Baseload

To provide added assurance of grid reliability in the face of ever-greater use of renewable resources, Portland General Electric (PGE) on Tuesday proposed an updated integrated resource plan (IRP) for Oregon, with more than half of added power supplies coming from natural gas-fired or other forms of dispatchable generation.

California regulators recently approved the replacement of a coastal natural gas-fired baseload power plant with gas-fired peaking units as a statewide ban on seawater cooling for coastal plants draws closer.

President Obama’s climate action plan may increase reliance on natural gas as a baseload source of electricity generation, but it is also sparking plans for coal export projects in the West to market U.S. supplies to Asia-Pacific markets.

President Obama’s climate action plan may increase reliance on natural gas as a baseload source of electricity generation, but it is also sparking plans for coal export projects in the West to market U.S. supplies to Asia-Pacific markets.

Prices rebounded by generally small amounts in most of the market Wednesday as the South is beginning to contribute more air conditioning load than earlier this week and is being abetted to a smaller degree by warming trends in the Midwest. The previous day’s screen gain of 3.9 cents also gave a modicum of positive guidance to cash numbers.

As the federal government moves to cut greenhouse gas emissions, FERC should recognize the critical role of natural gas to provide baseload generation and complement variable energy resources (VER), such as wind and solar energy, because of its ability to quickly and reliably ramp up to meet electric customers’ demand when wind or sun energy is disrupted, said the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA).

As the federal government moves to cut greenhouse gas emissions, FERC should recognize the critical role of natural gas to provide baseload generation and complement variable energy resources (VER), such as wind and solar energy, because of its ability to quickly and reliably ramp up to meet electric customers’ demand when wind or sun energy is disrupted, said the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA).

As the power industry is about to begin its next wave of generation capacity additions, coal and nuclear are the most talked about sources for new baseload capacity. Within both categories the industry has options to consider, and the best choices have yet to be determined by markets and other factors.

Looking to establish a foothold in the PJM market, NRG Energy yesterday announced that it has acquired 1,081 MW of baseload electric generating plants from Delmarva Power and Light, a subsidiary of Conectiv. As part of the agreement, NRG entered into both short- and long-term purchase power contracts with Delmarva Power to provide energy and capacity for the Delmarva Peninsula.