Great Falls officials could raise the electricity rates of its utility arm by 30 percent or more in August. Consultant Jim Williams says the cost to customers may be about $77/MWh to allow the city to start paying back nearly $5.4 million in debts. Great Falls began selling power through Electric City Power to other agencies and area businesses in 2004, but has sold it mostly at a loss. The city and ECP sued its wholesale electricity supplier, Southern Montana Electric, in March to try to get out of its contracts.

Constellation Energy Group Inc has terminated a deal to sell Quail Run natural gas plant in west Texas to High Plains Diversified Energy Corporation. The company has now decided to retain ownership of the plant, which provides power to the west zone of the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas.

Canada’s wind energy industry took another step forward in 2010 with the addition of 690 MW of installed wind energy capacity; positioning Canada in 9th place globally in terms of new installed capacity and 9th for overall cumulative installed capacity, according to the Global Wind Energy Council’s recently released ‘Global Wind Report 2010’. Canada’s contribution to wind energy in 2010 represents $1.7 billion in new investment. New projects commissioned in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, brought Canada’s total installed wind energy capacity to 4,008 MW by the end of 2010. Today’s Canada’s total installed wind energy capacity stands at 4,285 MW – comprised of 2,570 wind turbines operating at 131 wind farms. Ontario is the current provincial leader in installed wind farm capacity accounting for 1,457 MW – roughly one third- of national wind energy development. As wind energy grows across the country, more and more Canadians are experiencing wind farm plants for the first time. While an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted by CanWEA in the summer of 2010 clearly indicated a majority of Ontario residents strongly support increased wind turbines development, the industry is facing a vocal minority of opposition at the local level, and does not take support for granted.

The first new coal-fired power plant to start up in West Virginia in 18 years will start burning coal this month. The 695MW plant is the first since 1993. The plant is now two months into a six-month-long commissioning period.

Solar panel installations may surge in the next two years as the cost of generating electricity from the sun rivals coal-fueled plants. Large photovoltaic projects will cost $1.45 a watt to build by 2020, half the current price. Chinese companies such as JA Solar Holdings Ltd., Canadian Solar and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. are making panels cheaper, fueled by better cell technology and more streamlined manufacturing processes. That’s making solar economical in more places and will put it in competition with coal, without subsidies, in the coming year

The U.S. Department of the Interior has released the results of an internal study that shows the department could generate up to one million megawatt hours of electricity annually, and create jobs, by adding hydropower capacity at 70 of its existing facilities. This report highlights the exciting potential for substantial hydropower development and related jobs at existing facilities throughout the western United States. The Bureau of Reclamation developed the report as part of President Obama’s initiative to develop a comprehensive renewable energy portfolio and to meet 80% of energy needs with clean sources by 2035. The report studied 530 sites throughout Reclamation’s jurisdiction, including dams, diversion structures, and some canals and tunnels. Of those sites, the assessment made a preliminary identification of 70 facilities with the most potential to add hydropower. These 70 facilities are located in 14 states.

Federal support for the $6.2-billion Lower Churchill power project in Labrador is good news for New Brunswick. The massive hydroelectric development would benefit New Brunswick in several ways, including making it easier for the province to leverage federal support for its top energy project – the ongoing refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant. Stephen Harper threw his support behind the Lower Churchill project while campaigning in St. John’s on Thursday, promising to guarantee a loan of up to $4.2 billion for the energy plan, if his Conservative government is re-elected.

A federal judge in Washington has sided with the Sierra Club in a legal dispute over a proposed coal-fired power plant in western Kansas, and an attorney for the environmental group predicted Thursday that the decision will at least delay the project. The lawsuit alleged that the RUS is required by federal law to do an environmental study of the project and have public hearings before allowing Sunflower Electric Power Corp., based in Hays, to build additional coal-fired generating capacity. The company supplies power for about 400,000 Kansans and plans to build a plant with a capacity of 895MW.

The uptake of solar power in Canada over the next decade will depend on a large number of variables, from financial support to technology costs and infrastructure needs. If everything falls into place, solar could conceivably represent 20 per cent of the new electricity supply generated in the next 20 years. The problem is that each region of the country is having a different conversation when it comes to solar technology rather than developing a cohesive policy and approach to using it.

Gemini-SRF Power is a subsidiary of privately owned renewable power generation company Gemini Power Corp. The parent company’s operations have a capacity of 21MW of production and it has more than 30MW of projects in development. Ram Power, Corp., a renewable energy company focused on the development, production and sale of electricity from geothermal energy, announced that the Northern California Power Agency has approved an amended and restated power purchase agreement with the Company’s subsidiary, Western GeoPower, Inc. , for the purchase of all energy and available environmental attributes from WGP’s geothermal power plant at The Geysers Geothermal Field in Northern California. The Power Purchase Agreement amends a power purchase agreement entered into in 2008. Among other things, the Power Purchase Agreement updates the milestones for completion of the Project, adjusts the expected capacity of the Project to approximately 26 MW (net), revises the purchase price per MW, and extends the term of the agreement from 20 to 25 years. NCPA’s Commission approved the Power Purchase Agreement on March 24, 2011. Subject to approval by the five NCPA members which are receiving power from the Project, it is anticipated that the Power Purchase Agreement will be signed in April 2011.

Sundance #3 went offline at 21:05 and Sundance #6 came back online at 23:3 Friday; Genesee#1 went offline at 02:34 today.

Alberta residents turned off Earth Hour by leaving their power switched on. Edmonton saw a spike in power usage during this year’s Earth Hour when Canadians are asked to shut off all non-essential power. According to Epcor, the city used 1058.15 megawatts of power between 8:30 p. m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. This represented a 1.01 per cent rise over the same day and time last week but cold temperatures may be to blame. Meanwhile in Calgary, utility provider Enmax reported no noticeable drop in power consumption. B.C. residents saved 117 megawatt hours of electricity – almost twice the 64 megawatt hours saved last year.

Legislation that will enable the production of more nuclear energy and, according to opponents, raise Iowans’ utility bills by $50 a month, is generating some electricity around the Capitol. Although nine senators have called for delaying legislation promoting “next-generation nuclear power,” a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing on Senate File 390 is planned from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 28 in room 116 of the Capitol. The proposal, as well as House File 561, is drawing added scrutiny because of earthquake damage to Japanese nuclear reactors. House Commerce Committee Chairman Chuck Soderberg, R-Le Mars, says it’s not a fair comparison.

After delaying a costly refurbishment, Hydro-Quebec won’t rule out recommending that the province close its only nuclear plant. Hydro-Quebec will provide the government all the information so it can make an informed decision and thoughtful decision on Gentilly-2. The utility will take into consideration escalating repair costs at similar nuclear plants in New Brunswick and South Korea, the sales process by Atomic Energy of Canada, as well as the recent nuclear crisis in Japan.

Hearings into four proposed new nuclear reactors in Ontario are under heavier security today after Greenpeace activists derailed the public review on Tuesday. Today, people going in to the hearings are being subjected to a thorough search of their bags by police.

Sprott Power Corp., a developer, owner and operator of renewable energy projects, together with the Municipalite de Saint-Philemon and the MRC de Bellechasse, announced the signing of a 20 year power purchase agreement with Hydro- Quebec Distribution for the 24MW Saint-Philemon wind farm. The agreement to purchase clean, renewable electricity is part of HQD’s previously issued call for tenders for the purchase of wind generated electricity in Quebec in order to meet the long-term electricity needs of its Quebec customers through Aboriginal and community based projects and is subject to the approval of the Regie de l’Energie.