Generating

A decision about whether to retire the still idle San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in Southern California could come by the end of this year, the CEO of Edison International, the majority owner/operator, said Tuesday.

The top executives that own and operate the idle San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) in Southern California indicated in separate conference calls on Tuesday that the plant’s fate remains uncertain, along with the 2,200 MW associated with it, which puts uncertainty into the state’s summer energy plans.

California’s natural gas power generation bill may be higher than normal in the first months of 2013 as the 2,200 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station was shuttered. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chair Allison Macfarland this week was at the plant for an update but hasn’t indicated when at least one of the two units would restart. Majority owner/operator Southern California Edison Co. has asked the NRC to allow at least Unit 2 to come back to 70% of capacity.

The fate of one of two major nuclear power plants in California remained uncertain at year-end as federal regulators are prodding the operator of the idle 2,200 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) for more analysis of the steam generator tubing problems that have kept Songs’ two units shut down for nearly a year.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said it conducted 31 onshore oil and natural gas auctions in fiscal year (FY) 2012, generating $233 million for U.S. taxpayers. In the FY 2012 lease sales, BLM estimated that it received bids on more than 1.4 million acres of public land in 1,707 parcels. It offered 2,315 parcels of land (covering six million acres) during the year, which is 32% more than in 2011 and 41% more than in 2010. The largest onshore oil and gas sale during FY 2012 was held in Billings, MT, in which 59 parcels covering 14,762 acres of public land brought in more than $36 million at an average price of $2,437/acre. BLM has scheduled 33 oil and gas lease sales in FY 2013, including in California, Colorado, the eastern states, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Alaska. Revenues from domestic output on public lands and federal offshore areas, totaling more than $12 billion this year, are shared among federal, state and tribal governments and represent one of the largest nontax sources of U.S. government funds. Revenue generated by BLM’s onshore parcels has more than tripled in the past three years, compared to the last 25 years, the agency said. Since 1988, the average price paid per acre was $55, while over the past three years the average has climbed to $210/acre. Moreover, the percentage of leases protested declined in FY 2012, continuing a trend that began in 2009. Protests were lodged on fewer than 18% of the parcels offered for sale during the year, the lowest percentage since 2003.

The energy outlook in the United States has “fundamentally changed” because of the revolution in unconventional natural gas and oil production, generating strong job creation, economic growth and government revenues, IHS Inc. said in a new report.

The energy outlook in the United States has “fundamentally changed” because of the revolution in unconventional natural gas and oil production, generating strong job creation, economic growth and government revenues, IHS Inc. said in a new report.

The U.S. energy outlook is “fundamentally changed” because of the revolution in unconventional natural gas and oil production, generating strong job creation, economic growth and government revenues, IHS Inc. said Tuesday.

Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) plans to eliminate nearly one-third of the staff at its troubled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) along the Pacific Coast in the northern-most end of San Diego County, CA. The staff reductions had already been articulated in SCE’s pending general rate case, but with the two 2,200 MW Songs units out of service since January, the move is sure to spark more speculation about the long-term future of the plant. Both units have turned up excessive wear in part of the tubing on newly installed steam generators on both units (see Daily GPI, Feb. 7). The length of the outage has caused a re-emphasis on natural gas-fired generation in a state, which already relies on gas-fired power for the bulk of its in-state generation (see Daily GPI, Aug. 14). As part of the explanation for the staff reduction to 1,500 from the current levels above 2,100 positions, a utility spokesperson said the Songs steam generator issues “require SCE be prudent with its future spending while [the utility] and regulators review the long-term viability of the nuclear plant. The reality is that the Unit 3 reactor will not be operating for some time.”