American Electric Power expects coal to represent 51% of its generation portfolio in 2020, down from 65% in 2012 but up from an earlier prediction of 46%. Coal’s gain will reduce growth in the company’s natural gas portfolio. Natural gas lost market share to coal last year in PJM due to rising gas prices.

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Dominion Expands Solar Holdings With Calif. Buys

Dominion is buying six California solar development projects with a combined output of 139 MW from Recurrent Energy. The acquisition will greatly raise Dominion’s solar portfolio from its current 41 MW in Georgia, Connecticut and Indiana. The new projects, which already have power purchase agreements and are under construction, are scheduled for commercial operation later this year or early in 2015.

More: PV Solar Report

Exelon Absorbs CENG Units, Bringing Fleet to 22,000 MW

Exelon has integrated the operations of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group’s five reactors into its own nuclear group, adding 4,200 MW of capacity to bring its nuclear fleet to more than 22,000 MW in 23 reactors at 14 sites. Exelon thus is the world’s third-largest nuclear operator, behind French state-owned Electricite de France (EDF), with 63,130 MW, and Rosenergoatom in Russia, which has 25,200 MW.

CENG still exists, with 50.1% owned by Exelon and 49.9% by EDF. But last summer the companies made a deal whereby Exelon lent $400 million to CENG to support a special dividend to EDF and granted EDF an option to sell its CENG stake to Exelon between January 2016 and June 2022 at fair market value.

The move was envisioned when Exelon bought CENG’s parent, Constellation Energy, in 2012. At that time the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the indirect transfer of the operating licenses, and now the NRC has approved a direct transfer.

More: World Nuclear News

Exelon’s Cornew: Market Rules Haven’t Kept Up

Energy market rules have not kept up with “seismic shifts in how energy is produced and consumed,” Exelon Generation President and CEO Kenneth Cornew said. He cited the influx of natural gas, rapid expansion of subsidized renewables, smart grid, low demand growth and behind-the-meter technologies. Focusing on a theme Exelon has used heavily, Cornew told the Platts Global Power Markets Conference that markets need reform. The winter’s polar vortex, with its disruption of gas supply to power plants, highlighted a continuing need for baseload assets like nuclear power, he said, but “flawed market rules” and renewables subsidies result in failure to compensate nuclear for its reliability and zero-emission quality.

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Alexander Sees Market Engineering to Kill Coal

FirstEnergy CEO Anthony Alexander believes that “state and federal policymakers are manipulating the supply and demand, and distorting markets for electricity, to further advance the ‘war on coal.’” Speaking at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event, Alexander lambasted state and federal energy policies that he said were “designed to achieve a social agenda.” He warned that efficiency, renewables, microgrids, rooftop solar and demand reduction are examples of what “sounds good” but are “untested policies” that will threaten reliability and raise power prices.

More: EnergyWire

NRG Closes Deals to Grow Capacity, Retail Presence

NRG Energy closed on its $2.6 billion purchase of Edison Mission Energy generating assets and the $165 million purchase of Dominion Resources’ competitive retail electricity business.

Edison Mission’s nearly 8,000 MW brings NRG’s fleet to more than 53,000 MW, second-largest in the U.S. Dominion’s retail business will add more than 500,000 accounts to NRG’s retail footprint by the end of this year, doubling the company’s Northeast retail presence and expanding its leading retail position in Texas through the Cirro Energy brand.

Completion of the purchases followed on the heels of NRG’s purchase of Roof Diagnostics Solar, a solar sales and installation company.

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