Wind power output can be adjusted to support power system reliability, instead of the rest of the system having to adjust to wind, a National Renewable Energy Laboratory study concluded. The study developed designs for new ancillary services and tested the use of active power control at the National Wind Technology Center to evaluate the impacts on turbine performance and structure. Because it may cost wind projects money to provide the service, there must be an economic incentive for it, NREL said.

More: NREL

Report Questions CCS, EPA

A report by 100 clean-energy executives and energy industry experts may lend support to opponents of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed greenhouse gas regulations, which would require carbon capture and sequestration for new coal-fired plants. The report said the administration should “not rely on unproven or commercially unavailable technologies” including CCS.

The Environmental Protection Agency has defended its CCS requirement, citing a Southern Co. project in Mississippi expected to come online this year as evidence that the technology is proven. Opponents in Congress and elsewhere insist CCS is not proven and that where it is deployed it has government funding, which they say invalidates its use for standard-setting.

Separately, in action that EPA-rule opponents could use as they undertake challenges, the agency’s Science Advisory Board said it would not review the science supporting the rule, but expressed a “strong view” that sequestration may merit scientific review in the future.

More: National Journal; Winston & Strawn

Groups Press for Ozone Rule

Environmental groups asked a federal court to make the Environmental Protection Agency propose overdue standards for ozone. If the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California grants the request, it would set a December 2014 deadline for a proposal and October 2015 for a final rule. EPA’s preliminary rule in 2010 was never finalized.

More: Washington Examiner

Eastern States Seek Air Relief

On the eve of a Supreme Court argument on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, Democratic governors of nine Eastern states were to ask EPA Dec. 9 to impose controls on Midwestern coal plants that they say damage air quality in their states. Even if CSAPR were upheld despite coal states and industry opposition, the Eastern states’ petition would mean additional controls on Midwest emitters if EPA granted it.

More: The New York Times