Maryland officials reviewing Obama’s greenhouse gas limits
ANNAPOLIS — Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration is taking some time to review the impact of President Barack Obama’s plan to dramatically cut emissions from U.S. power plants, while Maryland Democrats already were praising the plan released Monday. Ben Grumbles, secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, said it will take a while to […]
Court orders EPA to redo air-pollution limits in Md., 12 other states
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to relax some limits it set on smokestack emissions that cross state lines and taint downwind areas with air pollution from power plants. At the same time, the court upheld the EPA’s right to impose the clean-air standards, rejecting an argument by […]
12 states sue EPA over coal plant rule
A dozen states led by West Virginia and Virginia sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to block a proposed rule that would limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
EPA: Mid-Atlantic air pollution down in 2011
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says releases of toxic air pollutants were down in 2011 in the Mid-Atlantic. And the federal agency says cleaner power plants are part of the reason. The EPA says releases were down 13.8 percent in 2011 in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia compared to […]
Exelon to pay $400K for Constellation violation
WASHINGTON — Exelon Corp. will pay $400,000 for inadvertent power trading violations during its takeover of Constellation Energy Group Inc. The Justice Department announced the settlement Thursday. A federal judge in Washington will have to approve it before it’s final. Exelon was required to sell three Maryland power plants to settle antitrust concerns about the […]
Exelon to sell 3 Baltimore-area power plants
Exelon Corp., of Chicago, which in March acquired Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group, said Thursday it will sell three coal-fired power plants formerly owned by Constellation for approximately $400 million. The plants are Brandon Shores and H.A. Wagner in Pasadena, and C.P. Crane in Middle River. The buyer is Raven Power Holdings LLC, a new portfolio […]
Feds fund food production on old Md. mine land
FROSTBURG — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $300,000 to help grow trees in an old coal mine near Frostburg. The agency said Thursday that the grant will be implemented by the environmental group American Rivers. American Rivers is EPA’s partner in a program to preserve and protect the environment in the Potomac Highlands […]
Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves Constellation-Exelon deal
Exelon’s proposed takeover of Constellation Energy crossed another hurdle Thursday when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the $7.9 billion deal. Constellation’s nuclear division, the Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, is licensed to operate five reactors and two spent fuel installations. The staffs at the plants, including management, will remain essentially unchanged when Ex[...]
FirstEnergy closing 6 coal-fired power plants
AKRON, Ohio — FirstEnergy Corp. said Thursday that new environmental regulations led to a decision to shut down six older, coal-fired power plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, affecting more than 500 employees. The plants, which are in Cleveland, Ashtabula, Oregon and Eastlake in Ohio, Adrian, Pa. and Williamsport, Md., will be retired by Sept. […]
Interactive chart: Maryland tax expenditures in 2010
Maryland gave away $3.7 billion in tax breaks in 2010 that benefited farmers, power plants, biotech companies and everything in between. Figures are in millions of dollars. “Other” includes the motor vehicle titling, inheritance, public service company franchise, property transfer, motor vehicle fuel, boat titling, motor vehicle registration fees and alcohol beverage taxes. Read the [&[...]
Dominion says nuclear plants ready to restart
ROCKVILLE — A Dominion Virginia Power official told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Friday that two nuclear reactors shut since an Aug. 23 Virginia earthquake did not suffer functional damage and are ready to restart. David Heacock, President and Chief Nuclear Officer of Dominion Nuclear, said at a briefing Friday that the company found no damage […]
Constellation power plants to test sorghum as fuel
Constellation Energy says it plans to test sorghum as a fuel for two California power plants. The Baltimore-based company announced Wednesday that is has signed an agreement with Chromatin Inc., which is growing three fields of sorghum. If successful, Constellation says it will mark the first production-scale effort in California to generate power from a […]