Great River Energy will retire its Stanton Station power plant by May 2017, saying the central North Dakota plant is no longer economic given current low prices. The 189-MW coal-fired plant began generating power in 1966 and has a staff of 65 people.
“It became clear that retiring the plant was in the best interest of our member cooperatives,” CEO David Saggau said. The company will develop plans over the next nine months to decommission the plant, he said.
Stanton has been generating electricity on a limited basis since March, firing up only 65 to 75% of the time when market prices made it economical.
More: The Bismarck Tribune
Empire Launches EV Initiative With Joplin Charging Station
Empire District Electric unveiled an on-campus charging station for electric vehicles at Missouri Southern State University. The station is open to the public at no charge.
The station is part of Empire’s “Evolve” campaign, in which the company has committed to spending 5% of its annual vehicle fleet budget on EVs. The company is also offering rebates ranging from $750 to $2,000 to customers who purchase an EV.
Promoting EV use makes sense as the energy industry transitions to renewable resources, Empire CEO Brad Beecher said. He noted that SPP gets 15% of its electricity annually from renewables, particularly wind. “Any time that you’re driving an electric car and it’s been charged, at least partially, with renewable resources, it is not just less emissions, it is no emissions,” Beecher said.
More: The Joplin Globe
Lawsuit Seeks $30M from Chesapeake, SandRidge
Chisholm Partners and 16 oil and gas investors filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Kansas seeking $30 million in damages from Chesapeake Energy and SandRidge Energy under the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Chisholm says it sold oil and gas leasehold interests to Chesapeake at prices that were “artificially depressed” because of a conspiracy alleged in a federal criminal indictment of Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon. The sale of the leases produced $10 million less than they would have absent a conspiracy, the suit said.
McClendon was indicted March 1 on charges he led a scheme to coordinate bidding for oil and gas interests with another active bidder, which the lawsuit claims was SandRidge. He died a day later when the vehicle he was driving smashed into a bridge embankment in northeast Oklahoma City.
More: The Kansas City Star
Enel Expanding Wind Farm in Oklahoma
Enel Green Power North America began construction last week on the 64-MW Chisholm View Wind Project II wind farm in north-central Oklahoma.
The project is expected to be completed late this year at a cost of $90 million. Construction on the 235-MW Chisholm View I was completed in 2013.
More: Enid News & Eagle
Entergy Puts 22 Guards on Leave to Probe Fire Records
Entergy, operator of the Palisades nuclear station in Michigan, has placed 22 security guards at the plant on leave while it investigates allegations that fire inspection records were falsified.
“The bottom line is that we cannot tolerate employees stating they completed a task when they didn’t, and we are obligated to fully investigate any such instances,” Palisades spokeswoman Val Gent said.
Palisades has had other workforce problems in the past, when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission determined that workers were laboring under a “chilled work environment” after some guards claimed they were fired for pointing out safety issues.
More: The Herald-Palladium
NM Company Seeks to Extend Pipeline into Mexico
New Mexico Gas said last week it will seek a presidential permit to extend a natural gas pipeline into Mexico, New Mexico’s first such connection across the border. Construction on the $5 million project is expected to be completed within a year.
The project involves extending the company’s existing pipeline in Santa Teresa about 5 miles to the border, as well as widening it to allow more capacity. Additional facilities in Mexico will also need to be built. The project will be funded at shareholder expense, according to a company spokesperson.
More: Albuquerque Journal
ISO-NE Approves Northern Pass Tx Line
ISO-NE has determined that the Northern Pass transmission project can reliably interconnect with the regional electric grid.
The grid operator approved the project’s application, saying Northern Pass will not have a significant adverse effect on the reliability or operating characteristics of the regional grid and its participants.
Northern Pass, a proposed HVDC line that would carry 1,090 MW of Canadian hydroelectric power to New Hampshire, is still under review by the state’s Site Evaluation Committee.
More: ISO-NE