Aug. 23, 2010 at 11:17 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy
By Julie Wernau
Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant is back online following dual reactor shutdowns that lasted nearly a week.
According to the plant’s owner, Exelon Generating Company, Unit 1 was placed back in service early Saturday, while Unit 2 returned to service Sunday evening. The company said an inspection into the causes of the two shutdowns found that Unit 1 shut down after water came in contact with an electrical bus and caused the system to de-energize. The company attributed the shutdown of Unit 2 to a main generator fault caused by an electrical ground in the unit’s electrical bus. Get the full story »
Aug. 23, 2010 at 10:56 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy
By Associated Press
Gasoline pump prices continued to fall on Monday, offering a bright spot for drivers watching their wallets in the uncertain economy. The average retail price for a gallon of unleaded regular was $2.708 a gallon Monday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. It has dropped about 4.2 cents in the past week but is around 8.1 cents more than a year ago.
Aug. 18, 2010 at 3:09 p.m.
Filed under:
Energy
By Julie Wernau
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that a special inspection team has been sent to the Braidwood Nuclear Power Plant to review the circumstances surrounding dual reactor shutdowns that occurred on Aug. 16.
The reactors at the Exelon Generating Company LLC-owned plant have remained shut down since the incidents occurred at the plant, which is located in Braceville, Ill., 20 miles southwest of Joliet.
“The purpose of the special inspection is to better understand the sequence of both reactor events and the apparent unexpected system interactions,” NRC Region III Administrator Mark Satorius said in a statement. Get the full story »
Aug. 16, 2010 at 12:39 p.m.
Filed under:
Energy
By Julie Wernau
Exelon Corp. is investigating the cause of shutdowns this morning of two nuclear reactors at Braidwood Generating Station.
The Unit 2 turbine tripped off line at 2:06 a.m., followed 13 minutes later by a shutdown of the Unit 1 reactor. Get the full story »
Aug. 13, 2010 at 3:14 p.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
M&A,
Private equity
By Reuters
Private equity firm Blackstone Group Friday struck a deal to buy power producer Dynegy Inc. for $543 million in cash and sell some of the company’s best assets to NRG Energy in the latest shake-up in the electric industry.
The deal values Dynegy at $4.7 billion including debt, which would make it one of the biggest buyouts of a power company since Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs bought TXU for $32 billion in 2007. Get the full story »
Aug. 13, 2010 at 12:45 p.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Government
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Nordic Energy Services LLC said Friday that it had been awarded a contract to manage the natural gas deliveries and storage inventories for the City of Chicago’s Department of General Services, which manages the maintenance and operation of city properties.
Get the full story »
Aug. 12, 2010 at 1:00 p.m.
Filed under:
Agriculture/Farming,
Energy
By Julie Wernau
A Seneca biodiesel facility mothballed in March after its owner filed for bankruptcy, reopened Thursday under new ownership.
The 60-million-gallon-a-year plant produced for less than a year under Nova Biosource, and all but six of of approximately 40 workers were laid off. Renewable Energy Group acquired the facility in April. Get the full story »
Aug. 9, 2010 at 10:15 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Environment,
Litigation
By Reuters
BP said Monday it has made an initial deposit of $3 billion into a $20 billion fund to pay for its Gulf of Mexico oil spill after the oil company finalized negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice. Get the full story »
Aug. 9, 2010 at 7:22 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Green
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
Broadwind Energy Inc.’s second-quarter loss widened on myriad charges and year-ago gains while wind-turbine installations stalled in the U.S. The supplier of products and services now sees 2010 revenue of $140 million to $160 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently estimated $206 million on average. Get the full story »
Aug. 6, 2010 at 2:33 p.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Environment
By Associated Press
BP said Friday it might someday drill again into the same lucrative undersea pocket of oil that spilled millions of gallons of crude, wrecked livelihoods and fouled beaches along the Gulf of Mexico. “There’s lots of oil and gas here,” Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said at a news briefing. “We’re going to have to think about what to do with that at some point.”
Aug. 6, 2010 at 10:05 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Environment,
Management,
Stock activity
By Reuters
Shares in BP rose 1.2 percent in London on Friday, taking their bounce since the near 14-year low in June to 45 percent, lifted by the group’s latest progress in plugging the ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. Get the full story »
Aug. 5, 2010 at 5:15 p.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Environment
By Associated Press
The U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday that it has dropped its long-running plans to build a futuristic power plant in eastern Illinois and will instead use the site for the storage of carbon dioxide produced by another Illinois power plant. The so-called FutureGen project originally was to include an experimental coal-fired power plant near Mattoon. Carbon dioxide from burning the coal would have been stored underground.
Aug. 3, 2010 at 7:53 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Energy
By Dow Jones Newswires
Nicor Inc.’s second-quarter earnings rose 5.7 percent as the natural-gas company continued to see strong results at its distribution business and benefits from prior cost cutting, though demand continued to decline. Still, results beat analysts’ expectations. Get the full story »
Aug. 3, 2010 at 6:12 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Energy
By Dow Jones Newswires
NiSource Inc. swung to a bigger-than-expected second-quarter profit amid higher volume, but the top line slid on a tumble in non-operational revenue. NiSource posted a profit of $28.1 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $4.8 million, or a penny a share. Revenue slid 7.7 percent to $1.17 billion as so-called “other” revenue tumbled 60 percent. Get the full story »
July 30, 2010 at 2:52 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
Energy,
Manufacturing
By Associated Press
General Motors said Friday that it is boosting production capacity for its new Chevrolet Volt due to strong public interest in the electric car that goes on sale this year.
GM will now have a production capacity of 45,000 vehicles in 2012, up from previous plans for 30,000.
The automaker made the announcement as President Barack Obama toured the Volt production facility in Detroit.
Get the full story »
