POWERnews

Over the past week, the Department of Energy (DOE) made available $4 billion in additional loan guarantees for U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency projects as it slashed application fees by more than a third for its $8 billion Advanced Fossil Energy Projects Loan Guarantee Solicitation.  The agency on July 3 issued a loan solicitation to […]

The White House on Wednesday threatened to veto a proposed $34 billion House bill setting FY 2015 spending for the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Interior, and the Army Corps of Engineers, saying it “significantly underfunds” investments to develop clean energy technologies.  The 2015 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. […]

Fourteen members of the World Trade Organization (WTO)—including the U.S., China, the European Union (EU), and Japan—on Tuesday launched negotiations to eliminate tariffs or custom duties on wind turbines, solar products, and other environmental goods.  The first phase of negotiations between the 14 WTO members, which make up 86% of the global environmental goods trade, […]

A report released July 10 finds alarming gaps in the security of the world’s critical infrastructure. The study—sponsored by Unisys and conducted by Michigan-based security research firm Ponemon Institute—was based on an Internet survey of 599 respondents from 13 countries in the oil and gas, utilities, alternative energy, and manufacturing industries conducted in April and […]

Nevada utility NV Energy’s net metering program does not significantly impact homeowners without rooftop solar, according to a study prepared for the Nevada Public Utilities Commission (NPUC) this month.  The study was conducted by San Francisco–based Energy and Environmental Economics (E3) at the request of the NPUC after the passage of a Nevada law last […]

Arizona Public Service Co. (APS), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) reached a settlement on July 7 related to the Sept. 8, 2011 blackout that left more than 5 million people in the Southwest without power. As a result of the agreement, APS will pay a $3.25 […]

After bottoming out at 822 billion cubic feet (Bcf) the week ending Mar. 28—the lowest level since April 2003—U.S. inventories of natural gas in underground storage have risen sharply this summer, though levels remain below recent averages, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. Following a severe winter in which the country burned through a […]

The battle over Sunflower Electric Cooperative’s plans to build an 895-MW coal-fired power plant in Holcomb, Kan., returned to court on Friday. The Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice, filed a lawsuit challenging a new air pollution permit recently issued by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to Sunflower to build its proposed Holcomb […]

The much-delayed Cape Wind offshore wind project could be the latest recipient of a federal loan guarantee from the Department of Energy (DOE). The agency on Tuesday announced the first step toward issuing a $150 million loan guarantee with a conditional commitment to Cape Wind Associates. The guarantee will support construction of the 360-MW offshore […]

The Atucha II nuclear power plant—a 745-MW pressurized heavy water reactor located in Lima, in Argentina’s Buenos Aires province—was synchronized to the Argentine electrical grid on June 27. Construction on the plant began in 1981, but was halted from 1994 until the government re-launched the Argentine nuclear program in 2006. At the time, expectations were […]