TheRepublic.com - Energy News

Huge wind turbine blade falls in So. Cal

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:47:36 -0400

OCOTILLO, California - Hundreds of wind farms around the world have slowed operations after huge turbine blades fell in Southern California and Iowa.

Protesters rally at FirstEnergy meeting in W.Va.

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:47:01 -0400

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia - At least 200 union workers picketed FirstEnergy's annual shareholder meeting in West Virginia on Tuesday, demanding the Ohio-based utility hire enough people to keep the power on without forcing an ever-shrinking labor force to work as many as 1,800 hours of overtime a year.

Expert: Summer gas costs likely lower than 2012

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:17:26 -0400

WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana - A Purdue University economist says he expects this summer's gasoline prices to be lower than last year.

Proposal to sell state properties up for vote

Tue, 21 May 2013 05:09:20 -0400

MADISON, Wisconsin - A wide-reaching change that would allow the state to sell off properties ranging from prisons and power plants to University of Wisconsin dormitories and state highways is up for approval before the Legislature's budget committee.

Palisades water tank repairs take to early summer

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:59:17 -0400

COVERT TOWNSHIP, Michigan - Operators of the idled Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in southwestern Michigan say repairs to a tank that leaked slightly radioactive water into Lake Michigan will take until early summer to complete.

Kemper overruns claim Miss. Power's president

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:12:38 -0400

JACKSON, Mississippi - Ed Day said his main job as president of Mississippi Power Co. was to successfully complete the company's Kemper County power plant.

3 hurt in second fire in a week at Wheatland plant

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:11:27 -0400

WHEATLAND, Wyoming - One worker was hospitalized and two others treated and released after a second fire in a week at the same power plant.

Xcel Energy plans biomass demo project in Colorado

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:40:28 -0400

DENVER - Xcel Energy Inc. is asking Colorado regulators to approve a demonstration project that would use forest biomass to generate electricity.

Firm to appeal nuclear plant whistleblower case

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:08:43 -0400

WICHITA, Kansas - An engineering firm accused of firing a whistleblower for reporting unsafe conditions at an eastern Kansas nuclear power plant plans to appeal the ruling by federal regulators, the firm said Monday.

Coal operator plans to open 7 mines in Pike County

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:46:04 -0400

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky - A longtime coal operator plans to open seven mines in the heart of the eastern Kentucky coalfields in a venture expected to create more than 250 jobs in a hard-pressed region where several thousand mining jobs have disappeared in recent years.

Crisp: Climate change reaches scary milestone

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:21:57 -0400

Last week, with very little attention, our fragile globe cruised quietly past what some news sources called a "milestone": On May 10, the atmospheric concentration of the heat-trapping gas carbon dioxide reached an average daily level of just over 400 parts per million. - The New York Times called this an "odometer moment," meaning, I guess, that it's an event we note casually, like when our car reaches 100,000 miles. And then we keep our foot on the gas and start on the next 100,000.

Walmart pushing for more Ark. product makers

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:35:43 -0400

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas - With labor and energy costs on the rise in Asia, Walmart highlighted an effort to promote domestic goods on Monday, including products made by more than 40 Arkansas suppliers.

FirstEnergy defends $1B deal for W.Va. power plant

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:31:32 -0400

FAIRMONT, West Virginia - The $1.1 billion cost of selling a coal-fired power plant from one FirstEnergy subsidiary to another is "a reasonable price for protection" against the more expensive option of buying electricity on the spot market to meet demand in West Virginia, a utility executive said Monday.

Feds again delay San Onofre nuke restart decision

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:15:12 -0400

LOS ANGELES - Federal regulators have indefinitely delayed a decision on the proposed restart of the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant in California, raising new questions Monday about whether the twin reactors will produce electricity again.

Developer of Wyo. wind farm seeks permit extension

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:46:14 -0400

CHEYENNE, Wyoming - A Utah company that proposes to build a wind farm south of Douglas is seeking an extension under its state permit.

Storms generate Iowa tornado damage, no injuries

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:31:19 -0400

DES MOINES, Iowa - A storm system carrying high wind, hail and Iowa's first tornadoes in nearly a year moved through the state Sunday, damaging some homes and knocking out power to thousands. No one was injured.

Ascension considers getting into utility business

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:52:20 -0400

GONZALES, Louisiana - Ascension Parish government officials, already trying to pull together the early pieces of a parish-wide sewer system, also have been investigating the possibility of getting into the natural gas and water business.

Idaho Power sticks with coal to meet power demands

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:14:33 -0400

BOISE, Idaho - Idaho Power Co. will continue to rely on coal to meet the state's energy demands, company officials said.

Residents opposing Lookout Mountain wind farm

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:35:59 -0400

GADSDEN, Alabama - Some residents near a proposed wind farm on Lookout Mountain are getting organized to oppose the project.

Shuttered Hastings ethanol plant closing permanent

Sat, 18 May 2013 19:28:24 -0400

HASTINGS, Nebraska - A Hastings ethanol plant that announced in February that it would temporarily shut down will not reopen.

Lincoln utility looks to triple wind energy use

Sat, 18 May 2013 18:49:45 -0400

LINCOLN, Nebraska - Lincoln's public power utility plans to as much as triple the amount of wind energy it uses now within the next two years.

Proposed setbacks could sink Ind. wind farm

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:52:30 -0400

MUNCIE, Indiana - A central Indiana official says the tough conditions opponents of a planned wind farm are seeking for the project would leave little room for the proposed power-generating wind turbines.

Owner of fuel pipeline planning Ark. changes

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:42:58 -0400

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas - An owner of a pipeline that supplies diesel and jet fuel to Arkansas locations plans to stop moving those products and businesses are working to find alternative suppliers.

Gas prices on pace for all-time highs in ND, SD

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:08:09 -0400

FARGO, North Dakota - Gas prices in the Dakotas are poised to reach all-time highs.

Plan for Eastern Oregon power plant moves ahead

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:56:05 -0400

BAKER CITY, Oregon - Baker County commissioners have approved a contact with a firm that will complete the necessary paperwork to build a hydroelectric power plant southwest of Baker City.