POWER Magazine

North Carolina’s governor has vetoed a coal ash bill backed by Duke Energy that would have reinstated the recently dissolved Coal Ash Management Commission. Senate Bill 71 (SB71), introduced in February 2015, has passed both houses. Some media sources suggest that lawmakers have enough votes to override the veto. The bill seeks to re-establish the […]The post Governor’s Veto Intensifies Coal Ash Fight in North Carolina appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) reached another milestone on June 3 when operators at Watts Bar Unit 2—the nation’s newest nuclear power plant and the first added to the fleet in 20 years—synchronized its generator to the power grid, generating electricity from the plant for the first time (Figure 1). 1. Reactor Operator Bill Hahn […]The post Watts Bar Unit 2 Nuclear Plant Synchronized to Power Grid appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Given the lack of progress on Illinois energy legislation, Exelon Corp. announced on June 2 that it would begin taking steps to permanently shut down its Quad Cities and Clinton nuclear power plants. In a statement, the company said Clinton would close on June 1, 2017, and that Quad Cities would follow exactly one year […]The post Exelon Makes Good on Threat—Quad Cities and Clinton Nuclear Plants to Close appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Domestic uranium production is falling to levels not seen since the early 2000s, which are themselves equal to production during the dawn of the nuclear age in the 1950s. Prospects for any sort of rebound look bleak, as a joint venture between GE, Hitachi, and Toshiba is looking to import Russian-designed fuel assemblies for use in […]The post Uranium Production Near Historic Lows as U.S. Reactors Look to Russia appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The post THE BIG PICTURE: A String of Retirements appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Coal-fired power plants around the U.S. are closing—rapidly. It’s a trend that will continue for the foreseeable future as dozens more units are slated for closure in the next few years. According to aThe post Supporting Coal Power Plant Workers Through Plant Closures appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The nuclear industry has been expecting big things from small modular reactors (SMRs) for a long time, but to date, no SMRs have reached commercial construction phase. That may change soon. Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems has a plan to deploy NuScale Power’s Integral Pressurized Water Reactor at a site in Idaho. Will others follow […]The post Is There a Market for Small Modular Reactors? appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Ensuring the reliability of the power system is the responsibility of many industry participants. In this POWER exclusive, one regional reliability entity, the Midwest Reliability Organization, explains its role. In response to the 2003 Blackout—which affected parts of the U.S. Northeast and Midwest, plus portions of the Canadian province of Ontario—the U.S. Congress mandated adoption […]The post Risk-Based NERC Compliance: Assessing Risk to Bulk Power System Generation appeared first on POWER Magazine.

“Why are you picking on the Clean Air Act?” That’s a question we’ve heard more than once while traveling the country to talk about our new book, Struggling for Air: Power Plants and the “War onThe post Learning from the Clean Air Act’s Tragic Flaw appeared first on POWER Magazine.

New worker training has traditionally meant classroom instruction and wading through a big pile of printed materials. But videos can offer deeper and more rapid understanding of critical issues, especially for younger generations. The Electric Power Research Institute has developed a series of videos to help power plants train new workers more effectively. Inexperienced new […]The post Training the Next Generation of Electric Utility Workers appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The annual panel discussion by high-level leaders from diverse power companies is a cornerstone of the ELECTRIC POWER Conference & Exhibition, and it has been consistently emblematic of the state of theThe post Executive Roundtable Addresses the New Face of the Power Industry appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has pulled back funding for two proposed offshore wind demonstration projects spearheaded separately by Dominion Virginia Power and Principle Power, bolstering its support instead for projects it says demonstrate more progress or potential. The funding decision stems from the agency’s 2012 selection of seven offshore demonstration projects, which initially received […]The post DOE Ditches Two Major Offshore Wind Demonstration Projects appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Kansas City–based Great Plains Energy has agreed to purchase Westar Energy—Kansas’ largest electric utility—in a combined cash and stock transaction with an enterprise value of about $12.2 billion. The deal was announced on May 31. When complete, Westar will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Plains Energy, which also owns Kansas City Power and […]The post Great Plains Energy to Acquire Westar Energy in Deal Worth $12.2 Billion appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The two probable major-party U.S. presidential candidates hold very different views on energy and climate. One intends to focus on expanding and developing America’s fossil-fuel industries, while the other plans to grow renewable energy and promote efficiency. Can you guess who’s who? Fossil vs. Renewable Donald Trump, the presumed Republican nominee, presented his “America-First Energy […]The post Energy Policy Differences Between Trump and Clinton Are Black and White appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A new rule proposed by the Obama administration requires vendors and contractors selling goods and services to the federal government to disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate-related risk data. The rule proposed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation Council on May 25 seeks to drive greater disclosure of the federal government’s supply chain, which […]The post Proposed Rule Requires Federal Government Contractors, Vendors to Disclose Climate Risks appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must halt its drive to help states supportive of the Clean Power Plan to comply with the rule because it defies the Supreme Court stay, the attorneys general for West Virginia and Texas have urged the agency. An April 28 request to the agency by 14 states seeking technical assistance […]The post AGs Tell EPA to Halt Aid to States Planning Clean Power Plan Compliance appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Talen Energy, which owns a portion of the Colstrip Power Plant in Montana and operates the plant for the five other utilities and holding companies that also own shares, told the other owners on May 23 that it plans to exit as operator by May 2018 because it is losing too much money. The huge […]The post Colstrip Power Plant Operator Talen Looks Toward the Exits appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Exelon’s Quad Cities and Three Mile Island nuclear plants have failed to clear the PJM capacity auction for the 2019–2020 planning year, and the future looks grim for at least one of those plants. The Chicago-headquartered company on May 25 confirmed that the two plants would not receive capacity revenue for the period. It also […]The post Two Exelon Nuclear Plants Fail to Clear PJM Auction appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) newest nuclear plant, Watts Bar Unit 2, achieved initial criticality on May 23 at 2:16 a.m. Although that may sound ominous to anyone untrained in nuclear terminology, initial criticality simply means that Watts Bar Unit 2 reached a state in which the reactor’s neutron population remained steady from one generation […]The post Watts Bar Unit 2 Reactor Goes Critical (and That’s a Good Thing) appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Phibro—an independent commodity merchant company based in Stamford, Conn.—through its affiliate Philipp Brothers Fertilizer, recently announced that it is acquiring a clean coal gasification plant just outside of West Terre Haute, Ind., from SG Solutions. The plant had been used to produce synthetic gas and steam to fuel the adjacent Wabash River Combined Cycle Plant, […]The post Repurposed: Coal Gasification Plant Will Be Used to Produce Fertilizer appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Misaligned mirrors at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California caused electrical cables to catch fire about two-thirds of the way up the Unit 3 tower on May 19, according to several media reports of statements attributed to fire department personnel. The San Bernardino County (Calif.) Fire Department (SBCFD) reported on its Facebook page […]The post Fire Is Latest Hurdle for Ivanpah Concentrating Solar Power Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said the time will come—perhaps 10 to 15 years from now—when “nuclear power is going to have to see a substantial resurgence.” Moniz was speaking on May 19 at the “Summit on Improving the Economics of America’s Nuclear Power Plants.” He provided opening remarks, framing the challenges facing the […]The post Moniz: Incentives Needed to Alleviate Nuclear Power Woes appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Donald Trump, presumptive Republican nominee for president, has chosen a back-bench Republican congressman with a lot of experience in state energy regulation as his advisor on energy issuesThe post Trump Picks North Dakota Lawmaker as Key Energy Advisor appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Experts testifying during a Senate hearing on critical infrastructure security on May 18 were at odds about how vulnerable the electric grid is to a variety of threats. “The Chinese are already in our power grid. The Russians are already inside our power grid. They may lack the motivation—because of the interrelationship that we have with […]The post Ted Koppel Says Chinese and Russians Are in U.S. Power Grid appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Even if the final Clean Power Plan is not implemented, U.S. electricity-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will remain well below 2005 levels, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a comparison of two cases looking forward through 2040. The cases are part of the agency’s May 17–released Annual Energy Outlook 2016 Early Release (AEO2016 Early […]The post EIA: Clean Power Plan Will Wallop Coal Power Generation appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is ready to end its involvement with the Texas Clean Energy Project (TCEP), a carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) facility under development in west Texas, a move that would effectively shut the project down, according to its backers. Along with FutureGen, Hydrogen Energy California (HECA), and NRG’s Petra Nova […]The post DOE Poised to Pull Out of Texas Clean Energy Project appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Oral arguments to assess the merits of the Clean Power Plan will now take place before a nine-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on September 27, bypassing review of challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) controversial rule by a three-judge panel that was originally scheduled to […]The post D.C. Circuit Delays Clean Power Plan Case Hearing by Months, Opts for En Banc Review appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The U.S. Senate passed a $37.5 billion measure on May 12 to fund fiscal year 2017 Department of Energy (DOE) programs and critical infrastructure projects administered by the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation. The bill would increase FY2017 spending by $355 million over FY2016 enacted levels, giving $261 million more than was […]The post Senate Passes $37.5 Billion Spending Bill for Energy and Water Programs appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Fort Calhoun Station (FCS) appears to be the next in a string of nuclear plants that have ceased operations or plan to retire as a result of difficult economics. Tim Burke, president and CEO of Omaha Public Power District (OPPD)—the plant’s owner—presented senior management’s recommendation to close FCS by December 31, 2016, to the board […]The post Fort Calhoun May Close by Year End, Joining List of Premature Nuclear Power Plant Retirements appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Fuel cells powered by natural gas, biogas, and hydrogen are a rapidly expanding option for distributed generation, with fuel cell­­–based power plants being deployed in capacities into tens of megawatts. But as the technology improves and costs begin to scale, opportunities for other applications are being explored. One such application may even go beyond power […]The post Fuel Cells Could Be a “Game-Changer” for Carbon Capture appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The world’s frenzied economic growth through 2040 won’t be matched by electricity demand growth, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) says in the International Energy Outlook 2016 (IEO2016 ) released on May 11. World net electricity generation will jump 69% by 2040, the IEO2016 reference case projects, but that is still well below “what it would […]The post EIA International Outlook to 2040 Foresees Decoupling of Power Demand and Economic Growth appeared first on POWER Magazine.

GE’s shopping spree in the power sector continued on May 10 as GE Power signed an agreement with Doosan Engineering & Construction to acquire the Korean firm’s heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) business for $250 million. According to GE, the acquisition will allow it to expand its offerings for combined cycle power plant solutions. The […]The post GE Power Picks Up Doosan’s HRSG Business Unit appeared first on POWER Magazine.

SaskPower's Boundary Dam Unit 3 carbon capture facility is now operating with a reliability rate of over 92%.The post SaskPower Carbon Capture Facility Operating More Reliably appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is conducting a formal investigation concerning costs and delays plaguing Mississippi Power’s Kemper integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant. Southern Co., Mississippi Power’s parent company, revealed the investigation in a recent 10-Q financial filing. The company said that while it is fully cooperating with the SEC, it believes the […]The post Southern Co. Kemper IGCC Delays, Cost Surges Are Under SEC Scrutiny appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on May 6 released a final environmental impact statement (EIS) supplement for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, a court-obligated finding that may revive the comatose project. The final supplement evaluates the potential environmental impacts on groundwater and other impacts associated with the discharge of contaminated groundwater from the […]The post NRC Issues Environmental Impact Supplement For Long-Stalled Yucca Mountain Proposal appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Five nuclear projects—two old, one new, two planned—faced milestones this week as their owners confronted the realities of the U.S. nuclear market. Exelon Seeks Nuclear Support In Illinois, Exelon again warned that the long-challenged Clinton and Quad Cities plants would shut down unless the Illinois legislature passed a bill that would provide economic support for the […]The post Nuclear Milestones Confront Exelon, FPL, and TVA appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) board of directors voted on May 5 to surplus the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant property in northern Alabama so it can be offered for sale and potentially put to better use. The decision comes after months of consideration. On February 16, the TVA notified employees, customers, economic development interests, other stakeholders, […]The post For Sale: Partially Constructed Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Hands down, 2015 was a record year for global investment in renewable energy. Excluding large hydroelectric projects, the amount of money committed to renewables rose 5%, to $285.9 billion, exceeding the previous record of $278.5 billion reached in 2011.The post Renewable Energy Development Breaks Records and Leaps Ahead of Fossil Fuels Worldwide appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Uncertainty concerning a number of environmental rules is clouding planning measures, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said on May 3. Citing its latest Capacity, Demand, and Reserves (CDR) report—a snapshot of existing and planned resources and load forecasts for the next 10 years—the grid entity that manages about 90% of Texas’ electric load […]The post ERCOT: Uncertainty Increased in 10-Year Outlook appeared first on POWER Magazine.

France’s nuclear sector was rocked to its core on May 4 when the country’s Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) announced that state-owned nuclear manufacturer Areva had confessed to “irregularities in the manufacturing checks” on about 400 parts produced since 1965, about 50 of which are still in service in France. ASN said in a statement that […]The post Areva Admits to “Irregularities” in Hundreds of Nuclear Plant Components, Possible Falsified Documents appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) internally recognizes that a power grid failure resulting from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) or a solar storm can pose great risk to the security of the nation, but it hasn’t prepared adequately, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a newly released report. The GAO’s 68-page report, “Federal Agencies […]The post GAO Chides DHS for Not Doing Enough to Prepare for EMP, Solar Storm Threats to Grid appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) anticipates extending Salem Nuclear Generating Station’s Unit 1 refueling outage, which began on April 14, so it can inspect, repair, and replace damaged baffle bolts within the plant’s reactor vessel, according to information presented in the company’s first quarter earnings announcement. A PSEG spokesperson told POWER that visual inspections at […]The post Nuclear Reactor Baffle Bolt Problems Are Widespread Concern appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Duke Energy’s request to increase the generating capacity of Unit 1 at its Catawba Nuclear Station by 1.7% by more precisely measuring feedwater flow has been approved by federal regulators. Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) found on May 4 that Duke Energy could safely increase the reactor’s output “primarily through more accurate means […]The post NRC Approves Measurement-Related Uprate at Duke Energy’s Catawba Reactor appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Dynegy Inc. announced on May 3 that it plans to shut down multiple Illinois coal-fueled units due mainly to the failure of the plants to recover basic operating costs in recent Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) capacity auctions. According to the company, the generation that will be lost is 2,800 MW—about 30% of the total […]The post Dynegy to Shut Down 30% of Southern Illinois’s Power Generation Capacity appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The post THE BIG PICTURE: Leading the Charge appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Although the December attack on Ukraine’s power infrastructure mostly affected the distribution grid, generators are just as vulnerable to cyberattack, in part because they tend to rely more on outside contractors working remotely. Here’s the latest on the attackers’ path and methods, areas in generation that are potentially vulnerable, and recommendations to address the vulnerabilities. […]The post Why Power Generators Can’t Ignore the Ukraine Cyberattack appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Getting the most cost-effective use out of a battery storage system isn’t just a matter of plug-and-play. Where and how you site a battery can make a big difference in how well it does its job. Several battery experts who spoke to POWER explain what you need to think about. So you want to buy […]The post Practical Considerations for Siting Utility-Scale Battery Projects appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Today’s energy system is ripe for disruption. Whoever designs the next generation of energy systems will own the platforms that will enable tomorrow’s products and lock in the emerging consumer base from the developing world. This disruption will be as great as the shift from whale oil to rock oil, altering the energy landscape permanently. […]The post Thriving During the Energy System Transition appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In the information technology world, open-source platforms and software, as an alternative to proprietary ones, have long been commonly accepted. In process controls, not so much. That could be changing if some large customers have their way. For decades, the norm with industrial plant distributed control systems (DCS) has been that you buy a proprietary […]The post Are Open System Controls Coming to Power Plants? appeared first on POWER Magazine.