POWER Magazine

Wisconsin’s Senate has voted to lift a longstanding ban on building new nuclear plants unless a federal site exists to store the waste and it can be shown to benefit ratepayers. The Senate voted 23–9 for Senate Bill 384, with several Democrats joining Republicans in voting for the measure. The bill now heads to the […]The post Wisconsin’s Senate Lifts Ban on New Nuclear Plant, Bill Heads to Governor appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In large part because of swelling supplies of natural gas, and failing crude oil prices that have helped depress gas prices around the world, as well as because of its environmental advantage over fuel oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is garnering growing interest as a generation fuel. While huge, multi-billion-dollar LNG import and export terminals […]The post Is Small-Scale LNG an Option for Distributed Generation? appeared first on POWER Magazine.

EDF Energy announced on February 16 that it is extending the closure dates for four of its nuclear plants in the UK. Heysham 1 and Hartlepool will be extended by five years to 2024, while Heysham 2 and Torness will be extended seven years to 2030. The decision follows extensive technical and safety reviews, according […]The post EDF Energy Extends Life of Four UK Nuclear Power Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Closure of Exelon’s 614-MW R.E. Ginna and Entergy’s 882-MW James A. FitzPatrick nuclear plants will leave New York with a statewide power deficiency starting in 2019, the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) has concluded. A generator deactivation assessment issued on February 11 that is focused on reliability impacts stemming from the deactivation of the FitzPatrick […]The post NYISO Warns of Power Capacity Gap When Ginna, FitzPatrick Nuclear Plants Are Closed appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Electric cooperatives are poised to increase their use of electric water heaters as a demand response (DR) and energy storage tool in their service territories.The post Electric Co-ops Launch “Community Storage” Initiative appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A national action plan issued by the White House seeks to take near-term actions to enhance cybersecurity awareness and protections, including investing more than $19 billion in resources for cybersecurity. The Cybersecurity National Action Plan (CNAP) announced on February 9 is the “capstone” of more than seven years of efforts by the Obama administration to tackle […]The post Obama’s National Action Plan for Cybersecurity Seeks Boosts in Personnel Awareness, Protections appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Dealing a major blow to the Obama administration’s climate agenda, the U.S. Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote stayed implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan (CPP) pending a decision on its legality in the D.C Circuit Court of Appeals. The one-page order gives no explanation for the court’s action, but issuance […]The post Supreme Court Stays Implementation of Clean Power Plan appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Duke Energy is considering the sale of all or most of its international power plants, about 4,400 MW dispersed throughout Central and South America. The company’s international business segment, Duke Energy International (DEI), was forced to make the disclosure in light of a required statement from its Brazilian subsidiary, Duke Energy International, Geração Paranapanema S.A. […]The post Duke Energy Mulls Sale of International Power Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Canadian utility Fortis wants to acquire ITC Holdings Corp., the largest independent electric transmission company in the U.S., to benefit from “low-risk” regulated power markets. The deal valued at about $11.3 billion will allow Fortis to enter the U.S. regulated power market overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), providing a “unique, highly diversified, […]The post Fortis’ $11.3B Acquisition of ITC Holdings Marks Foray into U.S. Regulated Markets appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The 400-MW Iowa Hill pumped storage project, planned for a site east of Sacramento as a means of dealing with ever-growing renewable generation in the area, has been canceled by its developer, the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD), because of spiraling costs. The Iowa Hill project (Figure 1) was a planned expansion of the Upper […]The post California Utility Axes Big Pumped Storage Project appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) issued a $6.6 million fine to Duke Energy on February 8 for environmental violations related to the February 2014 coal ash spill from the Dan River power plant near Eden, N.C. Although the fine is not insignificant, it pales in comparison to the $102 million the company […]The post Duke Energy Fined $6.6 Million for Dan River Coal Ash Spill appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Entergy Corp.—owner and operator of the Indian Point nuclear power plant located in Buchanan, N.Y.—announced on February 6 that it had discovered elevated levels of tritium in samples from three of its groundwater monitoring wells at the facility. The samples were taken as part of the plants ongoing comprehensive groundwater-monitoring program. Although the company said […]The post More Headaches for Indian Point Nuclear Plant, Radioactive Water Found in Wells appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Reports out of Germany suggest that the city of Aachen plans to sue the Tihange nuclear power plant over what it claims is the plant’s failure to adequately address safety issues at the facility. Aachen—a city with roughly 250,000 people—is located about 71 km (44 miles) west of Cologne on Germany’s border with Belgium and […]The post German City to Sue Belgian Nuclear Power Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Mississippi Power’s lignite-fired Kemper County integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant is seeing yet another delay and $110 million in new costs, a filing with state regulators shows. The company’s December 2015 monthly status report for the nation’s first commercial power plant that will capture and store carbon dioxide anticipates that it will now […]The post Kemper IGCC In-Service Date Pushed to Q3, Costs Surge Again appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) acting administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation, and the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) head of clean coal and carbon management gave upbeat assessments of the Obama administration’s regulatory agenda and power sector priorities speaking at the EUEC 2016 conference in San Diego on February 3. Janet McCabe of […]The post EPA, DOE Experts Upbeat on Regulatory Agenda appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Richmond, Va.–based Dominion Resources announced on February 1 that it would add to its more than 12,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering, and storage pipeline, by acquiring Salt Lake City, Utah–headquartered Questar Corp. The $4.4 billion deal would pay Questar shareholders $25 per share of common stock, a 30% premium to the company’s volume-weighted […]The post Dominion Resources Agrees to Acquire Questar, Adding to Its Natural Gas Portfolio appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Following rigorous safety checks, Kansai Electric Power Co. on February 1 restarted a unit that uses a uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at its Takahama nuclear plant in Japan’s Fukui prefecture. The unit is the third restarted in Japan since the country’s Nuclear Regulation Agency (NRA) idled all reactors and began safety checks in the […]The post Japan Restarts Third Nuclear Reactor, a MOX Unit appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The post THE BIG PICTURE: GHG Reduction Pledges appeared first on POWER Magazine.

When we undertook an initiative at Granite Ridge Energy (GRE) to identify, prioritize, and assess components that were due for their 10-year assessments, we didn’t know quite what we were taking on or how toThe post Using Sensor Technologies to Optimize Maintenance of Power Plant Water Systems appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A summary of POWER's legal affairs conference on power industry regulations.The post Navigating Legal Implications of Power Industry Regulations appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In its recently released Energy Technology Perspectives 2015, the International Energy Agency (IEA) noted that innovation in the energy sector differs from progress in other sectors in that it tends to moveThe post Power Technology Innovations from the Developing World appeared first on POWER Magazine.

When it comes to a transition away from coal, TransAlta Corp. is playing political defense. The Canadian province of Alberta contains among the richest fossil energy resources in the world, including oil (andThe post TransAlta Plays Defense with Coal Out, Renewables In appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Fusion provides the energy of the sun and all stars, but harnessing fusion for civilian electric power has proven exceptionally difficult. For over 50 years the U.S. government has pursuedThe post Fusion Power Illusions, Delusions, and Hope appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Advances in firing biomass, including bagasse, in Cuban sugarcane operations.The post Bagasse and Blended Biomass Cogeneration Advances in the Cuban Sugarcane Industry appeared first on POWER Magazine.

There is perhaps no industry in the U.S. experiencing a greater range of fortunes than nuclear power. Across much of the country, nuclear plants that must compete in deregulated markets are often economicallyThe post Nuclear Relicensing: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Shell-and-tube heat exchangers have been around longer than anyone reading this article. The heat exchanger offers many advantages. It can be used in condensing, boiling, or single-phase applications; it canThe post Innovative Heat Exchanger Technology Enhances Proven Designs appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Look out Tesla, the Germans are coming. The U.S. residential energy storage market took another step forward on January 29 when German firm sonnen announced that it was partnering with solar manufacturer SolarWorld to offer residential solar-plus-storage systems in the U.S., much like the systems announced by Tesla and Solar City last April. Unlike […]The post German Battery Firm Sonnen Moves into U.S. Home Solar-Storage Market appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The New York State Public Service Commission on January 21 approved a 10-year, $5 billion Clean Energy Fund that is expected to address climate change and strengthen resiliency in the face of extreme weather. It will also bolster Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s aggressive Clean Energy Standard, which calls for the state to meet 50% of its […]The post New York Launches $5B Clean Energy Fund appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The historic winter storm that buried the Eastern U.S. in snow over the weekend shut the lights off for more than a million customers from Arkansas to Massachusetts as it downed power lines and hampered operations at some power plants. According to the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, at one […]The post Winter Storm Wallops East Coast, Disrupts Power appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said on January 27 that it had approved the applications for license renewal submitted by Exelon Corp. for Units 1 and 2 of the Braidwood Generating Station in Braceville, Ill. Braidwood, the state’s largest nuclear plant, was originally built by Commonwealth Edison. The two-unit plant operates two Westinghouse pressurized water […]The post NRC Renews Licenses for Braidwood Units 1 and 2 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Recent news out of Europe shows just how important wind energy has become to the continent. Record wind power consumption, huge capacity additions, and new expansion in previously untapped offshore areas are all making headlines, but policy changes and overproduction could start to become challenging. Denmark Leads the Way In Denmark, 2015 was a banner […]The post Wind Energy Thrives in Europe, but It’s Not Unfettered appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Following the D.C. Circuit’s denial of motions for stay, 26 states have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) contentious Clean Power Plan from taking effect. The January 26 application, directed to Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., notes that the states filed petitions for review of the carbon rule […]The post [UPDATED] Halt the EPA’s Clean Power Plan Now, 26 States Urge Supreme Court appeared first on POWER Magazine.

By a 6–2 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court on January 25 ruled that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had authority under the Federal Power Act (FPA) to issue rules requiring equal market participation by demand response (DR) resources. FERC Order 745, issued in 2011, required the nation’s Independent System Operators (ISOs) and Regional Transmission […]The post Supreme Court Revives FERC Order 745 on Demand Response appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Congressional efforts to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) contentious rule asserting federal authority over small bodies of water were derailed on Jan. 21. Senate Republicans voted 52–40, failing to override the president’s veto of the so-called “Clean Water Rule”—also “Waters of the United States” (or WOTUS) well short of the 60 necessary votes. Clean […]The post Senate’s Failed Veto Override Leaves WOTUS Rule Intact appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A federal court has denied the motions for stay requested by 27 states and numerous industry groups to block the Clean Power Plan from taking effect. “Petitioners have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review,” the court said in its two-page order on January 21. The court also ordered that consideration of the […]The post D.C. Circuit Denies Stay of Clean Power Plan appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Entergy has asked a federal court to invalidate a November 6 New York state (NYS) objection to a certification needed for the 20-year license extension of its Indian Point nuclear facilities by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The state’s Department of State (DOS) claimed in its decision that Entergy’s twin nuclear reactors, which supply nearly 25% […]The post Entergy Sues New York for New Attempt to Shut Down Indian Point Nuclear appeared first on POWER Magazine.

New energy technologies, decreasing renewable energy costs, and low natural gas prices are forcing changes in the way traditional power companies must plan for the future. “A fundamental rethink is now well underway about how energy gets produced, delivered, consumed, and managed in many parts of the world, including the U.S.,” said Ethan Zindler, head […]The post Power Generation Industry Faces Fundamental Changes appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced on January 15 that it was awarding up to $40 million each in cost-shared funding to Southern Co. and X-Energy to “support work to address key technical challenges to the design, construction, and operation of next generation nuclear reactors.” It also announced on January 18 that it was awarding […]The post Advanced Nuclear, Solar-Storage Projects Get DOE Funds appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Calpine Corp. will idle a 578-MW natural gas–fired combined cycle (CCGT) power plant in northern California for likely the remainder of the year. The Houston-headquartered company told POWER on January 15 that it will put the 2001-built Sutter Energy Center in Yuba City in “cold layup.” That means that while will the plant will not […]The post Calpine to Take Uneconomic CCGT Plant Offline in Calif. appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Acting on President Obama’s desire to improve fossil fuel resource management and push the country toward a “clean energy” economy, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced on January 15 that it is launching a comprehensive review of the federal coal program. The review will be conducted in the form of a Programmatic Environmental […]The post DOI to “Modernize” Coal Program, Halts New Leases in Meantime appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A new grid modernization blueprint released by the Department of Energy (DOE) on January 14 seeks to integrate conventional and renewable power sources with energy storage and efficiency measures, while ensuring the grid is resilient against cyberattacks and climate change threats. The DOE said that the plan will help “frame new grid architecture design elements, […]The post DOE Releases Grid Modernization Blueprint appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In a voice vote on January 12, the Wisconsin Assembly passed AB 384, a bill that would repeal the statute currently preventing the state Public Service Commission (PSC) from authorizing construction of nuclear power plants in Wisconsin. Specifically, Wisconsin law states that construction of new facilities cannot commence until the PSC issues a “certificate of […]The post Wisconsin Assembly Votes to Lift Moratorium on New Nuclear Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The month-old agreements that seemed to provide a lifeline for an array of coal-fired and nuclear power plants in Ohio owned by American Electric Power (AEP) and FirstEnergy have come under attack by other generators who say they can meet the demand at a lower cost to state taxpayers. AEP reached an eight-year power-purchase agreement (PPA) […]The post Fight Over Ohio Power Plant Subsidies Keeps Expanding appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Wholesale power prices across the nation plunged between 27% and 37% at major trading hubs last year compared to 2014, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported. The agency said on January 11 that the drop was driven largely by lower natural gas prices. Natural gas spot prices in 2015 at the Henry Hub averaged $2.61 […]The post EIA: Wholesale Power Prices Saw Sharp Fall in 2015 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Energy and environment issues have figured prominently in past State of the Union (SOTU) addresses. Here’s a look back at President Obama’s previous speeches. See what Obama said in his final SOTU speech on January 12. 2010: Nuclear Gets the Spotlight In his very first State of the Union address, President Obama called for incentives […]The post The State of Energy, Power, Climate Change in Obama’s Past SOTU Addresses appeared first on POWER Magazine.

In his final State of the Union (SOTU) address on January 12, and arguably less so than in any other address he has given over the last seven years, President Obama made sparse mention of energy and climate change. The president dedicated most of the energy references in his address to “clean” energy, encapsulating wind […]The post SOTU Address Champions “Clean Energy” over “Dirty Energy” appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Advanced drones capable of carrying sophisticated imaging equipment and significant payloads pose a serious threat to nuclear power plants and other high-profile targets, says a report released on Jan. 11 by The Remote Control Project. Analysts for Open Briefing, a London-based civil society intelligence agency, compiled the report. The group reviewed 202 commercially available drones […]The post Terrorist Drones Could Pose Threat to Nuclear Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted preemption authority to nuclear facilities in New York and California, allowing plant security forces to possess and use certain firearms and related devices despite local, state, or federal laws and regulations restricting their use. The action follows years of review. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 gave the […]The post NRC Trumps Local Authorities, Authorizes Weapons for Nuclear Plant Security appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Florida regulators on Jan. 5 approved the 1,600-MW Okeechobee Clean Energy Center under development by NextEra Energy subsidiary Florida Power & Light (FPL) near Vero Beach. The plant will be the fifth advanced combined cycle power plant FPL has commissioned since 2009. The three-unit Okeechobee plant will join the 1,335-MW 3,750-MW [Ed.-Corrected 1/14/16] West County […]The post Okeechobee Clean Energy Center to Give Florida Yet Another Big CCPP appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Silicon Valley Power (SVP)—Santa Clara, Calif.’s municipal electric utility—has decided to stop importing out-of-state electricity from the San Juan Generating Station, completely eliminating coal from its power supply. San Juan is a 1,646-MW four-unit coal-fired power plant located in Waterflow, N.M., and operated by PNM. SVP owns an interest in San Juan through its participation […]The post California Muni Says No to Coal Power appeared first on POWER Magazine.