POWERnews

Witnesses from four federal agencies, including Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy, answered pointed questions about the president’s June 2013–released Climate Action Plan (CAP) and associated rules at an oversight hearing of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works today.  Committee Chair Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) began the hearing to review President Obama’s […]

Three Wyoming coal-fired power plants will be required to install costly controls to curb nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions under a regional haze rule that was finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week. The agency disapproved parts of a state implementation plan (SIP) submitted by Wyoming in January 2011 to address regional haze. It […]

A years-long drought afflicting California could put financial pressure on a number of the state’s hydropower generators, a ratings agency warns.  Fitch Ratings on Friday said that while the financial impact could be manageable, utilities that depend on hydropower generation for the most part may be forced to use more expensive generation and purchased power […]

A new bill authored by state Sen. James Merritt, R-Indianapolis, is designed to promote nuclear power development in Indiana, which doesn’t currently have any operating nuclear power plants. Senate Bill 302 provides that projects involving the construction of nuclear energy production or generating facilities qualify for the financial incentives available for clean energy projects. Current […]

With 16 reactors providing roughly 18% of the UK’s electricity needs, nuclear power is a vital part of the country’s energy supply. The trouble is that all but one of the aging reactors is expected to be permanently shutdown within the next 12 years. Recent developments, however, indicate that there is no reason for the […]

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will today miss a legally set deadline to issue finalized standards for cooling water intake structures for all existing power generating facilities under Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act.  The EPA’s 2004 Phase II Cooling Water Intake Structure rules were suspended in July 2007 in response to the Second […]

The EPA published the latest version of its new source performance standards (NSPS) for carbon pollution from new power plants in the Federal Register on Jan. 8, setting in motion a 60-day public comment period. The action stems from the 2007 Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA that defined greenhouse gases as an air […]

Brayton Point’s non-price retirement (NPR) request was rejected in a Dec. 20 letter from ISO New England Inc. (ISO-NE) to EquiPower Resources Corp., owner of the 1530-MW fossil-fueled power station located in Somerset, Mass. The NPR had been filed on Oct. 6, 2013, which triggered a regional system assessment by ISO-NE. The review found that […]

An option to curb NOx emissions from the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) near Page, Ariz., put forth by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last October has been endorsed by a coalition of the plant’s stakeholders. The EPA’s supplemental proposal incorporates in large part a Best Available Retrofit Technology (BART) alternative that was submitted by a […]

Increases in spot natural gas prices generally prompted wholesale electricity price hikes across the nation from in 2013, but power prices were the highest in the Pacific Northwest and New England, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday.  Average wholesale electricity prices at the Mid-Columbia trading hub were $37.53/MWh—soaring 64% in 2013 compared to […]

The Don A. Campbell geothermal power plant—a 16-MW base load complex located in Mineral County, Nev.—began full capacity operation on Dec. 6, 2013. The plant, named after the geologist who discovered the resource, is supplying electricity to Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA) under a Power Purchase Agreement. SCPPA, in turn, resells the power to […]

A large part of the central and eastern U.S. was hit with some of the coldest weather in decades on Jan. 6 and 7. A polar vortex—a large low-pressure area that normally spins in central parts of Canada circulating air up through the North Pole—dislodged and came down into the mid-section of the U.S. With […]

Eleven new wind turbines have been added at the La Ventosa wind power complex in Juchitán de Zaragoza, Oaxaca, Mexico, raising the total capacity to 102 MW. Iberdrola, owner of the wind farm, has utilized Gamesa technology exclusively at all of its installations in Mexico. In this instance, 2-MW G80 wind turbines, standing 78-meters (256-feet) […]

Arizona Public Service (APS) has purchased Southern California Edison’s (SCE’s) ownership share in the Four Corners Power Plant Units 4 and 5. The two units—located on Navajo land in Fruitland, N.M.—generate a combined 1,540 MW. Ownership had previously been split between six companies, with SCE owning the largest portion (48%) and APS owning 15% prior […]

The controversial federal production tax credit (PTC) bestowed on new wind farms of $0.023/kWh for the first 10 years of their operation expired on Tuesday, but the impact of that policy lapse isn’t immediately clear. Originally enacted in 1992, the federal renewable electricity PTC has been renewed and expanded numerous times—most recently by the American […]

Developers of renewable energy projects in Puerto Rico must incorporate energy storage into new installations under recently approved standards. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and the island territory’s government-owned utility, Autoridad de Energía Eléctrica (AEE) on Dec. 12 released a new minimum technical requirementthat requires new grid-connected solar and wind power projects to add […]

A new major air pollution policy package adopted by the European Union (EU) on Dec. 18 updates existing legislation to further curb air emissions from power plants.    The so-called “Clean Air package” consists of a clean air program for Europe to ensure existing air quality targets are met through interim objectives scheduled through 2030. […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Dec. 24 formally issued a Notice of Violation to Southern California Edison (SCE) for failing to properly vet the design of replacement steam generators at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California. The steam generators later developed excessive tube wear, forcing SCE to shut down the plant in […]

The acquisition of Sherritt International’s Prairie and Mountain coal mining operations will push Westmoreland Coal Co. well into the top 10 of North American coal producers. The purchase helps Westmoreland diversify its assets. As the oldest independent coal company in the U.S., it has established mining operations in Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Texas. The […]

JSC Rusatom Overseas and Fennovoima have signed a plant supply contract to construct a nuclear plant of the AES-2006 pressurized water reactor design (Figure 1) in northern Finland, the companies announced on Dec. 21. 1. The AES-2006 is the latest upgrade to the Russian VVER unit. Currently, 18 VVER units operate in European Union countries. […]

Demolition specialists imploded the H.F. Lee Steam Plant stacks on Dec. 20, changing the landscape of Wayne County, N.C., forever. The 382-MW facility began commercial operation in 1951 and was retired on Sept. 15, 2012. The plant, originally known as the Goldsboro Plant, was renamed in 1964 after Harry Fitzhugh Lee, a district manager who […]

Those enormous amounts of water used in hydraulic fracturing may not be the environmental headache they appear to be. That’s because of the downstream effects of more abundant, less expensive natural gas unlocked by the process, known as “fracking,” according to a new study from the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) at the University of […]

Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc. (MISO), the regional transmission organization (RTO) for a large portion of the Midwestern U.S., completed the integration of a four-state region of the electric grid across the South into its existing footprint in the Midwest at midnight, Dec. 18. The change in control, or cutover, was two years in the making, with […]

The Fort Calhoun Station, Omaha Public Power District’s (OPPD’s) 478-MW nuclear reactor that was offline for nearly three years to address longstanding issues, including flooding from the  Missouri River in 2011, is ready to restart, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has deemed.  The federal regulatory body on Tuesday concluded OPPD was ready to safely restart the […]

U.S. nuclear reactor enriched uranium fuel supplier USEC will voluntarily file for bankruptcy protection as part of a restructuring plan to boost financial support for its much-watched gas centrifuge uranium enrichment project at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio.  The company announced on Dec. 16 that it had reached an agreement with majority shareholders […]

Dominion announced that it has placed into service a group of solar generation projects in Marion County, Ind., that will generate up to 28.6 MW of electricity. The three projects, known as Indy Solar I, II, and III, were acquired in July 2013 from Sunrise Energy Ventures LLC, based in Minnetonka, Minn. All three projects […]

The latest projections from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) are unlikely to quell concern in the coal industry, as the EIA has increased its projections for natural gas production and power burn, while continuing its gloomy outlook for coal. The EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook Early Release, posted Dec. 16, boosts its estimates of natural gas […]

MidAmerican Energy Co. is already the top ranked, rate-regulated utility owner of wind generation in the U.S. and with 448 new wind turbines being added in Iowa—the largest wind expansion in the state’s history—its hold on that position will be further strengthened. In November, the company announced it had reached an agreement with Highland Wind […]

NuScale Power is the winner of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) March 2013–announced funding opportunity to help design, certify, and commercialize small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S.  The DOE’s long-awaited second award announcement means the government will invest up to half of the total project cost required to help NuScale Power’s 45-MWe SMR design […]

No environmental impacts would preclude renewing the operating licenses for two pressurized water reactors (PWR) at the South Texas Project nuclear plant in Bay City, Texas, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) concluded on Friday.  The federal regulatory body issued a final environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the proposed renewal of operating licenses for Units 1 […]