DuPont Activates Solar Facility
DuPont started up a 548-kW solar installation on a former Superfund landfill site in Newport. The project, developed by Tangent Energy Solutions and owned by Greenwood Energy, had its solar panels supplied by DuPont Apollo, a DuPont subsidiary.
More: DuPont
ILLINOIS
Midwest Gen Coal Ash Suit Can Proceed
The Environmental Law and Policy Center’s suit against Midwest Generation can go ahead, a bankruptcy judge ruled. The group alleges groundwater pollution from coal ash at the Romeoville, Pekin and Joliet generating plants, now owned by NRG Energy. The suit was put on automatic stay when Midwest Gen filed for bankruptcy, a stay the judge has now lifted.
More: nwitimes.com
Exelon Disputes Byron Tax Assessment
Continuing a long dispute, Exelon appealed Ogle County’s $509 million tax assessment on its Byron nuclear plant, which the company says should be cut by half. Exelon paid $32 million in taxes on Byron this year.
More: SaukValley.com
MARYLAND
BGE Granted $106M; ROE Hike Denied
The Public Service Commission granted Baltimore Gas and Electric $106 million in distribution rate increases and reliability riders, cutting the company’s request by more than half and denying the higher rate of return the company had sought.
The $33.6 million distribution rate increase, effective Dec. 31, was only 41% of the request. For BGE’s proposed Electric Reliability Initiative, the PSC approved five of eight proposed five-year programs for a total expenditure of $72.6 million instead of $136 million. The return on equity for electricity operations was kept at the current 9.75%; BGE had asked for 10.5%.
More: Maryland PSC
NEW JERSEY
Senate Dems Want to Put RGGI to Voters
The Democrat-controlled Senate Environment and Solid Waste Committee approved a resolution (SCR146) that would have voters decide on a constitutional amendment to have the state return to participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which Gov. Chris Christie pulled out of in 2011. A constitutional amendment would put the matter out of Christie’s hands. But Assembly Democrats are not seen likely to take up the resolution, if the full Senate passes it.
More: The Star-Ledger
Offshore Turbines Would Blunt Hurricanes
Massive wind farms offshore New Jersey and New York would have cut Hurricane Sandy’s winds by 65 mph and the accompanying storm surge by 21%, according to a Stanford University research team. The analysis assumed 70,000 offshore turbines capable of generating 300 GW. A similar “wall of turbines” offshore New Orleans would have reduced the power of Hurricane Katrina, the team said.
More: Climate Central
NORTH CAROLINA
Duke Puts 625-MW Plant Online
Duke Energy Progress put in service its new 625 MW L.V. Sutton combined-cycle gas plant at Wilmington. The plant, with modern pollution controls, replaces a 59-year-old 575 MW coal plant that Duke retired. The company soon will start deconstructing the coal units and “effectively closing” the coal ash basins, which are the subject of a lawsuit by the Southern Environmental Law Center for leakage that allegedly has damaged groundwater and Lake Sutton fish.
More: Duke Energy
OHIO
Final Hearing in Electric Competition Debate
In its final public hearing as it contemplates whether to change the state’s retail electricity regime, the Public Utilities Commission heard from competition advocates supporting expansion of deregulation and from consumer advocates warning that customers need regulatory protection. The PUC’s examination of the issue began last year and has no timetable for completion.
More: The Columbus Dispatch
Wind Project Delayed Again
Legal disputes are creating more delay for the proposed 200 MW Buckeye Wind Project. Everpower Renewables had hoped to start building in the spring, but challenges from Union Neighbors United, Champaign County and others continue to mean uncertainty and postponement of construction.
More: Springfield News-Sun
PENNSYLVANIA
NRC: No ‘Incident’ at Beaver Valley
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission backed off its initial finding that FirstEnergy’s Beaver Valley station in Shippingport required extra monitoring because of its performance in a mock attack in April. In what an NRC spokesman described as an unusual decision, the agency concluded after further discussion with the company that no security-related incident had occurred.
More: BloombergBusinessweek
Abruzzo Sworn in as DEP Secretary
The Senate confirmed Christopher Abruzzo as secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, where he had been acting secretary since Gov. Tom Corbett appointed him in April. Previously he was deputy chief of staff in Corbett’s office. His confirmation was preceded by a small firestorm following statements about climate change at his confirmation hearing.
More: The Patriot-News
WEST VIRGINIA
PSC OKs Amos Transfer, Defers Other Moves
The Public Service Commission approved American Electric Power’s plan to transfer complete ownership of its 2,900-MW John Amos plant to AEP’s West Virginia unit, Appalachian Power. ApCo already owned all but 867 MW. The commission deferred a ruling on the company’s proposal to transfer half-ownership of the Mitchell plant to ApCo and on its request to merge AEP’s Wheeling Power with ApCo.
Virginia regulators had already rejected the Mitchell plant deal, and the PSC said there was no reason for it to rule on it now. The PSC said it deferred action on the merger because the Amos transaction alone would resolve ApCo’s generation capacity deficit until at least 2015.
More: The Charleston Gazette
Wind Farm Has Bat Conservation Plans
The Beech Ridge Energy wind farm in Greenbrier and Nicholas counties is the first wind project to implement a habitat conservation plan for Virginia big-eared bats and among the first to implement such a plan for the Indiana bat. A Fish and Wildlife Service permit containing the plans for the 100 MW project covers 67 existing turbines and up to 33 more. Beech Ridge is a subsidiary of Invenergy.
More: The Register-Herald
