By Joel Jaeger, Katrina McLaughlin, Lori Bird and Karl Hausker   Building a clean, reliable, cost-effective power grid will require many different types of energy. The bulk will come from solar and wind; but since these aren’t available 24/7, 365 days a year, they must be paired with a smaller amount of clean, “firm” power that’s always available when needed. Geothermal energy, nuclear energy and …

Unfair legislation forces all Ohio utility customers to pay $300 million increase for failing business Today, AARP State Director Barbara A. Sykes announced AARP’s opposition to House Bill 6 that would saddle all Ohioans with a new, unfair and unnecessary annual $300 million nuclear bailout tax. Based on the legislation, one company, First Energy, stands to receive the majority of …

Gov. Brown Signs Historic Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Bill SACRAMENTO, CA – Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill to protect the environment, workers, and local communities during the closure of California’s last nuclear plant, Diablo Canyon near San Luis Obispo. Senate Bill 1090, which had wide bipartisan support, will help to ensure that the electricity generated by the …

KYOCERA TCL Solar Completes 21.1MW Solar Power Plant on Repurposed Land in Japan Providing equivalent annual power supply for approx. 7,730 households Kyocera Corporation and Tokyo Century Corporation announced today that Kyocera TCL Solar LLC has completed construction of a 21.1 megawatt (MW) utility-scale solar power plant in Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. 78,144 Kyocera solar modules were installed on approximately …

September 29, 2017 Miles Farmer  Originally posted on NRDC Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Rick Perry just proposed a massive bailout for coal and nuclear power plants. The radical and unprecedented move is couched under a false premise that power plants with fuel located on site are needed to guarantee the reliability of the electricity system. The proposal relies on a mischaracterization of …

Solar eclipses all other new types of electricity generation in 2016 to become the world’s favourite, says GlobalData Solar has become the world’s favorite new type of electricity generation, with more solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity being installed than any other generation technology according to GlobalData, a recognized leader in providing business information and analytics. The company’s latest report update on the GlobalData …

  Virtual power plant: that sounds like part of a video game like “SimCity” or “Cities: Skylines” — but it’s not. The virtual power plant (VPP) is a real, up-and-coming energy source. It’s a widespread collection of modest power systems with one control site that runs them like a single power plant. The control room increases or decreases production or …

Distributed Generation and New Technologies Are Improving Energy Efficiency, Reducing Need to Replace Generation Capacity Black & Veatch‘s 8th annual Strategic Directions: U.S. Electric Industry report shows that many retiring nuclear and coal power plants may not need to be replaced on a megawatt-to-megawatt basis. New technologies and distributed generation (DG), coupled with soft energy demand growth, enable utilities to replace …

Regular inspections have been conducted on the No.4 reactor at the Oi nuclear power plant. However, delay on the inspections has once again led to Japan’s “zero nuclear power” status. Since nuclear power is still the major source of base-load electricity while other units are still applying for re-activation, it’s estimated that it will take at least half a year …

Low-cost solar power could supply more than a third of all energy needs in the Western U.S., if the nation can hit its targets for reducing the cost of solar energy, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.   The UC Berkeley scientists used a detailed computer model they developed of the West’s electric …

New Poll Shows Americans’ Support for Nuclear Energy, New Facilities Remains Solid  A solid majority of Americans continues to hold favorable views of nuclear energy and believes that electric companies should prepare now for new nuclear energy facilities to be built. In a national telephone survey of 1,000 U.S. adults, 68 percent said they favor nuclear energy, up from 65 …

American wind power has blown through an historic milestone: 50 gigawatts of electric generating capacity, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). Denise Bode, CEO of AWEA, made the announcement at the recent National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas. The 50 gigawatts (GW) online means that U.S. wind turbines now power the equivalent of nearly 13 million American …

Contrary to Industry Predictions, Reactor Disaster Seen As Having a “Lasting Chill” on Perceptions; It’s Not All Fukushima: 3 in 5 Americans Less Supportive Due to Woes of U.S. Nuclear Industry in Last Year. WASHINGTON, D.C.///March 7, 2012///One year after the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan, Americans continue to want to keep the brakes on more nuclear …

Part 2 of our discussion with Michael Gorton, CEO of Principal Solar. Part one is here We continue our discussion about mass market solar energy development with Michael Gorton. Today we are talking about pricing of solar panels and how it will affect the growth of wide spread commercial power development with solar. Kevin: It would appear with some of …

Let’s face it in earthly terms as well as in business terms the solar energy industry is in its infancy as a maturing market for supplying and allaying the need for other energy such as oil. It is barely walking yet. There are many who would like to belittle its growth and even discount the eventual contribution of solar energy …

IOWA CONSUMER’S ANNUAL UTILITY BILLS COULD CLIMB OVER $800 IF LEGISLATURE PERMITS UNFAIR NUCLEAR REACTOR FINANCING METHOD Cooper: Example of 4 Southern States Proves That “Robbing” Ratepayers Before Power is Produced Leads to More Expensive Reactors, Higher Than Necessary Rates for Consumers; Major “Electricity Rate Shock” Expected if Iowa Lawmakers Embrace “Nuclear Socialism.” A leading U.S. expert on nuclear reactor …

The solar power industry sustained an impressive growth in installed capacity with new capacity of 27.7 Gigawatts (GW) coming on line in 2011, on top of over 17 GW in 2010. This takes the total installed capacity worldwide to 67.44 GW. The capital cost of solar photovoltaic power plants have declined to around $2430 / kilowatt, which makes it possible …

EXPERTS: EVEN HIGHER COSTS AND MORE HEADACHES AHEAD FOR NUCLEAR POWER IN 2012 Give Long-Term Uncontrollable Costs and Short-Term Pressure from Needed Post-Fukushima Safety Regulations, Nuclear Reactors Even Less Able to Take on Natural Gas, Other Alternatives WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 28, 2012 — With the Fukushima disaster, earthquake-related reactor shutdowns, further reactor project cost escalation, infighting at the Nuclear …

Solar Energy is radiant energy that’s created by direct sunlight. Every single day direct sunlight radiates, or releases, an enormous amount of energy. The sun’s rays radiates more energy within a second than people have utilized since the man can remember! The energy of the Sun derives from within the sun itself. Just like other stars, the sun is a …

Despite predictions in the United States and elsewhere of a nuclear "renaissance," the report concludes that the role of nuclear power was in steady decline even before the Fukushima crisis. The disaster will make the construction of new nuclear plants and extensions to the lifetime of current plants even more unrealistic.