Duke Energy Carolinas filed an application for a certificate of environmental compatibility and public convenience and necessity (CECPCN) with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC) seeking approval to construct and operate a 750-MW natural gas-fired combined cycle plant at the existing Lee Steam Station in Anderson County, S.C. This filing was in partnership with North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation (NCEMC), which will be a minority owner of 100 MW of the project if constructed.

ABB realigned responsibilities within its group executive committee (EC) to focus on acquisition integration and its expanded North American business portfolio. Under these changes, Greg Scheu, who is currently responsible for marketing and customer solutions (MC) on the EC, will lead the group’s acquisition integration efforts and take over responsibility for North America including the United States, ABB’s largest geographical market.

Entergy Gulf States Louisiana signed a commercial and contractual agreement with Methanex USA to supply up to 30 MW of power to Methanex's new methanol facility in Geismar, Louisiana. The power contract between Entergy Gulf States Louisiana and Methanex is for an initial 10-year term and will continue thereafter on a year-to-year basis. Entergy Gulf States Louisiana plans to upgrade its electric transmission system to meet the increased demand the methanol production facility is anticipated to generate.

TransAlta Renewables, through a wholly owned subsidiary of TransAlta, will acquire the economic interest in a 144-MW wind farm in Wyoming for approximately US$102 million from an affiliate of NextEra Energy Resources. The wind farm is fully operational and contracted under a long-term PPA until 2028 with an investment grade counterparty. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of December 2013.

Enphase Energy completed a 125-building distributed solar project developed by Main Street Power that uses Enphase microinverters. The project was spread across 29 schools and two facilities buildings throughout the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), with individual system designs varying in size and orientation. Enphase microinverters allowed Main Street Power and the San Diego Unified School District to rely on one type of inverter technology to support 3.1MW of arrays and more than 125 different systems designed using different angles, orientations and sizes.

S&C Electric announced a $9.7 million project with Green States Energy for construction of a 4.1-MW solar PV farm in Sandwich, Mass. The project team will be led by S&C, which will provide engineering, procurement and project management services for both the AC and DC portions of the project. Charlotte, N.C. based Green Earth Developers is providing physical construction services including installation of the racking systems, solar panels and construction management of the DC systems and AC interconnection.

NRG Energy entered into a plan sponsor agreement with Edison Mission Energy (EME), certain of EME’s subsidiaries, the unsecured creditors committee, certain of EME’s unsecured noteholders, and the parties to the Powerton and Joliet sale leaseback transaction to acquire substantially all of the assets of EME, including its equity interests in certain of its subsidiaries, for an aggregate purchase price of $2.635 billion (or $1.572 billion net of $1.063 billion retained cash within EME).

AEG Power Solutions (AEG PS) and its subsidiary skytron energy successfully deployed a 5.8-MWp commercial PV installation for PPA Partners, a national renewable energy development company in Yuma, Arizona. The PV installation covers four individual sites, each divided into multiple sub-sites, and a mix of rooftop, ground, and carport installations. The solution included AEG PS’ Protect PV.500 inverters, which feature power stacks with advanced measuring and control technology to enable DC input voltages of up to 1000 VDC.