Exelon threatens to close Three Mile Island nuclear plant

Three Mile Island nuclear plant (AP Photo/Bradley C Bower)
Marc Levy reports for The Associated Press:
The owner of Three Mile Island, site of the United States’ worst commercial nuclear power accident, says it will shut down the plant in 2019 without a financial rescue from Pennsylvania. 
Exelon Corporation says the announcement comes after five years of losses on the power plant in Dauphin County and its recent failure in an auction to sell Three Mile Island’s power into the regional grid.  
The Chicago-based energy company wants the commonwealth to give nuclear power megawatts the kind of preferential treatment and premium payments that are given to renewable energies, such as wind and solar.  
Nuclear power plants have been hammered by the natural gas boom that has slashed electricity prices in competitive markets. 
Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>

Exelon threatens to close Three Mile Island nuclear plant Read More »

Use us to spread the word about your upcoming event

Need some help getting the word out about your upcoming environmental-related event?


Enviro-Events Calendar will do the job for you. 


How much will it cost?  Not  a cent.


If your business, organization or association is planning a forum, seminar, webinar, educational, training or social event with an energy or environment theme in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware or New York, send us the details. 


We’ll put them on our calendar which is read by thousands of folks who are looking to attend such events in our region.  


Here’s what the calendar looks like.


Please follow our style when submitting your information.
Send it to frankbrilljr@gmail.com. 
We’ll take it from there.


Be sure to tell your friends and associates about this great free service.  Enviro-Events Calendar.


Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>

Use us to spread the word about your upcoming event Read More »

Our Weekly Legislative Edition–Free today–Take a look


Monday through Thursday, EnviroPolitics  carries the top political, energy and environment news from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware.


Take a look at Thursday’s issue. (No signup-free download)


On Friday, we devote our entire issue to what happened that week in energy and environment legislation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.


Our readers stay on top of :

  • New bills that week        
  • Bills voted out of committee
  • Bills passed in either house
  • Bills sent on to the governor
  • Bills signed by the  governor into law 

Just clicking on a bill number opens the entire document, updated with the latest amendments.

The latest news, the latest legislation. No wonder our readers include the sharpest regional leaders in business, industry, law, engineering, consulting, trade associations, education and advocacy.

Check out this week’s Legislative Edition. Again, no registration. Free download.  

Like it? Take us up on an unbeatable deal—an entire month of EnviroPolitics.

No cost. No automatic sign up when your trial ends.
No catch. No kidding.


Our Weekly Legislative Edition–Free today–Take a look Read More »

New CDC report: Some in Bucks, Montgomery, Pa., near military bases, exposed to PFCs well over safe level


Kyle Bagenstose reports for the Bucks County Courier Times:
Local residents affected by water contamination from area military bases were exposed to unregulated chemicals at as much as 15 times the recommended safety limit before contaminated wells were taken off line over the past several years.
That’s according to a draft report released Wednesday by the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, an arm of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings were included in a small section of a much larger report released by the ATSDR to a community panel in Pease, New Hampshire.
As in Bucks and Montgomery counties, Pease residents are dealing with the fallout of learning that the chemicals PFOS and PFOA contaminated local water supplies after being used in firefighting foams at area military bases for decades. Pease residents have organized a community action group — “Testing for Pease” — to demand action from regulators and the federal government. No such group exists locally, however.
The highest estimated contamination was in the central part of the Warminster system, near the former Naval Air Warfare Center. Four public wells were located in the vicinity, leading the ATSDR to conclude that some residents in the central part of the water system “received water containing concentrations at level up to 15 times (the EPA’s limit).”

Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates

See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >> 

New CDC report: Some in Bucks, Montgomery, Pa., near military bases, exposed to PFCs well over safe level Read More »

Kooper elected chair of NJ Bar Assn’s public utility section

Middlesex Water Company’s Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, Jay L. Kooper, has been elected as Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Public Utility Law Section for the section’s 2017-2018 programming year.

The Public Utility Law Section, the legal organization for New Jersey’s public utilities attorney community, hosts monthly meetings and special programming throughout the year bringing together practitioners from both the private sector and state agencies including the Board of Public Utilities and the Division of Rate Counsel.

Jay L. Kooper, General Counsel of Middlesex Water Company
Jay L. Kooper 



Kooper was appointed Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary of Middlesex Water Company in March 2014, and currently serves as the Secretary of the National Association of Water Companies’ New Jersey Chapter and on multiple committees for the National Association of Water Companies and the New Jersey Utilities Association.

He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Temple B’Nai Abraham in Livingston, New Jersey, where he resides with his wife Jessica and sons Jordan and Ethan. 

In 2016, Kooper was honored as a finalist for the New York Stock Exchange Corporate Governance and Leadership Awards’ Distinguished General Counsel of the Year and the NJBIZ General Counsel of the Year in the Public Company Category.
Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates
See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >>

Kooper elected chair of NJ Bar Assn’s public utility section Read More »

PSEG to NJ: Encourage investment in energy-saving tech

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:

Izzo’s message: there are ‘billions’ to be made from energy efficiency, while industry and regulators squabble ‘over tens of millions’


izzo profile

Ralph Izzo, chairman, president and CEO
of PSEG
New Jersey’s most prominent energy executive yesterday called for the state to revamp its regulatory system to make it easier for homeowners to use less energy and to have more access to energy-saving technologies — both with the support of and profit to utilities.
Ralph Izzo, the president and chief executive of Public Service Enterprise Group, mostly veered off from touting the benefits of nuclear power, a recurring preoccupation of the company in recent months, in a speech to the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey in Mount Laurel.
Instead, he called for broad changes to the utility business model that would let companies like PSEG shift investments away from big-ticket items like power plants to technology to help customers use less energy and have broader access to cleaner, renewable energy.

A familiar topic

The topic is a familiar one for Izzo over the past decade, especially for a company that has invested about $400 million in a series of energy-efficiency initiatives, but would like to ramp up those expenditures. It currently has a $93 million filing before the state Board of Public Utilities to do energy-savings projects at hospitals, schools, and multifamily units.
But Izzo expressed frustration at repeatedly going back to regulators for approval of projects that have proven to have broad support. “I marvel it didn’t sail right through,’’ he told reporters following the 20-minute talk to the business crowd, referring to the latest energy efficiency proposal. It was filed with the board in March.
“There are billions of dollars of energy efficiency (projects) we could be doing and we are squabbling over tens of millions of dollars,’’ Izzo said.

Read the full story


Like this? Use form in upper right to receive free updates

See popular posts from the last 30 days in right column — >> 


PSEG to NJ: Encourage investment in energy-saving tech Read More »