News
|
KCP&L Announces Successful Completion of Testing at New Iatan 2, Coal-fired Unit
LCG, August 27, 2010--Kansas City Power & Light Company (KCP&L) and KCP&L Greater Missouri Operations Company (formerly Aquila) yesterday announced that the new Iatan 2, electric generating facility completed in-service testing. Both companies are subsidiaries of Great Plains Energy Incorporated.
|
|
TVA Announces Plans Stop Burning Coal in Nine Electric Generating Units
LCG, August 25, 2010--The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced yesterday that, beginning next year, it will idle nine coal-fired units that have a combined electric generating capacity of approximately 1,000 MW. One of the units will be considered for repowering, with the fuel switched to biomass. These steps are part of TVA's strategy to replace or retire older, less-efficient, coal-fired units as a means of reducing carbon and other emissions from its generation portfolio.
|
|
|
Industry News
El Paso Electric Agrees to Refunds Related to Manipulation
LCG, Dec. 6, 2002--An investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission into transactions involving utility El Paso Electric's generation portfolio has resulted in the company stating that it was connected with Enron Corp.'s efforts to distort the California electricity market.According to a document exchanged between company attorneys and FERC trial lawyers, El Paso Electric stated that Enron used the utility's assets to carry out manipulation schemes, such as "Fat Boy", and possibly "Ricochet." As part of a proposed settlement, El Paso Electric would pay $14 million in refunds and discontinue trading of wholesale power at market rates for two years. The company, which owns generating plants in west Texas and southern New Mexico, is not connected with El Paso Corp., a larger, natural gas firm.The settlement may be rejected or modified, subject to the response of an administrative law judge and FERC representatives. The case has implications for ongoing investigations by California. Gov. Gray Davis' deputy legal affairs secretary, William Kissinger, said "We can't judge whether this is a slap on the wrist or a pinch or something more than that. It's a black box."Enron and El Paso's business dealings gained in significance in 1997, when Enron essentially took control of the utility's trading arm. While the utility provided only 0.3 percent of needed wholesale power to the California Independent System Operator, Enron may have exacerbated the energy crisis of 2000 and 2001 by having power available, although unsold or "parked", until it decided to offer power to the desperate ISO at much higher rates. Other companies with previous ties to Enron are being investigated for what may be similar dealings.
|
|
|