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Exelon’s Digital Transformation [PODCAST]

November 26, 2017

GE and Exelon announced a multi-year agreement to deploy GE’s portfolio of Predix software solutions across the energy company’s six electric utilities to further enhance reliability and efficient service to its more than 10 million customers. Exelon’s six utilities will use these advanced analytics to further strengthen transmission and delivery systems. POWER Executive Editor Aaron Larson interviewed Brian Hurst, vice president and Chief Analytics Officer for Exelon Utilities; Brian Hoff, head of the Exelon corporate innovation team; Lisa Howard, Exelon’s external communications director; and Ankush Agarwal, director of infrastructure analytics for Exelon Utilities on October 26 during the GE Minds + Machines Conference in San Francisco, California. The group discussed some of the innovative things Exelon is doing with the latest technology.

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GE Power Falters on Underperformance of Alstom Investment

November 24, 2017

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Weak earnings associated with General Electric’s (GE’s) underperforming $ 10.1 billion investment in Alstom have prompted the giant conglomerate to rejigger its power business and lean more heavily on other segments.

GE Power, the company’s long-standing and lucrative business unit that has installed 1.6 GW of the world’s installed capacity over its 125-year history, has also suffered costly operational misses owing to softer markets for new capacity and an energy transition unfolding worldwide, company executives said in a November 13 investor call.

While the GE Power franchise remained “good,” even in the face of a “tough market,” GE had “exacerbated the market situation with some really poor execution,” GE CEO John Flannery said.

GE, a company renowned for technology breakthroughs will now seek to reinvent itself with a number of broad changes, including shrinking its board from 18 to 12, shaking up leadership, and shifting its focus to cultivate more earnings for shareholders.

At GE Power, specifically, the changes relate to costs, capital allocation, working capital and operations, governance, and culture.…

More U.S. Coal Units Closing Despite Possible Market Pricing Change

November 22, 2017

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U.S. utilities continue to announce closures of financially troubled and older coal-fired power plants even as government officials work on a bailout plan to keep them operating.

Owners of a coal plant in Montana that has only been online since 2006 informed the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC) last week of plans to shutter the facility early next year if they can’t find a buyer. The news comes at the same time Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E-KU) said it would close two long-running coal-fired units at the E.W. Brown Generating Station near Harrodsburg, Kentucky, in February 2019.

The announcements are the latest in a series of closures announced in recent months, including three large coal-fired plants in Texas—two operated by Vistra Energy and another by Luminant, a Vistra subsidiary—that generate about 4.2 GW of electricity, or about 12% of the state’s coal-fired generation capacity. Another large Texas plant, CPS Energy’s 840-MW Deely station in San Antonio, is scheduled to close in 2018.…

Dominion to Seek 80-Year Lifetime for North Anna Nuclear Reactors

November 20, 2017

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Dominion Energy will formally ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to relicense its two reactors at the North Anna Power Station for 20 more years—effectively extending their operating lives up to 80 years.

Dominion Energy Virginia notified the federal regulatory body of its intent to relicense the two reactors in Louisa County, Virginia, which it will file in 2020. The company in November 2015 notified the NRC of its intent to seek a 20-year license renewal of its two units at the Surry power station, in southeastern Virginia, during the spring of 2019.

The 1,892-MW North Anna plant’s Unit 1 began commercial service in 1978 and Unit 2 in 1980. The 1,676-MW Surry plant’s Unit 1 began commercial service in 1972 and Unit 2 in 1973. All four units’ licenses were renewed for 20 years in March 2003. The North Anna’s units are currently authorized to operate until between 2038 and 2040. At Surry, the reactors are licensed until 2032 and 2033.…

Siemens Will Consolidate Power Divisions, Cut 6,900 Jobs

November 18, 2017

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Siemens has announced it will cut 6,900 jobs, about half of them in Germany, over the next “several years” as the company consolidates its three power-related divisions. The November 16 announcement comes just days after U.S. power giant GE announced its own restructuring plan.

Lisa Davis, a member of Siemens managing board, said in a statement “The power generation industry is experiencing disruption of unprecedented scope and speed,” necessitating changes to the company’s operations.

Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser had mostly confirmed the restructuring plan last week, saying it would be “painful,” after reports surfaced in October that the company would likely cut jobs, close some units, and sell others as it downsized its Power and Gas Division. According to the company’s 2016 annual report, its Power and Gas business employs 48,700 workers and accounts for about 20% of the company’s revenue.

Janina Kugel, head of the company’s human resources department, in a statement said “The cuts are necessary to ensure that our expertise in power-plant technology, generators and large electrical motors stays competitive over the long term.”…

FERC’s Chatterjee Has Interim Plan to Prop Up Coal, Nuclear Plants

November 16, 2017

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Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Acting Chairman Neil Chatterjee, who has said he is “sympathetic” to a rule that would help prop up struggling U.S. coal and nuclear power plants, apparently is ready to move forward with an interim plan to keep financially troubled plants operating while his agency continues to consider a market-changing cost proposal from the Department of Energy (DOE).

Utility Dive on November 15 reported that Chatterjee is “considering regulatory action,” saying FERC could issue a “show cause” order directing regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) to update market tariffs to keep baseload plants, or those with “necessary resilience attributes,” operating or show why those plants should not continue to remain online. That would provide time for FERC to institute rules regarding electricity grid resilience and market compensation.

Neil Chatterjee, acting chairman of FERC, says he is ready to implement an interim plan to help struggling coal and nuclear plants. Courtesy: FERC

Chatterjee, who said he has not detailed his plan with other FERC staff, told Utility Dive his proposal would be “messy” and “uncomfortable.”…