Free Republic

U.S. power companies are facing supply crunches that may hamper their ability to keep the lights on as the nation heads into the heat of summer and the peak hurricane season. Extreme weather events such as storms, wildfires and drought are becoming more common in the United States. Consumer power use is expected to hit all-time highs this summer, which could strain electric grids at a time when federal agencies are warning the weather could pose reliability issues. Utilities are warning of supply constraints for equipment, which could hamper efforts to restore power during outages. They are also having a...

The coal plant is closing, along with the mine that feeds it and has nearly 115 more employees, and all the workers will lose their jobs over the next decade ... The same scenario is playing out in other small towns across the U.S. After decades of relying on coal for their workforce, tax base and way of life, the towns face uncertain futures as new state and national legislation forces the retirement of fossil fuels ... The impact spreads beyond the plants workers and is felt by the rest of the community, too. In Craig, much of the infrastructure...

A widening investigation into allegations of high-level corruption on the island of Malta, first levelled by murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, stretches to China and a $400 million investment into Europe by a Chinese state power company, Reuters has found. Caruana Galizia was murdered in October 2017 as she investigated a web of companies that she believed were funneling bribes to Maltese politicians. Now, Reuters and a consortium of journalists have traced two firms involved in that web to relatives of a senior Chinese executive for Accenture, the global consultancy firm. The executive, 43-year-old Chen Cheng from Shanghai, negotiated investments...

Easy fix eludes power outage problems in US Buried lines an option, but costly By Chris Khan and Eric Tucker The Capital WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of storms that knocked out power to millions, sweltering residents and elected officials are demanding to know why it's taking so long to restring power lines and why they're not more resilient in the first place. The answer, it turns out, is complicated: Above-ground lines are vulnerable to lashing winds and falling trees, but relocating them underground incurs huge costs - as much as $15 million per mile of buried line - and...

General Electric (GE) thinks 100 kilobits per second might be fine for reading electric meters. But 1 to 2 megabits per second is what's needed to make the split-second automation of the electricity distribution grid a reality. That's what GE expects its new WiMax-based wireless communication system will be able to achieve for utility CenterPoint Energy (CNP) In a contract announced Monday, GE will install a network of its WiMax-based MDS Mercury 3650 radios to link the utility's "backhaul" communications systems to collection points. Those collection points will aggregate data from millions of so-called "smart meters" that CenterPoint is installing...

Not sure about posting rules, so I'm just putting up the link.

Plan Could “Chase Away” Tens of Billion Of Dollars In High-Tech Investment From Western States Denver, CO (Feb. 18, 2009)—A new study says that a climate action plan promoted by several Western governors could prolong the economic recession, weaken already overburdened Western power grids and will deliver a temperature “benefit” of only one ten-thousandth of a degree Celsius even after a century of operation. The study, commissioned by the Western Business Roundtable, found that the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade plan could “chase away tens of billions of dollars in high technology investment from the West to...

Coal-producing states that supply nearly half of the nation’s electricity are feeling squeezed as efforts to combat global warming outpace technology needed to make the nation’s most abundant fossil fuel burn more cleanly. In 2007, proposals for 59 coal plants were scrapped in 24 states, either by state regulators concerned about the effects of carbon-dioxide emissions or by power companies worried about the future costs of pollution, according to data from the Sierra Club. Now, governors and other officials from major mining states are intensifying calls to expand technologies to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions from coal power ...~~snip~~ Coal is now...

With Barely a Sound, Electric Dragsters Aim for Gas-Powered Records PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Straddling a 619-pound motorcycle, Scotty Pollacheck tucks in his knees and lowers his head as he waits for the green light. When he revs the engine, there's no roar. The bike moves so fast that within seconds all that's visible is a faint red taillight melting in the distance. Pollacheck crosses the quarter-mile marker doing 156 mph; he's traveled 1,320 feet in 8.22 seconds, faster than any of the gas-powered cars, trucks or motorcycles that have raced in the drag sprints on this weekend at Portland...

Firefly Energy has received a U.S. patent for a new lead acid battery technology that it believes has the potential to revolutionize the existing $16 billion worldwide lead acid battery market as well as serve applications like hybrid electric vehicles which historically aren't suitable for lead acid batteries. ~snip~ The invention is a battery comprised of an electrical current collector constructed of carbon or lightweight graphite foam. This foam exhibits a sizeable increase in surface area for chemical reactions to take place and eliminates the need for heavy lead plates found in traditional batteries. The graphite material resists corrosion and...

the end of the m.e.?They call this "convergence." Old lines are changing, or disappearing altogether. What it's doing under the hood is downright electrifying. by Peter W. Huber and Mark P. Mills The turf still divides up quite neatly. The electrical engineers move the light stuff—electrons, power, bits, and logic. The mechanical engineers do the heavy lifting; they move atoms. And, like it or not, the MEs still control most of the real estate. Look at our cars. They're made of big heavy things that shake, bounce, and sway; they're propelled by pistons, shafts, gears, and belts; controlled by...

PHOENIX (AP) -- They look like cobwebs or huge balls of spaghetti hanging from electric poles across Mexico, gigantic clusters of illegal electric lines known as diablitos, or "little devils." Dentist Benjamin Rodriguez has one hanging outside his window in the Xochimilco neighborhood of Mexico City. Like an evil parasite, it makes his lights flicker and stops his dental drill. Occasionally, the transformer across the street explodes. "Six or seven times a year, the power just goes out completely," Rodriguez said. "You call the power company and they come and cut all the illegal lines and the next day they're...

HOW IT WORKS HIGH-speed Internet access usually comes to homes through one of two wires: a telephone line for D.S.L. subscribers, or a coaxial cable for cable modem users. But an emerging technology known as broadband over power lines, or B.P.L., may soon offer a third wire into homes, channeling high-speed data through a somewhat improbable conduit: an ordinary electrical outlet. B.P.L. is the ultimate in plug-and-play. Users plug a small power line modem into any wall outlet and then connect the modem to a computer with a U.S.B. or Ethernet cable, or through a wireless Wi-Fi connection. The appeal...

WASHINGTON - There is growing frustration among many power-industry officials and watchdogs that, one year after the country's biggest blackout, electric reliability rules are still voluntary. They worry that as the memory of that day fades, the momentum to improve the grid will, too. Related Quotes EXCDJIANASDAQ^SPC 36.019815.331776.89N/A +0.48-147.70-44.74N/A delayed 20 mins - disclaimerQuote Data provided by Reuters   Routine surveillance of the industry has been ratcheted-up in recent months, with government and industry engineers publishing their findings online. However, outside experts and even those involved in the so-called audits expect only a short-term benefit from a compliance strategy that relies...

REPUBLICANS WORK TO ADDRESS ENERGY NEEDS BUT DEMOCRATS AREN'T INTERESTEDGEPHARDT - 18 Missed Votes (100% of Energy Votes This Session) 130: Energy Plan - Previous Question 131: Energy Plan - Rule 132: Energy Plan - Oil Consumption 133: Energy Plan - Alt. Electricity Provisions 134: Energy Plan - ANWR Limit 135: Energy Plan - ANWR Drilling 136: Energy Plan - Federal Contracts 137: Energy Plan - Gas Reserves 138: Energy Plan - Uranium Mining 142: Energy Plan - Royalty Payments 143: Energy Plan - Coal Leases 144: Energy Plan - Recommit 145: Energy Plan - Passage 166: Nanotechnology Research -...

Here is what the acolytes of solar power don't want you to know... These are the essentials you need in order to appreciate the absurdity of using solar cell power systems as any kind of sensible alternative. After you read this, ask yourself again how much sense solar power really makes. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO THE SUN'S ENERGY WHEN WE USE SOLAR CELLS TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY:     SOURCE   LOSS - %     POWER - W/m2   1.     solar constant       --   1370W 2.   atmosphere       27   1000W...

Previously on "The Worst Wing": Steve Imbroglio, press secretary to the Governor of California, sips coffee while staring at a graph on his computer screen. He calls out to his assistant, Wanda Bee, "I've been debating whether to spend my tax refund on a new DVD home-theater system or to make an investment in California's future." ---snip--- "I was thinking of buying 100 shares of Pine Cone Corp. Don't you think that would be sending a message of support for home-grown electric power companies in opposition to the out-of-state gougers?" "I think it might be a conflict of interest." ---snip---...

<p>As California reeled toward blackouts early last year, Duke Energy Corp. raised its wholesale power prices, some nearly sixfold in just weeks.</p> <p>On the first day of blackouts, Duke sought to sell the state power for $1,170 per megawatt hour, according to documents The Observer analyzed. Six weeks earlier, Duke offered the state power from the same plant at $200. Duke also raised prices from its other California plants.</p> <p>The average Carolinas home uses one megawatt hour per month at a retail cost of $73.</p>

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Firefighters have 940-acre blaze near Pioche 70 percent contained An unlucky rodent was behind the Lincoln County wildfire that forced more than 300 Pioche residents to evacuate their homes over the weekend. Investigators Monday found a scorched squirrel near a power line that had shorted out on the outskirts of Pioche, where the fire started Saturday afternoon. "The squirrel fell on the power line. Apparently they found his little body near the point of origin," said Vicki Stevens, acting assistant Nevada fire marshal. "They're not sure how he got up there."...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Enron Corp. will build a $100 million power plant near Memphis if the troubled energy company can work through its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a spokesman said Monday. "We're still very early in the development process," Enron spokesman Eric Thode said from the company's headquarters in Houston, Texas. Enron announced last year plans for a plant on 90 acres in Arlington before the company's finances collapsed and it filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors. Thode said Enron is going forward with the plant, with construction to begin in...