The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) imposed the largest penalty it has ever assessed by ordering Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) shareholders to pay $1.6 billion for the unsafe operation of its gas transmission system, including the pipeline rupture in San Bruno, Calif., in 2010.
Alstom Grid was awarded a $23 million contract to supply the first 500 kV substation for Empresa de Energía de Bogotá (EEB). The substation will be located at Gachanzipa, 30 km north from Bogota, capital city of Colombia. It will connect the Hydro Sogamoso power plant to Bogota, improving and increasing the reliability of the city's energy system. The project is due to be completed by mid-2017. Alstom will deliver the 500-kV turnkey substation, inclusive of design, civil works construction, erection and commissioning.
Phoenix Energy's joint venture, North Fork Community Power's project was awarded a $4.9 million grant. The award will be used to construct one of the first forest-sourced biomass gasification plants, as well as research into the field of forest biomass utilization. The plant will utilize local forest biomass sustainably sourced from restoration and fuel reduction activities on local forest lands, including the Sierra National Forest.
SunEdison signed agreements to construct and install three new utility-scale solar power plants in southern Utah with a total capacity of 262 MW. PacifiCorp will purchase the electricity through three 20-year PPA according to its obligation under the federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act. The three solar power plants are located in Iron County in southern Utah, and include the 63-MW Granite Mountain Solar West plant, the 100-MW Granite Mountain Solar East plant and the 99-MW Iron Springs Solar plant.
Duke Energy completed the sale of its non-regulated Midwest Commercial Generation Business to Dynegy for $2.8 billion in cash. The transaction includes ownership interests in 11 power plants and Duke Energy Retail Sales, the company's retail business in Ohio. The non-regulated Midwest generation business sold to Dynegy includes 11 merchant power plants in Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania with a capacity of approximately 6,100 MW. The company began the process to exit its non-regulated Midwest Commercial Generation Business in February 2014.
When the nation's capitol recently went dark - right in the middle of Cherry Blossom season - the lights went on in the halls of energy firms. It's about changing the face of the American grid - to reduce society's dependence on its interconnectivity and to, instead, encircle campuses or important buildings with enclosed systems, or micro-grids.
In the current Supreme Court case known as State of Michigan v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Michigan and 22 other states have sued the EPA over new regulations that were designed to further reduce the level of mercury, arsenic and acid gases emitted by power plants. That's almost 50 percent of the states that are feeling beleaguered by EPA's ever expanding power grab. The current Supreme Court case is the first example of what many people are calling the EPA's waging of war on the states.
Transco, a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams Partners, filed an application with FERC seeking authorization for its Atlantic Sunrise expansion project, which would transport about 1.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to markets in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. Williams expects to place Atlantic Sunrise into service in the second half of 2017 as part of $4.8 billion in transmission projects planned to come online through 2017.