The Associated Press published its findings of a yearlong investigation into the security of the U.S. power grid, and its conclusions are not heartening: About a dozen times in the last decade, foreign hackers have gained enough access to operational networks and power plants to allow them to control the flow of power over the grid.
The AP conducted more than 120 interviews with industry experts and government officials, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity. These sources said hackers from Iran, China and Russia have penetrated the grid and remain “stowed away” where they can strike at will. “If the geopolitical situation changes and Iran wants to target these facilities, if they have this kind of information it will make it a lot easier,” said Robert M. Lee, a former U.S. Air Force cyberwarfare operations officer.
In its report, the news service delved into one such attack on Calpine in August 2013, where hackers gained access to passwords and diagrams of multiple power plants. The AP’s sources pointed to aging network infrastructure — such as computers running on Windows 95 and boot up on floppy disks — used to manage substations and power plants that are simply unable to respond or even detect intrusions.
More: Associated Press
States, Others File Amicus Briefs in Review of CPV Contracts
More than a dozen states, associations and others filed amicus briefs with the Supreme Court last week in two federal-state jurisdictional cases pitting New Jersey and Maryland regulators against FERC.
The court said in October that it would review lower court rulings throwing out state-issued contracts Competitive Power Ventures won to build a 660-MW combined-cycle plant in Maryland and a 663-MW plant in Woodbridge, N.J. (See SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Md., NJ-FERC Subsidy Case.)
The main parties filed their briefs in early December. Last week, the court received friend of the court briefs from others including the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, the American Public Power Association, NRG Energy and officials from more than a dozen states.
More: Harvard Environmental Law Program; Dockets: Case 14-623, Case 14-614
GOP Accuses EPA of Using ‘Covert Propaganda’
House Republicans are questioning the legality of EPA’s use of social media in its climate rule campaign. While not citing any specific alleged abuses, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said that last week’s Government Accountability Office report accusing EPA of violating the law when promoting its water rule calls into question “the use of social media to promote other rulemaking activity.”
“For example, EPA undertook an extensive social media messaging campaign in support of its Clean Power Plan, authoring blog posts and posting messages on Facebook and Twitter,” Upton said in a letter to EPA.
An EPA spokeswoman said the use of social media was aimed at educating the public, not influencing policy. “EPA stands by its outreach efforts on the Clean Power Plan,” she said.
More: The Hill
More than Half of New Capacity was Renewable in 2014
Electricity derived from renewable sources made up more than half of the country’s new energy capacity installations in 2014, according to a report by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Solar grew the fastest, increasing by more than 54% and adding 5.5 GW.
Renewable power made up 15.5% of total installed capacity and 13.5% of total generation.
More: Computerworld
EPA Ruling Spurs Rise in Coal Ash Use
The beneficial use of post-combustion coal products — more commonly known as ash — surged in 2014, mostly because of the clarification of federal regulations governing its use.
The American Coal Association said 62.4 million tons of ash, or 48% of all ash produced in 2014, were beneficially used in various applications, such as fill. That is up 21% from 51.4 million tons used in 2013.
EPA signaled in 2014 that it was rethinking coal ash’s “hazardous material” designation, spurring increased use, the association said. The agency finalized disposal regulations in December 2014 and it was designated non-hazardous. Figures for 2015 are not yet available.
More: Power Magazine
Senate Confirms Cherry Murray as DOE Sciences Director
The Senate has confirmed Cherry Murray, the former dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, as the Energy Department’s new director of the Office of Science. She’ll oversee research in fusion energy, high-energy physics and nuclear physics, among other areas.
“Dr. Murray will be an outstanding director of the Office of Science, drawing upon her experience in academia as professor and dean of one of country’s leading universities of engineering and applied sciences,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said. The Office of Science also oversees the department’s 17 national laboratories.
In addition to her academic positions at Harvard, Murray has served as associate director and deputy director at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, held positions at Bell Laboratories, and most recently served on the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. She received her bachelor’s and doctorate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
More: Department of Energy
IEA says Global Demand for Coal Stalls in 2014
Global coal demand stalled for the first time since the 1990s because of increased renewable energy production, more stringent environmental regulations and a decline in industrial use, according to the International Energy Agency.
The agency said that China’s declining appetite for coal caused much of the stall. Although the country continues to build coal-burning power plants, it is also increasing its use of hydro, wind and solar power.
The IEA said it predicts that coal will provide a significant but shrinking share of the world’s generation, from the current 41% to 37% by 2020.
More: Associated Press
Akron Company Gets $1.3 Million from DOE for Clean Steam Plant
Ohio company Echogen Power Systems is getting a $1.3 million Energy Department grant to develop a cleaner coal-burning power plant. The government’s Supercritical Transformational Electric Power program is providing it with funding to explore the use of supercritical carbon dioxide, or carbon dioxide at high temperature and pressure.
Echogen, which operates out of a former steel company building in downtown Akron, is using supercritical carbon dioxide technology to boost waste-heat capturing systems in industrial applications. It will use the money to develop a 10-MW demonstration plant to employ supercritical carbon dioxide in a coal-burning system. It says using supercritical carbon dioxide will require less fuel and produce fewer emissions.
Construction of the plant is scheduled to start in 2019, according to Echogen.
More: Akron Beacon Journal
FTC to Review Energy Transfer, Williams Cos. Merger
The Federal Trade Commission is reviewing the proposed merger of Energy Transfer Equity with The Williams Companies. The $37.7 billion merger would create the third largest energy franchise in North America.
Energy Transfer and Williams confirmed that FTC would review the proposed combination of the two pipeline giants. The deal also needs FERC approval, which would have to rule that the merger would be in the public interest.
The FTC review will determine if any antitrust issues would arise with such a merger. One legal expert, Franklin G. Snyder of Texas A&M School of Law, said he believes there will be few roadblocks. “Reports so far suggest that the antitrust problems will not be too serious and that it would likely get FTC approval, but the FTC will certainly be looking very closely,” he said.
More: Texas Lawyer
FERC to Consider Columbia’s $1 Billion Modernization Program
Columbia Transmission, operator of a network of natural gas pipelines serving the Northeast and the Appalachian shale region, has filed a $1 billion modernization program with FERC.
Columbia said it will replace more than 130 miles of pipe, update its preventative maintenance program and add nearly 80,000 horsepower of compression to its standby fleet of compressors to increase reliability in times of high demand and cold temperatures. The proposed modernization program will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 20,000 tons a year, according to the company.
The company has asked FERC to approve the customer agreement surrounding the modernization program by the end of March.
More: Columbia Pipeline Group
The Siting Council last week issued a 16-page draft fact-finding report on the 63.3-MW fuel cell power plant Beacon Falls Energy Park. The council is expected to rule early next year on whether the plant can be built on a former sand and gravel pit.
Delmarva Power and Light customers will begin seeing how much of their monthly bill goes to subsidize Bloom Energy under an order approved this month by the Public Service Commission.
The Commerce Commission has suspended an $800 million plan to replace 250 miles of Peoples Gas mains over the next three years.
Residents turned up last week to protest NIPSCO’s proposed electric rate increase at a Utility Regulatory Commission regional hearing.
The Corporation Commission has taken a first step toward figuring out how the state will comply with EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which forces states to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions.
Gov. Sam Brownback and other state and county leaders recently inaugurated the Buckeye Wind Energy Center, a 200-MW project northwest of Hays. The 25,000-acre wind farm, owned and operated by Invenergy, includes 112 GE 1.7X100 turbines.
South Portland officials have rejected two proposals from developers seeking to build solar power farms on city properties, including a former landfill.
The Public Service Commission granted a $238 million rate increase to DTE Energy that would raise the average monthly residential bill by $8.22.
The state’s farming community is still blocking Clean Line Energy’s $2.2 billion Grain Belt Express transmission line, which has been approved in three other states.
The market value of Talen Energy’s stake in a coal plant has declined 87% over the past two years, according to figures provided to the Great Falls Tribune by state revenue officials.
The Board of Public Utilities last week approved plans by South Jersey Gas to build a 22-mile natural gas line through the Pine Barrens without any further review. The decision came after the staff of the Pinelands Commission approved the project without putting it to the commission’s board.
The state legislature continued its renewable push by passing a bill that requires the Board of Public Utilities to reconsider the Fishermen’s Energy offshore wind project, regardless of its cost.
The Public Regulation Commission last week adopted a plan to shutter part of the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station, bringing to a close years of wrangling over the best way to curb pollution while limiting the effects on utility bills and the region’s economy.
The solar industry on Long Island is turning its attention from residential installations to commercial systems. One of the island’s largest commercial rooftop installations was unveiled at the Clare Rose beverage distribution facility in Yaphank, a $3.5 million project that will supply more than 90% of the company’s electricity and pay for itself in less than five years. The federal tax credit for that project will exceed $1 million.
Ohio University’s on-campus power plant burned its last ton of coal on Thanksgiving Day and is now heating its buildings with natural gas, a switch that was completed six weeks ahead of schedule. The university had set Dec. 31 as the deadline to switching fuels, but work on the changeover was completed early.
A newly announced EPA haze rule could cost the Coleto Creek coal-fired power plant near Victoria more than $100 million.
El Paso Electric’s proposed rate increase should be reduced almost $48 million, or 67% less than the utility has sought, the City of El Paso said in documents filed with the Public Utility Commission.
Odessa Development Corp. voted to extend the land agreement with Summit Power Group, allowing the company to build a $2.5 billion power plant that captures and stores carbon on a 600-acre site.
Green Mountain Power says it will build a manure digester in St. Albans that will turn cow dung from three farms into electricity and reduce phosphorous pollution into Lake Champlain.
The Commerce Commission last week approved new delivery rates for Ameren’s electric and gas customers. A typical monthly electric bill will increase in January by $2 to $7, while gas bills will increase $2 to $6.
Duke Energy Indiana has revised its seven-year $1.83 billion plan to revamp the state’s aging electric grid, hoping to avoid a full-blown rate proceeding. Duke’s 800,000-plus electricity customers in the state are expected to pay about 6% more from 2017 to 2022 to pay for the upgrades.
It is becoming more expensive and complicated to get new energy projects approved in the state, business leaders lamented at the 2015 New Hampshire Energy Symposium, hosted by the New Hampshire Business and Industry Association.
The state’s Green Bank has joined a new international network of public entities to facilitate financing for clean energy initiatives.
About 50 people gathered recently in Schefield to argue against the proposed 87-turbine Brady Wind Energy Center in southern Stark County.
The attorney general is suing Chesapeake Energy following an investigation into the company’s dealings with landowners to secure oil and gas leases.
Chattanooga Wastewater Resources officials want to build a facility to generate electricity from the 300,000 cubic feet of methane produced each day by a sewage treatment plant.
Project opponents had maintained that the application was incomplete because developers had not shown they had property access along its entire route, especially at its northernmost point. State environmental officials and a group representing independent power producers had raised questions about site access. (See