On August 3, 2015 the EPA released its 1,500-page final rule governing performance standards for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for existing and new power generation sources, termed the Clean Power Plan (CPP). With more than 4.3M comments received since the proposed rule was announced, this is expected to be one of the most heavily litigated environmental regulations ever.
GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association report 40.7 MW of energy storage were deployed in the second quarter of 2015, up from 3.9 MW one year ago.
At 3:00 AM on July 10, 2015, wind turbines in Denmark generated a record setting 140% of national electricity demand.
President Barrack Obama and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final Clean Power Plan rule on August 3, 2015. The new regulation reduces carbon emissions from existing fossil fuel power plants. The final rule included provisions to expand compliance options; increase the target, but allow extra time to develop compliance plans and begin reductions; address reliability concerns; revise goal-setting methodology; and encourage early investments.
On July 22, 2015, The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proposed new critical infrastructure protection (CIP) standards to address concerns over the cyber threat posed by an increasingly global supply chain. Specifically, FERC is concerned with the potential introduction of vulnerabilities into the grid by the hardware and software components of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) devices and other grid control systems. This type of vulnerability struck Dell Computers in 2010, when motherboards it procured from an international supplier were shipped containing malware. Although the attack was discovered, it was not until after some products had already been received by customers. Like the computer industry, components of grid control systems are made by a globally diverse supply chain which is largely outside the reach of U.S. regulatory authority.
The Vogtle Electric Generating Plant is a two-unit nuclear power plant located in Waynesboro, Georgia, capable of generating 2,430 MW. The plant is operated by Southern Nuclear Operating Company and jointly owned by four entities:
On July 1, 2015, Dominion filed an updated integrated resource plan (IRP) in Virginia and North Carolina. The IRP included an analysis of the potential responses to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan. The utility concluded utility-scale solar merits further study as it offered the lowest cost and lowest risk compliance option.
In May 2015, Austin Energy received a firm bid for solar energy for less than 4 cents per kWh. Responding to an RFP seeking up to 600 MW of solar capacity, the bid is one of the lowest solar bids ever seen in a utility solicitation.
Many companies have been practicing sustainability for years and many more have begun to do so in the recent past. Despite all of the attention sustainability has received, the most effective way to integrate sustainability into other divisions within a company often remains unclear. Proper placement and governance are essential in order for a company to realize sustainability’s full value.
In May 2014, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $47 million in financial support for three offshore wind demonstration projects expected to be operational by 2017. A year later, the three projects are facing significant hurdles arising from the high cost of developing offshore wind in the United States.
Prior to the Fukushima Daiichi event that occurred in March 2011, there were 17 nuclear reactors in Germany that produced approximately 25% of the nation’s electricity. Immediately following the Fukushima Daiichi event, the German government declared a three-month moratorium on nuclear power plants. This moratorium was to allow its Reaktorsicherheitkommission or Reactor Safety Commission (RSK), the German equivalent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to verify the safety and security of
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In May 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy released a report outlining how “near-future” wind turbine technology can significantly increase the technical potential for wind energy in the United States and expand the area of the country where wind could be economic.
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