EPA undoes Trump-era power plant rollback 02/17/2023 A quixotic and clamorous regulatory saga perhaps unmatched in Clean Air Act history has ended — at least for now. In a final rule unveiled Friday, EPA restored the legal underpinnings of a 2012 set of regulations for emissions of mercury, a neurotoxin that’s particularly dangerous to babies,…
‘New era’ for wind industry as Vestas makes blade recycling breakthrough 2/8/23 Vestas has unveiled a crucial new technology that could put an end to decommissioned wind turbine blades being sent for scrap. The Danish manufacturing company says its solution “renders epoxy-based turbine blades as circular”, without the need for design or composition changes. By…
Electric Vehicles Loom Large in U.S. Power Grid Modernization February 9, 2023 Since its inception, the U.S. electric grid has mostly operated smoothly as one synchronous machine with a one-directional flow of electricity to meet the nation’s predictable power needs. However, as older centralized thermal resources are being replaced with more variable renewables and long-distance…
Duke Energy plans gas plants as it moves away from coal, but critics see higher cost and emissions February 14, 2023 Three years ago, Duke Energy opened its newest natural gas-fired power plant in Asheville, on the site of an old coal-fired plant. Duke wants to build more gas plants around North Carolina as part…
FBI says Baltimore County woman plotted to ‘shoot up’ BGE electric substations February 6, 2023 A Baltimore County woman has been arrested on charges for allegedly plotting to destroy electric substations in the Baltimore region, federal authorities said during a press conference on Monday. Sarah Beth Clendaniel was recorded detailing her plan to use firearms…
The United States Is Facing Electricity Famine Feb. 7, 2023 There are signs that we are heading towards an electricity famine; a life-threatening energy Holodomor throughout many areas of the United States caused by political decisions. The system is being set up to fail. This problem this time is not the usual banes of the…
Judge dismisses lawsuit over TVA’s long-term deals Feb. 7, 2023 A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by environmental groups that challenged how the nation’s largest public utility signs up local power providers for two-decade contracts. A ruling by U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Parker in Memphis last week sided with the Tennessee Valley Authority,…
FERC Directs NERC to Tighten Bulk Electric System Cybersecurity January 26, 2023 On January 19, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a Final Rule directing the North American Electric Reliability Corporation to file for FERC review new or modified Reliability Standards that require internal network security monitoring (INSM) within trusted Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP)…
Natural gas-fired power replacing coal-fired electricity in Pennsylvania JANUARY 30, 2023 According to a new report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, natural gas-fired power plants have replaced coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania over the last two decades. In 2001, natural gas accounted for 2 percent of the electricity produced in the state, but by…
SNC-Lavalin, Aecon join team building North America’s first small modular reactor 30.01.23 Canadian power company Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has retained Candu Energy, part of the SNC-Lavalin Group, and Canadian contractor Aecon to design and build a small modular reactor (SMR) at the Darlington nuclear plant in Ontario before the end of the decade. Candu…
Senators explore power supply failure – especially natural gas – during Christmas storm January 26, 2023 The winter storm of Dec. 23-25 produced an unexpectedly high demand for electricity. Despite the surprise, PJM, the 13-state power grid organization — thought it had plenty of reserve on hand. But the power suppliers failed to deliver, leading…
‘Absolutely crazy’: Wind turbine in Dodge County collapses Jan 20, 2023 Wednesday night the blades and top portion of a wind turbine came crashing down to the field below in a rural area of Dodge County, near the town of Herman. The impact scattered massive pieces of debris across the ground. Nobody was hurt. Read…