Four Year Timeline for Prison Solar Farm

HAGERSTOWN, MD — A solar power developer is agreeing to a four-year deadline for erecting 100,000 solar panels at a state prison complex near Hagerstown.

The Maryland Public Service Commission released on Friday a set of conditions set by various state agencies for the 20-megawatt project proposed by Easton-based Maryland Solar LLC.

The conditions are part of a settlement agreement the company announced Thursday in its quest for state certification.

Construction must begin within three years of permitting and be operational within four years.

Maryland Solar has said it hopes to start construction this year to be eligible for a federal tax credit.

The project would be on 250 acres now used for farming. It would be Maryland's largest solar array.

from the AP / Annapolis Capital

Top Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Line to Become Oil Minister, OPEC Head

Iranian lawmakers will decide next week whether a senior figure in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a target of U.S., European Union and U.N. sanctions, will become the country’s oil minister – a position that would elevate him to the presidency of the OPEC oil cartel at a time of global economic uncertainty.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday nominated Brig. Gen. Rostam Ghasemi as oil minister, filling a post Ahmadinejad himself unsuccessfully sought to take over earlier this year in a move that brought criticism from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s camp.

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Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Plant Security Faulted

Federal nuclear safety inspectors found unspecified "security deficiencies" at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in southern Maryland earlier this year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission disclosed Wednesday.

NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the agency could not reveal the nature of the problem or discuss why it had conducted a special inspection of the plant from Jan. 26 through July 13. The five-member commission has refused since the 2001 terrorist attacks to release information about security, out of concern it might help people or groups seeking to attack or sabotage a nuclear plant, the agency spokesman said.

But the finding was deemed of "at least low to moderate significance" and further NRC scrutiny may be warranted, Sheehan said in an email. Constellation Energy Nuclear Group operates the twin-reactor plant on the Chesapeake Bay in Lusby, about 70 miles south of Baltimore.

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Price of Gas Jumps 8.5 Cents in Last Two Weeks

NEW YORK — The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States rose for the first time since early May following an increase in the price of crude oil, according to the latest nationwide Lundberg survey released Sunday.

The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was slightly more than $3.70 on July 22, an increase of 8.58 cents in the past two weeks, according to the survey of some 2,500 gas stations in the continental United States.

The increase per gallon is nearly the exact same as the rise per gallon of a barrel of crude linked to the benchmark West Texas Intermediate, which jumped to $99.87 per barrel, up from $96.20 two weeks ago.

"It is crude, period, that did this," Trilby Lundberg, the survey's editor, told Reuters.

High unemployment and a general weak economy has been affecting demand for gasoline.

"If it had not been for the recent crude oil price hikes, we would have seen prices fall at the pump because of that weak demand and the economy," Lundberg said.

A year ago, the price per gallon was $2.73, about 96.72 cents less than the current price.

At $$3.28 a gallon, Tucson, Arizona, had the lowest average price for regular gas, while Chicago drivers paid the highest at $4.07, the survey found.

from Reuters / MSNBC

Oil Falls Below $99 As Debt Talks Stall

Oil prices fell below $99 a barrel Monday in Asia amid investor concern that the lack of an agreement among U.S. lawmakers to raise the country's debt limit could trigger a default and damage the global economy.

Benchmark oil for September delivery was down 95 cents to $98.92 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude rose 74 cents to settle at $99.87 on Friday.

In London, Brent crude slid 68 cents to $117.99 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Talks stalled during the weekend as an Aug. 2 deadline looms for Congress to raise the government's $14.3 trillion debt limit. Without action by that date, the Treasury will be unable to pay all its bills, which could lead to a debt default and undermine the global economy.

from Alex Kennedy @ the AP

Power Grid Reports Record Usage

Customers battling the heat broke a record for peak power usage in 13 states and the District of Columbia.

PJM Interconnection says the record was set at 5 p.m. Thursday as customers used 158,450 megawatts of power. Each megawatt power about 1,000 homes.

The previous record for peak demand was set on August 2, 2006.

PJM company says its supplies held up to the demand from 58 million customers.

Temperatures are expected to remain very high Friday in much of the region, hovering near 100 degrees in some areas.

PJM serves customers in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

from the AP

Luminant May Shut Down Power Plants Due to New Clean Air Regulations

The major electric power provider for much of North and West Texas says it is considering closing or reducing operations at some of its coal-fired plants to meet new federal clean-air rules.

Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings Corp. owns Luminant Generation Co. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday, it said it's considering the shutdowns or slowdowns of its plants and mines, as well as seasonal or temporary shutdowns. It's also considering installing scrubbers to remove sulfur dioxide from plant emissions.

It's unclear from the filing how the company is leaning and which plants are likeliest to be affected.

Energy Future Holdings also owns TXU Energy to transmit the electricity Luminant generates and Oncor to market it.

from the Washington Examiner / AP

Gunmen Blow Up Gas Pipeline to Israel

Masked gunmen blew up a terminal of the Egyptian natural gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan in a predawn attack Tuesday, security officials said.

The officials said the attack was carried out by at least four assailants. The terminal is located in the city of El-Arish in the northern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, about 30 miles west of the Israeli border.

The attackers ordered the guards on duty to leave and then blew up the terminal, starting a huge fire that sent flames shooting into the air that lit up the night sky, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

There were no casualties, they said.

It was the second attack on the pipeline in as many weeks and the fourth since an 18-day uprising toppled President Hosni Mubarak's regime on Feb. 11.

No one claimed responsibility for Tuesday's explosion but disgruntled Bedouin tribesmen in the area have been blamed for attacking the pipeline in the past. Islamists opposed to Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel have also been suspected.

from FOXNews / AP

Phoenix Suburb Plans to Turn Dog Waste Into Electricity

I'm not sure what sort of reputation the Phoenix area has in the rest of the country, but those in my hometown of Tucson associate the locality with dog excrement. Officials in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert are making the best of their bumper crop by planning to use dog poop as a power source for a street lamp at a dog park.

The Arizona Republic reports the plan comes from — where else — Arizona State University, renowned for its dog poop academic reputation. The town will look to dig up a corporate sponsor to fund the $25,000 project, which will convert the waste into methane gas. A former Gilbert councilwoman who's pushing the project says she hopes the project catches on and spreads across the country.

What's the most inventive alternative energy project you've come across?

Gilbert's Cosmo Dog Park canine waste would fuel street lamp in project [The Arizona Republic]

from Phil Villarreal @ The Consumerist

Webb, Warner Introduce Offshore Drilling Bill

U.S. Sens. Jim Webb and Mark R. Warner, both Virginia Democrats, have introduced legislation to allow drilling for oil and natural gas off Virginia's coast.

If approved, the Virginia Outer Continental Shelf Energy Production Act of 2011 would provide that half of any leasing revenues be funneled to the state for land and water conservation efforts and development of clean energy resources as well as transportation and other infrastructure projects.

The legislation would also expand the federal government's map of the mid-Atlantic exploration area to more accurately reflect the extent of Virginia's coastal resources, the senators said.

Virginia's lease sale was originally scheduled for this year but delayed until at least 2017 after last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the worst offshore spill in U.S. history.

"We should not be sending hundreds of billions of dollars each year to oil-producing countries that do not like us," Warner said. "This legislation jump-starts a multiyear process that will include responsible environmental reviews, close consultations with NASA and our military partners in Hampton Roads, and this process will include multiple public hearings."

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Man Goes Without Power for 8 Days Because Power Company Won’t Believe His Lights Are Out

It's completely understandable that you might lose power following a massive storm. It's even understandable that you might be without power for several days while the power company repairs damaged lines. What doesn't make sense is when you have no electricity because the power company is convinced that you have no idea what you're talking about.

A 73-year-old Chicago-area man was one of more than 400,000 people who lost power following a particularly horrendous storm in late June. But while other people's power started coming back on, this chap remained in the dark.

You'll be shocked to hear that repeated calls from the man, and later his son, to the power company resulted a dead end. The son tells NBC Chicago that he was twice told by reps at Commonwealth Edison that "The power is back on, everything's okay... Am I sure that there's a problem?"

It wasn't until after he threatened to get the local news involved that ComEd actually got workers out to his father's house and had the power restored.

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Higher Ethanol Gasoline May Void Your Warranty

Even though gasoline containing upward of 15% ethanol content (E15) hasn't come on the consumer market, the government has already finalized the labels that will be affixed to pumps carrying the fuel, a sign of E15 will likely make it to your local gas station at some point. Now Bloomberg reports that nine automakers, including GM, Chrysler and Toyota have warned regulators that putting E15 in your tank may void your vehicle's warranty.

"While Chrysler has been a strong advocate of renewable fuels, we have concerns about the potential harmful effects of E15 in engines and fuel systems that were not designed for use of that fuel," Chrysler's senior vice president of external affairs, wrote in a letter to Wisconsin Congressman James Sensenbrenner, vice chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

The E15 label released last week by the Environmental Protection Agency alerts consumers that the gas should only be used in vehicles with model year 2001 or later and that it may do damage — and is prohibited to use — in "other vehicles, boats and gas-powered equipment."

Following the label's release, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, claimed that it doesn't provide sufficient information to consumers. A rep for the group told the NY Times that the label should tell drivers to check their owners' manuals when deciding which fuel would be best suited to use in their vehicles.

Ford, Carmakers Criticize EPA's Ethanol-Blend Proposal on Warranty Concern [Bloomberg]

E.P.A.'s E15 Pump Labels Raise Ire of Automakers [NY Times]

from Chris Morran @ The Consumerist

Exxon Mobil Pipeline Leaks Into Yellowstone River

Ah, nature. Chirping birds, fresh air and oil gushing into rivers. Credit the latter to a leaking pipeline operated by Exxon Mobil. The company says as many as 1,000 barrels of crude have leaked into Montana's Yellowstone River, leaving its mark as far as 10 miles away from the pipeline.

Reuters reports Montana's governor, who is worried the leak will damage the state's fishing and farming industry, questions the company's range estimate of the leak, dismissing it as a conservative guess. Exxon says it's examining the area to get a more precise idea of how far the oil has spread.

Exxon said it discovered the leak Saturday and has shut down the pipeline.

Exxon Mobil says oil leaked into Yellowstone River [Reuters]

from Phil Villarreal @ The Consumerist

Gas Prices in Maryland and Virginia Below National Avg.

Travelers taking the car somewhere this holiday weekend will find gas prices in Virginia and Maryland at or below the national average.

Nationwide the average price for a gallon of regular gas is $3.56, the same as the average price in Maryland. The average price in Virginia is a little less at $3.42.

Gas is more expensive in the District of Columbia, where a gallon of regular currently costs $3.87.

from the Associated Press

Wal-Mart to Offer Lower Gas Prices in 18 States

Gas ain't cheap these days, and it probably isn't going to be cheap again until someone invents the Mr. Fusion machine. But for the next three months, if you have a Walmart credit card, the nation's largest retailer is offering discounted fuel at stores in 18 states.

Through Sept. 30, participating Walmarts and Murphy USA locations in the following states will be offering $.10/gallon discounts to customers using Walmart credit cards or reloadable gift cards:

• Arkansas
  
• Georgia
  
• Idaho
  
• Illinois
  
• Indiana
  
• Iowa
  
• Kentucky
  
• Louisiana
  
• Michigan
  
• Mississippi
  
• Missouri
  
• New Mexico
  
• North Carolina
  
• Ohio
  
• South Carolina
  
• Tennessee
  
• Texas
  
• Virginia

To find out if your local Walmart is participating, here's a PDF of the complete list of stores involved in the discount.

from Chris Morran @ The Consumerist

Cable Boxes Use More Electricity Than Refrigerators

The biggest energy hog in your house is probably sitting right under your TV. That little ol' set-top box could be using up more electricity in your house than your refrigerator or central air conditioning, according to a new study by the National Resource Defense Council.

The 160 million devices combined use up $3 billion in electricity a year, 66% of it when no one is watching and no shows are being recorded. That's because it's cheaper for cable companies to have them designed to run full-blast all the time, rather than waste money making ones with power-saving modes.

In the short-term, you can cut your power drain by plugging all your media producing boxes - TV, DVD player, cable, etc - into one power strip and turning it off when not in use.

And in the long-run, you can also lobby your cable company and the FCC to add power-saving modes to cable boxes.

Better Viewing, Lower Energy Bills, and Less Pollution [National Resource Defense Council
via MoneyTalksNews]

from Ben Popken @ The Consumerist

Dominion Attempts to Restart Surry Reactor

Dominion Virginia Power is making another try at restarting its Unit 2 nuclear reactor at the Surry power station.

Rick Zuercher, a spokesman for Dominion Virginia Power, said that the power station began the restart on Sunday morning. The reactor has not been working since a tornado cut electricity at the power station on April 16.

“The [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] told us we’re operating at about 70 percent right now,” Zuercher said.
Zuercher said that with work done to expand the capacity, the company could provide service to an additional 14,000 homes.

Zuercher said the power level would initially be brought to 98.4 percent, and then tests would be done to ensure it is working properly.

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Cardin’s Energy Misfire

Maryland’s junior U.S. senator, Ben Cardin, has become a regular contributor of letters to the editor of the (Hagerstown) Herald-Mail newspaper. Cardin deserves praise for this; it would be easy for the Democrat to ignore heavily Republican Western Maryland. Instead, he shows respect for his constituents by sharing with them his thoughts on policy.

He’d deserve greater praise if his letters didn’t contain the flawed thinking shown in his most recent submission, on U.S. energy policy.

By “flawed,” I don’t mean that Cardin follows a different political philosophy than I do. Rather, his letter shows ignorance of the basics of energy policy and economics.

Some lowlights from Cardin’s letter:

• He opens by worrying about the high cost of oil, but then calls for the “deployment of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.” He seems not to realize that solar and wind-powered generation are not substitutes for oil. Oil fuels transportation; solar and wind are (very minor) fuels for the stationary power grid.
• He also calls for greater development of biofuels. He seems unaware that ethanol is more expensive, has more volatile supply, and is arguably environmentally dirtier than oil.

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Surry Reactor Shut Down Again

Dominion Virginia Power has again shut down its troubled Unit 2 at Surry nuclear power plant.

The utility company started the reactor last Thursday. It had been out of service since a tornado struck the plant on April 16.

The reactor was operating at 94 percent capacity on Monday, according to data from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Dominion spokesman Rick Zuercher said the reactor actually reached 100 percent capacity but engineers spotted a problem in the unit's cooling ducts Monday afternoon.

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Mikulski, Cardin Oppose Ending Ethanol Subsidies

The state's two Democratic senators joined with a majority of their party on Tuesday to block a symbolic effort to end federal ethanol tax subsidies, even though both lawmakers said they ultimately support doing away with the controversial tax credits.

Sens. Barbara A. Mikulski and Benjamin L. Cardin said they opposed the measure on procedural grounds Tuesday but expressed support for the underlying policy. Democratic leaders were upset by the way the proposal, offered by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, was brought to the floor.

The measure failed on a 40-59 vote, falling far short of the 60 votes needed to advance.

But although the Coburn version of the legislation did not pass, the debate Tuesday suggested that there is bipartisan support in the Senate for limiting the ethanol breaks. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate will take up another version of the measure in a matter of days.

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