EPA move on sulfur dioxide affects NG prices
The agency said that the new standard, adopted under the Clean Air Act, would prevent 2,300 to 5,900 premature deaths and 54,000 asthma attacks a year.
Sulfur dioxide is a major element of exhaust from coal-burning power plants and a component of acid rain. It has been linked to many breathing problems, including asthma, emphysema and bronchitis. The new rule calls for concentrations of no more than 75 parts per billion of sulfur dioxide, measured hourly. The current standard is 140 parts per billion, averaged over 24 hours.
Some power plants have been using more natural gas, instead of coal, to run generators because gas burns cleaner, with lower emissions.
Natural gas futures rose 26.6 cents to close at $4.69 per 1,000 cubic feet on the New York Mercantile Exchange recently.
Natural gas producers were among the biggest gainers in an otherwise lackluster trading day.
Fort Worth-based Quicksilver Resources and Range Resources both saw their shares jump more than 6 percent, as did Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy. Union Drilling of Fort Worth, which is active in shale gas development, saw its shares rise more than 4 percent.
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Nuclear plants produce over half of Illinois electricity, almost faced retirement
CHICAGO - Nuclear plants have produced over half of Illinois electricity generation since 2010, but the states two largest plants would have been retired if the state had not created a zero emission credit (ZEC) mechanism to support the facilities.
The two plants, Quad Cities and Clinton, collectively delivered more than 12 percent of the states electricity generation over the past several years. In May 2016, however, Exelon, the owner of the plants, announced that they had together lost over $800 million dollars over the previous six years and revealed plans to retire them in 2017 and 2018.
In December 2016, Illinois passed the Future Energy Jobs Bill, which established a…
