* "One megawatt is the energy needed to power approximately 1,000 homes" [* A kilowatt hour is the amount of electrical energy consumed when 1,000 watts are used for one hour.
March 21, 2008
* Cape Cod electricity - 20¢/kWh, vs 7¢ in W. Va.
March 14, 2008
* Colorado - local board hates coal, but needs baseload capacity. Could nuclear be in their future?
March 5, 2008
* Florida - possible power line paths | About 600 people seek more info on Progress energy plan
February 26, 2008
This is from the front page of today's The Clarion-Ledger, of Jackson, Mississippi.
February 22, 2008
This is from the front page of today's Johnson City Press, of Tennessee.
See full text of this story via the web version of this article.
February 19, 2008
This is from the front page of today's The Arizona Republic.
See full text of this story via the web version of this article.
February 3, 2008
This is from the front page of today's The Washington Post.
See full text of this story via the web version of this article (Washington Post requires free registration to view the article).
February 2, 2008
Indian Point - shutdown without license renewal would raise local electricity prices so much that thousands of jobs would likely be created elsewhere, as businesses avoid the area
The Westchester Business Alliance commissioned a researcher to estimate what the likely economic effects would be if the two nuclear plants shut down when, or before, current operating licenses expire. A pdf version of the full report is available here. The study concludes that natural gas-powered electricity is the most likely substitute, and that this would cost about six times more than Indian Point power. By 2017, the report concludes "Westchester's electric prices could rise to over $0.50 per kilowatt-hour or over three and one half times the projected national average should the Indian Point plants be retired." Current prices in the area are about $0.20, which is amongst the most expensive power in the nation. Westchester County's high energy costs are cited as a reason for losing thousands of manufacturing and other industrial jobs over the past two decades.
The report states that "While Westchester's long-term economic outlook is promising with projected employment growth of as high as 36,000 new jobs by 2017, higher energy prices will surely reduce this forecast. As many as 11,000 fewer jobs, $2.1 billion in cumulative lost wages, and nearly $5.5 billion in cumulative lost economic output could result from higher energy costs."
[Ref: Dr. Howard J. Axelrod (Energy Strategies, Inc.), "AN ASSESSMENT OF ENERGY NEEDS IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY | The Economic Impact of Rising Energy Prices and Shortages in Supplies", Prepared for Westchester Business Alliance, January 31, 2008]
January 31, 2008
Constellation's options on whether to site first new EPR in Maryland or New York was front page news in both states today:
This is from the front page of today's The Sun, of Baltimore, Maryland.
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This is from the front page of today's The Post-Standard, of Syracuse, New York.
March 26, 2007
*
In Quest for Cleaner Energy, Texas City Touts Plug-In Car
Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Of all the plans cooked up by cities to combat pollution and global warming, the one hatched in Austin Texas is among the most ambitious -- and, some say, one of the more quixotic. Mayor Will Wynn is pushing a new version of the electric car called the plug-in, which runs almost entirely on electricity and has a big rechargeable battery. But that's not all. Mayor Wynn envisions the parked electric cars plugging into a network operated by the city's utility, which would then use the powerful car batteries as a big storage system from which to draw power ...
March 23, 2007
* South Africa - electric power supply margin likely to remain paper thin for years
December 2, 2005
*
Why don't they just bury our power lines? Despite the benefits, utilities say it's much too expensive
Lance Gay, Scripps Howard News Service/Vero Beach Press-Journal (Florida)
"Just this year, millions of Americans have been faced with long-term power outages due to a devastating storm season," Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., says. "By burying power lines, families will be less likely to be left in the dark and will be more likely to get their lives back on track sooner." Shaw, a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said he's drafting legislation that would allow power companies to immediately write off the costs of burying lines, rather than depreciating the costs over 15 years as currently permitted under federal policies. About 21 percent of the 150,000 miles of power lines in the United States are already underground.
Utilities have studied the problem for years and contend it's much too expensive to bury power lines. But new superconducting technologies are emerging that will shake up the industry by offering utilities new economic incentives to bury lines. With new superconducting underground cables, utilities can save the 8 percent of electricity lost during transmission and on distribution systems using traditional copper or aluminum wires. The superconducting cables are made with a ceramic core surrounded by a sleeve of extremely cold gasses. A thermal insulation level then surrounds the core and gasses. Because of their construction, they are designed for use underground, although they could be carried in ground-level cradles. Superconducting wires carry up to five times more electricity and are currently being used in a dozen demonstration projects around the country. Burying lines is "tremendously expensive," said Edison Electric Institute spokesman Jason Cuevas. "It can be 10 times more per line mile, so that a system that costs $100,000 a line mile to install overhead lines could cost from $500,000 to $1 million a line mile," he said. "Costs tend to be first and foremost."
While they are generally more dependable, underground lines also can be damaged. Animals can burrow through the underground lines and water can corrode the metals. In a paper prepared for the organization last year, independent energy adviser Brad Johnson said it typically takes longer to find breaks and problems in underground networks than it does with overhead systems, where crews just look for downed lines. Johnson said North Carolina's utilities found that underground networks are generally more reliable and suffer only half the outages of overhead systems. But when there are problems, it took 1.6 times longer to repair the underground facilities. Other utilities had significant problems fixing storm damage to their underground networks.
The lines have another public-relations advantage for utilities because they don't produce an electromagnetic field. Utilities point to scientific studies that find no effects on humans from the electromagnetic field produced by power lines, but many people still refuse to live near them.
August 23, 2005
September 1, 2004
* Biodiesel - Brazil plans to use for electric power plants, too
June 5, 2004
TVA coal plant air pollution targeted as illegal by seven non-TVA states (six in northeast, 1 in midwest)
... the attorneys general of New York and five other states in the Northeast and one in the Midwest asked President Bush to force the government-run Tennessee Valley Authority to meet stricter air pollution standards at its 11 coal-burning power plants in the South.
"T.V.A.'s illegal pollution from its coal-fired power plants is seriously harming the health and environment of Americans," the attorneys general stated in a letter sent to President Bush.
Scott Segal, executive director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, a group representing the power industry, said the action by the seven states was misguided because harmful emissions from the T.V.A.'s power plants have been steadily declining for 20 years.
Carbon, sulfur, nitrogen and mercury released by coal-fired electric generating plants in states west of New York are carried eastward and across state lines by prevailing winds.
New York and other Northeastern states have campaigned for several years to get the oldest and dirtiest of the T.V.A. plants cleaned up or closed.
[Source: Anthony DePalma (NYT metro desk), "State Judge Rejects Rules On Acid Rain", The New York Times, June 5, 2004, p. B1]
* Canada - Ontario's coming electricity crunch - brownouts by 2007
* Renewables have decreased, as percent of power supply, over 1970-2001
* China pledges to generate 60 GW -- 10% of power -- with renewables by 2010
* Renewables - numeric goals for 2010 by EU (22%) and China (10%); US rejects such benchmarks
* Wind - Four nations accounted for 86% of installed capacity in 2001 (Denmark, Germany, Spain and US)
May 24, 2004
* Fusion - at best, significant energy by 2070s or 80s, requiring huge investment after 2040
* Fusion - prospects hurt by anti-nuclear public opinion in Europe
* World n-plant reliance expected to double in 35 years, from 7% to 14% of electricity
March 29, 2004
Electricity costs at TVA: nuclear 2.5 cents/kWh, coal 4.5 cents/kWh, gas 6 cents/kWh
According to William Baxter, one of three directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA nuclear power costs 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to 4.5 cents for coal and 6 cents for natural gas. [Source: David R. Francis, "After nuclear's meltdown, a cautious revival", The Christian Science Monitor, March 29, 2004]
March 13, 2004
* Restart after August 2003 blackout took 4-9 days for the 9 n-plants; only 1 NOED
* Blackouts in Aug - Sept 2003: US-Canada, London, Copenhagen+, Italy
* Grid stability increases n-plant safety margin
Quotable
"[M]odern society has come to depend on reliable electricity as an essential resource for .... nearly all aspects of modern life."
[Source: The US-Canadian Power System Outage Task Force report, quoted by Jeffrey S. Merrifield (NRC Commissioner), "Getting Past Gridlock", speech to Regulatory Info Conference, March 11, 2004]
February 22, 2004
Wisconsin court nixes gas plant, because wind wasn't considered seriously enough
Earlier this month, Dane County Circuit Judge Moria Krueger told the state Public Service Commission to start over and re-evaluate the environmental impact of two 545-megawatt power plants under construction in downtown Port Washington by Wisconsin Energy Corp. State law calls for the Public Service Commission to give preference to environmentally friendly forms of power generation when debating whether to approve power plant projects. The judge's ruling stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Bob Owen of Middleton against the $650-million project because he believes the PSC has ignored this statute and given short shrift to recommendations of a state study on climate change issued more than five years ago. "It appears that the people that are appointed to the Public Service Commission have no interest whatsoever about whether there is a habitable planet for their children or their grandchildren. They never have taken global warming seriously. I consider it a severe threat, which is growing more and becoming more severe."
[Source: Thomas Content, "Wind-energy proponent proves he's a force to be reckoned with", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, February 22, 2004, p. 1D]
January 4, 2004
Recycling paper saves electricity and water too
Each ton of recycled paper saves 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, 7,000 gallons of water, 17 trees and 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity, according to Keep Texas Beautiful.
[Source: Matthew Sturdevant (Corpus Christi Caller-Times), "Texans can choose solution, not pollution; Lifestyle options can save resources, cut emissions", Corpus Christi Caller-Times (Texas), January 4, 2004, p. C1]
November 6, 2003
Electricity market in USA - $40-billion
Coal... supplies about half of the approximately $40 billion domestic electrical power market.
[Source: Harrison H. Schmitt (Chairman, InterLune-InterMars Initiative, Inc.), "Lunar Exploration" Senate Hearings, Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space November 6, 2003]
September 4, 2003
August 5, 2003
* Coal-fired plant mercury emissions control with UV light - very promising, and cheap, too
June 30, 2003
Virginia - Dominion customers will save an estimated $477-million over first 10 years of turning transmission lines over to regional grid operator
Virginia electricity customers would save $477 million over the next ten years if Dominion hands over its transmission wires to PJM Interconnection LLC, the regional grid operator, according to Dominion's application for state approval to do it. The application stressed that Virginia customers would not get cut off due to shortages that might develop elsewhere, and that the routine access to an extra 170,000 megawatts would mean more reliable service for Virginia customers. Virginia recently passed a law which requires transmission-owning companies to join regional transmission organization like PJM by January 1, 2005, but does not allow joining one until July 1, 2004. An article in today's Energy Daily cites Dominion's project manager, Christine Schwab, as saying that the Virginia law delayed Dominion's planned integration with PJM by about a year, from Oct. 1, 2003, to Nov. 1, 2004. The company will also require approval from federal FERC. [Ref: Tina Davis, "Dominion Asks Virginia Regulators For PJM Nod; Cites 'Native Load' Protection", The Energy Daily, June 30, 2003]
June 12, 2003
Who should benefit from low cost of Arkansas Nuclear One?
Louisiana Public Service Commission filed a contention last week with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, arguing that Entergy should not charge such significantly higher rates in Louisiana as compared with the rates Entergy charges in Arkansas. The power generated in Louisiana is mainly from natural gas-fueled plants. Arkansas plants are mostly coal and nuclear. Natural gas prices are way up over the past three years. Louisiana wants Arkansas customers to pay $200-million to $400-million per year of the higher bills expected by Louisiana customers in near future. Entergy and Arkansas think Arkansas should continue to benefit from their choice made amongst competing generating methods, just as they bore the higher capital costs involved with those choices. Louisiana notes that FERC has previosly held that Entergy should keep production costs at its regulated subsidiaries "roughly equal". There's still room for disagreement. Entergy says if you look at the costs over a long period of time, like the 1986-2010 "System Agreement" period, the costs are roughly equal. Louisiana says that use of a 12-month period for comparison is the method Entergy has used in the past, and argues it is unreasonable to switch to 20-yr method now.
[Source: Dan Zehr (business writer, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette), "Louisiana disputes low-rate rationale", Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, June 12, 2003]
* Louisiana wants Arkansas coal/nuclear customers to pay share of high natural gas prices
* Entergy - natural gas prices have soared in last 3 years, while coal and nuclear prices haven't
June 11, 2003
New Jersey having tough time balancing parkway asthetics with such things as affordable electricity and avoiding brownouts
New Jersey, at risk of electrical brownouts by next year, is having problems siting a needed power line upgrade from Oyster Creek nuclear plant. The utility wants to run above-ground line along Garden State Parkway, but highway authority wants only underground lines, which cost 6X more. The only other alternative is to traverse residential areas, which public opposes.
[Source: Dan P. Lee (Staff Writer, The Press of Atlantic City), "BPU head wonÕt rule out Conectiv plan", The Press of Atlantic City, June 11, 2003]
May 20, 2003
Texas generating capacity appears up to the challenge of record demand
"Texas remains well supplied for summer, with an estimated 70,000 MW of generating capacity available to meet a projected record demand. The North American Electric Reliability Council ... said the Texas grid will experience an all-time peak demand of 57,664 megawatts this summer, exceeding the previous record of 57,606 MW set during an extended heat wave in 2000. Last year, demand peaked at 56,233 MW. The projected capacity margin for 2003 is 26.6%, well above regional requirements of 11%. About 3,600 MW of new generation will also be added to the grid before and during the summer, but the net increase in capacity will only rise by about 1,960 MW (taking into account generation that has been taken out of service in the past year.)" [Source: Reuters, Texas power grid prepared for long, hot summer, May 20, 2003]
August 1986
Short circuit caused $4-billion blackout - 10 states, 16 hours (including shutdown of 15 n-plants
... an August 1996 blackout in the Western Interconnection, where the short-circuit of two overloaded transmission lines near Portland, Oregon, caused a sweeping outage that knocked out power for up to 16 hours in ten states. The blackout affected 7.5 million consumers from Idaho to California, resulting in the automatic shut-down of 15 large thermal nuclear generating plants in California and the southwest--compromising the West's energy supply for several days, even after power had mostly been restored to end- users.
As outlined in Economic Impacts of Infrastructure Failures, a 1997 report submitted to the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, the blackout was estimated to exact between $1 billion and $4 billion in direct and indirect costs to utilities, industry and consumers. The report also detailed the risks the outage posed to public health and safety, including an exponential increase in traffic accidents, hospitals forced to rely on emergency back-up power generation, and the grounding of more than 2,000 airline passengers.
[Source: Sen. Maria Cantwell (Washington), "Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions ... S. 2015 (Electric Reliability Act of 2004)", Congressional Record, January 21, 2004, p. S119]