Many Weapons In ‘War On Coal’ Deployed Long Before Obama Took Office

The coal industry can be excused for thinking there’s a massive, organized, palm-rubbing effort to make its life difficult — the war on coal, in short.

It’s a “war” that’s been decades in the making, with few regulations actually originating with the Obama administration.  Yet the current swarm of actions also underscores the extent to which the White House can influence which rules get written, enforced or buried by delays and litigation.

“It’s not a war on coal for warring on coal’s sake,” said David Spence, associate professor of law, politics and regulation at the University of Texas.

Rather, it’s kind of a perfect storm of actions that have been simmering for a long time.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/many-weapons-in-war-on-coal-deployed-long-before-obama-took-office-698992/#ixzz2blfnoFXX

PPL’s Brunner Island Coal-Fired Power Plant Here To Stay

All around the country, utilities are shuttering coal-fired power plants or converting them to natural gas, which has become a cheap, plentiful fuel.

But the hulking 51-year-old Brunner Island power plant perched along the Susquehanna River at Lancaster County‘s western boundary will continue to be a major power-producer for years to come, according to its owner, PPL.

“Brunner Island remains an important part of PPL’s future.  The company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in environmental improvements at the plant to keep it viable for the long term,” said George Lewis, PPL’s director of corporate communications.

Brunner Island produces enough power to drive 1 million homes.  But keeping it chugging along will buck a national trend and require even more investments in pollution equipment.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/715580_PPL-s-Brunner-Island-coal-fired-power-plant-here-to-stay.html#ixzz23okhy4D9

PPL To Invest $664 Million In Electric Grid

PPL Electric Utilities, which suffered extensive power outages during two storms in 2011, plans to invest $664 million this year in the electric grid serving eastern and central Pennsylvania, including much of the Lehigh Valley.

The investment represents nearly a 50 percent increase over what it spent last year on new transmission lines, poles and substations, the company announced Friday.

More than 400,000 PPL customers lost power in August after the remnants of Hurricane Irene swept through eastern Pennsylvania. And an October snowstorm cut power to 388,000 PPL customers, nearly half of whom were in the Lehigh Valley. Nearly 10,000 in the Lehigh Valley had no electricity for six days after the snow.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-ppl-grid-investment-20120217,0,4685365.story

Pennsylvania Near Top In U.S. In Air Pollution

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Pennsylvania is second only to Texas in greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and refineries, and two of the state’s top 10 polluters are facilities owned by PPL Corp. of Allentown, new federal data show.

Nationwide, the electric industry is responsible for the bulk of U.S. pollution blamed for global warming, according to the data, which were released Wednesday in the government’s first public catalog of individual polluters.  Power plants accounted for 72 percent of the greenhouse gases reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 2010.

Specifically, the main culprit is coal, which is as cheap as it is dirty.  Twenty mostly coal-fired power plants in 15 states were among the worst polluters.

Among the biggest offenders in Pennsylvania were PPL’s Brunner Island plant in York County and its Montour plant in Montour County.  Together, they spewed the equivalent of 18.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-allentown-greenhouse-gasses-20120112,0,6222628.story

Construction Begins On 70-Megawatt Wind Farm In Northern Lycoming County

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WILLIAMSPORT, PA — Seven years after the project was announced, a subsidiary of Duke Energy has started construction on a 70 megawatt wind farm on Laurel Hill Ridge off Route 14 in northern Lycoming County.
    
Half the pads for the 30 turbines have been poured, and Laurel Hill Wind Energy of Rutland, Vt., anticipates the more than $150 million project will be in production by late summer, spokesman Robert Charleboif said Tuesday.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/construction_begins_on_70-mega.html

Top 20 States With Toxic Air List

Yet another list, but not a good one.

Which states have the most toxic air?

Ohio leads the pack, followed by Pennsylvania and Florida.  The leading culprit in these states is power generation facilities that are coal and oil-fired.

Electricity generation and chemical processing were the top two offenders for dangerous emissions that cause ailments like asthma and cancer.

Other states rounding out the top 10 are:

Kentucky, Maryland, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina.

The bottom 10 states are:

South Carolina, Alabama, Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Iowa

PPL Electric Hits Record High For Morning Power Use

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Allentown, PA based PPL Electric set a record for morning peak power consumption today between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m.  Record cold temperatures were the reason.  The company released preliminary numbers showing that 7,432 megawatts were delivered.  The previous record was set on February 11, 2008 when 7,163 megawatts were delivered for the same time period between 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.

PPL Electric’s all-time peak record was set for the 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. period on February 5, 2007, when 7,557 megawatts were delivered.

For a point of reference:

A standard household light bulb has a power rating of between 25 and 100 watts. 

A kilowatt is equal to 1,000 watts.  The average electrical energy consumption in the United States is 8,900 kilowatts a year, per household.  Your electric bill reflects your usage in kilowatt hours.

One megawatt of electricity is equal to 1,000,000 watts.

PPL is just one of 11 electricity suppliers in Pennsylvania!

Hillandale Farms Installing Biomass-To-Energy Plant

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You have probably seen Hillandale Farms eggs in your local grocery store.  This forward-thinking Adams County egg producer is investing in a revolutionary new green technology that will use 80,000 tons of manure to create energy!

Hillandale Farms is one of the nations leading egg producers/suppliers.  It is always gratifying to see large companies looking at ways to reduce their carbon footprint.  This new energy plant will create enough energy to power 2,500 homes a year! 

Hillandale Farms is planning on expanding their egg production facility in Adams County by another 1.5 million hens.  This means 5 million chickens will call Tyrone Township home.  Utilizing animal waste to create power is amazing.  This new process will turn manure into steam that can be used to heat and cool.

Another added benefit will be 13,000 tons of left over nutrients from the biomass process will be recycled into fertilizer or livestock-feed supplement.  This will contribute to a 3.5% reduction of nutrients and a 4.4% reduction of phosphorus being released into the Chesapeake Bay.  Those percentages are for the entire state of Pennsylvania in just one production facility!

The plant is expected to be up and running by the first quarter of 2012. 

If you are environmentally conscious, you may want to consider including this egg supplier in your weekly shopping.

http://www.hillandalefarms.com/

Met Ed & PECO Rate Caps To Expire 12/31/10

Metropolitan Edison‘s (Met-Ed) electricity rate cap is set to expire on 12/31/10 (for Pennsylvania customers.)  Rates are expected to rise 10%.  Consumers will be offered the choice to stay with Met-Ed or switch to another electricity supplier which could save them money.

Allentown based PPL raised their rates by one-third after their rate cap expired 12/30/09.

PECO Energy aka Exelon’s rate cap is also set to expire 12/31/10.  You can expect to see a 7% increase in your electric bill if you stay with PECO after the rate cap ends.

This link should give you information on the rates for all state-licensed electric suppliers: www.papowerswitch.com