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The article announces the winners of the magazine's 2016 Projects of the Year (POTY) awards held at POWER-GEN International in Florida in December 2016 including the Brunswick County Power Station in Virginia, the Eight Flags Energy CHP Plant and the Village of Minster Energy Storage Project.

The article discusses the POWER-GEN International 2015 conference that was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Topics discussed include the use of renewable resources to meet the electricity demand in California, the supplementation of thermal power generation to renewable resources, and the importance of reducing water usage due to the growing demand for drinking water.

The article elaborates on the Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and informs that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized standards for the section in May 2014. Topics include the section mandating measures that would protect fish and other aquatic wildlife impacted by cooling water intake structures (CWIS). Also mentioned are the impact of the EPA's final rule on the U.S. power generation industry as well as fish-friendly water screens such as Hydrolox screens.

The article discusses the history of natural gas generation. It cites the burning of natural gas by ancient Chinese to desalinate sea water for drinking, and the first commercial use of natural gas in England for lighting houses and streets in 1785 and in Maryland in 1816. It notes the thermal properties of natural gas such as for central heating and large-scale water supplies, for boilers in steam creation for industrial applications, leading to electricity generation in Switzerland in 1939.

The author reflects on the growth in the use of gas-fired power plants and its impact on coal-fired generation. Topics covered include the preference shown for natural gas, the development of hybrid power plants which represent fossil plants that add renewable resources to their facilities and the factors driving the addition of renewable assets like the potential for carbon pricing. Also mentioned is the benefit obtained by renewable technologies from their relationship to fossil plants.