Archive for the 'General' Category
Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 21 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: General, Electric, Energy
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
Allegheny Power won preliminary approval this week from the state Public Utility Commission for its plan to purchase electricity at lower rates following the expiration of caps on power rates in 2011…
The plan includes buying power using 12-, 17-, and 29-month contracts and through purchases on the spot market — all designed to help mitigate price spikes in a competitive power market.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 10 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: General, Energy, Environment
Forbes:
At a high temperature and pressure, gasification converts coal, or other carbon fuels, into synthesis gas that is either burned in a turbine to produce electricity… or turned into other products, like diesel oil, fertilizer and pipeline-quality natural gas. In most cases pollutants such as sulfur and mercury are stripped out after the fuel gas has been synthesized.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 07 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: General, Electric, Energy
Workforce.com:
Although the anticipated wave of baby boomer retirements is a concern for most every industry and business, it’s even worse for the electric power industry.
Nearly half of the critical positions in the industry are filled by people who could retire within five years.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 24 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: General, Natural Gas, Electric, Energy
Investor’s Business Daily via Yahoo!:
Natural gas futures have vaulted 154% since its Aug. 27 low to $13.203 per million British thermal units on Monday.
The run-up has outpaced the rise in crude oil, which has doubled.
Consumers may not feel the full impact immediately, but continued high prices will push up monthly utility bills, if they haven’t already done so. Americans often use natural gas for heating stove tops and water, but they see a bigger hit when they fire up gas furnaces in the cold winter months. Also, rising prices show up in electricity costs, with natural gas providing the fuel for more power plants across the country.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 24 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: General
USA Today:
As skyrocketing food and gasoline prices strain budgets, utilities are disconnecting many more customers who fall behind on their bills, and even moderate-income households are getting zapped.
Electricity and natural gas shutoffs are up at least 15% in several states compared with last year. Totals for some utilities have more than doubled.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 01 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: General, Electric, Energy
San Jose Business Journal:
Calpine Corp. said Friday its board decided an about $11 billion all-stock offer from NRG Energy Inc. “is inadequate and materially undervalues” the company’s asset portfolio and future prospects.
Calpine (NYSE:CPN) which has headquarters in San Jose and Houston, also said its advisors will “contact NRG and its advisors to ascertain whether there is a basis for discussions between the two companies to explore a business combination.”
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 31 May 2008 | Tagged as: General, Energy
AP via Yahoo! News:
The utility that owns a steam pipe that exploded in midtown Manhattan last summer sued the city and a company hired to fix leaks in the pipe, saying improperly injected sealant and water from nearby sewer and pipelines contributed to the blast.
Consolidated Edison Corp. has already been named in more than 40 lawsuits following the July 18 explosion near Grand Central Terminal.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 30 May 2008 | Tagged as: General, Electric
The Washington Post:
Maryland power companies, businesses and labor groups announced yesterday that they are banding together to push for new electricity supplies to prevent rolling brownouts.
The founders of Marylanders for Reliable Power say few consumers are aware that the region’s soaring demand for power, coupled with limited supply, will continue to make the state vulnerable to power shortages that could lead to brownouts in three years.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 23 May 2008 | Tagged as: General, Electric
Baltimore Sun:
Parts of Maryland are still at risk for isolated blackouts as early as 2011 unless new transmission lines are built to get energy to where it’s needed most, regional grid operator PJM Interconnection told state utility regulators yesterday.
The latest assessment comes despite significant progress by power generators and utilities toward addressing the region’s growing energy needs through a combination of power plant upgrades and conservation measures aimed at cutting demand. Though the risk has diminished some since a similar assessment last fall, whether the lights stay on after 2011 may hinge on a critical multistate power line proposed by Allegheny Energy.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 20 May 2008 | Tagged as: General, Electric
NewScienceTech:
POWER plants could be sabotaged by a simple internet attack that shuts down their control systems.
Core Security in Boston, Massachusetts, has discovered a serious vulnerability in a software package called Suitelink that is widely used to automate the operation of power stations, oil refineries and production lines. This could allow attackers to crash Suitelink by sending an outsize data packet to a certain port on the computer running the program. Suitelink’s maker, Wonderware, has since issued a software patch to plug the security gap.
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