Consumers Energy filed for approval of a certificate of necessity with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) for its new natural gas plant in Genesee County. The certificate of necessity filing, allowed for under Michigan's energy reform law, provides Consumers Energy's comprehensive analysis for the 700-MW natural gas plant planned for Thetford Township, about 20 miles northeast of Flint.  The review process for the filing is expected to take nine months.

Canadian Solar completed construction on three utility-scale solar power projects in North Carolina. The projects, named "Lenoir 1, Lenoir 2 and Wilson 1," total 18 MW and are part of a 15-project portfolio totaling 85MW being jointly developed with Strata Solar. In total, the latest three solar power projects use approximately 40,608 Canadian Solar CS6P-P 245 and 19,896 CS6P-P 250 watt solar modules.

Phoenix Solar signed a contract with Silicon Ranch to build the Simon Solar Farm, 38.6-MW, 161 acre solar plant in Georgia. Under the terms of the contract, Phoenix Solar will provide all engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services and long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) support for the solar park. Georgia Power, the state's largest electrical utility, will buy the electricity generated from the solar park under a 20-year PPA with Silicon Ranch. Construction is scheduled for completion by the end of 2013.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the implementation agreement between the California Independent System Operator (ISO) and PacifiCorp that establishes the scope and schedule for a variety of tasks the parties will undertake to launch an energy imbalance market (EIM) by October 2014. Among its provisions, the implementation agreement sets out procedures for PacifiCorp to pay the ISO a $2.1 million fixed start-up fee to enable PacifiCorp to participate in the ISO’s existing energy imbalance market.

Toshiba acquired a 76% interest in cyberGRID GmbH, an Austrian developer and provider of intelligent energy management solutions. The cyberGRID system is a virtual power plant (VPP) / demand response system, developed for specific demands of grid system operators, utilities, retailers, industrial customers and distributed generation. VPP matches electricity consumption and offers a lower cost, environmentally friendly alternative to conventional peaking power plants.

APR Energy signed a new 40MW cross-border contract with the government of Mali to address expected power shortages in the country. APR Energy's turnkey solution, comprising diesel power modules, will be installed and operated in Senegal. The power generated will feed into the OMVS interconnected grid that connects Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania. The deal represents APR Energy's first ever cross-border agreement, and the company's first sale of power to Mali.

Dominion is one of the first 48 companies to join the U.S. Department of Energy's workplace charging challenge, which is designed to help increase the number of U.S. employers offering workplace charging for electric vehicles. Dominion installed two separately metered electric vehicle charging stations as a pilot program at its Tredegar campus in downtown Richmond. The stations have two lockable power outlets used by employees who pay a monthly fee that covers the cost of electricity and gradually reimburses the company for the installation.

DONG Energy, E.ON and Masdar, marked the official inauguration of London Array, a 630-MW operational offshore wind power plant in Margate, Kent. Siemens was responsible for the supply of 175 wind turbines, the grid connections and will provide service under a long-term agreement with Dong Energy.

EnviraCarbon (ECI) commercialized a patented technology which molecularly alters renewable biomass feedstock into EnvirAnized Biofuel (EBF), a product that looks, transports, stores, pulverizes and burns like coal, but doesn’t pollute. EBF can be used interchangeably with coal or biomass and contains negligible amounts of sulfur and non-detectable levels of mercury, arsenic, and lead which are toxic elements in coal. EBF is also, by most standards, at or near carbon neutral.