POWERnews

  • POWERnews—Aug. 18, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   August 18, 2022 Biden Signs Bill to Transform U.S. Energy, Combat Climate Change President Biden’s signing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) should provide further impetus for growth of U.S. renewable energy, coming on the heels of a report from the Federal […]

  • Zero Trust: Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Responding to CISA’s ‘Shields Up’

    There are no boundaries in cyberspace. That fact has accelerated sharing of threat intelligence across the defenders, but it exponentially raises the threat of cyberattacks. This reality is underscored by the war in Ukraine, “the first major conflict involving large-scale cyber operations,” according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA). A major concern is […]

  • Common Mobility Tax Mistakes in the Energy Sector and How to Avoid Them

    As international travel picks up, energy corporations are turning to mobile employees to fulfill their international staffing needs. However, as mobile work gains steam, tax and compliance risks continue to grow as well—unbeknownst to most corporate leaders. Many businesses, unfortunately, are failing to set up an adequate plan to protect against tax violations in the […]

  • Germany Mulls Postponing Nuclear Exit

    Germany’s government is weighing how the closure of the country’s last three nuclear power plants in December 2022 will affect its grid this upcoming winter as the country scrambles to secure sufficient energy supplies amid a decline in Russian gas deliveries. A formal decision on whether or not to keep  Isar 2, Emsland, and Neckarwestheim […]

  • Another Power Giant’s CEO Is Retiring: Entergy’s Leo Denault

    Entergy Corp.’s chairman and CEO Leo P. Denault will retire in 2023, ending a decade-long role as the head of the New Orleans–headquartered power generating giant. Denault will be succeeded by Andrew “Drew” Marsh, Entergy’s current executive vice president and chief financial officer. Denault, 62, was appointed Entergy’s chairman and CEO in 2013, taking over […]

  • Biden Signs Bill to Transform U.S. Energy, Combat Climate Change

    President Biden’s signing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) should provide further impetus for growth of U.S. renewable energy, coming on the heels of a report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that installations of solar and wind power accounted for more than two-thirds of new domestic utility-scale generation in the first six months […]

  • Best of POWER—August 15, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   August 15, 2022 U.S. Utility Survey Suggests Industry Mulling Additions of 90 GW of New Nuclear A Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) survey suggests U.S. utility members expect to add up to 90 GW of new nuclear generation by the 2050s, including more […]

  • Renewable Energy, Electrification Big Winners in Inflation Reduction Act

    The U.S. House on Aug. 12 passed a bill with major implications for the power generation industry, joining the U.S. Senate in supporting the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The bill, which now heads to President Joe Biden for his signature, includes major provisions to combat climate change, including support for a variety of clean energy […]

  • California Governor Has Plan to Keep Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Open

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a plan that would keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open into 2035, a decade beyond the facility’s current closure date. The proposal, which in part includes giving plant owner Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) a forgivable $1.4-billion loan, was included in a draft legislative package sent to […]

  • AEP CEO Nick Akins to Step Down, Julie Sloat Tapped as Next Company Head

    American Electric Power’s (AEP’s) long-serving chairman, president, and CEO, Nick Akins, will step down as CEO on Jan. 1, 2023, and has already passed the company’s presidency to Julie A. Sloat, AEP executive vice president, and chief financial officer (CFO). Sloat, 53, will become the power generating company’s CEO in January, making her the first […]

  • POWERnews—Aug. 11, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   August 11, 2022 Illinois EPA Issues Permit for New 1.1-GW Gas-Fired Facility Environmental officials in Illinois have signed off on construction of a 1,100-MW natural gas-fired power plant sited near Springfield, the state capital. EmberClear, an energy company with offices in Houston,… […]

  • U.S. Utility Survey Suggests Industry Mulling Additions of 90 GW of New Nuclear

    A Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) survey suggests U.S. utility members expect to add up to 90 GW of new nuclear generation by the 2050s, including more than 300 new small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S. over the next 25 years. The nuclear industry group’s survey, unveiled on July 29, sought to gather input from […]

  • Report Notes Continued Growth of Hybrid Power Plants

    Hybrid power plants continue to be deployed across the U.S., with almost 300 such facilities (all with 1 MW or more of generation capacity) operating at the end of last year. An August 2022 report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, based on research funded by the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) and […]

  • How to Overcome Challenges to the U.S.’s Offshore Wind Energy Goals

    Lofty goals have been established in the U.S. for the offshore wind industry. The U.S. Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, and Department of Commerce announced a national goal in March 2021 to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030. That would mark a significant increase from the 42 MW of offshore […]

  • How Hydrogen Can Enhance Renewable Energy Grids

    From powering the first combustion engines to becoming a vital part of the modern-day refining industry, the relationship between hydrogen (H2) and energy spans centuries. It is the most abundant element on our planet. The gas burns clean, it’s light, energy-dense, and we’re only just beginning to uncover its true potential. Hydrogen could well be […]

  • A New Approach for Gas-Insulated Substations

    For decades, gas-insulated substations (GIS) have been used primarily in densely populated metropolitan areas. They take up only 10% of the footprint of outdoor or air-insulated substations and provide reliable medium- and low-voltage service where space needed to service areas for industrial locations, hospitals, and housing may be limited. However, as rural environments become desirable […]

  • California Sets Goals for Buildout of Offshore Wind

    California officials have taken a major step toward establishing the state’s offshore wind energy industry, setting a goal of installing as much as 5 GW of generation capacity this decade, and 25 GW by 2045. The California Energy Commission (CEC) on Aug. 10 put out a report detailing the state’s plan for offshore wind, which […]

  • Chicago Announces Plan to Power City with 100% Renewable Energy

    Chicago’s public buildings could all be powered by renewable energy under a plan announced by Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Aug. 8. The mayor, along with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, on Monday said the city has an agreement with Chicago utility Constellation Energy, along with Massachusetts-based Swift Current Energy, a renewable energy developer. The two spoke […]

  • Illinois EPA Issues Permit for New 1.1-GW Gas-Fired Facility

    Environmental officials in Illinois have signed off on construction of a 1,100-MW natural gas-fired power plant sited near Springfield, the state capital. EmberClear, an energy company with offices in Houston, Texas, and Moosic, Pennsylvania, is behind the $1 billion project, which will be located near Pawnee in Sangamon County. The Lincoln Land Energy Center will […]

  • Equinor May Postpone Closure of Norwegian Gas-Fired Power Plant

    Norway-based energy major Equinor could continue to operate its natural gas-fired Mongstad power plant to support the country’s electricity supply. The company recently said it may reconsider its decision to close the plant by the end of August. Norway, which like many other countries has suffered drought conditions over the past several months, is experiencing […]

  • IAEA: Shelling at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant Raises ‘Real Risk’ of Nuclear Disaster

    (Updated): The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is growing increasingly alarmed by military action at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, warning that artillery shelling at the plant site on Aug. 5 underlines a “very real risk of a nuclear disaster.” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi in a statement on Aug. 6 said new information about […]

  • POWERnews—Aug. 4, 2022

    POWER Magazine   Jobs   White Papers  Webinars   Events   Store   August 4, 2022 Vogtle 3 Gets NRC’s Approval to Begin Operation in Significant Regulatory Milestone for U.S. Nuclear Industry The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has given Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) the green light to load fuel and begin the operation of […]

  • Group: EPA’s Coordinated Regulatory Assault on Coal Power Could Push Retirements Beyond 86 GW by 2030

    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is readying a regulatory sweep targeting more stringent limits on traditional pollutants that could accelerate coal power plant closures. A coal trade group estimates that even without new rules, 86 GW of coal generation is slated to retire by 2030. While the U.S. Supreme Court in June curtailed the EPA’s […]

  • Nuclear Power Production Curtailed in France, Worsening Europe’s Energy Crisis

    High temperatures in river water are reportedly forcing Electricite de France SA (EDF) to cut power generation at some of its nuclear plants. The news is particularly troubling as several European nations struggle to cope with an energy crisis caused by gas cuts made by Russia in retaliation against sanctions placed on it due to […]

  • AVANGRID Will Operate, Manage Major U.S. Offshore Wind Project

    AVANGRID announced it has finalized a deal to operate and manage the Vineyard Wind 1 offshore wind project, an 800-MW installation being built off the coast of Massachusetts. Vineyard Wind 1 is owned in a joint venture between AVANGRID, part of the Iberdrola Group, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. Construction of what would be the first […]

  • Vogtle 3 Gets NRC’s Approval to Begin Operation in Significant Regulatory Milestone for U.S. Nuclear Industry

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has given Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) the green light to load fuel and begin the operation of an AP1000 nuclear reactor at Vogtle Unit 3. The authorization moves Vogtle 3 out of the NRC’s construction reactor oversight program and into the operating reactor oversight process—effectively making Vogtle 3 the first […]

  • THE BIG PICTURE: Momentum for CCS

    While only one commercial power plant equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) remains in operation today, the momentum for CCS appears to have picked up dramatically over the past year. According to a database curated by the Global CCS Institute, more than 30 power generation CCS projects are under construction or in various stages […]

  • Rosatom Picks New EPC Lead for Turkey’s First Nuclear Power Plant

    A new contractor has been named to finish construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. Russia’s state-owned energy giant Rosatom on July 30 said it had chosen TSM Enerji, a company owned by three Russian groups and incorporated in Turkey, as the project’s new engineering, procurement, and construction lead. The Turkish government has said it […]

  • Southern CEO Fanning Set to Step Down

    Longtime Southern Co. CEO Tom Fanning plans to announce his retirement, perhaps by the end of this year, stepping down after leading the company since 2010. A Bloomberg report on July 29, citing “people familiar with the matter,” said the U.S. utility giant already has launched a search to find Fanning’s replacement. Bloomberg reported that […]

  • NRC Moves to Issue Final Design Certification for NuScale Nuclear Module

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has indicated it will certify NuScale’s 50-MWe (160 MWth) small modular reactor (SMR) design, marking another definitive milestone for the reactor vendor and its technology prospects. The NRC on July 29 said it directed staff to issue a final rule that certifies the standard SMR design, for which NuScale submitted […]