Fish and energy needs clash in Midwest
MISSOURI - Missouri utility regulators claim electric customers could be on the hook for the cost of improved trout fishing in northern Arkansas.
A federal project would change the flow of water from two Army Corps of Engineers dams that form Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes along the Arkansas-Missouri border. The intent is to improve the habitat for trout below the dams.
But the change also would reduce the capacity to produce hydropower at a plant owned by The Empire District Electric Co. on Lake Taneycomo near Branson.
The federal Southwestern Power Administration proposed in January to reimburse Empire $41 million for the lost energy-production capacity. It revised that last month to $22 million. Missouri utility regulators say that would shortchange Empire's customers in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma.
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Solar Now ‘cheaper Than Grid Electricity’ In Every Chinese City, Study Finds
BEIJING - Solar power has become cheaper than grid electricity across China, a development that could boost the prospects of industrial and commercial solar, according to a new study.
Projects in every city analysed by the researchers could be built today without subsidy, at lower prices than those supplied by the grid, and around a fifth could also compete with the nation’s coal electricity prices.
They say grid parity – the “tipping point” at which solar generation costs the same as electricity from the grid – represents a key stage in the expansion of renewable energy sources.
While previous studies of nations such…
