pressure on U.S. nuclear power plants, according to an analysis of electricity costs from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Nicholas Steckler, an analyst for BNEF, in a June 14 report said nuclear operators are losing about $2.9 billion […]

Marking a significant milestone, power generation from the combined utility-scale and small-scale wind and solar installations in the U.S. surpassed 10% of the nation’s total power generation in March, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The news comes on the heels of an announcement last week by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) that […]

GenOn has begun its transition back into a standalone power generation company after NRG Energy—which acquired it in a $1.7 billion deal just five years ago—struck a comprehensive restructuring agreement with GenOn’s creditors, and GenOn filed for Chapter 11 protection. A June 14 financial filing confirms that NRG, GenOn, and an ad hoc group of […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) is offering approximately $28 million in cost-shared funding for research and development of advanced energy systems.  According to three separate funding opportunity announcements (FOAs), the department is looking for research into advanced combustion systems, advanced turbines, and gasification. “Advanced energy conversion systems are designed to enable efficient, low-cost, and near-zero […]

The administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reportedly left a Group of Seven summit on climate in Bologna, Italy, after the opening session of the two-day event, just days after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would pull out of the Paris climate agreement. Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma attorney general before being tapped […]

A nuclear plant construction project in Georgia that is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget has been given a lifeline that at least temporarily eases concerns about its future. Toshiba, the parent company of Westinghouse, and Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power, majority owner of Plant Vogtle near Augusta, on June 9 reached […]