Union Power Partners, a subsidiary of Entegra Power Group, awarded Emerson Process Management a contract to replace turbine controls at Union Power Station. The plant, located in southern Arkansas, is one of the largest combined-cycle facilities in the U.S. with a generating capacity of 2,200 MW and comprises four individual 2x1 combined-cycle power blocks.
NV Energy filed a request with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) seeking approval to participate in the California Independent System Operator Corporation's (ISO) energy imbalance market (EIM). Meanwhile, the California grid operator separately is asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve the implementation agreement with NV Energy.
ABB won orders worth $45 million from Svenska kraftnät, the Swedish National Grid operator, to supply three 400 kV substation to strengthen the Swedish power grid. The substations are scheduled to be commissioned in 2015. ABB's project scope includes the design and supply of engineered packages for the high-voltage air-insulated switchgear (AIS) substations.
Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Energy (B&W NE) was awarded a contract from American Electric Power (AEP) to provide steam generator services for the Donald C. Cook (D.C. Cook) Nuclear Plant just north of Bridgman, Mich. The D.C. Cook Plant contains two units, one of which is outfitted with Babcock & Wilcox replacement recirculating steam generators. As part of this contract, B&W NE will execute a comprehensive inspection and cleaning campaign, which includes eddy current testing, visual inspections and water lancing.
Hitachi Power Systems America (HPSA) was awarded a contract for the design and supply of a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association for its Craig Generation Station, Unit 2, located in Craig, Colorado. The contract includes the design and supply of a SCR System for Craig Unit 2 which is a coal-fired steam electric generating unit with a net capacity of approximately 428 MW.
Iberdrola S.A. was awarded a contract for the construction and operation of the 300 MW Baja California III combined-cycle power plant in Mexico. Work on the $270 million plant and associated facilities will begin in April 2014 with commercial operation planned for August 2016. Iberdrola won the bid through an international tender process which also included a 25-year PPA with the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). CFE also will supply the natural gas to fuel the new plant's two GE turbines.
Siemens and Open Joint Stock Company Fortum signed a long-term service contract for the Nyaganskaya GRES combined cycle power plant in Nyagan, Russia. The power station consists of three combined cycle power units totaling 1,254 MW. The first unit, with a capacity of 420.9 MW, began commercial operation in April 2013. The commercial operation of the second unit began at the end of 2013, and the third unit is currently under construction.
In response to recent state legislation that explicitly provides for rate-regulated utilities to pursue multiyear rate plans, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission adopted a set of guiding principles for the development of such plans. The law, passed in 2011, allows utilities to request multiyear plans, up to a maximum three-year rate-effective period, under which the rates to be charged in each year of the set period will be established in but a single rate proceeding.
For the second time in two years, the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) authorized Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) to raise its rates. Like the utility’s 2012 rate increase, parts of the latest rate hike are made contingent upon continued improvements in service reliability.
In authorizing Detroit Edison Company, now operating as DTE Electric Company, to implement a new power supply cost recovery (PSCR) rate plan, the Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) declined a request that it declare it unlikely that it would allow full recovery in the future of the utility’s requested PSCR costs due to the company’s continued operation of its aging coal plants. Instead, the commission endorsed the company’s continued participation in a so-called “reduced fuel emission” (REF) project with a corporate affiliate.