Large power transmission lines are in the works to relieve congestion in southeastern New York, but, to cut costs, state officials may scrap one of the projects—a previously accepted, $1.2-billion proposal—and seek new submissions from losing bidders.
In a move that appears to have surprised power-market observers, the U.S. Supreme Court last month agreed to decide whether a state can offer subsidies for powerplant construction to provide needed capacity—without infringing on the authority of federal regulators and distorting the wholesale price of electricity.
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s board of directors on Aug. 21 unanimously approved its 2015 plan for regional energy that reflects less dependence on coal-fired generation, more focus on natural-gas generation and renewable resources, and plans to use energy efficiency as a supply resource.
Google will use the existing transmission lines at a soon-to-close coal-fired plant in Alabama to power a $600-million data center using renewable energy, in a deal with the Tennessee Valley Authority announced on June 24.
Related Links: Hawaiians Fear Utility Sale Will End Rooftop Solar Choice Hawaiian Utilities Balk at Speed of Solar Panel Adoption Gov. David Inge (D) has signed a bill to make Hawaii the first U.S. state to commit to generating 100% of its power from renewable sources. The June 17 action to reach the goal by 2045 follows by days NextEra Energy shareholder approval to acquire Hawaiian Electric Industries.Florida-based NextEra is the largest U.S. solar energy developer. The firm says the $4.3-billion deal, which still needs state regulators' approval, would provide the utility with resources and access to expertise to meet
Related Links: U.S. Renewables Sector Soars, With Help From Tax Credits A Texas-based alternative-energy firm seeks expedited approval to build a 150-MW utility-scale solar-power project in southeastern Maryland after its plan to build a $200-million wind farm met with strong opposition from military officials and politicians who claimed turbine blades up to 500 ft high could interfere with operations at a nearby naval base. Local officials, who supported the project's economic and environmental benefits, now are battling with state politicians over a proposed permanent ban on wind projects in Maryland's eastern shore.The original plan by Pioneer Green Energy, Austin, to
EverPower Wind Holdings has proposed building a 300-MW wind farm in Steuben County, New York near the Pennsylvania border. The Pittsburgh-based developer is proposing the project through its subsidiary Baron Winds, the company said in a filing made March 6 with the New York Public Service Commission.The company said the commercial scale project will be built on leased private lands in a rural area that will include 150 wind turbines, a collection substation and nine miles of 230-kV transmission line. It will interconnect with New York State Electric & Gas's Hillside-Meyer 230-kV transmission line at the Canandaigua substation.The 300-MW project
A high voltage direct-current undersea transmission line proposed from South Brunswick, N.J. to Huntington, N.Y. has received interconnection approvals from the PJM Interconnection and the New York Independent System Operator, a spokesman for the developer said on March 9.The line is anticipated to deliver 500 MW of low-cost energy to the downstate New York grid in Long Island that is capable of powering about 500,000 homes. With NYISO approval on March 6 of the 82-mile line’s reliability impact study, the New York Public Service Commission has begun a formal project review, said developer Poseidon Transmission.The firm did not release the
Related Links: Big Pipe Plans-Developers Push Billions in Pipeline Work Despite Oil Price Slide, Keystone Veto CURT Construction Labor Market Analyzer website Vogtle Nuke Plant Builders Face Rising Cost Pressures NCCER-Welding Website CareersWelding and Burning Ironworkers Website United Association-Union of Plumbers, Pipefitters, Welders and Service TechsWelding Certifications Things are heating up at the plumbers and pipefitters' union local in Augusta, Ga., and it isn't just the members' welding tools. The union is running full tilt to train welders now in short supply to fuel the region's industrial and energy-sector construction boom.Apprenticeship training at Local 150—a key labor supplier to the
Related Links: First Energy: The Hidden Gem Of Marcellus Shale? Ohio-based utility FirstEnergy is adding about $100 million in transmission upgrades in West Virginia as part of a $250-million company-wide program to support natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale region.Mon Power, FirstEnergy’s utility unit in the state, expects 400 MW of load growth through 2019 from new gas facilities, said Todd Meyers, a spokesman for the Akron-based parent company.“Some of the coal mines that took decades to become our largest customers have been eclipsed by plants planned by the natural gas industry,” he said.Projects include the just completed $52-million
