The bill for cleaning up coal ash from decades of operations in North Carolina could approach $10 billion, a Duke Energy executive told state lawmakers last week. In February, a broken pipe at an impound pond dumped tons of ash into the Dan River.
Duke said two weeks ago that cleaning up that spill could reach $15 million but would not affect earnings.
But in a meeting with lawmakers last week, Duke’s North Carolina President Paul Newton said cleaning up the estimated 100 million tons of ash at 33 coal ash dumps at 14 coal-fired plants in the state could approach $10 billion unless the company is given some flexibility in how it approaches the problem. Newton said a large part of that cost could fall on ratepayers. “We are doing, and will continue to do, what it takes to make this right,” said Newton, who repeated his earlier public apologies for the spill.
Molly Diggins, the director of the N.C. Sierra Club, scoffed at Duke’s presentation. “Despite being a Fortune 500 company, with profits of $2.7 billion last year, Duke Energy has successfully been allowed to manage its wet coal ash waste as if the clock had stopped half a century ago,” Diggins said.
More: The Washington Post
Time Running Out for Nuclear, Exelon Tells Forum
Time is running out for policy makers to recognize the value of nuclear generation as an “always-on source of carbon-free energy,” Exelon Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Office William Von Hoene Jr. told the United States Energy Association Public Policy Forum last week.
“The loss of 25% of existing nuclear facilities would cut U.S. progress toward achieving its 2020 climate change goals in half. In fact, closing even a few nuclear plants could make achieving state and national carbon reduction goals difficult or impossible,” Von Hoene said, citing government energy policy and market structures. “The unfortunate reality for nuclear right now is that, despite being the largest, most reliable and lowest-emitting power plants — and among the lowest cost — they are not getting recognized or compensated for those attributes.”
Von Hoene said nuclear generation helped prevent a threat to grid reliability during last winter’s brutally cold weather. Nuclear generation came through when other generation sources, such as coal- and natural gas-fired plants, experienced high outage rates.
More: Fierce Energy
Exelon Says It Beat GHG Goal by Seven Years
A combination of plant retirements, nuclear plant uprates, energy efficiency and other programs helped Exelon reach its goal of eliminating 17.5 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions seven years before its 2020 target, the company said last week.
Exelon said it reduced its GHG emissions by 9.8 million tons through fossil plant retirements and company energy-efficiency programs. It chalked up another reduction by adding 316 MW of emission-free generation through uprates to its nuclear fleet. Customer energy-efficiency programs through its BGE, ComEd and PECO utilities counted for a 3.3 million ton reduction, it said.
More: Midwest Energy News
NRG, Chevron Get FERC Approval for Plant Swaps
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week approved NRG Energy’s plan to sell stakes in a collection of co-generation plants in California while obtaining full ownership of a 586-MW natural gas-fired plant in the state. It is the latest in a series of reallocations and consolidations by the company.
NRG, which already owned 50% of Sunrise Power Co. LLC, purchased the other 50% of the natural gas plant from affiliates of oil-producer Chevron, which in turn will assume NRG’s 50% ownership in the co-gens. NRG had assumed the ownership of the co-gens as a result of its recent purchase of Edison Mission Energy.
More: Penn Energy
Xcel Top Wind Energy Utility for 10th Year
Xcel Energy ranked as the nation’s top utility in wind energy for the 10th straight year, according to a study from the American Wind Energy Association. Xcel produces more than 5,000 MW through its wind facilities, 15% of its total capacity.
“We embraced wind energy early because it’s clean, cost-effective and will protect our customers against rising fuel prices in the future,” said Xcel CEO Ben Fowke in a written statement. The company said it is ahead of its goal of cutting its carbon emissions by 20%, predicting a 31% reduction over 2005 levels by 2020. Last year Xcel announced plans to expand its wind power use by another 40% over the next several years. The company is finalizing approvals and agreements to participate in nine new projects that will add a total of 1,900 MW throughout its service territory, enough to serve about 900,000 homes.
More: North American Wind Power
FirstEnergy Waives Polar Vortex Charges for Residential Customers
FirstEnergy Solutions is backing off plans to assess residential customers a surcharge for spiking energy prices during this winter’s polar vortex. The move came after Ohio regulators announced an investigation into the charges, which would have cost customers $5 to $10 each.
FirstEnergy earlier said it would pass through wholesale energy charges originating from PJM after the RTO had to resort to expensive emergency procedures to ensure system reliability.
Although FirstEnergy’s Ohio residential customers are off the hook, aggregation customers are still subject to it. One Ohio aggregator town, Parma, has filed a complaint with the Ohio regulatory agency about the surcharge, which would average about $7 per customer.
More: Market Watch; The Plain Dealer
ComEd’s Grand Prairie TX Line Plan Greeted with Opposition
About 300 people attended a public meeting last week to discuss ComEd’s plan for a 60-mile transmission line between Exelon’s Byron Nuclear Generating Station and a substation in Wayne. The Grand Prairie project, intended to relieve transmission congestion in the area, would save customers about $500 million over the course of the first 15 years, said Fidel Marquez, ComEd’s senior vice president for governmental and external affairs. “We fully recognize that people have concerns and questions,” he said, adding, “We understand that no route will satisfy all constituents.”
Many residents said they were opposed to the $250 million aerial transmission project and asked if it could be constructed underground. A ComEd representative said it would cost about $50 million to bury power lines on a single 1.8-mile stretch. The Illinois Commerce Commission is expected to make a decision about the project by mid-July.
More: The Daily Herald
High Power Prices, High Demand Push Up AEP’s Earnings, Guidance
Higher demand and increased power costs pushed American Electric Power Co.’s first-quarter earnings up 54% over 2013. The company increased its 2014 earnings guidance to $3.35 to $3.55 a share from $3.20 to $3.40 a share. The company posted earnings of $560 million, or $1.15 per share, up from $363 million, or 75 cents a share, a year ago.
“Solid regulated business results and strong performance from our competitive energy businesses, bolstered by favorable weather and high power prices, resulted in a very positive first-quarter 2014 performance,” CEO Nicholas Akins said in a statement. “Our competitive Generation and Marketing business performed incredibly well during the extreme weather and helped meet record demand in the PJM Interconnection.”
More: Market Watch