The amount of electricity generated by natural gas in July eclipsed its own record, set in July of last year, according to the Energy Information Administration. The trend, caused in part by coal plant retirements and a boost in temperatures, spurred the agency to predict natural gas and coal will be used to generate 34% and 30%, respectively, of the nation’s electricity in 2016. This compares with slightly less than 33% for natural gas, and a bit more than 33% for coal, last year.
The increase in the use of natural gas to generate electricity led to a rare drawdown of natural gas stocks in a month when pipeline operators typically are injecting natural gas into storage for winter use, rather than sending it out. Gas inventories declined by 6 billion cubic feet for the week ending July 29. The last time a net withdrawal was recorded in July was in 2006.
More: EIA; PennEnergy
Jury Convicts PG&E in San Bruno Blast Trial
A federal jury last week convicted Pacific Gas & Electric on six charges of violating gas pipeline safety laws and obstructing the federal investigation into the 2010 pipeline explosion that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes in San Bruno, Calif.
PG&E faces a maximum penalty of $3 million after it was found guilty on five felony counts of wittingly failing to inspect its gas network, as well as the felony obstruction count.
Prosecutors initially sought $562 million in penalties before the presiding judge ruled the company could not be held to newer safety standards that would have led to higher fines for illegal cost-cutting. The penalty will be paid by company shareholders, but ratepayers will have to cover the costs for pipeline upgrades. No company executives were convicted in the case.
More: San Francisco Chronicle
NRC Names David Nelson As New Chief Info Officer
The former chief information officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will be the next CIO for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David Nelson, an Air Force veteran and developer of two broadband companies, has worked for the federal government since 2004, including several positions at CMS, where he was director of the Office of Information Services, director of the Office of Enterprise Management and director of the Data Analytics and Control Group at the Center for Program Integrity.
One of his high-profile jobs was to help rescue the problem-plagued HealthCare.gov site.
More: FCW
NM Spent-Fuel Facility Seeking NRC Approval
Intrepid Potash has relinquished a mineral rights lease in eastern New Mexico, clearing the way for construction of an interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel by a partnership between Holtec International and the Eddy Lea Energy Alliance.
The HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage project is expected to cost more than $1 billion and provide around 200 construction and operations jobs. Initially, the facility will be built to house 200 to 500 spent fuel casks, but it can be expanded to store 4,000. Holtec will present its application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March, with the approval process taking two to three years.
Intrepid Potash idled its West Mine near Carlsbad in May, eliminating around 300 jobs. The New Mexico Land Office will now retain the rights to the minerals.
More: Carlsbad Current-Argus
Regulator Calls for Companies to Put up Collateral for Cleanups
The head of the federal Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement said states should demand that coal companies put up collateral to cover the cost of mine cleanups.
Joe Pizarchik said that coal companies are edging toward bankruptcy in a climate of low demand and cheap natural gas prices, leaving behind a potential legacy of environmental waste.
He pointed at the bankruptcies of Peabody Energy, Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources in the past year. Those bankruptcy plans call for the companies to use federal subsidies to fund cleanup efforts, at the expense of taxpayers.
More: Reuters
Two Former EPA Chiefs Backing Hillary Clinton
Two former EPA administrators who served under Republican presidents said they are endorsing Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump for the U.S. presidency. William D. Ruckelshaus, the first EPA administrator under President Richard Nixon, who also served under President Ronald Reagan, and William K. Reilley, who served under President George H.W. Bush, issued a joint statement of endorsement.
The Republicans said Trump “threatens to destroy that legacy of respect for the environment and protection of public health” and went on to decry Trump’s unwillingness to accept the prevailing consensus on climate change.
“That Trump would call climate change a hoax — the singular health and environmental threat to the world today — flies in the face of overwhelming international science,” they said.
More: CNN
GE Exec Calls for Fed Support of New Tech
The head of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy issued a call for federal support of research and adoption of advanced nuclear reactor technology during an Aspen Institute appearance.
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy President and CEO Jay Wileman called nuclear generation the nation’s largest source of clean energy and said it was an important part of attaining clean air goals set by the government.
“We are seeing significant global opportunities for our PRISM advanced reactor technology, but in order for us to move forward, we must gain the support of the federal government on specific developmental milestone projects,” Wileman said.
More: GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy
In 5 Years, Army’s Energy-Saving Investments Exceed $1B
In response to a 2011 challenge by President Obama, the Army has entered into 127 energy-saving projects with the private sector worth more than $1 billion.
Under the Energy Savings and Performance-Based Contracting Investments Initiative, Obama asked federal agencies to engage in $4 billion of power-saving projects by the end of this year.
The Army’s projects are spread among 52 installations.
More: U.S. Army
DOE 80% Certain Waste Facility Will Reopen by December
A Government Accountability Office audit released last week revealed that the Department of Energy knew it had only a 1% chance of meeting a March 2016 deadline to clean up and safely reopen the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant nuclear-waste facility near Carlsbad, N.M. A truck fire and a leaking drum of radioactive waste shut down the nation’s only underground nuclear waste facility in February 2014.
In 2015, the agency admitted that it couldn’t safely reopen the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant until at least December 2016 and that the project would be over budget. Now auditors say even the revised cost estimate was flawed. The result of missteps in the process of reopening the facility, according to auditors, was a nine-month delay and a price tag $64 million higher than the original $242 million estimate for cleanup and an additional $77 million to $309 million to install a critical new ventilation system.
The department now says it is 80% confident that it will meet the December 2016 deadline to reopen on a limited basis.
More: Santa Fe New Mexican
Scientists Conclude Fracking Report ‘Lacking’ in Areas
Most of the advisory group behind EPA’s draft report on fracking announced last week that, as a group, it has concluded that the report was “comprehensive but lacking in several critical areas.”
The panel said 26 of the 30 members reached the decision that the report be updated to include “quantitative analysis that supports its conclusion.” The draft report concluded that the analysis “did not find evidence that these mechanisms [fracking] have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water” in the U.S.
The oil and natural gas industry praised the preliminary report, while environmentalists criticized it. The report has been five years in the making so far.
More: The Washington Post
Interior Department to Open NC Shore to Wind
The Department of the Interior announced Friday that it would be opening 144,000 acres off the coast of North Carolina to leases for offshore wind projects. The site, to be called the Kitty Hawk Wind Energy Area, starts about 24 miles offshore and extends another 26 miles to the southeast.
The department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold September seminars on the auction rules in Raleigh and in Kitty Hawk.
More: The Charlotte Observer