POWERnews

Texas has added some 3,140 MW of new generation capacity since May, mostly from coal and natural gas–fired power plants, the grid operator for most of the state said in a capacity, demand, and reserve update released last week.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week approved Southern California Edison’s (SCE’s) application to build segments of  the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission (TRTP), a major transmission project and the first in that state specifically designed to access multiple renewable generation sources from remote renewable-rich resource areas.

World leaders have begun arriving in Copenhagen days before the international conference’s close on Dec. 18 to sign a comprehensive pact to curb climate change, but disagreements—mostly on rich-poor lines—among the 193 attending nations on issues from emissions reductions to technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) could mean there may be nothing to sign.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Monday said she would file a disapproval resolution to stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) under the Clean Air Act.

Last week, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) unveiled a “basic framework for climate action” that combines caps on greenhouse gas (GHG) with offshore oil and gas exploration and an emphasis on nuclear power. At the same time, Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine.) introduced legislation to cap the amount of fossil carbon sold but reduce the role of Wall Street in carbon markets.

NRG Energy’s $1.2 billion plan to build a 744-MW pulverized coal unit at its Limestone Electric Generating Station near Jewett, Texas, got a boost last week as the Texas Commission on Environment Quality (TCEQ) approved air permits for the plant.

Sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants across the U.S. fell 52% compared with 1990 levels, and they are already below the statutory annual emission cap of 8.95 million tons set for compliance in 2010 under the Acid Rain Program, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported last week. The EPA’s annual national analysis of the Toxics Release Inventory showed similar decreases by electric utilities for chemicals released into the air, land, and water.

Alberta will not stand in the way of new nuclear builds, but it will not invest public dollars in power proposals, the province’s Energy Minister Mel Knight said on Monday after a government-sponsored consultation showed that 45% of Albertans prefer that nuclear power plants be considered on a case-by-case basis.

General Electric last week won a $1.4 billion contract to supply wind turbines for the 845-MW Shepherds Flat wind farm proposed by independent power producer Caithness Energy. If built, the 338-turbine Oregon wind farm would be the largest in the world.

India and Russia signed another key nuclear cooperation deal on Monday in Moscow, opening the way for Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom to play a major role in the subcontinent’s plans to expand its nuclear capacity tenfold by 2020.