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Pennsylvania Move to Join RGGI May Save Nuclear Plant

March 17, 2020

The post Pennsylvania Move to Join RGGI May Save Nuclear Plant appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Energy Harbor Corp., the new name for the former FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) after FES’s bankruptcy, on March 13 said its Beaver Valley nuclear plant in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, will remain open. FES in March 2018 had told state regulators it would close the plant in 2021 because it was no longer economic to operate.

Energy Harbor President and CEO John Judge said the decision to keep the plant open came after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said the state would join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a program for capping and decreasing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from the power generation sector that currently includes 10 states in the U.S. Northeast and mid-Atlantic.

Energy Harbor, headquartered in Akron, Ohio, was announced as the new name for FES in late February. The company while operating as FES was the unregulated power generation arm of FirstEnergy Corp.;…

Worried About Climate Change? Save Nuclear Plants [PODCAST]

July 27, 2019

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Nuclear power advocates suggest there are many benefits associated with nuclear energy. They point to high-paying jobs; billions of dollars in economic activity for plant-hosting communities; and secure, reliable, baseload electricity. But the most-important benefit of nuclear power may be that it emits no greenhouse gases, and therefore does not contribute to climate change.

According to Nuclear Matters, a national coalition that works to inform the public and policymakers about the benefits of nuclear energy, nuclear power is playing an essential role in the U.S.’s clean energy future. The group says nuclear power accounted for more than 55% of the country’s clean energy generation in 2018, and phasing out nuclear energy would create devastating environmental impacts for the world.

Carol Browner, former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator and former energy and climate change senior advisor to President Obama, was a guest on The POWER Podcast. Browner, who currently serves on the Nuclear Matters Advocacy Council, said, “Air pollution is a major burden to human health, and electricity generation is a major source of air pollution.…

Carbon Capture Proposed to Save New Mexico Coal Plant

March 3, 2019

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The New York-based hedge fund aiming to take over New Mexico’s San Juan Generating Station (SJGS), targeted for closure by state lawmakers, wants to refit the 46-year-old, coal-fired plant to use carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology.

Acme Equities LLC said last week that retrofitting the 847-MW plant with CCS technology would cut carbon emissions by 90% and offer the plant another revenue stream—selling the captured CO₂to help produce oil. Acme is negotiating with local Farmington, N.M., officials to take over the San Juan plant, a major employer in the area, and keep it operating.

Injecting carbon dioxide into older oil fields has been done for years to encourage wells to continue producing oil.

But state lawmakers expressed doubts about the technology even as they pushed a bill (Senate Bill 489) that would close the plant by 2022, limit the financial hit to the plant’s current ownership, and preserve tax revenue for local schools.

Lawmakers wondered about the economic viability of the CCS technology during discussions March 2 with the state’s Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee.…

Swift (and Angry) Reaction to Trump Move to Save Coal, Nuclear Plants

June 3, 2018

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Reactions from U.S. energy and legal and regulatory groups began pouring in minutes after the White House confirmed on June 1 that President Trump has directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to act immediately to stop the loss of uneconomic coal and nuclear plants.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a June 1 statement that President Trump believes in “total energy independence and dominance, and that keeping America’s energy grid and infrastructure strong and secure protects our national security, public safety and economy from intentional attacks and natural disasters.”

Because “impending retirements of fuel-secure power facilities are leading to a rapid depletion of a critical part of our nation’s energy mix, and impacting the resilience of our power grid,” the president has directed Energy Secretary Rick Perry to “prepare immediate steps to stop the loss of these resources, and looks forward to his recommendations,” she said.

The White House confirmation comes hours after the leak of a Trump administration draft memo outlining a plan for federal action to prop up coal and nuclear plants that were unable to compete in wholesale power markets and faced retirement.…

Exelon Gets Its Christmas Wish—Illinois Legislation Will Save Nuclear Plants

December 4, 2016

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After a lengthy process of give and take, the Illinois Legislature approved the Future Energy Jobs Bill (SB 2814) on December 1, the last day of the state’s veto session.

The bill will now go to Gov. Rauner (R) for his signature, which is expected. Once signed, it will take effect on June 1, 2017, a concession that was made to reduce the number of votes required for passage. Even with the change, the bill passed with only three votes to spare in the House and two extra votes in the Senate.

Nuclear Plants Rescued

Exelon predictably praised the bill. The power company claims SB 2814 will maintain competitive electric rates in Illinois, while preserving and creating good-paying jobs and spurring billions of dollars in investment in clean energy and energy efficiency.

But those items weren’t quite what Exelon was fighting for in its effort to push the bill through the General Assembly. It was desperate for the $ 235 million the bill will allow it to collect from customers annually to keep its Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants open.…