A Utah company trying to a develop a small wind generation project filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week accusing PacifiCorp of violating commission rules and making racially and sexually disparaging remarks toward its employees.
Sage Grouse Energy Project told FERC that PacifiCorp employed “trickery” in its management of the interconnection queue in order to secure an agreement with rival Utah wind company Blue Mountain Power Partners. Calling PacifiCorp and Blue Mountain “conspirators,” Sage Grouse claims that parcels of land identified in Blue Mountain’s interconnection request actually belonged to Sage Grouse, rendering Blue Mountain’s request invalid.
Additionally, Sage Grouse accused PacifiCorp employees of repeatedly calling its company principal a “voodoo bitch,” and suggesting that she “go back to where she came from,” citing this as a microcosm of its treatment of minority-owned interconnection customers. A PacifiCorp spokeswoman said the allegations were “unsubstantiated and baseless.”
More: EL15-44
DOE Kills Funding for FutureGen 2.0 Project
A decision by the Department of Energy to terminate funding for the FutureGen 2.0 clean coal/carbon-capture project in Illinois likely means the project’s demise. FutureGen Alliance CEO Ken Humphreys said the department decided to ax its $1 billion funding because the 2009 federal stimulus deal set a deadline of September of this year for project completion. Despite being in the works for more than a decade, the plant is nowhere near being operational and still faces substantial opposition, including legal challenges from the Sierra Club.
More: Scientific American
NRC’s IG Finds Room for Improvement in Spent Fuel Pool Oversight
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Inspector General’s Office released its report on the agency’s spent fuel pool oversight program and while it found no safety issues, it pointed to some areas that could be improved. The report, issued last week, found that spent fuel pool inspections vary from site to site.
The IG recommended that the NRC pool-inspection program develop a “generic” regulatory framework of inspections and regulations. It also recommended that inspections of older pools be stepped up to check for degradation. The agency inspects a total of 93 spent-fuel pools at operating or retired reactors in the U.S.
More: Audit of NRC’s Oversight of Spent Fuel Pools
NRC Staff OKs Watts Bar 2 Operating License Approval
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts Bar 2 nuclear station, currently under construction, received an important approval from a Nuclear Regulatory Commission committee in its bid for an operating license. The commission’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards said “there is reasonable assurance that the [unit] can operate as a second unit of the dual-unit Watts Bar Nuclear Plant without undue risk to the health and safety of the public.”
The approval will be considered by the NRC in its final decision on granting an operating license. The plant is due to go on line between September and June 2016.
More: PennEnergy
Brattle Group Report Finds Few Reliability Concerns with Clean Power Plan
A group of clean energy companies said in a report last week that there is no clear evidence reliability would suffer if the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan was adopted by all states. The Advanced Energy Economy Institute, made up of Competitive Power Ventures, EnerNOC, General Electric and other companies invested in clean-power technology, commissioned the report. The Brattle Group concluded in the report that, “Following a review of the reliability concerns raised and the options for mitigating them, we find that compliance with the CPP is unlikely to materially affect reliability.”
More: Advanced Energy Economy Institute
New Tx Line Energized at Palo Verde Hub
A 109-mile transmission line in Arizona running from Maricopa County to Pinal County went into service last week, strengthening a crucial energy junction serving Arizona, Nevada and California. The Electrical District No. 5-to-Palo Verde Hub line, which came in on time and about $3 million under budget, eases constraints in that region. It was a joint project between the Department of Energy’s Western Area Power Administration and the Southwest Public Power Resources Group. The $79 million project was funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“This transmission line is a clear example of how, through partnerships, we can modernize our energy infrastructure to jumpstart our energy-based economy ahead of its time. We are extremely optimistic that the new line will add reliability to the region’s grid and provide another pathway to interconnect more renewable generation resources,” said Western Administrator and CEO Mark Gabriel.
More: Department of Energy
FERC Approved 19 Hydro Projects in 2014
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last year approved 19 hydro licenses totaling 1,936 MW, according to its Energy Infrastructure Update. In 2013 there were 12 such approvals. This year, the commission will consider 18 applications for license and exemptions that were filed in 2014. The FERC update said hydro makes up 8.42% of the installed capacity in the U.S.
More: HydroWorld (subscription required)
Vermont Yankee Plant Gets ‘Green’ Finding After Closing
The now-closed Vermont Yankee nuclear plant received a “green” finding from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission because of a problem found the day after the plant shut down for good. Entergy workers realized that water levels in the reactor core were lower than they thought because of faulty calculations, according to the NRC. The 43-year-old reactor was shut down Dec. 29 and is being decommissioned. The NRC said the problem was of “very low safety significance.”
More: Rutland Herald
DTE’s Fermi 3 Takes Next Step Toward Getting License
Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff have recommended that DTE’s proposed Fermi 3 nuclear plant be granted a combined construction-operating license. Although DTE has not yet made a final decision to build the reactor, the licensing process is moving forward. If the license is granted by the NRC, it will give DTE more options in deciding on a final plan. “We have not announced or committed to building a unit at this time,” said Guy Cerullo, DTE spokesman. “We’re keeping our options open.”
More: Monroe News