Duke

Researchers from Duke University published another controversial study on Wednesday, this time taking aim at a wastewater treatment plant in western Pennsylvania after finding radioactive chemicals in an adjacent creek bed, and blaming the find on Marcellus Shale development.

Researchers from Duke University published another controversial study on Wednesday, this time taking aim at a wastewater treatment plant in western Pennsylvania after finding radioactive chemicals in an adjacent creek bed, and blaming the find on Marcellus Shale development.

Duke Energy Floridaplans to issue on Oct. 8 a request for proposals (RFP) to supply 1,640 megawatts of generating capacity beginning in 2018. Proposals will compete with Duke Energy’s self-build option consisting of a highly-efficient, combined-cycle, natural gas unit to be located in Citrus County FL. “We have a need for significant generating capacity in 2018 and through the RFP process, we will be able to identify the most cost-effective, safe and reliable generation source for our customers,” said Alex Glenn, Duke Energy state president for Florida. Information on the RFP is available atwww.duke-energy.com/floridarfp. An RFP pre-release meeting is planned for Oct. 2, and a meeting for interested bidders will be held on Oct. 18.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said domestic water wells in two Arkansas counties showed no evidence of contamination from oil and natural gas drilling in the Fayetteville Shale, but it cautioned that additional testing would be necessary to provide an adequate comparative analysis.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will perform water sampling at about 61 homes in Dimock — the small Susquehanna County, PA, township where some state officials believe hydraulic fracturing (fracking) may have contaminated water wells — “to further assess whether any residents are being exposed to hazardous substances that cause health concerns,” EPA said.

Pennsylvania researchers have corrected a recent study that suggested increased bromide levels in private water wells after drilling or hydraulic fracturing occurred nearby.

President Obama announced his intent to nominate Richard C. Newell, an associate professor of energy and environmental economics at Duke University, for administrator of the Energy Information Administration (EIA). He succeeds Guy Caruso, who headed up the EIA under the Bush administration. Howard Gruenspecht has served as acting EIA administrator in the interim. Newell has written widely on the economics of markets and policies for energy, the environment and related technologies, particularly alternatives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving other energy and environmental goals. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University, his master’s from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School and his bachelor’s from Rutgers University.

Spectra Energy, which separated from Duke Energy and became a stand-alone, publicly traded company earlier this year, on Friday announced that its midstream master limited partnership (MLP), Spectra Energy Partners LP, plans to spin off as an initial public offering (IPO). The time for the spin-off was not disclosed.

Shippers responding to Duke Energy Gas Transmission’s (DEGT) open season on its Algonquin pipeline system have signaled that they may need more than 2 Bcf/d of new natural gas pipeline capacity to meet the demands of the growing Northeast market, the company said last Thursday.