POWERnews

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) employees fell victim to email “phishing” attempts three times in the past few years, allowing intruders into the agency’s email system, according to an internal report by the Office of Inspector General obtained by news site Nextgov.com. The internal NRC investigation revealed that twelve employees clicked on a link in […]

Duke Energy is scrambling to contain another major river spill—this time, of about 5,000 gallons of diesel. The company on Tuesday reported that the discharge of diesel oil #2 into the Ohio River inadvertently occurred at about 11:15 p.m. during a routine transfer of fuel oil used for boiler ignition sources at the W.C. Beckjord […]

A New Jersey court has ordered the state’s Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to reconsider its rejection of a $188 million offshore wind farm that is planned along the Atlantic City coast. The Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey on Aug. 18 ruled in favor of Fishermen’s Energy when it gave the […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) will tag $67 million of federal funds for 83 nuclear energy projects across the country in an effort to boost scientific breakthroughs. The agency said the awards announced on Aug. 20 would help provide “crucial funding” for research and development as well as for training and education of the country’s […]

Europe’s third-largest power provider last week revealed it may be forced to shut down more conventional power plants compromising a total of 1 GW and terminate 470 MW in supply contracts if market conditions in Germany do not improve.  RWE has blamed “political intervention” for “making [its] business challenging”—and specifically, the subsidized expansion of renewables […]

The nation’s coal fleet is under threat, alleged Dr. Larry S. Monroe, chief environmental officer and senior vice president for research and environmental affairs with Southern Co. during the keynote plenary session at the Power Plant Pollutant Control “MEGA” Symposium on Aug. 19 in Baltimore, Md. Monroe was part of a four-member panel, which included […]

Low wholesale electricity prices and uncertainty surrounding Australia’s Renewable Energy Target have resulted in the suspension of development at the Mildura Solar Power Station—a concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) project located in Carwarp, about 40 kilometers south of Mildura in Victoria, Australia. The project, which was being developed by Solar Systems Pty. Ltd., received initial funding commitments […]

The Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC) can mandate transmission provider participation in a regional planning process, a federal court has held. In a 97-page decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Aug. 15 rejected challenges to FERC Order No. 1000 and related orders. FERC’s landmark final transmission-planning […]

Oregon’s Department of State Lands (DSL) on Aug. 18 formally denied Ambre Energy’s application to build a coal export terminal in Boardman on the Columbia River. The project would have shipped up to 9 million tons per year (mtpa) of coal by barge to Port Westward near Clatskanie, where it would be loaded on bulk […]

Steve Byrne, chief operating officer for South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. (SCE&G), provided an update on the company’s new nuclear construction project at the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station during a conference call held on Aug. 11. On the call, Byrne disclosed that the construction consortium informed SCE&G this month that the substantial […]

The U.S. Department of Energy issued the final Environmental Impact Statement for the Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line on Aug. 8, clearing the project for final permitting. The $2.2 billion venture is expected to bring up to 1,000 MW of renewable power from Canada to the New York City metropolitan area. The plans call […]

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is poised to decide on the fate of a coal-fired power plant in Tennessee.  At its next meeting on Aug. 21, the TVA board will likely choose to retire three existing coal-fired units at the Allen Fossil Plant in Shelby County, Tenn., by December 2018 and replace them with a […]

NRG Energy is the latest company in a string of generators choosing to cease burning coal at generating units to comply with environmental rules.   An environmental action plan to reduce air pollution in Illinois released by the New Jersey–based company on Aug. 7 proposes to retire the 251-MW coal-fired Unit 3 at the 761-MW […]

With three recent requests to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has signaled it may seek to slow the recent drive to export liquefied natural gas (LNG). Three times this year, the Texas regional office of the EPA has asked FERC to consider wider impacts of increased greenhouse gas emissions […]

French utility EDF shut down two nuclear plants that it operates in the UK after routine inspections uncovered possible defects in one reactor. The two power plants, both with two units, are of the same design, and shutdowns were ordered for the other three reactors as a safety precaution. The affected plants are Heysham 1 […]

American Electric Power (AEP) has agreed to close a coal plant and make changes at two others to resolve alleged Clean Water Act (CWA) violations. According to consent decrees filed in two West Virginia federal district courts, the company on Friday agreed to settle allegations from numerous citizen groups that the coal-fired John E. Amos, Kammer, […]

A final rule governing continued storage of used nuclear fuel is expected from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) next month. NRC staff on July 24 submitted a draft final rule to replace the court-vacated 2010 “Waste Confidence Decision” and a supporting generic environmental impact statement to the commission for approval. The D.C. Circuit in June […]

A group of 12 states and a coal mining company have filed separate lawsuits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in an effort to stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating CO2 emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. The states—Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, […]

The federally owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced this week that it was eliminating more than 2,000 jobs as part of its ongoing effort to stem a tide of red ink. The cuts are not as draconian as they might appear, since more than half of the jobs represent vacancies that will now not be […]

Ongoing service issues with BNSF Railway Co. have resulted in a “coal supply crisis” for several generators in the Upper Midwest. According to a document provided by the government relations staff of Dairyland Power Cooperative, the poor rail service may result in its coal-fired plant in Genoa, Wisconsin, running out of fuel during the upcoming […]

Judging by the long-running dispute between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Texas over greenhouse gas permitting under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program, one might assume GHG permitting in Texas has been stalled, or at least slowed. That assumption would be wrong according to an announcement from the EPA this […]

A major environmental settlement will force Southern Co. to repower, convert to natural gas, or shutter several coal units in Mississippi and Alabama. The landmark settlement with the Sierra Club that ends a six-year-long battle over Mississippi Power’s Kemper County integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) project will reshape the Southern Co. subsidiary’s generation fleet so […]

A significant reform of Germany’s aggressive renewable energy laws passed its final hurdle on July 11, setting the country on a more market-based path toward future growth. The bill was developed and approved by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats. Because they are the two largest parties, the legislation was […]

A blaze engulfing the coal-fired Ferrybridge C power station in the UK’s West Yorkshire region is a “serious incident” that required 15 fire crews to quell it, plant owner SSE said on Thursday. The fire that broke out at about 2 p.m. and impacted Units 3 and 4 at the power station activated emergency response […]

The past week saw a flurry of Congressional hearings probing how the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed carbon pollution rules will affect grid reliability and the economy.  On Reliability  The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday summoned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) four sitting commissioners and future chair Norman Bay to testify on […]

According to a report released this week by Mycle Schneider Consulting—a Paris-based independent consultant—nuclear power’s share of global commercial primary energy production declined to only 4.4%, a level not seen since 1984. In the report, “The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2014,” Mycle Schneider suggests that “the nuclear industry is in decline.” One piece of […]

The 135-MW Quinto Solar Project, a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant under construction in California’s Central Valley, officially broke ground on July 29. San Jose–based SunPower Corp. is building the plant in Los Banos, and will sell power from the facility to Southern California Edison under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The project is due for […]

Interest in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) carbon pollution standards for existing power plants—the “Clean Power Plan,” proposed under the authority of the Clean Air Act Section 111(d)—was so high that the agency had to add double the days and double the rooms at all four locations this week. At all locations, power industry speakers […]

Per a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will no longer require Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) or Title V permits for large sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Office of Air and Radiation head Janet McCabe told the agency’s 10 regional administrators in a July 24 memo.  The memo outlines […]

In an effort to reduce air pollution from the Navajo Generating Station (NGS)—a coal-fired power plant located near Page, Ariz.—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a rule on July 28 that will result in the permanent shutdown of one of NGS’s three units. The EPA had issued an initial proposal in February 2013 but invited […]