TVA wants to finish the job

Aug 28, 2008 (Chattanooga Times/Free Press) -- Two decades after suspending construction at the Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant, the Tennessee Valley Authority announced Wednesday it wants federal regulators to reinstate a construction permit for the original twin-reactor plant. More...

TVA buys electricity

Calpine Corp. said Thursday it signed a three-year agreement to sell 500 megawatts of electric power generated at an Alabama energy center to the Tennessee Valley Authority. Link...

Jackson Energy Authority raises rates in wake of TVA rate hike

From the Jackson Sun: On average, the move is expected to add more than $20 each month charges paid by JEA's residential customers this fall. The utility's board also chose to raise its water rate 7 percent and its wastewater rate 9 percent. More...

Increased biofuel efficiency through modification of plant genes

Researchers say modifying genes involved in cell-wall formation could increase biofuel outputs. More...

Obama promises to harness nuclear power

"As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. More...

Coal going after nuclear power? Not here but worth a look.

Read about it here...

Correction

Seems there was a problem with many of the links in today's and yesterday's edition. I think I've corrected the problem. Apologies. mk

TVA rate hike? Grin and pay it

Op-ed: ... nuclear power has come a long way since Three Mile Island, and it is time to put it back on the front burner, for a couple of reasons. Read the entire piece from the Dekalb County Mississippi paper.

Can we finish the reactors already?

TVA asks NRC to renew build permits for 2 reactors

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Valley Authority, faced with growing electricity demand and rising coal costs, asked regulators Wednesday to renew construction permits for two unfinished nuclear reactors it virtually abandoned 20 years ago. More...

Townhall on Energy

Two Republican state reps will be hosting a townhall on energy issues today in Nashville. Click here for details

Who is the ACCCL?

That stands for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity. They are well represented at the Dem Convention.

How goes it for the coal industry in Denver?

Is the effort to promote clean coal technology working at the Dem Convention?

Demand for coal soaring

From W.V. : According to the National Mining Association’s mid-year coal production forecast, coal demands will reach a new record high this year, despite a lagging domestic economy. The total demand for U.S. coal is expected to reach 1.218 billion tons this year alone. More...

And then there were sixteen

Three Dem and three Republican U.S. senators join "gang of ten" in attempt to achieve compromise on offshore drilling

More on TVA rate hike

TVA's rate hike: For the average household, it means an increase of approximately $18 per month, depending on the size of the house, how well it is insulated and the energy habits of the family. More...

corn versus switchgrass

Very good comparison between corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol

Coal making presence known at conventions

DENVER — They may be “green” conventions but the coal industry isn’t burying its head in the sand.
The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), a group of mining companies and electric utilities, plans to spend $1.7 million on advertising and lobbying at the Democratic convention in Denver and the Republican one next week in St. Paul, Minn. More...

Liquid coal gaining momentum

WASHINGTON -- High oil prices are energizing a nascent liquefied-coal industry that hopes to power trains, planes and automobiles from the nation's coal reserves, using modern-day offshoots of technology that powered Adolf Hitler's war machine. More...

Nuke plant in S.C. not knocked off track

Environmentalists trying to block Duke Energy Corp.'s new nuclear plant project in Cherokee County, S.C., were denied on one front today. More...

The TVA rate hike as seen from Fayetteville

News came late last week that Tennessee Valley Authority’s electric rates are going up a total of 20 percent across the Tennessee Valley area, and, according to Fayetteville Public Utilities management, this is the largest total rate hike in nearly 30 years. More...

As seen from Maury County

Maury County senior citizens say the largest increase in the price of electricity in decades will test their already-strained budgets. More...

Tennessee's lawmakers respond to TVA rate hike

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --Tennessee's congressional members are at odds over how to respond to a 20 percent increase in electricity rates charged by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's largest public utility. More...

Wamp pushes diversification

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Congressman Zach Wamp, of Chattanooga, says the U.S. must diversify its energy supply or face dire consequences. More...

Coal represented in Denver at DNC

Coal industry reps on site in Denver to promote clean coal technology

Nuclear gaining support as TVA hikes rate

SURGOINSVILLE — Politicians often tout nuclear power generation as a more reliable — and less costly — future solution to America’s energy woes, but that idea met an expensive death here in 1981. More...

Energy efficiency program in Kentucky

Utilities Dynamics, which helps customers save energy costs, drafted Kentucky Bluegrass Turns Green legislation that Sen. Bob Leeper and Rep. Rocky Adkins guided through the 2008 General Assembly. Effective July 15, the law will create two bond funds for energy-efficiency programs, capitalizing $7 million in interest. More...

TN congressional delegation react to TVA rate hike

As TVA prepares to raise electric rates this fall for the third time in six months, Tennessee’s congressional members are blaming the Chinese, Democratic leaders in Congress and the Republican-controlled TVA board for the record string of increases. More...

TVA rate hike not just the result of higher energy prices

Aug 23, 2008 (The Paducah Sun - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- TVA Quote Chart News PowerRating -- Aug. 23--The Tennessee Valley Authority's announced rate increase of 20 percent, the second major increase in six months, again confirms the foresight of the Paducah Power System and Princeton Electric years ago to sever ties with the TVA. More...

Higher energy prices in Carolinas too

Duke Energy Carolinas customers in North Carolina will see their bills rise as much as 8 percent on Sept. 1 because of increasing fuel costs. And S.C. customers can expect steeper hikes Oct. 1. More...

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press

Volkswagen and Oak Ridge National Laboratory may work together on future research projects, especially related to diesel engines, the lab’s director said Wednesday. More...

Mascoma biofuels will work with Michigan

In late July, Mascoma announced it would no longer be pursuing a joint venture with the University of Tennessee Biofuels Initiative to build a pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Vonore, Tenn. “After years of discussions, we could not reach agreement on the details of the business arrangements, and we realized our business interests are no longer aligned,” said Kelly Tiller, director of external relations for the biofuels initiative. The initiative subsequently partnered with DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC to continue plans for the Vonore plant.

However, Mascoma will partner with Michigan. Read more...

TVA rate hike to be passed on

PUTNAM COUNTY -- Electric customers can expect to see a bigger bill in the mail following an increase in rates from power supplier the Tennessee Valley Authority. Distributors, in turn, will be passing that increase on to their customers. More...

Clean coal editorial from W. Virginia

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin: "I know there are many people who say, 'Let's stop using coal completely,' but those aren't the facts of life," Manchin said Tuesday at a conference on the future of coal. More...

Clean coal proposal meets resistance

Australia: AN ALLIANCE of the coal industry, the miners' union and parts of the environmental lobby have attacked the Federal Government's proposed world-first laws to regulate "clean coal" projects. More...

TVA rate increase was expected

(Paducah Sun, The (KY) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 21--The Tennessee Valley Authority's 20 percent wholesale power rate increase Oct. 1 comes as no shock to its distributors, notably Paducah Power System. More...

Some basics

Good history and data about power generation and transmission in the U.S.

Cellulosic Ethanol now

That's what this op-ed calls for...

More nuclear and more alternative

We wonder, in the long term, if consideration of additional TVA-owned nuclear plants might be a wise option, coupled with broadly based development of alternative energy sources.

So asks an editorial piece in a Mississippi daily...

Re-evaluating coal

In terms of profitability...

Nuclear revival?

KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee Valley Authority is studying whether to revive two reactors previously scrapped at its Bellefonte Nuclear Plant site in Hollywood, Ala., TVA President Tom Kilgore said today. More...

TVA rate hike has impact

Of course TVA's rate hike will have an impact on people beyond the Volunteer State

TVA Board approves 20% rate hike

Saying that cost pressures were stretching its resources, the TVA Board today approved a 2009 budget that includes a 20 percent rate increase. More...

Biofuels at UT

Chattanooga's weekly alternative talks about UT's biofuels initiative

A middle way in WV?

West Virginia: From climate change to mountaintop removal, environmentalists and coal producers are usually at each other’s throats.

But can they find common ground? Is there a middle way that protects the environment, and still allows the mining and burning of coal? More...

Coal prices up and water flow down leads to higher costs for TVA

Electricity users in the Tennessee Valley could get hit with a double-whammy of rate increases in October that may add more than $15 a month to the average homeowner’s electricity bill. More...

Pelosi eases oppositon to drilling

WASHINGTON: Dropping her opposition to a vote on coastal oil exploration, Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, said that expanded offshore drilling would be considered as part of broad energy legislation when Congress returns next month. More...

Fire at biofuels plant probed

Fire that destroyed Biofuels of Tennessee still being probed

Sierra Club president excited about Dem convention

Why the East Tennessee Republican primary has environomentalists excited

In battle between coal and wind in West Virginia the smart money has to be with the coal industry

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - This morning, West Virginia political leaders and industry officials will gather at a Charleston hotel to promote coal's role in meeting the nation's energy needs. More...

Great piece about energy policy from perspective of Peabody Energy

WRIGHT, Wyo. — A mammoth shovel scrapes about 70 tons of coal shards off a 60-foot-high black wall like ice cream from a long, deep vat. More...

Representing coal

Coal industry will have representatives at Dem Convention

The trouble with wind and solar

This helps explain why wind and solar provide less than 1% of all fuel for electriticity production.

Alt energy powered cars on parade

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - Hydrogen-powered cars on a nationwide tour of 18 states are making stops in Chattanooga and Smyrna for public test drives. More...

We should thank the French

There isn’t a need to vilify the French for providing nuclear services to the United States; if anything, we should be thankful. This is the reality: The United States hasn’t built a new nuclear reactor in over three decades – don’t you think that the industry here at home would atrophy just a little? More...

Gang of ten (Bob Corker a member) slammed in editorial

The machinations of the “Gang of 10” senators with regard to energy policy inspire two rather pointed questions. First, with alleged friends like Sen. Lindsey Graham, does John McCain need enemies? Second, is it any wonder the GOP is sliding toward permanent minority status, as the entire Senate slouches toward irrelevance? More...

Corker pushes alt energy proposal...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker visited Lipscomb University where he announced an energy proposal designed to lessen the nation's dependence on foreign oil. More...

Exploration for and production of energy pays well...

Bismarck, N.D. (AP) Coal industry officials say energy production and exploration played a key role in the North Dakota counties with the top average wages last year. More...

18 August 2008

TVA awards French company AREVA over $239 million in contracts... Tennessee Valley Authority officials last week confirmed that over the last few years the agency has awarded at least $239.2 million in contracts to AREVA for services that include furnishing radioactive fuel to its nuclear plants and for plant repairs. Of the more than 65,000 AREVA jobs worldwide, about 5,300 are in this country. The French concern has spent $7.9 million on lobbying since 1998. More...

... in light of mounting reports of overblending. Tennessee, which has a law requiring annual testing of fuel in all of the state's service stations, has recorded instances of ethanol concentrations of 12% and 13%. But an official with the State Department of Agriculture's Weights and Measures Section says that overblending does not appear to be widespread in the state. He did point out, however, that many states have no testing programs at all. More...

DECATURVILLE, Tenn. - An early morning fire at a biodiesel plant sent families scrambling to safety in Decatur County.

When the cost of coal, natural gas and other traditional fuel sources go up, Eastman Chemical feels the pain. More...

Commercial Appeal: We don't usually associate "gangs" with Bob Corker, but Tennessee's junior U.S. senator is in one -- the bipartisan "Gang of 10" whose crib on Capitol Hill has been buzzing with talk about a long-term strategy on energy. More...

National Coal Inc report: -- In Tennessee, the Baldwin preparation plant and loading facility and one underground mine were brought back into production during the second quarter, and an additional underground mine will be re-started early in the third quarter. More...

Official sales figures are hard to pin down, but the Gluskin-Townley Group, which does market research for the National Bicycle Dealers Association, estimates 10,000 electric bikes were sold in the U.S. in 2007, up from 6,000 in 2006. More...

CANBERRA, Australia: The government should give Australia's coal-burning electricity companies more financial incentives to invest in technology to capture and bury the greenhouse gas they produce, a parliamentary report said Friday. More...