** U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) developers are on track to approve three export projects capable of processing 5.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas in the first half of the year, a record volume for new LNG projects in any year. ** NASA comes out against allowing mining of lithium in a …
Category: Wind Energy
Exploring more politics of energy—Mitchell Talks Energy
The ever changing world of energy, whether it’s the politics of government decisions, crude oil production or the environment—-you never know what will be included in the weekly discussion by Scott Mitchell and his “Mitchell Talks Energy” program where he interviews Jerry Bohnen of Oklahoma Energy Today. This week? This week Scott and Jerry discuss …
Nation’s biggest wind farm on track in Wyoming
Groundbreaking ceremonies were planned this week on the nation’s biggest wind farm and the transmission line that will carry the electricity from Wyoming to California. The TransWest Express is the name of the transmission line that will carry electricity from the $5 billion, 3,000-megawatt, 600 turbine Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farm. Both giant …
Energy briefs
** Missouri regulators approve a $140 million rate increase for Ameren Missouri that environmental groups say will require the utility to report avoided costs if two coal plants shut down early. ** Four townships in an eastern Ohio county will hold public hearings this summer on whether to ban large-scale wind and solar projects. ** Eight Baltimore community organizations intend …
Energy highlights
** A U.S. judge has ordered Canadian energy company Enbridge to shutter portions of an oil pipeline that runs through tribal land in Wisconsin within three years and to pay the tribe nearly $5.2 million for trespassing plus a portion of its profits until the shutdown is completed. ** The U.S. electric power system is …
Energy quick reads
** Sen. John Barrasso (Wyo.), the top Republican on the Senate Energy Committee, called on the Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General to investigate Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm after she conceded to wrongly telling the committee she does not own individual stocks. ** The right-to-repair movement has suffered a setback in Massachusetts this week. The …
Kansas regulators green light the 370-mile Grain Belt Express transmission line
The 370-mile long Grain Belt Express Clean Line Project won approval this week from the Kansas Corporation Commission. The line is part of Invenergy Transmission LLC’s plan of transmitting southwest Kansas wind powered electricity over 780 miles east into Illinois. KWCH TV news reported the approval means construction on the Kansas side of the …
Energy quick reads
** A shroud of smoke has sent solar power generation in parts of the eastern US plummeting by more than 50% as wildfires rage in Canada. Solar farms powering New England were producing 56% less energy at times of peak demand compared with the week before, according to the region’s grid operator. Electricity generated by …
Energy briefs
** Roaring wildfires burning across Canadian territories have delivered the types of poor air quality that some of the world’s largest, and most polluted, cities face on a daily basis. Smoke plumes from fires burning in the forests of eastern Canada have drifted to cities like Washington, D.C., New York and Philadelphia, sending them soaring to the …
Wind industry faces challenges across the country
The wind industry is also facing some tough winds as it attempts to widen its hold in the renewable energy growth across the country. But the people who run the Renewable Energy program at Central Community College in Hastings, Nebraska admit their program is on shaky ground. They can’t find enough students interested in …