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D.C. Circuit Halts Clean Power Plan, Mercury Rule Litigation

April 29, 2017

In two separate actions over the past 24 hours, the D.C. Circuit granted the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) request to suspend cases challenging the Clean Power Plan and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS).

The orders are the latest in a series of similar actions over the past month by the D.C. Circuit that paused other major cases challenging Obama-era environmental rules to give the Trump administration more time to review them.

On April 11, the court granted the EPA’s motion to indefinitely delay a decision on challenges to the agency’s 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone in Murray Energy Corp. v. EPA (No. 15-1385). On April 24, it shelved oral arguments in challenges to the EPA’s rule that requires 36 states to revise emissions exemptions in their state implementation plans for startup, shutdown, and malfunction events at power plants and other facilities. That case, Walter Coke, Inc., et al v. EPA (No. 15-1166), may be reopened depending on the action the EPA decides to take.…

Drought Has Big Impact on California Power Market

April 27, 2017

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Rain and snow has returned to California, ending the record-setting drought with record-setting precipitation.

The drought led to forest fires, dead orchards, and brown lawns. It also took a big bite out of ratepayers’ wallets and increased global warming emissions, due to the loss of low-cost, zero-emission hydropower.

In a study released April 26 by Peter Gleick—a noted water expert at the Pacific Institute in Oakland—researchers found that lower hydropower production cost California ratepayers almost $ 2.5 billion in higher power prices, and may have raised power sector carbon dioxide emissions 10%, due to increased output from gas-fired generators (see Figure 2). Gleick’s team used data through September 2016 to calculate the figures.

Courtesy: Pacific Institute

California has 14 GW of hydro capacity, with little growth in recent decades due to environmental, economic, and political constraints. While hydro typically supplies about 18% of California’s power, the drought dropped production to as low as 7% in 2015, the driest year of the drought.…

Trump’s EPA Signals Changes for Power Plant Mercury Rule

April 21, 2017

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The Trump administration is “closely” reviewing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) final cost consideration finding for its Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) to determine whether it should reconsider the rule or some part of it, it said in an April 18 federal court filing.

The EPA filed a motion with the D.C. Circuit urging the court to delay oral arguments scheduled on May 18 for a case filed by an assortment of coal producing and generating companies, which are challenging the agency’s “Supplemental Finding That It Is Appropriate and Necessary To Regulate Hazardous Air Pollutants From Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units.”

Delay and Deflect

In its court filing, the agency said that it needs more time as it “intends to closely review the Supplemental Finding, and the prior positions taken by the Agency with respect to the Supplemental Finding may not necessarily reflect its ultimate conclusions after that review is complete.”

The Obama administration’s EPA issued the final supplemental finding a year ago after a divided Supreme Court in June 2015 (in Michigan v.…

Fight to Keep EPA’s Clean Power Plan Alive Intensifies in Federal Court

April 7, 2017

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A coalition of 24 states and localities have urged a federal court reviewing the merits of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan to stall the agency’s recent motion to suspend a case challenging the controversial rule.

West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (No. 15-1363) is arguably the most important set of environmental cases in nearly a decade. For the U.S. power sector, the stakes are particularly high. The sector has grappled with uncertainty about the Clean Power Plan’s future since the Supreme Court issued a stay of the rule on February 9, 2016.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the case before an en banc panel on merits of the EPA’s controversial rule on September 27, 2016.

Twenty-seven states are challenging the legality of the rule finalized by the EPA under the Obama administration. They are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.…

High-Performance Oil Reduces Varnish and Saves Money for Gas Turbine Power Plant

April 3, 2017

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Varnish buildup in oil systems and components can degrade performance and cause erratic valve operation. Some experts have conducted research and formulated new lubricants that could help solve those problems. One such oil proved highly successful during a five-year run at a gas turbine power plant. By eliminating the need for oil changes and valve maintenance at the site during the trial period, the oil even saved money compared to previously used formulations.

The formation of varnish by turbine oils is not a new phenomenon. However, it has become an intense topic of discussion over the last several years because of the resulting downtime, decrease in reliability, and loss of productivity it causes in the power industry. There are a few significant factors that contribute to this issue.

Dynamics Behind Varnish Formation

Through intense focus on asset reliability and operational efficiency, end users have begun to push limits and increase the performance of their power units. The same focus by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) has led to higher performing equipment.…

As Trump Takes Over, Who Wields Power?

February 3, 2017

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What do we know as of February 1 about key Trump appointees responsible for administering White House policies affecting the power generation industry? Not much.

As the Trump administration settles in, how his teams at energy and environment agencies will implement his policy agenda remains unclear, as does his agenda. At the end of January, none of the Trump nominees for key energy and environment jobs had won Senate confirmation. The Senate Environment and Natural Resources committee approved former Texas Governor Rick Perry to be Department of Energy (DOE) secretary, by a bipartisan vote of 16–7 (the committee consists of 12 Republicans and 11 Democrats). Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) got the nod to head the Interior Department by a 16–6 vote. Neither nomination has been scheduled for full Senate consideration.

Rick Perry, a former governor of Texas, is Trump’s pick as energy secretary.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee the same day punted on the nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to be Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief, putting the vote off to the next day, February 1.…