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Study details lack of economic feasibility around North American initiatives; costly and/or failed efforts at Duke’s Edwardsport, NRG’s Petra Nova, SaskPower’s Boundary Dam, and Southern Co.’s Kemper plant; technology seen as unworkable and too expensive for fast-changing electricity-generation markets
Nov. 19, 2018 (IEEFA) — A study published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis concludes that costly efforts undertaken in North America to develop workable, economic technology to capture carbon from coal-fired generation have come up short. Further, the study concludes that technology developments in the renewable energy and natural gas sectors […]
IEEFA
S&P Global Market Intelligence ($): The Jacksonville, Fla., municipal utility is ramping up efforts to exit a power contract tied to the Vogtle nuclear plant expansion, with JEA’s interim CEO calling on the project’s owners to vote against continuing construction at the venture. JEA is in a power purchase agreement, or PPA, with the Municipal […]
Dennis Wamsted
In announcing earlier this month that Southern Company was raising its subsidiary Georgia Power’s share of the already-too-expensive and long-delayed Vogtle nuclear project by $1.1 billion, CEO Tom Fanning increased the utility’s 45.7 percent stake in the plant to $8.4 billion. It seems a highly misguided move. While Fanning continued to defend the roughly 2,234 […]
IEEFA
Atlanta Business Chronicle: The state of Georgia gave its blessing to fuel a new program that lets major corporate players buy renewable energy directly from Georgia Power. Google announced Tuesday that the state approved a partnership involving Walmart Inc., Target Corp., Johnson & Johnson, and Alphabet Inc., for a “first of its kind” program in Georgia that […]
Karl Cates
Cautionary Tales from Illinois, Indiana, and Mississippi
The history of coal-gasification experimentation for electricity production doesn’t bode very well for further efforts along those lines. In fact, it serves as a warning, specifically for stakeholders in a well-known aging coal-fired plant now being talked about in some circles as a candidate for just such an experiment. That supposed contender for coal gasification […]
IEEFA
Bloomberg News: Tom Fanning is the only energy executive in America willing to bet billions on nuclear power. The chief executive officer of utility giant Southern Co. is renowned for his boundless optimism, which he generously spreads around. He’s chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, co-leader of one industry group and a former […]
Press Release
‘Important and Painful Lessons’ in Southern Company’s Kemper Failure in Mississippi and Duke Energy’s Edwardsport Experiment in Indiana
Sept. 7, 2017 (IEEFA.org) — The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) today published a report describing how coal-to-gasification technology for electricity-generation purposes remains commercially unviable. The report—“Using Coal Gasification to Generate Electricity: A Multibillion-Dollar Failure”—concludes that two long-running marquee American Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC), projects, Duke Energy’s Edwardsport plant in Indiana […]
IEEFA
Wamsted on Energy: The nuclear morass that has ensnared utility executives, state regulators, and legislators in South Carolina and Georgia shows no signs of easing its grip. Southern is set to decide soon whether its Georgia Power subsidiary will seek to complete Vogtle 3 & 4 even though the total cost for the much-delayed nuclear […]
IEEFA
Associated Press: The company that supplies lignite coal to Mississippi Power Co.’s Kemper County power plant says it will lay off 75 workers at the mine. It’s the latest fallout from the suspending the part of the plant that was supposed to gasify coal and remove pollutants. Mississippi Power has said it could lay off […]
Karl Cates
U.S. Nuclear Industry Reconsiders Expansion; Utility Exec Sees Less Risk in Turbine Farm Than Coal; Keystone XL Doesn’t Pencil Out Anymore
It’s de rigueur anymore for energy companies across the board to play up their clean-energy commitments—actual or just advertised—but executives at American Electric Power put some of their money where their mouths were in announcing intentions last week to invest $4.5 billion in the new Wind Catcher farm in Oklahoma. AEP’s logic is rooted in […]
IEEFA report: ‘Holy Grail’ of carbon capture continues to elude coal industry; ‘cautionary tale’ applies to domestic and foreign projects alike
Study details lack of economic feasibility around North American initiatives; costly and/or failed efforts at Duke’s Edwardsport, NRG’s Petra Nova, SaskPower’s Boundary Dam, and Southern Co.’s Kemper plant; technology seen as unworkable and too expensive for fast-changing electricity-generation marketsNov. 19, 2018 (IEEFA) — A study published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis concludes that costly efforts undertaken in North America to develop workable, economic technology to capture carbon from coal-fired generation have come up short. Further, the study concludes that technology developments in the renewable energy and natural gas sectors […]