POWER Magazine

Emerging energy technologies such as rooftop solar, microgrids, and distributed generation could adversely affect reliability of the nation’s grid, a new report from the Electric Markets Research Foundation (EMRF) warns. The non-profit research entity whose mission it is to fund studies on significant electric market issues notes in its report, “Changing Uses of the Electric [...]The post Report: Distributed Generation, Energy Storage, Microgrids Pose Grid Reliability Risks appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Interstate Power and Light (IPL) will be forced to spend $620 million to retire 10 coal-fired units and retire, refuel, or install pollution controls at several others in Iowa under a settlement reached with the federal government. The Alliant Energy subsidiary has long anticipated the settlement announced on July 15 by the Environmental Protection Agency [...]The post IPL to Retire or Repower Coal Units in Iowa Under PSD Settlement With Feds appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In a report released this week, M.J. Bradley & Associates found that in 2013 power plant SO2 emissions were 80% lower and NOx emissions were down 74% compared to releases in 1990—the year Congress passed major amendments to the Clean Air Act. The report, Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in [...]The post Report: Power Plant Air Emissions Continue Steady Decline appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Seven gasification projects will receive about $7.5 million in funding from the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Energy Technology Laboratory. The projects will reduce the cost of coal conversion and mitigate the environmental impacts of fossil-fueled power generation, the DOE said in a statement on July 14. The projects fall under two subtopic areas: development [...]The post DOE Funds New Gasification Projects As Existing IGCC Projects Face Turmoil appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A cyber attack on the U.S. power grid could potentially destroy dozens of generating units, leave 93 million people without power for weeks, and result in nearly $250 billion dollars in economic damage, according to a new report from Lloyd’s of London. Prepared to enable insurers to gauge and prepare for potential risks, the report [...]The post Cyber Attack on U.S. Grid Could Destroy Dozens of Plants, Cost Billions, Report Says appeared first on POWER Magazine.

King Coal has lost his crown—at least temporarily. Electricity generation data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) for April 2015 showed the U.S. generated 92.5 TWh from natural gas and 88.8 TWh from coal, the first time the nation has gotten the largest share of its power from anything other than coal. That represents a [...]The post Gas Passes Coal as Top U.S. Power Source appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has suspended funding for the Hydrogen Energy California (HECA) polygeneration clean coal plant, saying the company has failed to meet required milestones, according to a report in E&E Greenwire on July 10. The HECA project, in development since the late 2000s, is intended as a next-generation integrated gasification combined cycle [...]The post DOE Suspends Funding for California Clean Coal Project appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Many of the dangers existing at conventional power plants also threaten personnel in the wind and solar energy sectors. All workers can benefit by reviewing lessons learned and implementing corrective actions to improve health and safety performance. The expanding wind and solar energy sectors are not immune to industrial hazards affecting all energy generation markets. [...]The post New Renewable Projects Face Old Safety Hazards appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The nation’s 99 nuclear plants produce about 19% of the country’s power, but they also contribute about $60 billion annually to gross domestic product (GDP), a new Brattle Group report finds. The report, “The Nuclear Industry’s Contribution to the U.S. Economy,” prepared for pro-nuclear group Nuclear Matters says, “Several factors are at play that may [...]The post Report: Losing Nuclear Would Blight Economy appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy remains firm in her resolve to create a landmark rule to reduce carbon emissions from power plants later this year. Speaking at the St. Regis Hotel in Washington, D.C., during an event sponsored by AREVA and hosted by The Christian Science Monitor, McCarthy said, “Last week’s ruling will [...]The post McCarthy: Supreme Court Decision on MATS Won’t Affect the Clean Power Plan Rule appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Mississippi Power must rebate $281 million in funds collected since 2013 for rate increases related to the lignite-fired power plant under construction in Kemper County, the Mississippi Public Service Commission (MPSC) ordered on Tuesday. The state regulatory body also ordered the company and its parent company Southern Co. to stop collecting Kemper’s rate on customer [...]The post Regulator Orders Mississippi Power to Issue Kemper IGCC Rebates appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Five of Germany’s largest lignite power plants will be mothballed to allow the country that is already phasing out nuclear power to meet ambitious climate goals by 2020. In what it called a “milestone decision,” the government on July 2 agreed to scrap plans to impose a controversial—and by some accounts, illegal—climate tax for conventional [...]The post Germany Moves to Idle Coal Plants, Set up “Capacity Reserve” appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reveals surprising aspects about how federal subsidies for electricity have been distributed, how the power generation mix has shifted, and how consumption has transformed since 2001. The June 29–released report, “Generation Mix has Shifted, and Growth in Consumption has Slowed, Affecting System Operations and Prices,” responds [...]The post How the Power Sector Has Changed Since 2001 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Thirteen states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the recently finalized Clean Water Rule, which they say illegally puts the federal government in charge of a majority of water and land resources in the U.S. North Dakota, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, [...]The post States Sue EPA, Army Corps Over Final Waters of U.S. Rule with Reach Over Power Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, PREPA, Wednesday made a $415 million payment to its creditors (mostly hedge fund investors), avoiding a default and giving the troubled government-owned utility more time to work out a deal to restructure its $9 billion debt. Had the utility defaulted, according to financial experts, it could have triggered the default [...]The post Puerto Rico’s Utility Makes Debt Payment, Avoids Default appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) released details from its security inspection program for commercial nuclear power reactors and Category I fuel cycle facilities, finding only one “failure to protect designated target set components effectively” during the 23 NRC-evaluated force-on-force (FOF) exercises conducted in 2014. Although not perfect, the marks are far better than inspection results [...]The post Nuclear Power Plant Security Forces Fare Better on Inspections than TSA Agents appeared first on POWER Magazine.

China on June 29 submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) for reducing carbon emissions to the United Nations in preparation for the COP21 climate negotiations in Paris later this year. The INDCs are formal pledges toward a hoped-for binding agreement. The Chinese pledge builds on its November agreement with the U.S. In its INDC, [...]The post China Submits Plans for Reducing Carbon Emissions appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The post THE BIG PICTURE: Emissions Controls appeared first on POWER Magazine.

This is a web supplement to “Riding Off into the Sunset: Nuclear Decontamination and Decommissioning Update,” appearing in the July 2015 issue of POWER. The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) is located in eastern Lithuania near Visaginas—a town of more than 20,000 people founded in the mid-1970s for workers constructing INPP and for the [...]The post Ignalina: Decommissioning Chernobyl’s Big Sister appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Wind is no longer a niche alternative energy industry, American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) CEO Tom Kiernan told attendees at WINDPOWER 2015. Despite policy hurdles, the wind sector has seen exponential growth and formidable cost reductions; it has the government’s endorsement for a low-carbon future; and it’s making up an ever-larger share of the nation’s [...]The post Wind Is Mainstream, and Other Insights from WINDPOWER 2015 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Voters in Colorado and stakeholders in Minnesota forced through unique managed generation transformation plans that paved the way for aggressive state renewable and clean energy standards—inadvertently pushing their utilities out in front of proposed and now actual federal policies. As the power industry struggles with rising costs of adaptation, many beleaguered executives are anxiously focusing [...]The post The Voters Were Right: Colorado and Minnesota’s Paths to Clean Energy appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The United States is continuing its successful track record of providing global leadership in technologies critical to ensuring the prosperity of current and future generations, as it has done for decades. Today, clean energy technologies need to be quickly developed to satisfy often opposing energy needs: national security, affordability, and environmental sustainability. The nation is [...]The post NETL: Providing Energy Technology Solutions and Options appeared first on POWER Magazine.

At the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), generation transitions are nothing new. The nation’s largest public power system—with 34 GW of generating capacity, supplying retail distributors with nine millionThe post Public Power “Big Dog” TVA Takes Fresh Approach to Resource Planning appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Harrington Generating Station, located near Amarillo, Texas, began burning Powder River Basin (PRB) coal when its units first entered service, beginning in 1976. A unique feature of the plant is that TUCO Inc. buys and delivers the coal and Savage Services owns and operates the plant’s coal-handling facility. Incomparable housekeeping and exceptional safety performance evidence [...]The post Xcel Energy’s Harrington Generating Station Earns Powder River Basin Coal Users’ Group Award appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In a 5–4 decision announced on June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) rules limiting mercury and other hazardous air pollutants released from power plants. In April 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), ruling in a 2–1 decision [...]The post Supreme Court Strikes Down EPA’s MATS Rule appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A bill that would halt the Clean Power Plan’s compliance deadlines until litigation on the rule has been completed has passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a 247–180 vote. The Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 2042) now goes to the Senate, where the GOP is working on a similar measure to suspend the Environmental Protection [...]The post House Passes Measure to Stall EPA Clean Power Plan appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Several Arizona and New Mexico–based utilities will be required to install pollution controls at the coal-fired Four Corners Power Plant to curb sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) under a settlement reached with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department. The settlement involves the Arizona Public Service Co. (APS), the operator and primary [...]The post NSR Settlement Requires New Pollution Controls for Four Corners Coal Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The last of three conditional commitments offered by the Department of Energy (DOE) to the coalition building two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia was finalized on June 24, allowing the project to be fully financed. Since it conditionally offered $8.33 billion in loan guarantees in 2010, the DOE has issued $6.5 billion in guarantees [...]The post DOE Issues Remaining $1.8B in Loan Guarantees for Vogtle Nuclear Reactors appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A new analysis from the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), the nation’s second-largest ISO, predicted that compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan (CPP) could slash coal’s share of its generation from 59% in 2014 to potentially as low as 26% by 2030. The report came ahead of MISO’s planning advisory committee [...]The post MISO Says Clean Power Plan Could Cut Its Coal Generation by Half appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Several major nuclear announcements surfaced from around the world this week. South Korea plans to retire its oldest nuclear reactor early, Nigeria selected two sites for the construction of four nuclear reactors, while Pakistan approved the construction of two China-assisted reactors. KHNP Moves to Retire Kori 1 Early Amid growing concerns about the safety of [...]The post Nuclear Developments From S. Korea, Nigeria, Pakistan appeared first on POWER Magazine.

With plans already approved for the closure of 12 of its coal ash basins, Duke Energy on June 23 recommended the full excavation of 12 additional basins located in North Carolina. The company proposed excavating five basins each at its Cape Fear Plant in Moncure and its H.F. Lee Plant in Goldsboro. Additionally, it recommended [...]The post Duke Proposes Full Excavation of 12 More Coal Ash Basins appeared first on POWER Magazine.

As Congress works through its array of annual appropriations bills, Republicans opposed to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) are moving forward with a variety of riders, amendments, and other bills that would stop the plan in its tracks, at least until the federal court system passes final judgment on its [...]The post GOP Bills Target Clean Power Plan, EPA appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Taking action on climate change could reduce electricity demand between 1.1% and 4% and save the U.S. $10 billion to $34 billion in power system costs by 2050, says a new report released by the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) touting the U.S. economic, health, and environmental benefits of global climate action. [...]The post White House Warns Climate Change Inaction Could Result in Higher Power Demand and System Costs appeared first on POWER Magazine.

SaskPower, the Saskatchewan provincial utility that made history last year by developing the first full-scale post-combustion carbon capture retrofit for an operating coal-fired power plant, has taken the next step in fostering development of the technology. Its Carbon Capture Test Facility (CCTF) has officially been launched in Estevan, Saskatchewan. The June 18 launch was attended [...]The post Canada’s SaskPower Opens Carbon Capture Test Facility appeared first on POWER Magazine.

At least 25 of the European Union’s (EU’s) 28 member nations are on track to meet renewable energy targets, putting the bloc well on its way to meet its legally binding target of producing 20% of its energy with renewables by 2020, a new report shows. The European Commission’s (EC’s) 2015 report released on June [...]The post Report: Most of the EU Is on Track to Meet 2020 Renewable Energy Target appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Southern Co. announced on June 16 that construction has been completed on a new FLEX dome—a structure built to house emergency equipment needed to respond to an extreme external event—at its Vogtle nuclear plant. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requiring U.S. nuclear plants to build protected structures like the FLEX dome in response to [...]The post Vogtle Nuclear Plant Unveils Its New FLEX Dome appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed ozone rule came under scrutiny in two U.S. House of Representatives hearings held during the past week. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on energy and power on June 12 heard testimony on the rule from Janet McCabe, the EPA’s acting assistant administrator for the Office of [...]The post House Subjects EPA Ozone Rule to Twofold Probe appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Oregon-based utility and Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary PacifiCorp filed plans this month to shut down nearly 3 GW of its coal generation by 2033 as it moves toward greater integration with the California energy market. PacifiCorp’s 2015 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which it has filed with regulators in Oregon, Washington, California, Utah, Wyoming and Idaho, contains [...]The post PacifiCorp Axing Coal as It Joins CAISO appeared first on POWER Magazine.

California’s grid gurus say they can make it through this summer, but the future may pose real problems for a hydro-heavy regional system. As the grip of California’s four-year drought tightens, will the long-running event crimp electricity generation in the state? So far, according to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), which dispatches much of [...]The post California Drought and Power Potential appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on June 4 released a draft assessment of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on the nation’s water supplies, concluding that there was no evidence of widespread impacts but conceding that data on the subject is limited. The assessment, conducted at the request of Congress, follows water used for [...]The post EPA Finds “No Widespread, Systematic Impacts” on Water Quality from Fracking, but Data Limited appeared first on POWER Magazine.

At the annual Power-Gen Europe Conference held in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven called for greater leadership as Europe tackles de-carbonization, distributed energy, and market integration. She began her presentation by highlighting one of the biggest changes to Europe’s power markets: The May 20 decision to [...]The post IEA Executive Director Praises Energy Price Coupling in Western Europe appeared first on POWER Magazine.

What separates investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and public power companies these days? Less than you might imagine. In early June, while the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the trade association for IOUs, was holding its annual meeting in New Orleans, I was in Minneapolis at the annual conference of the American Public Power Association (APPA), which represents [...]The post Public Power and IOUs Mostly on the Same Page appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The D.C. Circuit rejected challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed carbon rules for existing power plants, ruling that it has no authority to review rules that aren’t yet final. “Petitioners are champing at the bit to challenge EPA’s anticipated rule restricting carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. But EPA has not yet [...]The post Federal Court Strikes Challenge to Proposed EPA Carbon Rule as Premature appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Germany’s tax on nuclear fuel rods is not against European Union (EU) law, the bloc’s top court has ruled. The decision from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union on June 4 may be detrimental to utilities that own nuclear power plants, which have already paid about $5.67 billion in the levies that [...]The post Top EU Court: German Nuclear Fuel Tax Is Legal appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Tesla and energy storage firm Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS) on June 4 announced a deal for 500 MWh of storage capacity using Tesla’s utility-scale Powerpack batteries, which it introduced last month. A portion of the contract—50 MW, 200 MWh—will go toward meeting AMS’s commitment with Southern California Edison (SCE) under the utility’s procurement deal last [...]The post Another Big Battery Storage Deal for California appeared first on POWER Magazine.