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Wave and Tidal Power Technology Near Commercialization

September 4, 2017

Scotland, which is authorized to set its own energy policy separate from London’s Westminster government, has set a goal of generating 100% of the nation’s annual electricity needs through only renewable sources by 2020, and 100% of its entire power and transportation needs from non-carbon energy by 2030. This decision has created an all-of-the-above clean development strategy as well as a stronger commitment to energy self-reliance. By looking inward at what internal resources exist, Scotland is now home to the most-advanced wave and tidal energy development center in the world.

For decades, engineers have been trying to turn the immense potential of tidal energy into electricity. While ocean currents don’t reach the same speeds that wind can, the inherent energy potential by comparison is enormous. Seawater has more than 800 times the density of air, so for the same rotor swept area, water moving at 2.5 meters per second (m/sec)—roughly 5 knots—exerts the same amount of force as would be applied by wind blowing at nearly 100 m/sec (about 195 knots).…

Mississippi Power Will Absorb Costs for Failed Kemper Gasification Project

August 23, 2017

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A settlement Mississippi Power reached on August 21 with stakeholders of the Kemper County facility will ensure customers won’t be subjected to rate increases associated with the now-abandoned gasification portion of the project. While that will affect revenues, the resolution could soften controversy surrounding the project and avoid protracted legal and financial turmoil, the company said.

Mississippi Power reached the settlement with Denbury Resources—the company under contract to buy all the project’s captured carbon, and which had already built a 61-mile carbon dioxide pipeline—along with three advocacy groups: the Central Mississippi Building and Construction Trades Council, the East Mississippi Business Development Corp., and the Ministerial Alliance Partnership.

It essentially provides that the annual revenue requirement—which is necessary to cover the power company’s expenses and have the opportunity to earn a fair rate of return—for the 2018 Kemper IGCC–related costs would be $ 126 million, resulting in no rate increase for customers now or in the future. It also proposes to modify the project’s 2010-awarded certificate of public convenience and necessity to limit the facility to operations of the natural gas combined cycle power plant, which was completed in 2014.…

Enviros Call for Court Decision in Clean Power Plan Case

August 7, 2017

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Given that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) isn’t going to be taking any substantial action to rewrite the Clean Power Plan anytime soon, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit should not postpone a decision in the court case against the rule, an August 4 document filed by a group of environmental intervenors in the case argues.

The case against the Clean Power Plan was argued in court on September 27, 2016, before a panel of 10 judges. In the more than ten months since the hearing, the court has not issued a decision in the case.

The situation got more complicated after the election of President Donald Trump, an opponent of the rule, and the nomination of former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who had sued the former administration’s EPA over the rule, as the new administrator of the EPA.

Pruitt’s EPA announced right away that it would be reviewing the rule, as he believes it represents an overreach of the EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act.…

Xcel Moves Forward With Wind Power Expansion

July 9, 2017

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Xcel Energy plans to add about 1,550 MW of wind power to its portfolio in the Upper Midwest with the addition of seven wind farms expected to be operational by year-end 2020. The additions are among 11 new wind farms announced over the past year by Xcel in seven states that would add a total of 3,380 MW to the company’s system. The company said the expansion would increase its wind portfolio to about 35% of its energy mix by 2021.

The Midwest projects, sited in Minnesota, North and South Dakota and Iowa, would increase Xcel’s regional wind output by about 70%, the company said. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission approved the proposal July 6; the North Dakota Public Service Commission said it would review the plan later this year. Those states, unlike some others, require Xcel to seek state approval to add resources, according to Lisa Kiava, a senior media relations person in Xcel’s Minneapolis, Minn., office. Xcel said the projects would likely run for 25 years.…

Report: Killing Clean Power Plan Could Cost Nation 560,000 Potential Jobs

June 23, 2017

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If the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back the Clean Power Plan (CPP) are successful, the nation could miss out on 560,000 potential jobs and a boost of $ 52 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP), according to a report released by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2).

“From states with relatively small populations like Maine and Montana to highly populated states like Florida, the CPP could have substantial employment and economic benefits — benefits that would disappear with the Trump Administration’s repeal of the policy,” the June 21 report says.

The CPP has been a thorn in the side of coal proponents since it was proposed in 2014. The rule requires states to develop action plans to meet state-specific, federally-set carbon emissions reduction goals for existing coal-fired power plants.

According to the E2 report, implementation of the CPP would result in the creation of up to 560,000 jobs and add up to $ 52 billion to the nation’s GDP. Those benefits will be lost if the rule is weakened or rescinded, the report says.…

Ohio Committee Suspends FirstEnergy’s Nuclear Power Rescue Plan

May 20, 2017

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Ohio-based FirstEnergy’s plan for a rescue of its two uncompetitive Ohio nuclear plants took a nosedive May 17, as the Ohio House Public Utilities Committee suspended action on the company’s proposal to charge its customers a fee to subsidize the plants.

FirstEnergy’s plan mimics programs adopted in Illinois and New York to create “zero energy credits,” or ZECs, allowing the company to make competitive bids into the PJM regional wholesale market.

The chairman of the House committee, William Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, suspended further hearings on the measure (House Bill 178). “We have heard over 10 hours of testimony on this bill. I have given proponents and opponents a chance to make their case. I am not sensing a keen desire on the part of the House members to vote on this and doubt that we will have more hearings in the near future unless something cataclysmic happens,” Seitz said.

Cleveland newspaper The Plain Dealer suggested “cataclysmic events might include a decision by FirstEnergy Solutions to seek bankruptcy protection from its creditors or a decision by the company to immediately close its four nuclear power plants.”…