Regulators | EnergyNorthwest.com

State Regulators Warn of More Delays at Vogtle

November 26, 2019

The post State Regulators Warn of More Delays at Vogtle appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A filing by Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) staff and consultants on Nov. 22 said Georgia Power’s expansion of the Vogtle nuclear power plant is falling further behind schedule. The filing Friday came the same day that the utility announced the sixth and last containment ring for the two-unit expansion was set in place.

The PSC filing said the current deadlines for commercial operation of two new reactors are “significantly challenged” amid construction delays. The filing also noted safety risks for workers at the site near Waynesboro, Georgia. Georgia Power has said more than 8,000 workers are currently at the job site.

The Vogtle project is several years behind its original schedule—completion had been expected as early as 2016 when the project was first announced more than a decade ago—and billions of dollars over budget. Officials with Georgia Power and its parent Southern Co. have in the past year pointed to November 2021 and November 2022 as expected dates for the new reactors to enter commercial operation.…

Regulators Back Dominion Takeover of SCANA

December 18, 2018

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Dominion Energy’s bid to purchase SCANA Corp. and its South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) utility, approved by South Carolina regulators on Dec. 14, could bring some stability to SCANA. Shareholders hope that’s the case; they’re excited about swapping their devalued SCANA shares for more valuable Dominion stock.

Workers, though, remain uncertain about their futures, fearing job losses with SCANA moving from local ownership to operating under the auspices of a Virginia-based company. On the flip side, workers also know new ownership could help the company’s bottom line and prevent job cuts, which Dominion has addressed in its merger agreement.

South Carolina’s Public Service Commission (PSC) unanimously supported Dominion’s offer for SCANA, despite protests from environmental groups and others who say the deal is not good for state ratepayers. SCANA CEO Jimmy Addison said the PSC’s decision put the companies “one step closer to a final resolution and the certainty that stakeholders have been hoping for.”

Thomas Farrell, Dominion’s chairman, president and CEO, in a statement Friday said his company was “encouraged” by the PSC’s unanimous support, “and awaits an order to review prior to making a final decision to close the merger with SCANA.”…

Regulators Back Settlement for Costs of Failed Kemper IGCC Project

February 7, 2018

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Shareholders of Mississippi Power will have to absorb the majority of outstanding costs resulting from the scuttled Kemper County coal gasification project, as the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) on February 6 approved a settlement for the remaining liabilities associated with the much-touted “clean coal” plant.

Mississippi Power in a statement said it “is pleased with this final order from the Public Service Commission, which effectively settles all costs associated with the Kemper County energy facility.” Anthony Wilson, the company’s CEO, in a statement after today’s vote said, “The economics really didn’t work out and the technology was hard to perfect.”

The PSC in 2017 told Atlanta-based Southern Co. to end construction at Kemper. The gasification project, touted as the future of coal, never was operational, as costs ballooned from an original price tag of $ 2.9 billion to about $ 7.5 billion. The settlement agreement, which was reached last year pending approval, means Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Co.,…

A Holistic View Into Gas Pressure Regulators, Focusing on Applications

January 26, 2018

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Can you remember the first car or motorbike you owned? The irresistible look and feel of its solid steel construction, and your proud feeling during the first drive through your brightly lit city.

What about your last hard day at work? Pouring cup after cup of coffee from a glass pot into your ceramic mug, trying to stay awake at your office, working to build a solid foundation for a successful career.

All of that begins with a gas pressure regulator, whose applications are widely spread, but may not be visible at first sight.

Markus Lang of the Heat Group in Austria.

That first drive, or cup of coffee, starts with the regulation of a sufficient gas supply for burners within the furnace of a steel, or glass, or ceramic plant. A safe gas feed to a spinning turbine at a power plant produces the electricity to run that coffee pot, and light up the city at night.

Many groups are served by the appropriate, application-based selection of gas pressure regulators.…