West Virginia

Enbridge Acquires 103-MW West Virginia Wind Project

Submitted by aburr on Mon, 2015-12-07 12:48

Enbridge acquired a 100 percent interest in the 103- MW New Creek Wind Project, from EverPower Wind Holdings. Enbridge's total investment is approximately $20 million. Located in Grant County, West Virginia, New Creek Wind will comprise 49 Gamesa G97/G90 turbines and is targeted to be in service in December 2016. The project was developed by EverPower Wind Holdings. New Creek will be constructed under a fixed-EPC agreement with White Construction.

Life Without Building Block 4

Energy Efficiency under EPA’s Final Clean Power Plan.

Energy efficiency remains the most cost-effective route to compliance with the Clean Power Plan. In the final Clean Power Plan rule issued August 3, 2015, EPA did not include Energy Efficiency in the calculations used to develop state targets. However, EPA and the White House have made it abundantly clear that energy efficiency remains just as viable a compliance option as before.
Byline: 

John Hargrove

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The Rise and Fall of Big Transmission

The alternatives may make more sense.

After 10 years of dramatic announcements and proposals, the reality today is that Big Transmission has fallen and it won't be getting up - not even for the Clean Power Plan. And the fall of Big Transmission is not a public policy failure. Rather, it never did make sense.
Byline: 

Steve Huntoon

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The Economics of Clean Power

And how the market has outmaneuvered the political forces, so far.

While former CEO Charles Bayless says that economics remains the driving factor behind the shifting sands, there are plenty who would put the blame on the Obama administration and its “War on Coal.”
Byline: 

Ken Silverstein

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Utilities Cutting Cord to Coal

It’s not personal. It’s just business.

With coal’s troubles piling up, so too are stories about the industry’s “bleak” future in the United States – a casualty of cheap natural gas, thinning coal seams, and the pursuit of lower-carbon alternatives. Just as conspicuous: utilities, which have long allied themselves with the coal developers, are retiring their older coal units in droves.
Byline: 

Ken Silverstein

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FirstEnergy to Invest $353M in 2015 Infrastructure Upgrades

Submitted by aburr on Tue, 2015-03-17 13:27

FirstEnergy expects to invest about $225 million in 2015 on distribution and transmission infrastructure projects in Mon Power's 34-county service area, primarily in north-central West Virginia. Major projects scheduled for 2015 include transmission enhancements to reinforce the system and support economic growth, constructing new distribution lines, and inspecting and replacing utility poles and other equipment.

New York's Natural Gas Path

The state is diverging from the national trend.

New York is taking its own path and outlawing the use of high-volume natural gas fracking. Yet, the state will remain a voracious consumer of natural gas that is fracked elsewhere. What gives?
Byline: 

Ken Silverstein

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Keeping a Lid on Coal Ash

EPA’s rule said to favor repurposing and recycling – over landfills or disposal ponds.

The EPA’s new final rule marks a turning point in the handling of coal fly ash. EPA has tried to balance the needs of utilities with existing coal ash deposits and the needs of communities that are worried that such ponds will leak into waterways, or even worse, burst open and wreak havoc. In the process, it’s pleased few.
Byline: 

Ken Silverstein

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EPA's Clean Power Plan: An Unequal Burden

The Clean Power Plan's largest obstacle is how its cost is distributed disproportionately among the states.

How the Clean Power Plan introduced in June by the Environmental Protection Agency will produce widely differing compliance obligations among the states, in terms of emissions targets, likely carbon prices, and effects on wholesale power prices.
Byline: 

David Bellman

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Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas Select Dominion to Build Atlantic Coast Pipeline

Submitted by aburr on Fri, 2014-09-05 12:36

Duke Energy and Piedmont Natural Gas selected Dominion to build and operate the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a 550-mile interstate natural gas pipeline from West Virginia, through Virginia and into eastern North Carolina to meet the region’s rapidly growing demand for natural gas.