POWERnews

A federal appeals court last week denied a motion from developers of new coal- and oil-fired power plants to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finalize its reconsidered Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for new sources by March and help them avoid a regulatory Catch-22 posed by a looming rule to curb greenhouse gas emissions in new plants.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week completed the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the DTE Electric Co.’s proposed new Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) at its Enrico Fermi Nuclear Plant.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the grid operator that oversees 85% of Texas’ electric load, should consider additional potential solutions to address its worrisome resource adequacy and provide a plan outlining measures it will take to increase woefully low reserve margins, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) said in a strongly worded letter last week.

The Department of Energy (DOE) quietly unveiled a new strategy for the management and disposal of the nation’s spent nuclear fuel on Friday. The strategy calls for a phased, consent-based approach to siting and implementing a nuclear waste management and disposal system, and it endorses building a pilot interim storage facility by 2021.

A report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergence Response Team (ICS-CERT) reveals that infected USB drives spread common and sophisticated malware in the control systems at two power plants in separate incidents late last year.

An agreement reached between the Virginia Attorney General’s office, Dominion Virginia Power, and Appalachian Power proposes to reduce financial incentives associated with the utilities’ generation of renewables and construction of new fossil fuel–fired power plants.

A fire in the main transformer of the South Texas Project (STP) Electric Generating Station’s Unit 2 on Tuesday evening automatically tripped the reactor in Bay City, Texas, and powered on emergency diesel generators.

Two U.S. nuclear reactors that have long been idled—one for roughly two years and the other for three—may see even longer periods of shutdown, new reports suggest. Federal regulators said significant work remains before the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant in Nebraska can be restarted, while Progress Energy Florida on Monday told the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) that it was a week away from submitting a draft report evaluating repair options for its Crystal River reactor.

Georgia Power on Monday said it was seeking state regulatory permission to decertify and retire 15 coal- and oil-fired generating units—a total capacity of 2,061 MW—citing several factors, including costs to comply with existing and future environmental regulations, economic conditions, and lower natural gas prices.

A settlement reached with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act will require Wisconsin Public Service (WPS) to invest about $300 million in pollution control technology, pay a civil penalty of $1.2 million, and spend $6 million on environmental mitigation projects.

The announced resignation of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson may as soon as this week be followed by one from Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Last week, meanwhile, Senate Republicans announced new committee assignments.

A 200-MW biomass power plant in Polaniec, Poland, that is owned by GDF Suez and began operations in November is being billed as the largest in the world to use a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler.

Leaders of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Friday called on the Department of the Interior to investigate whether coal companies are understating the value of coal mined on federal and tribal lands to avoid paying full royalties.

In a settlement with the federal government, Kentucky Utilities has agreed to spend $57 million to install a sulfuric acid mist emission control system, replace a coal-fired boiler, and pay a civil penalty of $300,000 to resolve alleged Clean Air Act violations at its 2-GW coal-fired Ghent Station.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Dec. 20 finalized changes to a specific set of adjustments to Clean Air Act that apply to a coal, oil, natural gas and biomass boilers and certain solid waste incinerators.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson on Thursday announced she would step down after President Obama’s state of the union address later this January.

Japanese firm Toshiba Corp. is reportedly holding discussions with three parties to sell off up to 16% of its subsidiary, U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Co.

A long-sought extension of the wind energy tax credits are included in the “fiscal cliff” bill signed today by President Obama. Unlike past extensions, it allows the credit to cover wind farms that begin construction—not just those that begin operations—in 2013.

The Nebraska Public Power District’s (NPPD’s) Board of Directors on Friday unanimously voted to increase the amount of power produced at its 800-MW Cooper Nuclear Station by 146 MW through an extended power uprate.

Six months after withdrawing a $1 billion plan to retrofit its 49-year-old Big Sandy coal-fired plant near Louisa, Ky., from the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC), American Electric Power (AEP) operating unit Kentucky Power on Wednesday announced it would retire the plant’s 800-MW Unit 2 by 2015 and will decide on the future of its 278-MW Unit 1.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday issued a final rule that strengthens its National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) to 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³) but declared it would not finalize a proposal to update separate secondary PM2.5 standards. The final rule’s issuance was lauded by environmental and public health groups, though industry groups opposed it, citing concerns that nonattainment areas would suffer economic setbacks.

Major oil and gas production company Vintage Production California and its subsidiary OXY USA last week agreed to pay $34,000 to resolve the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) first greenhouse gas (GHG) permitting violation case.

Last week, as the broader debate over the "fiscal cliff" muted discussions over whether an extension to the wind production tax credit (PTC) should be granted, the top ranking executive of wind power lobby group the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) last week announced her resignation.

Texas could again see tight power supplies in the summer of 2013 and beyond—with reserve margins dropping to 2.8% by 2022—even though the outlook has improved, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) warned in its latest long-term outlook released on Monday.

Fuel for power generation will account for about 55% of demand-related energy growth through 2040, ExxonMobil forecasts in its freshly released annual energy forecast. Like several other forecasters, the Irving, Texas–based oil and gas company also predicts that natural gas will emerge as the leading source of electricity generation by 2040. Among key findings in […]

While announcing that staff would meet with Southern California Edison (SCE) representatives on Dec. 18 to discuss the utility’s proposal to restart the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s (SONGS’) Unit 2, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) warned that the meeting was "only one step in a long process," and that "a final decision on whether […]

A new report commissioned by the Department of Energy (DOE) surveying offshore wind potential in the U.S. finds that establishing an offshore wind sector could drive more than $70 billion in annual investments by 2030. Citing that report, the DOE on Wednesday announced awards for seven offshore wind demonstration projects in Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Virginia as part of efforts to launch a U.S. offshore wind industry and support offshore installations in state and federal waters for commercial deployment by 2017.

The Department of Energy (DOE) on Friday announced a $29 million investment in four solar projects aimed at improving grid connection and reducing installation costs through plug-and-play technologies and reliable solar power forecasts. The awards are part of the agency’s SunShot Initiative, which is working to make solar energy competitive with other forms of energy without subsidy by the end of the decade.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Friday announced it was proposing to amend rules that govern low-level radioactive (LLR) waste disposal facilities. The proposal, published in the Federal Register, requires new and revised site-specific analyses and would permit the development of criteria for waste acceptance based on the results of those analyses.

Maybe it’s time to start talking about the “POWER bump.” Over two years ago, POWER magazine published a story about a new concept for generating power from waste heat. Today, Sarnia, Ontario’s AVEtec Energy Corp. announced that Silicon Valley entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel will fund a prototype Atmospheric Vortex Engine (AVE) invented by the company’s president, Louis Michaud. The technology holds promise for low-cost thermal plant efficiency gains by generating power from waste heat.