POWERnews

The U.S. Senate passed an amendment on April 26 that would restore funding for wind energy research and development (R&D) in fiscal year 2017 to $96.4 million—the same amount funded this fiscal year. The amendment passed by a vote of 54–42 as part of Senate consideration of the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies […]

On April 27, 2016, Siemens’ century-old factory in Berlin will celebrate the shipment of its 1,000th in-house-produced gas turbine.

  A recent motion filed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asking a federal court to remand parts of its final coal combustion residuals (CCR) rule could have major new consequences for the power sector if upheld, an expert has said. In its 16-page motion filed on April 18, the agency asked the U.S. Court of Appeals […]

GE is doubling down on industrial markets, as its efforts to acquire the drilling unit of Halliburton and its two acquisitions in the power space this month demonstrate.

Executives from power companies operating in different markets revealed how their firms are being affected by low natural gas prices, pressures to achieve fuel diversity, distributed energy generation, and lax demand growth, among a number of topics. The annual executive roundtable panel at the ELECTRIC POWER Conference and Exhibition on April 19 was moderated by […]

  Even if the Clean Power Plan (CPP) doesn’t overcome legal challenges, it is likely that many states will implement carbon-curbing measures set down by the rule, some panelists said at the Environmental Mega Session at the ELECTRIC POWER 2016 conference in New Orleans on April 19. The Rule’s Shaky Legal Standing The rule is […]

The volume and value of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the first quarter of this year have soared, according to the accounting and financial consulting firm PwC. According to PwC’s quarterly snapshot, American Power & Utilities Deals: Q1 2016, “The first quarter was the most active for power and utilities in recent history, with 22 […]

By an 85-12 vote, the U.S. Senate passed the first comprehensive energy bill in nearly a decade, bringing a successful conclusion to months of legislative effort and overcoming a series of roadblocks in the full Senate related to the water quality crisis in Flint, Mich. The product of more than a year of bipartisan work […]

Two senior power sector executives opened the 2016 ELECTRIC POWER Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans April 19 with a message that generators need to “think big” and embrace possibilities of disruptive technologies—or risk being run over on the road to the future. Leo Denault, chairman and CEO of Entergy Corp., delivered the opening keynote […]

In a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that a program Maryland initiated in 2012 to subsidize power plant construction impermissibly invaded the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) authority over interstate power markets. The case, Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing, grew out of a decision by the Maryland Public Service […]

Public benefits offered by the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) far outweigh the costs, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said as it released a review of the 2012-finalized rule’s cost implications. The final cost consideration—released just days before power plants that received a one-year extension must come into compliance with the rule—was prompted by […]

Subcommittees of the U.S House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate separately advanced appropriations bills that lay out funding priorities for the Department of Energy (DOE) and other energy-related measures for 2017. The House Energy and Water Subcommittee, a panel of the Appropriations Committee, passed a $37.4 billion bill to fund the DOE as well […]

Financially bruised Peabody Energy Corp.—the world’s largest privately owned coal mining firm—is seeking bankruptcy protection. The St. Louis–headquartered company filed for voluntary Chapter 11 protection in a desperate attempt to strengthen liquidity and reduce debt amid what it says has been an “unprecedented industry downturn.” It filed petitions for most of its U.S. entities in […]

S. Alam Group has suspended work at the site of a proposed 1,224-MW coal-fired power station in Chittagong, Bangladesh, due to safety concerns following a rally that ended with four protesters dead on April 4. According to multiple sources, groups opposing construction of the plant agreed on April 10 to halt their activities for 15 […]

In April’s editorial, “When Technology Tails Wag Power Dogs,” Editor Gail Reitenbach mused about whether the use of captured carbon dioxide (CO2) for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) represents a viable way forward for carbon capture, use, and sequestration (CCUS). This is a subject both of us have covered in various ways over the past few […]

After 64 years as a landmark in Wilmington, N.C., one of three boiler units at Duke Energy’s retired coal-fired L.V. Sutton Plant crumpled in a dusty heap of contorted steel and splintered glass on April 10. The implosion is the first of three similar events to take place at the Sutton Plant. The next is […]

A plan to restructure $9 billion in Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) debt—an eighth of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s staggering $72 billion in debt—surfaced at the U.S. territory’s energy regulator, the Puerto Rico Energy Commission last week on April 7.

Power News Don't miss these POWER magazine resources: Post Jobs | View Jobs | Buyers' Guide Aliso Canyon Gas Leak May Imperil Summer Reliability, CAISO Says In a joint report issued April 5, a group of California agencies and utilities said that if the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility north of Los Angeles cannot […]

Multiple international news organizations have reported that at least four people were killed, and as many as 100 more were injured, when police opened fire on an estimated 1,500 villagers who were protesting the construction of two coal-fired power plants in Chittagong, in southeastern Bangladesh, on April 4. Discord Over Power Plant According to reports […]

In a joint report issued April 5, a group of California agencies and utilities said that if the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility north of Los Angeles cannot be returned to service after a major leak this past winter, repeated gas curtailments could occur this summer, leading to significant loss of generating capacity in Southern […]

In what has become a regular occurrence with the Kemper County integrated gasification combined cycle power plant, Mississippi Power announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 1 that costs have risen from the most recent projections and further delays in its in-service date are possible. Though the $18 million in […]

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have combined two proven technologies to create a new hybrid system that could produce electricity, using coal as a fuel source, at nearly double the efficiency of conventional coal-fired power plants. The concept—proposed by MIT doctoral student Katherine Ong and Ronald C. Crane (1972) Professor Ahmed Ghoniem—combines […]

Setting the stage for a drawn-out fight with ratepayer groups and other generators, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) on March 31 approved proposals from FirstEnergy and American Electric Power (AEP) that will provide guaranteed income to FirstEnergy’s Davis-Besse nuclear plant (Figure 1) and several aging coal-fired plants belonging to it and AEP. 1. […]

The owner and management company of the Berkshire Power Plant—a 252-MW natural gas–fired combined cycle plant located in Agawam, Mass.—agreed to plead guilty on March 30 to felony charges that the companies violated and conspired to violate the federal Clean Air Act. The indictments against Berkshire Power Co. (BPC), the owner of the plant, and […]

Two renewables giants with a hefty global reach are facing debilitating financial crises. SunEdison on the Verge of Bankruptcy California-headquartered solar project developer SunEdison, a company that has 1,000 operational sites worldwide and is staffed by 3,000 employees, is facing a liquidity crisis so dire, the company’s yieldco TerraForm Global warned in a March 29 […]

A handful of attorneys general want to join forces on ongoing and potential investigations into whether fossil fuel companies misled investors and the public about the impact of climate change on their businesses. New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the joint effort on March 29, during a one-day climate change conference for attorneys […]

While conducting a comprehensive inspection on more than 2,000 of the reactor’s removable insert liner bolts during a Unit 2 planned outage at the Indian Point nuclear power plant, engineers identified issues with approximately 11% of them, requiring further analysis. Some of the bolts—and the bars meant to hold them in place—were missing, while others […]

Edison International, parent company of Southern California Edison (SCE), announced on March 29 that it’s launching a new business unit called Edison Energy that will provide energy consulting services to large energy consumers across the country to help them in identifying and exploiting opportunities to lower energy costs, reduce complexity of energy management, and meet […]

A diverse coalition of major investor-owned utilities, public power authorities, and one of the largest independent power producers, as well as a combination of cities and states, clean energy groups, and environmental groups, filed briefs with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan. The involved […]

The Edison Electric Institute has come under fire for a new communications plan that was intended to depict utilities as more community-minded.