Idled

There will be no quick remedy for restarting one of the units at idled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in Southern California following a recent decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) that a public hearing will be required on a request from SONGS’s operator Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) to partially restart Unit 2. This follows utility warnings that without a restart this year of the one unit, a decision may have to be made by the end of this year on whether SONGS will be retired (see Daily GPI, May 2). There is now a 25-day period for appeal of the board’s decision. As the largest baseload source of electric generation in Southern California with 2,200 MW, the loss of SONGS would require other types of generation, including more natural gas-fired capacity and various efficiency programs, particularly in the summer (see Daily GPI, March 26; Feb. 28). SCE, which is the majority owner/operator of SONGS, had been hoping to obtain swift approval to restart at 70% capacity Unit 2. Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas and Electric Co. owns 20% of SONGS and a Riverside, CA, municipal utility holds about 3%.

Quelling previous optimism for at least a partial return of its idled nuclear generating plant this summer, Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) officials Thursday said the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs), which has been shut down since January for repairs of flawed tubing, will not resume operations this summer. As a result, more natural gas-fired generation from old coastal plants and other measures will take up the slack.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is reportedly seeking up to $1.675 billion in tax credits over the next 25 years for Royal Dutch Shell plc and other companies willing to locate an ethane cracker in the state.

The impossibility of predicting future natural gas and coal prices adds to the dilemma, but Rosemead, CA-based Edison International’s two-edged conundrum involving an idled California nuclear plant and money-losing merchant coal-fired generation assets in Illinois and Pennsylvania remains unresolved as time constraints worsen the potential financial fallout.

While there were assurances Monday that the idled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) is not going to be closed permanently, there also were no indications when at least one of its two units may be back online. As a result, California energy planners need to assume stepped-up natural gas-fired generation will be needed to make up for the 2,200 MW nuclear facility’s absence this summer.

Still stinging from the nationalization last month of 11 idled rigs in Venezuela, contract driller Helmerich & Payne Inc. looked on the bright side Thursday, announcing plans to build nine new rigs for U.S. deployment along with its third fiscal quarter results, which took a hefty hit from a Venezuela-related charge.

Northwest Pipeline said that a 111-mile portion of its idled 26-inch diameter line between Sumas and Washougal, WA, is back in service, providing an additional 131,000 Dth/d of much needed pipeline capacity along the I-5 corridor. The capacity increase will allow customers to transport more gas to markets in southern Washington, Oregon and California and to the Jackson Prairie storage field.

Northwest Pipeline said that a 111-mile portion of its idled 26-inch diameter line between Sumas and Washougal, WA, is back in service, providing an additional 131,000 Dth/d of much needed pipeline capacity along the I-5 corridor. The capacity increase will allow customers to transport more gas to markets in southern Washington, Oregon and California and to the Jackson Prairie storage field.

Williams’ Northwest Pipeline, working to get its pipeline between Sumas and Washougal, WA, restored and back in service, said it was prioritizing segments of the 278-mile, 26-inch line that will provide the most capacity to the system.