POWERnews

NRG Energy will pay $1 million in penalties, install environmental projects worth another $1 million, and complete costly upgrades under a consent decree it entered into with the state of Maryland to resolve wastewater discharge violations at two coal-fired power plants owned by its subsidiary GenOn. The settlement results from a June 2013 complaint Maryland […]

MidAmerican Energy’s Wind XI project in Iowa, which will comprise up to 2 GW of total generation, has received approval from state regulators to proceed with construction, the company said. The $3.6 billion project will place 1,000 turbines at several sites still to be finalized. Plans were announced in April 2016, and the Iowa Utilities […]

Fourteen research and development projects to scale up coal-based advanced combustion power systems and gasification processes and improve costs and endurance of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have won investments of more than $28 million from the Department of Energy (DOE). The Energy Department on August 24 announced it has selected the projects to help […]

Although the U.S. and Canada are both aiming for similar greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, the two countries are embarking on decidedly different approaches to reaching their goals, according to a report released on August 23. IHS Markit—a company that provides information, analytics, and solutions to customers in business, finance, and government—developed the report, titled […]

Prices for solar energy systems fell to record lows across all sectors in 2015, according to two new reports from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The LBNL reports, released on August 24, are Tracking the Sun IX, which focuses on installed pricing trends in the distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) market, and Utility-Scale Solar 2015, […]

An “ice wall” put up by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) around its four crippled reactor units at Fukushima Daiichi reportedly isn’t working as planned to keep out groundwater flowing into the devastated nuclear plant. According to The Asahi Shimbun, an expert panel at Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority on August 18 said that though five […]

The Sandy Creek coal-fired power plant—a 900-MW facility in Riesel, Texas—won a major victory in court on August 19 when a McLennan County jury agreed that the plant was appraised at a much higher value than justified by market conditions. The appraisal district had suggested the plant be valued at $900 million in 2014 and […]

It’s only 30 MW, but it’s a start. The Block Island Wind Farm, the first offshore wind farm in the U.S., completed installation of its five wind turbines in the waters off Rhode Island on Aug. 18 (Figure), setting the stage for full operations in a few weeks, owner Deepwater Wind said.     The […]

By the end of this year, energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from natural gas could surpass emissions from coal for the first time in nearly 45 years, according to projections by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook notes that consumption of natural gas in the U.S. between 1990 and 2005 […]

Power News Don't miss these POWER magazine resources: Post Jobs | View Jobs | Buyers' Guide Support Wanes for Coal Industry Lobbying Groups The downturn in the U.S. coal industry isn’t just hurting coal mining and coal-heavy power companies; it’s also having a devastating effect on the groups formed to help promote the industry—coal lobbyists. […]

A unanimous vote by New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission (PRC) today determined that Public Service Co. of New Mexico (PNM) will be allowed to provide new renewable capacity to a proposed Facebook facility through a special service agreement.

The downturn in the U.S. coal industry isn’t just hurting coal mining and coal-heavy power companies; it’s also having a devastating effect on the groups formed to help promote the industry—coal lobbyists. Three of the most prominent coal lobbying groups have seen high-profile supporters drop off of their membership lists in recent years, and with […]

WEC Energy Group, parent company of We Energies, signed a deal with mining firm Cliffs Natural Resources that will support two natural gas engine plants in the Upper Peninsula (UP) region of Michigan and replace power currently supplied by the coal-fired Presque Isle Power Plant, due to retire in 2020 (Figure 1).   The deal […]

According to a Duke University study, future climate warming will likely cause only minor reductions in power output at most U.S. coal- and gas-fired power plants.

A massive fire broke out at DTE Energy’s St. Clair Power Plant in the early evening on August 11. Firefighters reportedly received the call for assistance at around 6:30 p.m. and fought the blaze well into the following morning. Video taken during the incident shows flames in several spots on the north end of the […]

News agencies are reporting that an explosion at a coal-fired power plant in Dangyang, a city in central China, has killed at least 21 people and injured five others, three seriously. The event is said to have occurred around 3:20 p.m. local time on August 11. The facility—designed to generate thermal power and sell slag, […]

Construction on Belarus’s first nuclear power plant, being built by Russian state firm Rosatom in Ostrovets near the Lithuanian border, was halted after a construction mishap in July that is only now coming to light. Exactly what happened at the construction site on July 10 is unclear, but according to Rosatom, the plant’s reactor vessel […]

Power News Don't miss these POWER magazine resources: Post Jobs | View Jobs | Buyers' Guide FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant Saved by Exelon-Entergy Deal Exelon Generation has agreed to acquire the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant from Entergy Corp. in a deal worth $110 million. Entergy had slated the 838-MW single-unit facility located in Scriba, […]

Turkish President Erdogan’s meeting with Russia’s President Putin could signal a major shift in energy flows into the EU and increase the West’s dependence on Russian gas, which could open the door wider for U.S. LNG.

A drone crash at the Koeberg nuclear power station in South Africa has led to the suspension of the site’s safety officer for breach of regulations. The Koeberg facility is a dual-unit 1,800-MW station located about 30 kilometers northwest of Cape Town. It is the only nuclear power plant in Africa. According to owner and […]

Mississippi Power has pushed back the in-service date of its much-delayed Kemper County integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant by a month, to October 31, 2016. Initial production of syngas at the plant began on July 14, and testing continues of gasifier B and related lignite feed and ash systems. “The schedule extension provides for […]

China’s ambassador to the UK, in an opinion piece in British newspaper Financial Times, warned that Sino-British relations are “at a crucial historical juncture” and suggested that enormous recent Chinese investments in Britain are at risk should the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear reactor project be cancelled. The long-delayed and much-debated two-unit expansion at the […]

Exelon Generation has agreed to acquire the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant from Entergy Corp. in a deal worth $110 million. Entergy had slated the 838-MW single-unit facility located in Scriba, N.Y., for closure by January 2017 for economic reasons, but the change in ownership will allow the plant to remain in operation. Exelon […]

Reliability and cybersecurity ranked as the two most important issues currently confronting the electric industry, according to surveys completed by 672 qualified utility, municipal, commercial, and community stakeholders for Black & Veatch’s “2016 Strategic Directions: Electric Industry Report.” It’s not particularly surprising to see reliability rank at the top of the list. “Reliability has always […]

Tony Clark, the only Republican on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, announced Aug. 4 that the agency’s September meeting will be his last.

China’s once-booming coal power sector is facing an existential challenge as continued breakneck expansion of new capacity is colliding with flattened growth in power demand, despite increasingly strenuous government efforts to put the brakes on new construction. According to a pair of new studies, China’s overcapacity in coal-fired generation could reach a staggering 400 GW […]

Massachusetts’ lawmakers approved an omnibus energy bill that sets down an energy storage mandate and requires utilities to solicit contracts for 1.6 GW of offshore wind. The bill also outlines clean energy procurement targets, including for 1.2 GW from hydro, onshore wind, and other renewables from within the state, from neighboring states, or from Canada. […]

Italian firm Ansaldo Energia successfully defended an arbitration case brought by Siemens in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Arbitral Tribunal regarding its right to use Siemens gas turbine technology under a license agreement, the company said on Aug. 1. The dispute stemmed from an agreement that ran from 1991 through October 2004 under which […]

The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) approved New York’s Clean Energy Standard on August 1, likely saving three upstate nuclear power plants, while requiring 50% of the state’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources by 2030. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) praised the action in a statement following the announcement. “New York has […]

Now that the political conventions are over and Americans must choose between two presidential candidates, the rhetoric around coal’s future continues to heat up. What neither candidate is telling you, however, is that no matter who is elected in November, no matter what the makeup of the next Congress is, America’s coal age is over. […]