Eaton Corp. released its Blackout Tracker Annual Report for 2011, saying that California topped the list of states with the most outages in 2011, followed by Michigan and New York.

GE Energy’s Industrial Solutions business opened an electrical distribution product and service solutions manufacturing plant in Chile.

MidAmerican Solar, a unit of MidAmerican Renewables, and First Solar broke ground May 3 on the 550 MW Topaz solar photovoltaic (PV) project in California.

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).

Japan, on May 5, 2012, will shut down the country’s lone remaining nuclear power plant.

First Solar named James Hughes as the new chief executive officer.

The Henry Hub is the pricing point for natural gas futures contracts traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

The Missouri Public Service Commission approved an agreement between the commission’s staff and Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) on cost estimates to decommission the 1,200 MW Wolf Creek nuclear power plant 55 miles south of Topeka in Kansas.

AES Gener and AES Energy Storage announced the commercial operation of the second energy storage project in Northern Chile, integrating 20 MW of advanced battery-based energy storage with a 544 MW thermal power plant.

Southern California Edison (SCE), an Edison International company, said costs associated with inspections and repairs to the 2,200 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) could land between $55 million and $65 million.

GE’s Waukesha gas engines factory manufactured and recently delivered two, 1 MW cogeneration sets for the Forest County Potawatomi Community’s (FCPC) planned biogas combined heat and power (CHP) project in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley.

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.

Arizona Public Service (APS) on May 2 said Unit 3 at the 4,000 MW Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station returned to service April 17, marking the completion of the unit’s 16th planned refueling outage.

DTE Energy has issued a Request for Proposals for 100 MW of renewable energy from Michigan-based wind projects that will be operating by the end of 2013.

Northland Power Inc. and Aecon Group Inc. said Miwel Construction Ltd., Aecon’s wholly-owned subsidiary, has been awarded a contract to construct six 10 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) generation projects in Ontario.

Gamesa has signed its first deal to supply wind turbines in Uruguay.

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.

Southern California Edison and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego said they will collaborate on a project to gather seismic data off the coast near the two-unit, 2,200 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

Washington-based NAES Corp. said it has executed an operations and maintenance (O&M) agreement for a 400 MW combined-cycle power plant being constructed in west Singapore.