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Chicago Company Preparing Offer for Navajo Generating Station

June 11, 2018

A suburban Chicago-based energy company executive on June 7 told Arizona officials his group is putting together a proposal to purchase the Navajo Generating Station (NGS), the largest coal-fired power plant in the western U.S. The plant’s current owners have said they will close the 2,250-MW facility by year-end 2019 unless a buyer is found.

Workers, their family members, union representatives, and tribal leaders had rallied Wednesday in Phoenix, asking state officials to slow the process of closing the plant, which employs hundreds of Native Americans along with the nearby Kayenta Mine that supplies coal for the plant. Joe Greco, senior vice president of Middle River Power in Chicago, told the Central Arizona Water Conservation District board on Thursday that his company could operate the plant efficiently and economically.

The water board was meeting Thursday to consider bids for the future power supply to pump water for the Central Arizona Project (CAP), which supplies some of the state through an aqueduct system from the Colorado River.…

Puerto Rico Power Restoration Effort a Focus of EEI Convention

June 7, 2018

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The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), an industry association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies, made a point during its annual convention of recognizing the mutual assistance workers who labored tirelessly to restore power to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.

Nearly 200 personnel, who had worked on the ground in Puerto Rico, gathered on stage during the opening session of the EEI event in San Diego, California, on June 5. Even though the actual number of workers involved in the effort was far greater—Tom Kuhn, EEI president, said more than 3,000 lineworkers, support personnel, and company representatives were part of the historic mutual assistance response and restoration effort—a gasp could be heard from the crowd when the group of 200 stood to make their way to the stage.

EEI Chairman and PNM Resources Chairman, President, and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn said, “The expertise, the creativity, and the leadership that was brought to bear, along with the sacrifices of so many of you who answered the call for help, were extraordinary.…

[UPDATED] Trump Administration to Force Purchases of Coal, Nuclear Power

June 5, 2018

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A draft memo circulated by the Trump administration before the National Security Council urges federal action to force grid operators to buy power from uneconomic coal and nuclear plants.

Bloomberg on May 31 first pointed to the existence of the 41-page memo, which is dated May 29 and distributed Thursday. The memo outlines plans for a directive by the Department of Energy (DOE) under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act (FPA) to “direct the operators to purchase electricity or electric generation capacity from at-risk facilities.”

The draft memo, which is tagged “Privileged & Confidential, Attorney-Client Privilege,” says that regulatory and economic factors have prompted the premature retirement of “fuel-secure” plants—which include nuclear and coal, but also oil-fired and dual-fuel units with adequate storage. “Although the lost megawatts of power often are replaced by new generation from natural gas and renewable energy sources, this transition comes at the expense of fuel security and resilience,” it says.

The memo reasons that because premature retirements of fuel-secure baseload plants reduce resilience to fuel supply disruptions, and because this “crisis” is caused by regulatory and economic actions, federal and state regulatory bodies as well as the private sector must act promptly “to achieve a lasting solution that meets the needs of both national security and the efficient operation of energy markets.”…

Swift (and Angry) Reaction to Trump Move to Save Coal, Nuclear Plants

June 3, 2018

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Reactions from U.S. energy and legal and regulatory groups began pouring in minutes after the White House confirmed on June 1 that President Trump has directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to act immediately to stop the loss of uneconomic coal and nuclear plants.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a June 1 statement that President Trump believes in “total energy independence and dominance, and that keeping America’s energy grid and infrastructure strong and secure protects our national security, public safety and economy from intentional attacks and natural disasters.”

Because “impending retirements of fuel-secure power facilities are leading to a rapid depletion of a critical part of our nation’s energy mix, and impacting the resilience of our power grid,” the president has directed Energy Secretary Rick Perry to “prepare immediate steps to stop the loss of these resources, and looks forward to his recommendations,” she said.

The White House confirmation comes hours after the leak of a Trump administration draft memo outlining a plan for federal action to prop up coal and nuclear plants that were unable to compete in wholesale power markets and faced retirement.…

How General Atomics Developed Its Revolutionary Nuclear Fuel Solution

June 1, 2018

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The U.S. is pouring funding into developing new fuel technology for advanced nuclear reactors in a bid to help the flagging industry. On April 27, it awarded General Atomics (GA) $ 3.2 million for two projects that the San Diego, California-based company is developing, including an accident tolerant fuel (ATF) solution that the company says is “truly revolutionary.”

The funding, for which GA will provide a cost share, is aimed to advance development and licensing of new reactor fuel that features silicon carbide (SiC) composite fuel cladding containing uranium carbide (UC) fuel pellets. One project, being conducted in collaboration with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee with total funding of $ 2,763,744, will combine advanced computer modeling and simulation with new microcapsule irradiation to establish techniques that “substantially reduce the time and expense required to qualify new fuels,” the company said. The second project, funded at a total of $ 475,819, would back the pre-application license review of SiC-UC fuel by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, allowing the company to develop an efficient roadmap for formal regulatory qualification.…

Bill Supporting Xcel Energy Nuclear Plants Dies in Minnesota

May 30, 2018

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A bill that would have provided more cost-recovery certainty for Xcel Energy’s two Minnesota nuclear plants didn’t get through the state House of Representatives prior to the legislative session ending on May 20, effectively killing the measure.

The bill would have allowed Xcel to submit proposals to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) designating each of its nuclear plants—the dual-unit Prairie Island station and the single-unit Monticello plant—as carbon-reduction facilities. As part of the process, the company would have included a proposed statement of the total expected costs, including but not limited to capital investments and operation and maintenance costs associated with the facility’s operation.

The MPUC would then have been required to approve or reject the total expected costs within 10 months of the filing date. The solution would have given Xcel the ability to recover a facility’s total costs outside of a general rate case proceeding. Proponents of the legislation suggested that it would have given Xcel more certainty than it currently has concerning cost recovery.…