WCIV-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Charleston, SC - Cannon Ball Halts Activity On Meeting Street

: "Meeting Street sidewalks between Calhoun and George were closed to pedestrian traffic as officials worked to manage the lost artillery from long ago -- fearful that the ball may have been a live round."

Solar Power Projects Face Potential Hurdles - NYTimes.com

By TODD WOODY

Published: October 28, 2010

"Solar developers depend on two federal programs to make their projects financially viable. The most crucial is a loan guarantee program, expiring next September, that allows them to borrow money on favorable terms to finance up to 80 percent of construction costs.

The other is the option to take a 30 percent tax credit in the form of a cash payment once a project is built."

Clemson Breaks on Wind

"The groundbreaking for the Clemson Restoration Institute’s wind turbine drivetrain test facility marks the next step in a journey that began nearly a year ago with the awarding of a $45 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy through the federal stimulus act, which is being combined with $53 million in matching public and private funds."

Al Gore: Tea Party making climate science a ‘political football’ - The Hill's E2-Wire

By Ben Geman - 10/27/10 03:31 PM ET"Gore, a lontime advocate of capping greenhouse gases, points to a New York Times story this month that said, “Skepticism and outright denial of global warming are among the articles of faith of the Tea Party movement.”"

A Nano-Solution to Energy 'Vampires' - NYTimes.com

By JOHN COLLINS RUDOLF

"Yet far more substantial energy savings may be found in a fundamental redesign of the transistor, the basic building block of modern electronics, some scientists suggest. One major research initiative involving scientists from I.B.M. and several European universities is pursuing just that goal, with the help of more than $5 million in funding from the European Union."

Graham: GOP should work with Obama on energy - The Hill's E2-Wire

By Michael O'Brien - 10/27/10 11:23 AM ET

"'My belief is that, if we get back power in the House, and get close in the Senate, that we ought to really clamp down on spending and reform the government,' Graham said on WVOC radio in South Carolina. 'But we ought to not put ourself in a position of being the 'party of no' to hard problems. But we ought to sit down with the president and work on Social Security, come up with an energy policy without cap-and-trade."

Duke says future will be nuclear - CharlotteObserver.com

By Bruce Henderson
bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com

October 27, 2010

"Duke is still looking for partners to build Lee, a strategy investors heavily favor. After his talk, Fallon said it's possible Duke could join Scana Corp., for example, in expanding the V.C. Summer plant in Jenkinsville, S.C. He wouldn't discuss other potential partners."

SCANA Reports Financial Results for Third Quarter and Year-to-Date 2010, Reaffirms 2010 Earnings Guidance - MarketWatch

"The decline in third quarter results was due primarily to resolution of a state income tax issue in 2009, which contributed 11 cents per share," said Jimmy Addison, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "The earnings drivers for the third quarter were improved electric margins resulting from electric base rate increases under the Base Load Review Act and the retail electric rate case, which offset higher interest expense, higher property taxes, slightly higher operations and maintenance expenses and dilution during this quarter."

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EESI and SC Coops Awarded Grant from Doris Duke Foundation

"The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina (ECSC), the state association of electric cooperatives, and Central Electric Power Cooperative, the state’s generation and transmission co-op, will be EESI’s lead partners in this effort. The collaboration between the co-ops and EESI to design and implement this pilot project is being supported by a $225,000 grant to EESI from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation."

Cablevision to FCC: Fox acted in 'bad faith'

Associated Press

"On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission asked both companies to describe how they are meeting a government mandate to negotiate in 'good faith.' Such good faith negotiations are a requirement in a law that allows broadcasters to bargain with cable and satellite companies for fees to carry TV signals that are otherwise sent freely to anyone with a proper antenna."

Huawei Technologies of China’s Bold Push Into U.S. - NYTimes.com

By JOHN MARKOFF and DAVID BARBOZA

Published: October 25, 2010

"Huawei is one of many Chinese companies that are pushing into more sophisticated and lucrative businesses. But security concerns make telecommunications a particularly delicate industry in this country, and even the hint of a Huawei deal with Sprint has generated worries in Washington.

Some in Congress and the national security establishment fear that Huawei’s close ties to the Chinese military might allow China to tamper with American communications gear.

Last week, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, and three other members of Congress wrote a letter to Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, raising the specter that an equipment sale might permit the Chinese government to manipulate parts of the communications network, making it possible to disrupt or intercept phone calls and Internet messages."

SCE&G to seek nuke funding - Breaking Business - TheState.com

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

Andrew Shain ashain@thestate.com

S.C. Electric & Gas said Monday it plans to ask state regulators next month to have consumers pay $150 million to $200 million to expand a Fairfield County nuclear plant.

The money will replace $438 million for estimated construction cost overruns removed from a large rate-hike package by a S.C. Supreme Court ruling in August.

SCE&G said in a regulatory filing Monday that it “is simply responding to the court’s decision by seeking commission approval to reclassify these costs from contingency funds to specific budget categories.”

The Cayce utility also said that the extra $150 million to $200 was in 2007 dollars – the year the utility first sought the rate hike. That equals $158 million to $211 million in current dollars.

...

The hikes would add about $40 to the monthly bills by the end of the decade but would save $1 billion in financing costs, the utility said.

Clean energy industry looks ahead

By Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson

Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, October 24, 2010

"The billions in federal stimulus dollars spent on expanding 'green energy' industries and creating 'green jobs' have provided a lifeline for U.S. wind and solar companies, but renewable-energy executives are worried that the future will not be as promising."

Could Wyoming's Wind Power Quit Blowing? | EarthTechling

"Wyoming’s sales tax exemption for commercial wind energy equipment will expire in 2011. A year later, a $1 per megawatt hour wind-generation tax will kick in. Two of the biggest wind-energy players — PacifiCorp’s Rocky Mountain Power and Duke Energy — say they have no new farms planned, and only a couple of other facilities are in the pipeline. A recent report in the state’s Star-Tribune newspaper further echos this concern."