POWERnews

Pushing for an “all-out, all-of-the-above” energy strategy, the Obama administration last week announced new funding to advance the development of small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday proposed its first-ever carbon pollution standard for new power plants, limiting carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from new fossil fuel-fired power plants to 1,000 pounds/MWh. The standard is achievable for new natural gas combined cycle units without add-on controls, but it would force new coal or petroleum coke units to install carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, which is currently commercially unavailable, the agency acknowledged.

In the past week, Ontario’s Bruce A restarted after 17-year hiatus, with hiccups; Indian state approval restarted work to complete Kudankulam; Vermont Yankee turned 40; and Entergy won a new legal round to keep the contested Vermont reactor operating.

NRG Energy last week filed a notice of intent with the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) to mothball Units 1, 2, 3, and 4 of its 635-MW Dunkirk coal-fired power plant near Buffalo, N.Y., by September this year until market conditions improve.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week conditionally approved an enforcement approach proposed by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) that allows industry to self-report “low risk” reliability standard violations. The initiative will “free up resources and attention to address more serious risks to reliability,” FERC said in its decision.

An agreement reached between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Constellation Energy Commodities Group will require the company to pay $245 million to settle FERC allegations that the company manipulated power markets run by the New York Independent System Operator (ISO) and ISO New England between September 2007 and December 2008. The penalty is the largest ever imposed by FERC under the expanded enforcement authority assigned to the federal body in 2005.

Cap and trade programs to reduce emissions do not inherently provide incentives to induce the private sector to develop innovative technologies to address climate change, according to a new study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Enough capacity exists in deep saline aquifers in the U.S. to store about a century’s worth of carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s coal-fired power plants, a new study from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) shows.

After concluding that the Chinese government provided illegal subsidies to domestic solar panel makers, the U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday said it would impose countervailing duties on the imports of Chinese crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules. But the tariffs were smaller than some solar companies had petitioned for, ranging at 2.9% to 4.73%, depending on which company manufactured them.

In a major setback for Southern Co.’s 582-MW integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) Kemper power plant that is under construction in Kemper County, Miss., the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed an order by the Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) granting the project a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.