Consumers Energy decommissioned the last of its Michigan “Classic Seven” coal-fired turbines in response to tighter EPA emissions restrictions. The B.C. Cobb Generating Facility on Muskegon Lake ended its 67-year run in mid-April.
The turbines were retired in staggered order in consultation with MISO. The turbines included two at B.C. Cobb, two at the D.E. Karn/J.C. Weadock Generating Complex in Essexville and three at the J.R. Whiting Generating Complex in Luna Pier.
Consumers is currently outfitting five of its operational coal-fired plants with scrubber systems to meet emissions standards.
More: MLive
LG&E/KU Unveil Kentucky’s Largest Solar Array
Kentucky’s largest solar facility was inaugurated last week by Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities. The E.W. Brown Generation Station in central Kentucky contains about 44,600 solar panels, capable of producing 19,000 MWh of electricity annually.
“We’re embarking on a new era and introducing a new source of energy to our generation portfolio that will work in concert with our coal, natural gas and hydroelectric fleet,” Paul Thompson, chief operating officer for the PPL-owned utilities, said at an unveiling ceremony.
Thompson said the new facility will allow LG&E and KU to study how commercial-scale solar energy is impacted by factors such as cloud cover and “how it integrates with the existing generating units.”
More: The Advocate-Messenger
Exelon, RES Join to Build 10-MW Energy Storage Unit
Exelon Generation and Renewable Energy Systems are joining to build a 10-MW energy storage facility in Clinton County, Ohio, that is expected to be operational by the end of the year.
RES, which operates 48 MW of storage facilities, will oversee construction of the project, which Exelon Generation will operate. The unit will comprise three tractor-trailer-sized modular units near a substation for easy interconnection with PJM.
The facility will provide frequency regulation for the RTO. “Exelon’s deployment of battery storage technology provides customers and grid operators with innovative solutions to meet their technical requirements and enhance system reliability,” said Corey Hessen, vice president of Exelon Generation Development.
More: Exelon Generation
Con Ed Investing in More Natural Gas Pipelines
Consolidated Edison is investing about $975 million in a joint venture to own natural gas pipelines and storage serving the northeast markets.
Stagecoach Gas Services will be managed by Crestwood Equity Partners and own assets in Pennsylvania and New York.
Con Ed announced the creation of Con Edison Transmission, a unit to invest in pipeline and transmission line projects, in January. Like other utilities, Con Ed is investing more in pipelines as electricity demand slows.
More: Bloomberg
Exelon Warns of Possible Clinton Nuke Closure
Although it cleared the 2016/17 MISO capacity auction, the Clinton nuclear station may not stay open after May 31, 2017, without some sort of subsidies, warned Exelon CEO Chris Crane.
“Without urgent action on the policy front, we will have no choice but to prepare for a potential early retirement in the face of continued financial losses at our Clinton nuclear plant,” he said. “The loss of this plant would have significant economic impacts on southern Illinois and erase the environmental benefits equal to 80% of the wind installed in Illinois, making it significantly harder and more expensive for the state to meet its carbon reduction goals.”
Exelon is in the middle of a hard lobbying campaign in Illinois, seeking policy changes that would reward Clinton, and its five other nuclear stations in Illinois, for being carbon-free.
More: Exelon
SunEdison’s Rise in Solar Industry Ends in Bankruptcy
SunEdison, the St. Louis-based company that shot to the top of American solar energy companies, filed for bankruptcy protection last week after multiple acquisitions left the company strapped for cash.
Analysts say the cause of the company’s demise stems from unwise investments, not an inherent problem with the solar industry. Much of the company’s growth occurred through a rapid series of large acquisitions, encumbering itself with substantial debt.
“Our decision to initiate a court-supervised restructuring was a difficult but important step to address our immediate liquidity issues,” CEO Ahmad Chatila said.
More: The Associated Press
GridLiance Adds Seattle CFO To its Leadership Team
GridLiance last week announced it had hired Seattle City Light CFO Jeff Bishop as its senior vice president, CFO and treasurer.
Bishop has spent 15 years in the industry, including financial leadership roles at PacifiCorp. He holds two bachelor’s degrees: one in accounting from Washington State University and another in zoology from the University of Washington.
“Municipal and consumer-owned power agencies, which have historically been unable to invest in large-scale, regional transmission projects, will benefit from GridLiance’s forward-thinking approach,” Bishop said.
More: GridLiance
Wind Farm Being Developed Near Colstrip Plant
Clearwater Energy is laying the groundwork for a 300-MW wind farm in eastern Montana, near transmission infrastructure that now serves the coal-fired Colstrip Power Plant near Billings.
The 500-kV power lines and a substation are big enough to accommodate Colstrip and the 300-MW Clearwater project. The Bonneville Power Administration, NorthWestern Energy and other stakeholders in the transmission lines serving Colstrip have discussed upgrading the transmission system to 700 MW. The Clearwater project is being planned to fill that extra capacity if it materializes.
More: Missoulian
Northern Pass Tx Line Contractors Named
Eversource Energy has named the contractors and material suppliers for the $1.6 billion Northern Pass transmission line, which is awaiting final state and federal permits.
Eversource named Quanta Service subsidiary PAR Electrical Contractors as general contractor. Burns and McDonnell Engineering will continue as part of the project team. The ABB Group will design and build the line’s underground section and a converter station in Franklin, N.H.
More: New Hampshire Union Leader
PPL Completes Northeast-Pocono Reliability Project
PPL Electric Utilities last week completed its $350 million Northeast-Pocono Reliability Project — more than a year before its original target date.
The 60-mile 230-kV line, which includes three new substations, should mean fewer and shorter outages for customers in Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna, Monroe, Wayne, Pike
and Luzerne counties, the company said. It’s the second major transmission project completed by PPL in the past year, following the $648 million Susquehanna-Roseland line, which was completed in May 2015.
While construction on Northeast-Pocono is complete, the company said land restoration will continue through the end of the year.
More: PPL