POWERnews

A year after a U.S. appeals court vacated a Clean Air Act Rule that would have allowed a cap-and-trade approach for mercury emitted by power plants, the nation’s highest court on Monday declined to hear arguments on the case.

A federal court on Tuesday sided with 13 states that had challenged the U.S. Environment Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual air quality standard for microscopic pollutants known as particulate matter or soot, ruling that the government’s standards were “unsupported” by “reasoned decision-making.”

A federal appeals court last week slapped the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the hand for overreaching the authority granted to the agency by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 when it took an “expansive interpretation” of the law in asserting its power to override state decisions.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu last week announced a sweeping reorganization of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) dispersal of direct loans, loan guarantees, and funding contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

If the Obama administration regulates carbon dioxide, future costs to contain or abate emissions at the 600-MW John W. Turk Jr. Power Plant proposed for southwest Arkansas by the Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) could exceed $163 million a year—or more than $2.8 billion for the 40-year life of the plant—says an economic study prepared for two environmental groups.

The U.S. government has sued Louisiana Generating, alleging that the NRG Energy subsidiary violated the clean air rules by operating the Big Cajun 2 Power Plant without also installing and operating modern pollution control equipment after the generating units had undergone major “modifications.”

Beacon Power Corp., whose much-watched flywheel system is designed regulate grids using efficient energy storage, is teaming with American Electric Power (AEP) and Columbus Southern Power Co. to build a 1-MW regulation facility in the coming months at an AEP site in Groveport, Ohio.

It’s here—the 59th annual event to encourage students to consider engineering careers while building public understanding and appreciation of engineers’ contributions to society. Created in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers, National Engineers Week is backed by more than 100 professional societies, major corporations, and government agencies, with the goal of ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday agreed to reconsider a memorandum issued by the Bush administration’s EPA chief that directed agency officials not to consider carbon dioxide emissions when weighing applications for new coal power plants. The decision could portend the potential reversal of that Bush policy.

The industry last week saw the postponements of several more fossil-fueled power plants. Subsidiaries of American Electric Power (AEP) reportedly delayed construction of two integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) plants in West Virginia and in Ohio, NV Energy stalled plans for a 500-MW coal-fired facility in Nevada, and Consolidated Energy put off construction of a 109-MW pet coke power plant in Utah.