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In yet another major set of deals spearheaded by a tech giant in support of nuclear power development, Amazon will back the deployment of 5 GW of new X-energy small […]
The post Amazon Backs Massive Nuclear SMR Deployment: 5 GW with X-Energy, Agreements With Energy Northwest, Dominion appeared first on POWER Magazine.
The post Vistra Backs Illinois Transition Measure to Keep At-Risk Coal Plants Online Through 2025 appeared first on POWER Magazine.
Bleeding financially from underperforming and legally burdened coal generation in downstate Illinois and elsewhere, Vistra, the nation’s largest competitive generator, has renewed its call for passage of the Illinois Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Act, a bill that could help keep 2.2 GW of existing at-risk capacity online through 2025 while the state expands its renewable and storage capacity.
The Irving, Texas–headquartered company said it renewed its support for the bill owing to “mounting financial and legal pressures that now come from operating coal plants.” The announcement came as the company accelerated the closure of the 1.2-GW Joppa Power Plant in September 2022—three years earlier than previously disclosed—to settle a complaint related to pollution exceedances in Illinois.
The Joppa plant, which opened in 1953, has six coal units with a combined capacity of 1 GW, as well as five natural gas units with a combined capacity of 239 MW.…
The post Wisconsin PSC Backs Construction of Gas-Fired Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.
Construction of a $ 700 million natural gas-fired power plant near the Wisconsin-Minnesota border was authorized by Wisconsin regulators on Jan. 16, over the objections of environmental groups who have said the plant is not needed.
Dairyland Power Cooperative and Minnesota Power would jointly own the 625-MW Nemadji Trail Energy Center, which on its current timeline is scheduled to come online in 2024. Wisconsin’s Public Service Commission (PSC) voted 2-1 on Thursday to allow the project to move forward. The utilities have said the plant would enable them to move away from coal-fired power and support their integration of wind and solar generation resources.
Several environmental groups oppose the plant, including the Sierra Club, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) also opposes the plant, citing local impacts such as loss of wetlands and depletion of groundwater.…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on September 13 upheld subsidies offered by Illinois to help struggling nuclear power plants. The court rejected arguments from power producers and some Illinois energy consumers that so-called zero-emission credits (ZEC) are preempted by the Federal Power Act. Opponents argued the program violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, saying it usurps the authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and FERC’s jurisdiction over wholesale electricity markets.
The ruling was in the case Electric Power Supply Association et al. v. Star et al.
The Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA), an advocacy group for the electric power industry, along with other independent generators and some Illinois energy consumers had said the state’s ZEC program and the $ 235 million in yearly subsidies sent to a pair of Exelon Corp. nuclear plants as part of the state’s Future Energy Jobs Act directly impacted wholesale markets.
The latest appeal in Illinois was filed after a judge in July 2017 dismissed an earlier appeal by EPSA and a group of power generators.…
Shares of General Electric (GE) have fallen about 50% over the past year, and on May 23 GE saw its stock drop more than 7%, its biggest one-day loss since April 20, 2009. Much of Wednesday’s decline came as CEO John Flannery was speaking to attendees at the Electrical Products Group (EPG) conference in Longboat Key, Florida.
Flannery told the group he thinks Wednesday’s selloff could be due to investors who are disappointed he has not done more—and moved more quickly—to reorganize the company and stem the tide of financial losses, in large part caused by a slowing global market for gas turbines that has dogged the company’s Power division. Flannery acknowledged he has moved at a “deliberate” pace since taking over the company in August of last year.
Flannery, who has worked in various roles at GE since 1987, said he’s heard the grumblings, such as “What’s taking so long?” with the company’s turnaround plan, a plan the chief executive talked about even before he took the reins of GE from outgoing CEO Jeffrey Immelt.…
The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2019 budget request released February 12 asks for more money to support fossil fuel-based power systems, but seeks funding below current levels for other energy initiatives, including renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The energy funding is part of a $ 4.4 trillion budget that features large increases in military spending, along with deep cuts to several domestic programs and entitlements, including Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and Social Security disability payments. Analysts immediately said it has little chance of being enacted by Congress as written, in part because of fears of what the proposal would add to the federal deficit over the next decade. A New York Times analysis said the proposed budget would add $ 984 billion to the federal deficit next year, and add about $ 7 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years.
The proposal, Trump’s second since taking office in January 2017, is similar in many ways to his administration’s proposed 2018 fiscal year budget, which was rejected by Congress.…