Raymond Hill, Barney Rush and Vickie VanZandt last week were re-elected to three-year terms on the ISO-NE Board of Directors, effective Oct. 1, 2016.
Hill joined the board in 2010, Rush joined in 2013 and VanZandt joined in 2011.
More: ISO-NE
NRG Wins Bid for SunEdison Renewable Projects
NRG Energy successfully bid to acquire renewable energy projects around the country from bankrupt SunEdison for $144 million.
The sale, which needs to be approved in bankruptcy court, includes the 200-MW Buckthorn solar farm in West Texas. The project, slated for completion next year, would make the city of Georgetown the largest municipality in the nation powered solely by renewable sources. NRG already owns some wind projects in Texas; the deal would give the company its first solar plant in the state.
The deal could grow to $188 million if milestone benchmarks are met. It also includes solar and wind projects in Utah, Washington, California, Maine and Hawaii. Most of the projects remain in development and require additional investment.
More: Fuel Fix
AEP Seen Likely to Sell Remaining Ohio Coal Plants
American Electric Power, which just arranged a deal to sell four merchant generating stations in Ohio and Indiana, is still examining its options for four other coal-fired plants in Ohio with a capacity of 2,671 MW.
One option is to continue to push for reregulation in the Ohio legislature, which could prove to be a long and difficult fight. AEP would prefer to operate in a regulated environment in order to lock in rate certainty. But industry observers believe the more likely option is for AEP to put the plants up for sale.
“We think an outright sale of these assets in 2017 is the most likely outcome,” wrote analyst Andrew Bischof of Morningstar, which values the plants at $800 million.
More: Columbus Business First
Amazon Investing in Texas Wind Farm
Amazon is collaborating with Chicago’s Lincoln Clean Energy to build a 253-MW wind farm in Texas that will open by the end of next year. The Amazon Wind Farm Texas will include more than 100 wind turbines that will power Amazon facilities, including its cloud data centers.
Lincoln will build and own the wind farm, but Amazon is contracting to buy 90% of the generated power. “Amazon Wind Farm Texas is our largest renewable energy project to date and the newest milestone in our long-term sustainability efforts across the company,” Kara Hurst, Amazon’s director of sustainability, said last week.
The wind farm is Amazon’s most recent expansion into the Lone Star State. The online shopping giant opened a new “Silicon Hills” corporate hub last year in Austin and, in 2014, leased out office space at the Dallas Galleria complex. Amazon has two Dallas-area warehouses, or “fulfillment centers,” and a large warehouse and customer service center outside of San Antonio.
More: Houston Chronicle
Apache Works to Calm Fracking Fears Around New Texas Site
Apache Corp. executives are migrating to the town of Balmorhea, Texas, to assure the public that its recent oil and gas discovery in the Permian Basin won’t contaminate the San Solomon Springs. The nearby Balmorhea State Park is centered around a 3.5-million-gallon pool filled and fed by the springs, which keeps the park at a cool 72 to 76 degrees even in summer.
While Apache has leased the mineral rights under the state park, and under the town itself, the company promises not to drill on or under either. The company met with residents and officials in the region Friday to explain how it will keep the oil and water separated.
Apache announced the Permian Basin discovery this month. It said it expected to find more than 15 billion barrels of oil and gas under 350,000 acres near Fort Davis, Texas.
More: Houston Chronicle
GM Aims for 100% Renewable Use by 2050
General Motors says it has set a goal of increasing its renewable energy consumption from 3.8% currently to 100% of its needs by 2050. It plans to use wind, solar and landfill methane to attain its goal.
“Establishing a 100% renewable energy goal helps us better serve society by reducing environmental impact,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. “This pursuit of renewable energy benefits our customers and communities through cleaner air while strengthening our business through lower and more stable energy costs.”
The company is joining RE100, a group of 69 companies with the same goal. Other companies in the group include car companies Tata Motors of India and Germany’s BMW, as well as IKEA, Google and Hewlett Packard.
More: The Detroit News
GE Gets $1.9B Hinkley Contract
General Electric said it will make $1.9 billion on its contract to provide steam turbines, generators and associated equipment for the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in England.
The plant, approved by the British government last week, is the first nuclear project in the U.K. in decades. GE, which bought the French company Alstom last year, has already been doing engineering work in preparation for the approval. Alstom won the original contract with project owner EDF several years ago.
The contract calls for two 1,770-MW steam turbines and generators and associated equipment. The project is expected to cost $24 billion in total.
More: Reuters