natural gas

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says the need for cheap electricity in Southeast Asia will drive global demand for coal for power generation through 2040, even as many countries continue to retire coal-fired plants and cancel projects for new coal facilities. IEA, which is set to release its World Energy Outlook 2017 on November 14, […]

Michigan regulators on October 25 gave their support to Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp.’s (UMERC) plan for two new natural gas-fired plants in the state’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.). The plants approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) would be built in Baraga and Negaunee townships. The plants are designed to produce a combined 183 […]

Florida Power & Light (FPL), which recently sustained a blow to its nuclear expansion plans, on October 19 said it’s about halfway through an ambitious plan to add eight new solar plants in the state by early 2018, as it continues to increase its photovoltaic (PV) generation capacity as part of a larger strategy to […]

NRG Energy has stopped development of a proposed natural gas plant in Oxnard, California, after two state regulators earlier this month recommended the California Energy Commission (CEC) reject the project. NRG on October 16 asked the CEC to suspend its review of the plans for the Puente Power Project, or P3, a proposed $300 million, […]

Two members of the California Energy Commission (CEC) on October 6 said they would recommend the full five-member group oppose construction of a new natural gas-fired power plant in Oxnard. The two commissioners said environmental impacts of the plant could not be mitigated, and the plant would not be able to conform to local ordinances […]

Electric generation and natural gas, both important to each other, have differing cultures, vocabularies, and histories, so making them work together has been a challenge. Glut. That word describes the state

Recently, many articles in a variety of publications speculated on how the August 21, 2017, solar eclipse would impact the electric grid. Most utility people expected no serious outages or disruptions, and

The Drax Group operates the UK’s largest power station, and in a country where government leaders have said all coal generation needs to be retired by 2025, Drax is moving forward with plans to convert its

Dominion Energy’s massive new natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant in Freeman, Virginia, has been servicing customers since April 2016. In its first year online, the plant carried roughly 10% of

A partnership between one of the nation’s largest utilities and one of the world’s largest construction contractors resulted in the 1,100-MW Paradise Combined Cycle Plant in Drakesboro, Kentucky, next door

Nestled near the center of Shakopee, Minnesota, is the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency’s (MMPA’s) Shakopee Energy Park. The plant, a 46-MW natural gas-fueled reciprocating engine facility, powers the city

For more than 20 years, I have been championing the use of fuel cell powered cars to connect the natural gas distribution network of this country with the electric distribution network, making them partners in

Xcel Energy on August 29 said it wants to retire 660 MW of coal-fired generation capacity as part of a “Colorado Energy Plan” that also includes adding as much as 1,700 MW of renewable energy and 700 MW of natural gas-fired power generation to its portfolio in the state. A key element of the proposal […]

Between 2006 and 2015, annual average heat rates from the nation’s natural gas–fired power plants plunged 7%, while only decreasing 1% for coal plants, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed on August 21. Heat rates, which are measured in British thermal units per kilowatt-hour (Btu/kWh), refers to energy conversion efficiency, calculated based on the amount […]

Houston-based Calpine Corp., which confirmed in July it was looking for a buyer, announced August 18 it has agreed to be bought by Energy Capital Partners (ECP) in a $5.6 billion deal. ECP is a private equity firm that focuses on investments in North American energy infrastructure. The purchasing group also includes a consortium of […]

Exelon could begin construction as soon as next week on an expansion of its 135-MW West Medway oil-fired peaking plant in West Medway, Massachusetts. The company’s plan to add two units and 200 MW of generation to the existing three-unit facility was deliberated for 29 months by state and local officials before a state board […]

The operator of one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the Western U.S. will continue to run the facility, changing course about a year after a company executive said the plant was not economically viable. A spokesman for Talen Energy confirmed to POWER on August 9 that the company will continue to operate the […]

DTE Energy has filed plans with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) to build a 1,100-MW natural gas-fired power plant on about 100 acres east of the existing Belle River Power Plant, northeast of Detroit near the Canadian border. The August 1 filing confirms the proposal that DTE discussed with local officials last fall for […]

Cheap natural gas, stagnant power demand, and power prices that have fallen significantly since 2008 have jeopardized the economics of about two-thirds of the nation’s 100-GW nuclear capacity, according to a working paper from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. About 21 GW in merchant deregulated markets are […]

If you’ve been paying attention to the power markets in recent years, you know that merchant coal and nuclear power plants are struggling to compete against natural gas-fired generation and renewable

Three major firms want to evaluate the possibility of converting a natural gas–fired power plant in the Netherlands into a hydrogen-powered plant to possibly capture its carbon emissions.  Statoil

The Glenarm Power Plant has been keeping the lights on around Pasadena, California, for more than 110 years. The historic site has expanded over time and has included a total of 17 different power generation

Several factors favor natural gas when it comes to the future of U.S. power generation. But other forces, such as power demand, energy efficiency, and the impact of renewables, make it a complex fray. Let’s

The rise of some sources of alternative energy such as renewables, storage, energy efficiency, and demand response, and decline in others—specifically nuclear—will continue to impact regional gas and

NRG Energy said it will sell as much as $4 billion in assets as it seeks to lower its debt and cut costs after a revolt by activist investors unhappy with the company’s direction. Shares of the company jumped 29% to a two-year high on July 12 after NRG announced the moves as part of […]

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) said it will hold off on installing wastewater pollution controls at its largest coal plant in Indiana as industry groups continue to challenge the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) ruling that led to the installation plan. NIPSCO asked Indiana regulators in November 2016 to approve a $400 million plan for […]

Florida regulators next week will consider whether to support an exemption to a state rule, a move that could speed the approval process for a new 1,163-MW natural gas-fired power plant on the state’s Atlantic coast. Florida Power & Light (FPL), the nation’s third-largest electric utility, has proposed the $888 million power plant for Broward […]

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) earlier this year reported that the power sector was poised to add 11.2 GW of new natural gas–fired capacity in 2017. If that forecast proves accurate, it

A number of baseload generators across Europe have decried the fall in average European wholesale power prices, which some peg to additions of subsidized low-marginal-cost renewable generation to an already

Beyond the bitter disputes that have recently cropped up between Ukraine and Russia concerning Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the subsequent separatist violence in Ukraine’s Donbass region