Free Republic

Colorado-based cooperative Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association will accelerate the closure of a coal-fired unit in the northwestern part of CO, and announced a retirement date for an Arizona coal plant. Tri-State said it wants to acquire at least another 1,250 MW of renewable energy generation over the next several years. The not-for-profit company, which serves rural electricity consumers across four western states, said the ERP filed with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission seeks to take advantage of funding from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s $9.7 billion Empowering Rural America program, part of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. The...

A $4 billion Panasonic electric vehicle battery factory in De Soto, Kansas, will help satisfy the Biden administration’s efforts to get everyone into an EV. It also will help extend the life of a coal-fired power plant. Resource Adequacy Panasonic broke ground on the facility last year. The Japanese company was slated to receive $6.8 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, which has been pouring billions into electric vehicles and battery factories as part of its effort to transition America away from fossil fuels. The Kansas City Star reports that the factory will require between 200 and 250 megawatts of...

(CNSNews.com) – “Thinking of renting or selling a home or apartment?” asks the Environmental Protection Agency. “Make sure you disclose its lead-based paint history. Mr. Wolfe Landau did not and it cost him a $20,000 fine.” Landau is one of the many landlords and realtors fined by the EPA for failing to provide an “EPA-approved” pamphlet to tenants seeking to rent or buy a house built before 1978. And for the EPA, the non-compliance business is booming. Juan Hernandez of Bridgeport, Conn., faces seven “Level 1” violations for failing to provide seven tenants with a copy of the “Protect Your...

Well, your ability to guess why the Murray Energy Corporation today announced that it is closing a mine in Brilliant, Ohio will be largely dependent on whether you rely on local news or not. If you’re just paying attention to local news… you won’t be told at all why a coal mine that employed 239 people at its peak laid off 24 of its remaining 56 employees today, with the remaining to be (hopefully) integrated into the company elsewhere; in fact, you won’t even be told that the mine employed that many people directly. But if you go to the...

Black Hills Corp. said Monday that its utilities will close some older coal-fired power plants because it would cost too much to bring them in compliance with new federal and state environmental regulations. The company said its Colorado Electric subsidiary will idle a plant in Canon City, Colo... The Black Hills Power subsidiary will suspend operations Aug. 31 at a coal-fired unit in Rapid City, S.D., and retire the plant in March 2014. It also plans to retire plants near Gillette and Osage, Wyo., in March 2014...

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a record of decision that will allow federal funding to help build a 400 MW plant that combines an integrated gasification combined-cycle system with urea production and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. The Summit Texas Clean Energy Project will be partially funded with $450 million from DOE’s Clean Coal Power Initiative. The plant, owned by Summit Texas Clean Energy LLC, will produce power by converting subbituminous coal into hydrogen-rich synthesis gas andcarbon dioxide (CO2). The syngas and steam will be fed to the combined-cycle combustion and steam turbine generator to produce 200...

Three environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing the Lower Colorado River Authority of violating the Clean Air Act for nearly a decade at its coal-fired power plant 90 miles west of Houston. The groups allege that the Austin-based utility has made modifications to three generators at the 1,760-megawatt Fayette Power Project but failed to install modern pollution control equipment. As a result, the power plant has released massive amounts of tiny particles, or soot, that can cause lung damage and premature death, the groups claim in the suit, which was filed at the U.S. District Court in Houston....

There is a coal plant being proposed in a very small mining town in northeast Michigan. It was proposed 3 years ago. The main issue right now is gaining an air quality permit from the Michigan DEQ. If you would like to know all the hurdles and hoops a coal plant has to go through for approval,as well as the tactics of the environmentalists and the politicians, please read my play-by-play. I have 16 parts done right now, and about 3 more will bring me up to date. The story is ongoing. The Proposed Coal-Fired Power Plant in Rogers City,...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution Tuesday opposing the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, close to the spot that draws thousands of people every year to the Burning Man festival. The resolution passed unanimously with extensive public comment from environmental advocates. It urges the city of Los Angeles to reject Sempra Energy's application to the Department of Water and Power to tap the regional transmission line it partially owns to carry electricity across the border to California. "This won't be the straw that broke the camel's back, but it's...