Electrical Generation

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

NJ Gov Caves to Radicals, Now Opposes Meadowlands Gas-Fired Plant
October 11, 2019October 11, 2019

Apparently environmental radicals in the state of New Jersey can “have their way” with its Democrat Governor, Phil Murphy–just about any time they want. Murphy has the disturbing habit of genuflecting to his leftist base and has done so once again by coming out against a plan to build a Marcellus gas-fired electric power plant planned for the Meadowlands, a plant that would feed electricity to New York City.
Read More “NJ Gov Caves to Radicals, Now Opposes Meadowlands Gas-Fired Plant”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Dems Intro Bill to Block New Marcellus-Fired Power Plants
October 10, 2019October 10, 2019

Leftist Democrats in Pennsylvania are still hopping mad that they couldn’t block Invenergy’s 1,480 megawatt, $1 billion Marcellus gas-fired electric plant called the Lackawanna Energy Center, located near Scranton, PA (see Huge Marcellus-Fired Power Plant Near Scranton Now 100% Complete). So they’ve decided to NEVER let it happen again. How? By introducing what they’re trying to pass off as a “reasonable” new law to establish “minimum standards for host community agreements between new power plants and their surrounding communities and school districts as well as a minimum host community fee.” In other words, the new law will micromanage and tax any prospective new gas-fired power project right out of the state.
Read More “PA Dems Intro Bill to Block New Marcellus-Fired Power Plants”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Reaction to Gov. Wolf’s Bonkers Plan to Strangle NatGas Elec Plants
October 4, 2019October 4, 2019

Yesterday MDN told you that Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has gone completely off his rocker with a power-grab to force PA into a regional alliance to tax natural gas-fired electric plants out of existence (see Gov. Wolf Goes Bonkers: EO Destroying Gas-Fired Elec, Carbon Tax). The reaction to his breathtaking power-grab has been swift–on both sides. The radicals at Big Green groups like the Sierra Club are praising Wolf, and PA Republican legislators are threatening to block Wolf’s reckless executive order.
Read More “Reaction to Gov. Wolf’s Bonkers Plan to Strangle NatGas Elec Plants”
Dutchess County | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation

NY Tries to Change the Game re Hudson Valley Gas-Fired Plant
October 4, 2019October 4, 2019

In October 2012, after a rigorous review by New York’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Cricket Valley Energy Center in Dutchess County was accepted and approved. Construction of the 1,100 megawatt plant (to fed by PA Marcellus gas) began in July 2017 (see Second NY NatGas-Fired Elec Plant Breaks Ground in Hudson Valley) and is due to be completed early next year. Now New York State is trying to change the rules in the middle of the game and undercut the new plant by running huge, ugly new above-ground transmission lines to feed “renewable” power to downstate, bypassing (in part) the electricity that will come from the Cricket Valley plant.
Read More “NY Tries to Change the Game re Hudson Valley Gas-Fired Plant”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Gov. Wolf Goes Bonkers: EO Destroying Gas-Fired Elec, Carbon Tax
October 3, 2019October 3, 2019

PA Gov. Tom Wolf

The worst Pennsylvania governor in our lifetime continues to wreck the PA economy. Tom Wolf previously made noise about dooming PA’s economy by forcing the state to adopt a so-called “cap-and-trade” plan for carbon dioxide–the stuff every living animal, including humans, breathes out with every breath (see PA Gov. Wolf, Dem Legislators Release Even Worse “Climate” Plan). Wolf also threatened to issue an executive order to require 30% of electricity be produced by so-called renewables by 2030 (see PA Gov. Wolf Threatens to Issue Order on Power Plants). In a breathtaking display of power madness, he’s just done both.
Read More “Gov. Wolf Goes Bonkers: EO Destroying Gas-Fired Elec, Carbon Tax”
Electrical Generation | Energy Services | FirstEnergy | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

FirstEnergy Spends $1M/Week on Ads Claiming Chinese Grid Takeover
October 3, 2019April 20, 2022

Ohio’s major newspapers continue to push back against phony commercials being run by FirstEnergy in a desperate attempt to block a referendum to overturn House Bill (HB) 6 (see FirstEnergy Runs Attack Ad, Claims China Controls OH NatGas Plants). HB 6, a corporate welfare bill, was recently passed to prop up two FirstEnergy bankrupt nuclear power plants and several coal-fired plants, soaking ratepayers in order to feed the FirstEnergy beast (see Ohio Nuke Bailout Law Means Fewer Natgas-Fired Electric Plants).
Read More “FirstEnergy Spends $1M/Week on Ads Claiming Chinese Grid Takeover”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania

Caithness Cuts Ribbon on Marcellus-Fired Plant Near Wilkes-Barre
October 2, 2019October 2, 2019

In September 2018, the 1,050-megawatt Moxie Freedom Marcellus-fired power plant located near Wilkes-Barre, PA (Luzerne County) went online, feeding the electricity it produces into the local power grid (see Moxie Freedom Marcellus-Fired Plant Near Wilkes-Barre Online). And yet Caithness Energy, owner of the plant, held the official ribbon-cutting ceremony…yesterday. More than a year after going online. Why?
Read More “Caithness Cuts Ribbon on Marcellus-Fired Plant Near Wilkes-Barre”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trumbull County

Utica-Fired Lordstown Energy Center Wins POWER Mag Top Plant Award
October 1, 2019October 1, 2019

Lordstown Energy Center (click for larger version)

For more than four decades, POWER magazine has honored the top performers in the electricity-generating industry with annual power plant awards. Plants that have distinguished themselves by innovative design or engineering upgrades, producing power more reliably or economically than comparable plants, or demonstrating a new generation or environmental controls technology are considered. The Utica-fired Lordstown Energy Center, which went online last October, has just received POWER magazine’s prestigious “Top Plant” award in 2019.
Read More “Utica-Fired Lordstown Energy Center Wins POWER Mag Top Plant Award”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | New York | Orange County

A Few Old Hippies Protest Orange Co NatGas Plant on Youth Day
September 30, 2019April 20, 2022

Last October Competitive Power Ventures’ 680-megawatt CPV Valley Energy Center in Wawayanda (Orange County), NY fired up and began producing, using Marcellus gas, enough electricity to power 600,000 liberal NY homes (see CPV Marcellus-Fired Elec Plant in Orange County Now Online!). New York Gov. Cuomo tried his best to block the plant from going online, but failed. It’s been operating safely ever since. But that doesn’t stop a few dedicated protesters from showing up when there’s an excuse to do so, just to keep their desire to shut it down alive in local media.
Read More “A Few Old Hippies Protest Orange Co NatGas Plant on Youth Day”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WVU Engineer Gets $2.5M Grant to Study NatGas Power Plant Boilers
September 30, 2019September 30, 2019

Debangsu Bhattacharyya, WVU

Quick question: What is the “heart” of an electric power generating plant? The turbines that spin and make the electricity, right? Actually, no! The “heart” of a powergen plant is, according to West Virginia University engineering professor Debangsu Bhattacharyya…the boiler. Say what?! That’s right. The boiler produces the steam to turn the turbine and if you can improve the efficiency of the boiler (prevent it from breaking down), you increase the efficiency of the whole plant. Dr. Bhattacharyya has just received a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy to study the use of AI (artificial intelligence) to monitor and improve the performance of boilers in natgas (and coal) power plants.
Read More “WVU Engineer Gets $2.5M Grant to Study NatGas Power Plant Boilers”
Air Quality | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues

Private Sector has Already Solved the “Climate Change” Issue
September 26, 2019September 26, 2019

We spotted a great article in the Washington Examiner which points out that new technology from several private-sector companies can now capture and use carbon dioxide to create energy. One of those companies is one we previously highlighted, NET Power (see NET Power Pioneers “Zero-Carbon” Gas-Fired Electric Plants). But there are others too. The main point of the Examiner story is that we in the U.S. don’t need the heavy hand of government to “solve” the so-called issue of man-made global warming, which “environmentalists” claim comes from burning fossil fuels that release CO2 into the atmosphere. Why don’t we need government? Because the private sector has already figured out how to do and IS doing it!
Read More “Private Sector has Already Solved the “Climate Change” Issue”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Gov. Wolf Threatens to Issue Order on Power Plants
September 23, 2019September 23, 2019

PA Gov. Wolf

In April, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, along with a number of Senate and House Democrats (and a few Philadelphia RINOs), announced updated changes to the state’s so-called “climate” plan–changes that will doom the state economically (see PA Gov. Wolf, Dem Legislators Release Even Worse “Climate” Plan). Among other things, Wolf plans to implement a cap-and-trade plan to control every aspect of Pennsylvanian’s lives by controlling how much and where they get energy from. And now Wolf is saying if the PA legislature won’t help him do it, he’ll just seize power and do it via Executive Order.
Read More “PA Gov. Wolf Threatens to Issue Order on Power Plants”
Electrical Generation | Energy Services | FirstEnergy | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH

Ohio Newspapers Call Out Pro-Nuke/Anti-Referendum Ads as Lies
September 17, 2019September 17, 2019

Not even Ohio’s left-leaning news organizations can go along with the phony commercials being run by First Energy in a desperate attempt to block a referendum to overturn House Bill (HB) 6 (see FirstEnergy Runs Attack Ad, Claims China Controls OH NatGas Plants). HB 6 was recently passed to prop up two FirstEnergy bankrupt nuclear power plants and several coal-fired plants (see Ohio Nuke Bailout Law Means Fewer Natgas-Fired Electric Plants).
Read More “Ohio Newspapers Call Out Pro-Nuke/Anti-Referendum Ads as Lies”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | West Virginia

1200 MW Gas-Fired Power Plant Files to Build in Mon County, WV
September 16, 2019September 16, 2019

Artists rendering of Longview Power Clean Energy Center (click for larger version)

Last Thursday Longview Power filed an application with the West Virginia Public Service Commission to build and operate a Marcellus gas-fired electric generating facility in Monongalia County, WV, near Maidsville. The Longview Power Clean Energy Center, as it’s called, will include a 1,200 megawatt combined cycle power plant AND a 70 megawatt solar farm–both built next to Longview’s existing state-of-the-art 710 megawatt coal-fired power plant. A real “all of the above” type of facility.
Read More “1200 MW Gas-Fired Power Plant Files to Build in Mon County, WV”
Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania

EmberClear Drops Plan to Build Gas-Fired Elec Plant Near Scranton
September 16, 2019September 16, 2019

Pennsylvania’s largest natural gas-fired electric plant, Invenergy’s 1,480 megawatt, $1 billion project called the Lackawanna Energy Center, has been completely done and fully online since earlier this year (see Huge Marcellus-Fired Power Plant Near Scranton Now 100% Complete). In 2016 EmberClear announced it wanted to build Lackawanna County’s second Marcellus-fired electric plant project, going so far as to get a required air permit. Plans for EmberClear’s Lackawanna project are now dead.
Read More “EmberClear Drops Plan to Build Gas-Fired Elec Plant Near Scranton”
Electrical Generation | Energy Services | FirstEnergy | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Statewide OH

FirstEnergy Asks OH Supreme Court to Block Bailout Referendum
September 6, 2019September 6, 2019

FirstEnergy continues its desperate attempt to prevent a referendum measure from hitting the fall ballot in Ohio that would overturn a recently passed (very bad) law that bails out FirstEnergy’s failing nuclear power plants in the state to the tune of $1.5 billion. Earlier this week we told you FirstEnergy is running tinfoil hat commercials claiming China would soon control Ohio’s electric grid if the bailout bill is overturned (see FirstEnergy Runs Attack Ad, Claims China Controls OH NatGas Plants). Now FirstEnergy is asking the Ohio Supreme Court to block the ballot measure, denying voters the opportunity to vote.
Read More “FirstEnergy Asks OH Supreme Court to Block Bailout Referendum”