http://indico.cern.ch/getFile.py/access?sessionId=8&resId=1&materialId=1&confId=164089

That info contains a lot of jargon and mystery for us lay people - luminosity, beam dump, quench, scrubbing, pile up, etc* - but here are a few points of interest:

- LHC is designed for a maximum power of 14TeV, i.e. 7TeV/beam.
- Thus far, it's been using only 3.5TeV/beam, as this was least likely to cause 'risk associated with quenches', and was considered probably sufficient for immediate purposes inc. the search for the Higgs boson.
- It's been decided to increase to 4TeV. With upgrades during the past year, it's calculated that the risk at 4TeV will now be =< the risk at 3.5TeV last year.

"Beam Energy after LS1 (1st September 2014):
• Strong recommendation
• DO NOT GO FOR 7TeV PER BEAM DUE TO THE RISK ASSOCIATED WITH MANY HUNDREDS (THOUSAND) QUENCHES
• Around 6.5TeV/beam is safer and sufficient"

* If anyone can cast some light on the meaning of 'luminosity' (!) and so forth, I'd be glad.

"Time is what prevents everything from happening at once" - John Wheeler