The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold two public hearings on the proposed Carbon Pollution Standard for New Power Plants.

Republican leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on May 17 wrote a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson seeking more information about EPA’s plans to regulate carbon emissions for new and existing power plants.

The PJM Interconnection Board May 17 approved nearly $2 billion in electric transmission upgrades that will maintain electric power supplies in the wake of plans to retire 14,000 MW of coal-fired generation between May 2012 and the end of 2015.

In its budget requests for 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it wants a funding increase to investigate hydraulic fracturing technologies.

The Weekly Coal Production shows how much coal is being produced across the U.S.

In a study commissioned by the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO), economists at The Brattle Group evaluated the feasibility of complying with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule.

Minnesota Power has announced plans to upgrade Boswell Energy Center Unit 4 in Cohasset, Minn. with emissions controls that will reduce its mercury emissions by 90 percent.

Hoosier Energy plans to retire its 250 MW Ratts coal-fired power plant in Indiana in 2015.

A new report by Bloomberg Government says that gas-fired generation will likely become the dominant form of power generation over time in light of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) new standards for greenhouse gases

Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS), a subsidiary of Integrys Energy Group, has filed for a Certificate of Authority from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to install the first U.S. commercial application of Regenerative Activated Coke Technology (ReACT) at its 321 MW Weston 3 plant.

Kincaid Generation LLC, a subsidiary of Dominion Resources Inc (NYSE: D), awarded the KBR Power & Industrial Group a contract to provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for a dry sorbent injection (DSI) system to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions at its 1,158 MW Kincaid coal-fired power plant in Illinois.

PMFG Inc. has announced that it has been awarded a contract to provide two SCR systems for nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions control and oxidation catalysts for carbon monoxide/volatile organic compounds emissions control for a new, natural-gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in the northeastern U.S.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a draft underground injection control (UIC) program permitting guidance for class II wells.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has announced the release of a proposed rule to require companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations on public and Indian lands, with appropriate protections for proprietary information.

The Sierra Club filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, claiming that a loophole allowed coal-fired power plants in Oklahoma to exceed emissions standards under the Clean Air Act.

Citing depressed power prices and the high cost of environmental controls, as well as other factors, Ameren Energy Resources Co. LLC (AER), filed a petition with the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB) seeking flexibility in meeting certain emissions standards established by the Illinois Multi-Pollutant Standards (MPS).

The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) approved a proposal by Kentucky Utilities Co. (KU) and Louisville Gas & Electric Co. (LG&E) to build a 640 MW natural gas-fired power plant at LG&E’s Cane Run plant and to purchase the 495 MW Bluegrass natural gas-fired plant in Oldham County.

Midwest Generation is planning to close two coal-fired power plants in Illinois sooner than planned. In February, the company announced that it would shutter the 326 MW Fisk plant and the 542 MW Crawford plant by the end of 2014.

FirstEnergy cannot close its Ashtabula, Eastlake, Bay Shore and Lakeshore coal-fired power plants in Ohio until 2015.