POWERnews

Natural gas demand in the U.S. is poised to grow strongly over the next two decades, and there’s no mystery where all that gas will be going. Analysts at the recent LDC Mid-Continent Gas Forum in Chicago agreed that the biggest growth potential—as much as 15 Bcf/d—is in gas-fired power. “It’s clear the majority of […]

Ending a tumultuous battle over the future of electricity in the state, the California Legislature passed a wide-ranging revision of its ratemaking structure last week. Despite the contentious subject, the bill, AB 327, was approved by a broad bipartisan majority and garnered widespread support from the state’s three investor-owned utilities, the residential solar industry, and […]

An unusual extreme heat wave spanning two days this week combined with local equipment issues in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania forced regional grid operator PJM Interconnection to take localized emergency measures to avoid the possibility of an uncontrolled blackout over a larger area. Soaring temperatures on Tuesday (Sept. 11) and Wednesday (Sept. 12) pushed […]

Solar trade remedies set by U.S. Department of Commerce determinations are weakened by Chinese solar producers who fail to show they are “free of Chinese government control,” Oregon-based SolarWorld argues in an appeal filed in an international trade court last week. The move is the latest development in an escalating trade war between the U.S. […]

China’s historical solar photovoltaic (PV) price advantage is driven by economies of scale and supply chain development—not direct government subsidies or low labor costs, as is the prevailing belief—suggests a new study from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The study recently published in the […]

An explosion on Tuesday morning at CPS Energy’s 420-MW Deely 1 power plant that left one worker with minor injuries has damaged the coal-fired unit’s cascade building, the San Antonio municipal utility said. The blast that occurred shortly before 11 a.m. at a 7,500-acre site in southeast Bexar County prompted officials to evacuate the building […]

Nearly 100 renewable energy and environmental groups and businesses have asked the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to reevaluate renewable energy forecasts, alleging the agency’s projections don’t reflect “the current status and recent, real-world growth rates of renewables.” In a Sept. 10 letter to EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski, the coalition says the agency’s estimates in past […]

The Department of Energy on Wednesday conditionally authorized Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries that do not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), marking the fourth order allowing non-FTA LNG exports. The orders authorizes Dominion Cove Point LNG to export 0.77 billion cubic feet of natural […]

Members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy on Tuesday pushed top officials from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to act immediately to restart the Yucca Mountain repository licensing process. Only two witnesses testified at the hearing on how the Obama administration intends to […]

A failure in one of the Venezuelan national grid’s transmission lines reportedly cut power to nearly half of the oil-rich country, including in much of its capital, Caracas, on Tuesday. The widespread blackouts reportedly affected the Capital District and 12 of Venezuela’s 23 states at about 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, cutting the lights in the […]