U-Z

United States and Illinois file Clean Air Act lawsuit against Midwest Generation

The U.S. and the state of Illinois have filed a civil complaint against Midwest Generation LLC, alleging that the company violated, and continues to violate, the Clean Air Act, announced the Justice Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Illinois Attorney General’s office. The complaint alleges that Midwest Generation made major modifications to its coal-fired power plants in Illinois without also installing and operating required pollution control equipment. As a result, Midwest Generation’s six Illinois power plants, which have a combined capacity of more than 6,000 megawatts, are illegally emitting massive amounts of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter. The complaint also alleges that emissions from Midwest Generation violated opacity and particulate matter limits. The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department on behalf of the EPA and the state of Illinois Attorney General’s Office, asks the court to order Midwest Generation to install and operate state-of-the-art air pollution control technology to substantially reduce emissions from the Midwest Generation power plants. The suit also seeks civil penalties up to the maximum amount authorized by law, as well as actions by Midwest Generation to mitigate the adverse public health and environmental effects caused by the violations. To combat these adverse effects, the EPA and the Justice Department are pursuing a national initiative, targeting electric utilities whose coal-fired power plants violate the law. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Details Here

first published week of:   09/01/2009

Unpaid Utility Bills on the Rise - By Jon T. Brock

So if the economic news weren’t depressing enough, I shuddered when I heard the new unemployment figures released last Friday from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics: U.S. jobs lost in 2008 have reached 2.6 million. Couple that with the prospect that things will get worse before they get better, and utilities have an ever-increasing issue in their credit and collections departments, the group responsible for collecting overdue commodity bills.

Every year UtiliPoint surveys over 308 utilities in North America on customer service, including the credit & collections departments. The resulting analysis and report marks the sixth annual survey of North American utilities by UtiliPoint and provides unique trending analysis when compared to the surveys of the previous years

Details Here

first published week of:   01/26/2009

Utilities Find New Ways to Cope

From winter’s ice and heavy snow to summer’s tropical storms and hurricanes, extreme weather has been offering North America’s electric utilities repeated lessons in emergency preparedness. Further, it has raised questions in state after state about whether utility companies are adequately prepared to respond to the storm-related outages, and what additional measures need to be taken in the future to improve reliability.

Disaster preparedness breaks down into two distinct camps. One side favors a “hardening” approach that clears vegetation near wires and replaces wood poles with concrete, steel or composite structures, or by burying the entire system below ground. The other side looks to developing intelligent grid technology to better focus the efforts of its on-the-ground restoration crews, thereby decreasing electricity outage time to a larger volume of its customers. Both camps cite cost versus benefits, as their customers ultimately bear the brunt of these costs.

Details Here

first published week of:   01/05/2009

Utilities to tweet if hurricane hits

If a hurricane hits South Carolina this summer, some utilities will use Twitter to update customers about power outages and safety messages. “If the power goes out, and their cell phone is still charged up, Twitter gives us the opportunity to share information with customers,” said an employee of Charlotte-based Duke Energy, which serves 600,000 customers in South Carolina. Cell phones could be a vital communication link if a storm causes widespread power outages, darkens TV stations, and disrupts land-line telephone service, the utilities added. A check with other power companies found that Progress Energy and State-operated Santee Cooper plan to incorporate Twitter into their public communications arsenal if a hurricane impacts their South Carolina service areas. Florida-based Progress serves about 200,000 customers in the Pee Dee region, while Santee Cooper has 155,000 customers in three coastal counties, and provides juice for 625,000 more customers of the state’s 20 electric cooperatives. South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., which powers 652,000 homes and businesses, is studying the possibility of using Twitter, a spokesman said.

Details Here

first published week of:   06/22/2009

Utility CIO to Join Sierra Energy Group

Energy industry veteran and former utility CIO Bart Thielbar has joined Sierra Energy Group (SEG), a division of Energy Central. SEG provides IT and Smart Grid research, analysis and consulting services to leading electric and natural gas utilities and vendors to the industry. Thielbar will co-lead new SEG services, including consulting and information technology (IT) research, analysis and benchmarking.

“Bart’s addition to our team continues to strengthen the insight and experience Sierra Energy Group brings to the utility industry,” states Steve Drazga, CEO of Energy Central. “Our team understands the technologies that are critical to enabling the Intelligent Utility, and have an excellent track record in assisting both utilities and vendors in developing clear, actionable plans and strategies.”

Details Here

first published week of:   06/15/2009

--Page 1 of 3--

Volume 31

-->