POWERnews

New Hampshire’s Legislature is considering a bill that could require Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH)—the state’s largest electric utility—to divest all 12 of its generation facilities by 2013 to complete restructuring of its electric sector. At a hearing on Thursday, PSNH staunchly opposed the measure, saying the bill could have “far-reaching economic risks, and reliability consequences for all New Hampshire business and residential customers.”

As the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) prepares to vote on Thursday on whether to approve a combined construction and operating license (COL) for Southern Co.’s proposed 2,234-MW expansion of its Vogtle nuclear plant, anti-nuclear activists are gearing up to oppose the decision. Meanwhile, Progress Energy is reportedly considering shelving its proposed Levy County, Fla., reactor.

A settlement reached between Dominion and conservation groups that was last week approved by a federal court makes the utility’s plans to shutter all four units at its 60-year-old Salem Harbor Station in Salem, Mass., by 2014 legally enforceable.

Renewable power prices in California surged from 5.4 cents/kWh in 2003 to 13.3 cents/kWh in 2011. However, they are slated to fall as new contract bids submitted to utilities last year were estimated at about 30% lower than in 2009, a new report from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) suggests.

More renewable power capacity was installed than ever before in the European Union (EU) during 2011, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) says in a new report published on Monday. The EU saw a 3.9% increase in power capacity compared with 2010, much of which was driven by renewable power capacity increases. In 2011, the EU added 37.7% more renewable power capacity than in 2010.

A failed electrical insulator at a switchyard at Exelon Generation Co.’s two-unit Byron nuclear plant in Lisle, Ill., has been blamed for the loss of offsite power on Monday morning that automatically shut down Unit 2 and forced Exelon to declare an “Unusual Event.”

The 15-member Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC) appointed by Energy Secretary Steven Chu in January 2010 to provide comprehensive recommendations for a long-term solution to managing and disposing the nation’s spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste released its much-anticipated final report last week.

A federal district court judge on Tuesday ruled that the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), must complete an environmental impact study (EIS) before any approvals or other major federal action can be taken on the $2.8 billion expansion at Sunflower Electric Power Corp.’s coal plant in Holcombe, Kansas. The ruling may delay construction of the 875-MW plant, a politically controversial project in the Kansas Legislature.

A high-voltage electricity panel arc reportedly sparked a brief fire at the 100-MW Nacogdoches Power, LLC biomass power plant under construction in Sacul, Texas, and sent two workers to hospital in critical condition on Tuesday.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Monday released a white paper that seeks comment on its proposals to “provide a fair, timely and transparent process” for FERC to advise the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on requests for extension of time to comply with its Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule.