MATS

Midwest Energy Emissions to Demonstrate Mercury Removal Technology

Midwest Energy Emissions signed agreements with two U.S. electric utility companies to perform demonstrations of Midwest Energy Emissions' technology that removes mercury from coal-power plant emissions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS) rule requires that all coal- and oil-fired power plants in the U.S., larger than 25 MW, must remove roughly 90% of mercury from their emissions by April 16, 2015. 

Energy Disconnect

Misguided policies threaten resource adequacy.

Resource planning is grinding to a halt. From EPA regulations to irrational markets, today’s policy missteps threaten tomorrow’s reliability.

FirstEnergy to Deactivate Two Coal-Fired Power Plants in Pennsylvania

FirstEnergy announced it expects to deactivate two coal-fired power plants located in Pennsylvania by October 9, 2013. The decision is based on the cost of compliance with current and future environmental regulations in conjunction with the continued low market price for electricity. The plants scheduled to be deactivated are Hatfield's Ferry Power Station in Masontown, Pa., and Mitchell Power Station in Courtney, Pa.

Multi-pollutant Emissions Control

MATS compliance now, with flexibility for the future.

Conflicting demands for complying with EPA’s MATS rule favor a single control technology to deal with multiple types of power plant emissions.

Least-Risk Planning

The Homer City decision increases uncertainty—but rewards forward thinking.

The D.C. Circuit’s CSAPR ruling reinforces the benefits of planning ahead and keeping options open. A diverse portfolio strategy reduces risks and costs.

Federal Feud

The jurisdictional battle rages on, with FERC and EPA squaring off against the states.

When Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led an attack on the federal Springfield Armory in January 1787—the spark that ignited the federalist movement—he scarcely could’ve guessed that now, 225 years later, his spiritual descendants would still be fighting that very same battle.

Cleanup Time

Retrofitting early protected North Carolina ratepayers.

Ongoing litigation over EPA rules raises compliance risks and costs. North Carolina utilities, however, benefited from the state’s forward thinking.

Fortnightly's Top 10

It’s a war out there — or rather, several of them. Fortnightly reports from the front lines of the conflict over U.S. energy and environmental policy.
It’s a war out there — or rather, several of them. Fortnightly reports from the front lines of the conflict over U.S. energy and environmental policy.

Orchestrating Outages

IT systems ease the pain of power plant restarts.

Squeezing plant outage duration by days or even weeks can save the industry billions of dollars in lost running time. The San Onofre outage is just the most visible example of what’s at stake for the industry. New outage management technologies and processes allow generators to coordinate outages and get critical plants back online quickly and efficiently.