Electric Utilities News

The international shipping industry as a whole is responsible for 2% to 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and if nothing changes, those will increase by 250% by 2050, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Sobering numbers like these have made reducing emissions across the sector a focus for governments, shipbuilders, environmentalists, vessel owners and technology suppliers alike.The United States federal ship fleet, excluding combat ships, consists of various types of vessels utilized for civilian purposes. This fleet of vessels makes the U.S.

Massachusetts utility regulators denied offshore wind power company Commonwealth Wind's motion to suspend its power purchase agreement with state electric utilities, raising questions about the future of Commonwealth's proposed offshore wind project.The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) said in an order on Friday that Commonwealth "is a sophisticated market participant well capable of factoring economic contingencies into its contract prices ... and exercising its options under the existing (power purchase agreements)."Commonwealth is a unit of U.S.

Happy 80th birthday Maritime Reporter & Engineering News! Eighty years is a significant publishing and business accomplishment!Birthdays always cause a look back. An 80-year review starts in 1939, the close of one very challenging decade, the start of events still reverberating today. History’s most important history is contained in the last 80 years.Energy dominated every one of those decades. Consider energy use, say, starting after World War II, from 1950 to 1975. There was power for everything…

Commonwealth LNG has received commitments from European buyers to take almost half of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its planned 8.4-million-tonnes-per-year export terminal in Louisiana, Chief Executive Officer Paul Varello said on Wednesday.The Commonwealth project is one of more than 10 LNG export terminals under development or construction in the United States along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to take advantage of soaring demand for the supercooled fuel amid booming…

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), Chubu Electric Power, Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) have decided to work in the field of liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering in Japan. A joint statement that LNG is expected to become an important alternative to heavy fuel oil due to its relatively low carbon footptint, which will enable ships to meet increasingly stringent international regulations on emissions. The shipping forms K Line and NYK Line, together with electric utilities provider Chubu Electric Power and trading company Toyota Tsusho Corporation, are looking to commercialize a new business to supply liquefied natural gas as a marine fuel to ships in the country’s Chubu region.

ABS has published the ABS Advisory on Hybrid Electric Power Systems to help marine and offshore owners and operators make decisions about energy generation and storage. “ABS continues to lead industry safety with the first comprehensive Advisory to address the latest hybrid electric power technologies,” said ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki. With the increased industry focus on environmental compliance and operational performance, many owners and operators…

The Ports of Indiana announced that Indiana Michigan Power has agreed to sell its recently retired Tanners Creek coal plant in Lawrenceburg, Ind., to a brownfield redevelopment company that is working with the Ports of Indiana to evaluate the site for use as the state's fourth port. "Infrastructure critical to our state's economy includes more than just roads," said Governor Mike Pence. "Indiana's ports and waterways have been tremendous catalysts for economic growth in this state for decades, and there is great potential here in southeast Indiana to develop a fourth port that will further energize our economy. St. Louis-based Commercial Development Company, Inc.

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today named Abigail Ross Hopper as the Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which manages the development of our nation’s conventional and renewable energy and marine mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf. Hopper currently serves as the Director of the Maryland Energy Administration and will assume her new position on January 5, 2015, as the second director in BOEM's history. Hopper will take the helm from Acting Director Dr. Walter Cruickshank, who has been serving since former Director Tommy Beaudreau became Chief of Staff to Secretary Jewell in May 2014. “Abigail Hopper’s knowledge of the energy sector…

In large part, the wide-ranging reaction to President Barack Obama's signature effort to cut power plant carbon emissions could have been written months in advance. Key Republicans and many industrial groups decried it as a job-killing war on coal that would drive up power prices; environmentalists and many Democrats hailed it as a landmark measure making good on Obama's pledge to tackle climate change. Behind the bombast, however, more measured voices found a proposal that was not as severe as critics had feared nor as ambitious as proponents had hoped for. Basing the average 30 percent reduction on the year 2005 - near a high point for such emissions…

Answering the needs of longstanding clients, bulk transport giant AEP dips its toes into the liquid transport arena. AEP River Operations needs no introduction for most MarineNews readers. One of the true river giants operating on America’s domestic inland waters today, AEP is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, and is primarily known as a barge company that provides transportation of dry bulk commodities throughout the inland river system. AEP River Operations is owned by American Electric Power, one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5.3 million customers in 11 states. The current AEP fleet includes more than 79 towboats ranging up to 11,000 horsepower and more than 2,900 hopper barges, moving more than 65 million tons annually.

Natural gas pipelines and power utilities across the United States struggled for several weeks to keep lights on and homes warm through the coldest winter in decades, but it may take many months for the cost and the fallout of the so-called "polar vortex" to work through the energy chain. As sub-freezing temperatures spread in January and February, spot natural gas prices spiked at many gas delivery points in the Midwest, Northeast and New York, pushing wholesale power prices above $100 per megawatt-hour for days at a time. Customers will soon receive gas and electric bills, reflecting the higher cost of gas in January. In unregulated power markets, January bills will present a "double whammy," said Nick Akins, chief executive of American Electric Power Co, one of the largest U.S.

Peter Stephaich, Chairman of Campbell Transportation Company in Pittsburgh, PA, and Executive Committee member of Waterways Council, Inc. Mr. Stephaich addressed the importance of water resources development legislation, the current broken model for modernizing the nation’s locks and dams, and the need for adoption of the Capital Development Plan (CDP), which is H.R. 1149, Waterways are Vital  to our Economy, Energy, Efficiency and the Environment (WAVE 4) to remedy problems with the current water resources development approach. H.R.

Experts explore future of wind energy research in two-day symposium at the University of Delaware Energy Institute (UDEI). How would wind turbines in the ocean alter the wind flow? Is wind energy a practical solution for powering electrical grids? Forward-looking questions such as those were addressed by experts in the field of wind energy at a recent symposium sponsored by the University of Delaware Energy Institute (UDEI). The two-day event, titled “The Importance of Meteorology to Wind Energy: Research Needs for the Next 10 Years…

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has been awarded by Statoil, an international energy company with headquarters in Norway, to undertake a concept study for a technology qualification program (TQP) for one of the world's largest carbon dioxide (CO2) capture facilities. The approximately 3,400 tons-per-day (tpd) CO2 recovery system is targeted for installation at a 280 megawatt (MW) gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant at Mongstad, on Norway's west coast. MHI will vie against other companies in a competition encompassing CO2 capture technology, facility performance, and construction and operation costs, towards facility construction slated to commence in 2016.

American Electric Power has named Keith Darling president of AEP River Operations LLC. Darling, 60, will oversee all managerial and operating activities related to AEP River Operations, including sales, planning and budgeting, accounting, business development, logistics, operations and maintenance. He replaces Mark Knoy, who left the company. "Keith's river operations experience is both broad and deep, and he has a unique understanding of how our river operations fit with our broader corporate strategy," said Tim Light, senior vice president – Fuels, Emissions & Logistics. Darling has served as managing director of boat operations for AEP River Operations since 2002.

Fairfax, Virginia--The International Propeller Club of the Unites States has announced that R. Andrew Riester has been named Executive Vice President. After a period of transition alongside interim Executive Vice President John W. Angus, III, he will provide full-time staff leadership in the organization’s headquarters office in Fairfax, Virginia. “The executive committee of the International Propeller Club is very happy to welcome Andrew Riester aboard. His experience in the maritime industry and his association management background will be an asset to the important work of the Club…

Many workboats in the marine industry are called upon in supply or assist roles. The entire offshore vessel industry is based on a supply function to oil and gas drilling operations or the resupply of production platforms. The tugboat industry is most often characterized as small vessels assisting very large ships in docking, undocking and other harbor movements. The growth of these vessel companies and their operations depends on the economic vitality of the larger industry they serve. Right now the hottest new market being served by tugs is in the assistance of very large Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) tankers to dock and undock. As is the case in other marine support operations, the growth of tugs to assist LNG tankers depends on the basic health of LNG transport.

MarineNews is pleased again this year to showcase the thoughts and opinions of workboat industry luminaries and executives, including: Terry Becker, President, Riverway Co.; Larry Daily, President, Alter Barge Line, Inc.; Cherrie Felder, Vice President, Channel Shipyard Companies; William D. Friedman, Executive Director, Ports of Indiana; Berdon Lawrence, Chairman, Kirby and Peter H. Stephaich, Chairman of Campbell Transportation Company, Inc., and C&C Marine Maintenance, Inc. President Riverway Co. For those who may not be familiar with Riverway Co., we are a "medium" sized barge line that operates approximately 500 barges and eight line haul towboats, moving dry bulk commodities primarily on the Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway.

The International Energy Agency’s most recent monthly report estimates for 2005 that global demand will grow by 1.8 mb/d, or 2.2%. for 2004. The 2005 demand estimate assumes: normal weather, a moderate slowdown in global GDP growth, an easing of crude oil and product prices and a modest reduction in Chinese oil consumption growth. Even so, Chinese oil demand is expected to grow by 510 kb/d, or 8.1% in 2005. The Middle East is also expected to contribute strong consumption growth in 2005 of 260 kb/d or 4.7%. These high growth rates contrast with substantially lower oil demand growth in the OECD of slightly less than 1% in 2005, holding flat in OECD Asia but rebounding slightly in OECD Eastern Europe.