Washington state regulators have opened an investigation to pinpoint the costs associated with the previously announced closing of Bellevue, WA-based Puget Sound Energy‘s (PSE) two coal-fired generation units at the Colstrip complex in Montana. A spokesperson for the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) told NGI the proceeding will not consider the replacement power, which will likely be a combination of renewables, natural gas-fired generation and added efficiency programs. PSE said it intends to transition to cleaner energy sources for its power, and the Washington state legislature has considered bills to establish a process for the combination utility to finance the closure of the units using low-cost bonds. The UTC is seeking stakeholder and utility comments for its investigation by Sept. 15.

The Illinois-based Gas Technology Institute (GTI) has acquired energy system assets from long-time research partner Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR), an aerospace contractor, for an undisclosed amount. AR’s power/energy solutions unit has developed clean fossil energy systems technology as part of the package that includes the transfer of patents and intellectual property, physical assets, and what GTI described as “technologies across the spectrum of gas and oil production, gasification, gas-to-liquids, power generation and hydrogen generation.” For the past 10 years, GTI has worked closely with AR, helping develop its compact gasifier for coal and natural gas conversion. GTI will now carry on some of the AR work in energy.