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Deregulation is here to stay, FERC chief says

Folks in Texas and other states who are sick of rising electricity prices and want to return to the days of regulators setting rates can forget it.

The U.S. isn’t going to change its policy of allowing competitive markets to determine prices, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said Friday at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates annual conference.

"“Our goal at FERC is perfect competition, textbook competition. Competition that is so perfect and beautiful it would make an economist weep,” said Chairman Joseph Kelliher. Further, competition isn’t driving prices higher; rising fuel costs are driving utility bills up, he said.

Details Here: /www.energycentral.com/centers/news/daily/article.cfm?aid=9761302

first published week of:   02/18/2008

Diablo muzzles workers concerned about plant safety, SLO group allege

San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace has filed a complaint with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), alleging that workers at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant face possible retaliation if they raise safety concerns. In an April 14 letter to the NRC, the group cites one incident in which a worker filed a complaint document called a differing professional opinion during a recent refueling outage for steam generator replacement. An investigation validated most of the worker’s concerns, but he received a downgraded performance evaluation because he was not a team player. The letter states the incident, and those similar to it, has caused a chilling effect in which workers fear raising safety concerns out of fear of retaliation. An unspecified number of power plant employees contacted the group after they became frustrated with the internal complaint resolution process at the plant, a group member said. The NRC says it will investigate

Details Here: www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/339145.html

first published week of:   04/28/2008

Dim renewable energy future

Thousands of renewable energy jobs could be lost unless a tax credit set to expire at the end of this year is extended, industry trade groups said Tuesday. Tax breaks for various clean energy industries, including wind and solar, along with language requiring investor-owned utilities to generate 15 percent of their electricity from renewable sources were left out of the energy bill President Bush signed last month. About $20 billion in investments yielded nearly 6,000 megawatts of new renewable energy in 2007 along with tens of thousands of jobs nationwide that are now in jeopardy, according to the National Hydropower Association, Geothermal Energy Association, Solar Energy Industries Association, and American Wind Energy Association. The groups urged Congress and the President to include renewable energy tax provisions in any economic stimulus bill being developed.

Details Here: /money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013- 22430604.htm

first published week of:   01/28/2008

Disposal of nuclear waste nears crisis stage

Making nuclear medicines creates radioactive trash that must be shipped to one of three specially licensed facilities for storage. On July 1, one of those three, the Energy Solutions landfill in South Carolina, will close. For Pennsylvania and 35 other states, it is the only place to send some forms of low-level radioactive waste. And while alternative temporary storage might be available, experts say a bigger issue is finding a long-term solution. “This will be a national crisis,” said the director of Pennsylvania’s Radiation Control Program (RCP). “Many states will not have adequate storage.” The lack of disposal capacity is driving some companies that make nuclear medicines out of the country, said the director of Pennsylvania’s RCP. State and industry officials are anticipating that the private sector will fill the void. Waste Control Specialists in Texas is seeking permission to accept higher-level radioactive waste at its facility.

Details Here: www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1212963006280660.x ml&coll=1&thispage=1

first published week of:   06/23/2008

Drought could force nuke-plant shutdowns

Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be forced to throttle back or temporarily shut down later this year because drought is drying up the rivers and lakes that supply power plants with the cooling water they need to operate. Utility officials say such shutdowns probably would not result in blackouts, but they could lead to higher electric bills for millions of Southerners, because the region’s utilities could be forced to buy expensive replacement power from other energy companies. Already, there has been one brief, drought-related shutdown, at a reactor in Alabama over the summer. An Associated Press analysis of the nation’s 104 nuclear reactors found that 24 are in areas experiencing the most severe levels of drought. All but two are built on the shores of lakes and rivers and rely on submerged intake pipes to draw billions of gallons of water for use in cooling and condensing steam after it has turned the plants’ turbines. Over the next several months, the water could drop below the intake pipes altogether. Or the shallow water could become too hot under the sun to use as coolant. An estimated 3 million customers of the four commercial utilities with reactors in the drought zone get their power from nuclear energy.

Details Here: biz.yahoo.com/ap/080123/drought_nuclear_power.html?.v=1

first published week of:   01/28/2008

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