New Jersey Legislature Rescues Nuclear Industry

New Jersey’s Democrat-led Legislature on Thursday passed a $300-million-a-year financial bailout for the state›s nuclear industry, one that could raise the bills of utility ratepayers by $41 a year if approved by Gov. Phil Murphy.

The measure passed the Assembly and Senate after several re-writes and boisterous objections from consumer advocates and environmentalists who warned it would penalize state residents. It also received a strong push from Senate President Steve Sweeney, whose district includes nuclear plants.

Under the legislation, the state’s utility companies would be required to purchase credits to support nuclear energy. Those costs are expected to be passed directly to ratepayers, with estimates ranging from about $30 to $41 a year.

U.S., Australia Led Storage Deployment in 2017

The United States and Australia were the world leaders in energy storage deployment last year, but a new report suggests that geographical spread will change in the near future.

GTM Research indicated the United States deployed 431 MWh last year. Thanks in part to Tesla’s mega-battery, Australia followed with 246 MWh.

However, by 2022 China is predicted to become the world’s second-largest hotspot for energy storage, behind the United States. GTM indicated China has both the supply chain and the renewable energy mandate that would significantly boost deployments.

Japan will enter third place, with Australia falling to fourth. Ravi Manghani, energy storage director at GTM research, said innovative market design is necessary to boost the amount of energy storage.

Mitsubishi Subsidiary Planning Gas Plant in NJ

A subsidiary of Mitsubishi has approached New Jersey regulators with a proposal to construct a 1,200-MW gas plant, the Hudson Reporter reported.

The company, Diamond Generating Group, wants to spend $1.5 billion to build the combined-cycle plant and a 6.5 mile, 345 kv underground and submarine lead cable that would connect to a substation in Manhattan.

Building the components would eliminate the need to build a new gas pipeline under the Hudson River.

Meetings between Diamond and elected officials, state agencies and community representatives in New York and New Jersey have been ongoing.

The plans are unfolding as Entergy Corp. prepares to shut down its 2,311 MW Indian Point nuclear plant in 2020.

Renewable Measure Could Force Palo Verde to Close

The fight over renewable energy in Arizona rages on, with Arizona Public Service Co. saying a renewable energy measure up to voters could force Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station to close.

The Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona measure would require utilities to generate or acquire half of all electricity from renewable sources by 2030, Arizona Central reported. The measure goes to voters in November.

APS claims the measure would cause so much renewable development it would generate too much electricity during months with milder weather.

“The way we see this, it will force the closure of all our baseload facilities,” said Jeff Burke, APS’ resource planning director.

“This really closes the door on a lot of different resources.”

ACCIONA Builds Ninth U.S. Wind Farm in Texas

Spanish infrastructure group ACCIONA announced plans to build a $200 million,145 MW wind farm in Cameron County, Texas.

The project will be the company’s ninth wind facility in the United States and will be the second in Texas. In fact, it’s being built near ACCIONA’s other Texas wind facility, the 93-MW San Roman.

When finished in November 2019, it will increase ACCIONA’s total U.S. wind capacity to 866 MW. The company indicated additional U.S. wind projects are in the pipeline.

The wind turbines to be installed in Palmas Altas will be Nordex’s AW125/3150 model with a rotor diameter of 125 meters, mounted on an 87.5-meter steel tower.

The energy produced by the wind farm will be sold in the ERCOT-South Texas wholesale market.

Vistra and Dynegy Complete Merger

Vistra Energy announced they have finally completed its merger with Dynegy.

The combined company now employs 6,000 people across 12 states, serves 2.7 million residential customers and 240,000 commercial and industrial customers, and holds 40,000 MW of generation capacity. That capacity is more than 60 percent natural gas, with 84 percent located within the ERCOT, PJM and ISO-NE markets.

The merger will give Dynegy stockholders 0.652 shares of Vistra stock for each share of Dynegy common stock they owned, resulting in a stockholder split of 79 percent ownership by Vistra shareholders and 21 percent by Dynegy shareholders.

Additionally, three of Dynegy’s directors, Hilary E. Ackermann, Paul M. Barbas, and John R. Sult, have been appointed to the Vistra Energy Board of Directors, effective immediately. These appointments bring the total number of directors of the combined company’s board to 11.

Duke Energy Agrees to Coal Ash Fine

Duke Energy Corp. will pay a $156,000 penalty for polluting ground and surface waters with potentially toxic coal ash waste around three power plants, an amount one critic compared Friday to a couple of days salary for the company’s CEO.

The penalty is less than a slap on the wrist for the country’s No. 2 electricity company, which generated $23 billion in revenue and reported paying CEO Lynn Good $21.4 million last year, the Sierra Club’s David Rogers said.

“I think it’s a paltry sum. It’s not going to be any sort of deterrent for Duke Energy,” said Rogers, who heads the environmental group’s efforts to eliminate coal-burning power plants in North Carolina.

Coal ash is the residue left after decades of burning coal to generate power. It can contain toxic materials such as arsenic and chromium.

Samsung, Pattern Development Complete Ontario Wind Farm

Samsung Renewable Energy and Pattern Energy Group have completed the 100-MW North Kent Wind facility in the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario.

“Samsung is proud to complete its sixth wind project under our Green Energy Investment Agreement with the government of Ontario,” said Eskay Lee, Vice President, Samsung C&T. “Samsung and its partners have created jobs and invested in the community, benefiting real people in Chatham-Kent and across the province.”  

North Kent Wind incorporates 34 Siemens Gamesa 3.2 MW wind turbines with towers and blades that were made in Ontario.

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent holds a 15 percent equity interest in North Kent Wind through its affiliate Entegrus Renewable Energy Inc. Bkejwanong First Nation, also known as Walpole Island First Nation, also holds a 15 percent equity interest in North Kent Wind.

Florida Mandates Backup Power in Nursing Homes

Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation requiring backup power sources in Florida nursing homes and assisted living facilities, months after the deaths of several residents from a sweltering nursing home that lost power in a hurricane.

The legislation requires the facilities to have a generator capable of keeping nursing homes and assisted living facilities at 81 degrees Fahrenheit or lower for at least four days. All of Florida’s 685 nursing homes and 3,089 assisted living facilities must be in compliance by the June 1 start of hurricane season.

State agencies can grant an extension until Jan. 1, 2019, for facilities that would face delays in installing equipment or need zoning or other regulatory approval.

OG&E Completes New Units at Mustang Energy Center

With the installation of seven new natural gas units, Oklahoma Gas and Electric has completed the transformation of the Mustang Power Plant into the Mustang Energy Center.

The Mustang Power Plant was constructed in 1950 near Oklahoma City, and its gas generation grew to 432 MW by the early 1970s.

OG&E decided to replace the old units with Siemens 66-MW generators that can reach peak power in 10 minutes, compared to up to 22 hours for the old units.

“Replacing the units at Mustang was far less expensive than adding a new power plant to our existing fleet,» said Sean Trauschke, chairman, president and CEO of OG&E.

Consortium Selected to Develop Floating Wind Farm

The Redwood Coast Energy Authority has selected a consortium of companies to pursue the development of a floating wind energy project off the Northern California coast.

The project will range from 100 to 150 MW and be developed more than 20 miles off the coast of Eureka. In a release, the consortium said the project will help encourage the development of further offshore energy projects near California.

Huboldt County has average wind speeds of more than ten meters per second, which the consortium called the best off the coast of the state.

The consortium consists of Principle Power Inc., EDPR Offshore North America LLC, Aker Solutions Inc., H. T. Harvey & Associates and Herrera Environmental Consultants Inc.

Duke Completes Conversion of Lee Station

The coal-burning units at W.S. Lee Steam Station were retired in 2014, but the South Carolina plant now has new life with the activation of a 750-MW combined-cycle gas generator.

The $700 million project began in March 2015. A third unit was converted to natural gas at the time of the retirements of the other two units.

“Investing in a smarter, more efficient energy future through projects like the new W.S. Lee plant is more than just good business — it’s an investment in our state that helps attract jobs and industry and make our economy and communities stronger,” said Kodwo Ghartey-Tagoe, Duke Energy state president for South Carolina. “This project represents a long-term commitment to South Carolina.”