Progress Energy plans to cancel the main development and construction contract for its proposed nuclear plant in Levy County, but its customers will have to keep paying in advance anyway.

Federal regulators on Thursday signed off on a next-generation nuclear reactor slated for Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point plant and five other utilities in the Southeast, paving the way for construction of the first new reactors in the U.S. in three decades.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission unanimously approved a radical new reactor design on Thursday, clearing away a major obstacle for two utilities to begin construction on projects in South Carolina and Georgia.

In pushing toward design approval and licensing, captive regulators promote industry instead of taxpayers, ratepayers and public safety.

Toshiba Corp.’s Westinghouse Electric won majority support for the design of its AP1000 reactor from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, even as the members were feuding publicly over the panel’s leadership.

Federal regulators have rejected Duke Energy’s proposed multibillion-dollar merger with Progress Energy, the parent of Progress Energy Florida. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the two companies would retain too much control over power generation while making it difficult for other utilities to buy electricity from them, particularly in the Carolinas.

The pace of solar energy development is accelerating as the installation of rooftop solar water heaters takes off. Unlike solar photovoltaic (PV) panels that convert solar radiation into electricity, these “solar thermal collectors” use the sun’s energy to heat water, space, or both.

Cleaning up a DIY repair on Crystal River nuclear plant could cost $2.5 billion – The St. Petersburg Times, October 9, 2011

Progress was warned about cutting into nuclear plant building – The St. Petersburg Times, November 9, 2011

New crack at Crystal River nuclear plant casts doubt on repair plan – The St. Petersburg Times, November 20, 2011

Customers paying for Crystal River nuclear plant repair should know the details – The St. Petersburg Times, December 4, 2011

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko voted to certify the AP1000 reactor of Toshiba Corp. (6502)’s Westinghouse Electric unit, which Southern Co. (SO) and Scana Corp. (SCG) plan to build near existing plants.

Electric customers beware – construction problems mount even before design approval and licensing.

Swedish home-furnishings retailer Ikea will install solar energy panels on its 356,000-square-foot store in north Charlotte.

NC WARN calls for denial of annual rate hikes and current 18.6% request that would leave small customers paying twice the rate of energy-hogging data centers.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is preparing to approve the design of a new type of nuclear reactor planned for sites across the South without first incorporating the lessons of Fukushima — instead sticking the region’s ratepayers with any bills to correct safety problems revealed by the ongoing analysis of the Japanese disaster.

CEO of NRG Energy: The fundamental issue of our day [is] climate change…. The people who were opposed to climate change legislation used one of two tactics. They either said, “Well, we don’t believe it’s happening.” Which, of course, is just a bald-faced lie.