Renewable electricity generation set to surpass coal, which continues to decline, in 2020

Renewable electricity generation set to surpass coal, which continues to decline, in 2020

Energize Weekly, May 20, 2020 Renewable electricity generation is set to surpass coal-fired generation in 2020, as coal continues to slide, having hit a 42-year low in 2019, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA is projecting a 25 percent drop in coal-fired generation in 2020 and…

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Tri-State and United Power fighting in court and before state and federal regulators

Tri-State and United Power fighting in court and before state and federal regulators

Energize Weekly, May 13, 2020 A new front was opened last week in the battle between Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and some of its electric cooperatives, as United Power, its largest member, filed a complaint in a Colorado district court charging subterfuge and breach of contract. Meanwhile on May…

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Utilities and state regulators delay rate increases, disconnections to deal with COVID-19

Utilities and state regulators delay rate increases, disconnections to deal with COVID-19

Energize Weekly, May 6, 2020 In the face of the novel coronavirus pandemic, utilities and utility regulators are moving to postpone rate increases and guard against service shutdowns for customers as most states continue to impose stay-at-home orders for their residents. The moves are also creating some financial risk and…

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Coronavirus pandemic rattles energy markets from oil to wind to energy storage

Coronavirus pandemic rattles energy markets from oil to wind to energy storage

Energize Weekly, April 22, 2020 Pandemic and recession are rippling through almost every corner of the energy sector from oil companies to wind, solar and energy storage manufacturers. “Over half the world’s population is now under lockdown, as demand for power drops and the risk of global recession grows,” according…

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Electricity demand drops as utilities enact plans to keep lights on during the pandemic

Electricity demand drops as utilities enact plans to keep lights on during the pandemic

Energize Weekly, April 1, 2020 The closing of businesses and sheltering-in-place of millions of citizens to tamp down the novel coronavirus pandemic is dampening demand for electricity, even as utilities across the country put in place emergency plans to keep electrons flowing through the grid. Between March 14 and March…

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Hedges will help U.S. drillers survive Russian-Saudi price war and coronavirus

Hedges will help U.S. drillers survive Russian-Saudi price war and coronavirus

Energize Weekly, March 18, 2020 The oil market is set for a long price war, falling consumption, a shake-out among U.S. shale drillers and a missed opportunity for Asian economies, according to industry analysts. Yet even as depressed prices lead to fewer drilling rigs and a slowing in U.S. production,…

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Xcel Energy proposes TOU rates for all Colorado residential customers

Xcel Energy proposes TOU rates for all Colorado residential customers

Energize Weekly, March 4, 2020 Time-of-use electricity rates are increasingly being seen as a valuable tool in reducing peak demand and managing renewable energy generation – but concerns are being voiced over their impact on low-income and elderly customers. Xcel Energy is seeking to shift all of its 1.2 million…

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Energy a big focus for Virginia legislature which passes sweeping clean energy bill

Energy a big focus for Virginia legislature which passes sweeping clean energy bill

Energize Weekly, February 26, 2020 The Virginia legislature, on a pair of razor-thin votes, has passed a sweeping energy bill that will bolster renewable generation, energy storage and efforts to set a carbon dioxide cap and trade program. While the Clean Economy Act was the most far-reaching and visible piece…

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Global carbon emissions flat in 2019 as the U.S. leads the way in CO2 cuts

Global carbon emissions flat in 2019 as the U.S. leads the way in CO2 cuts

Energize Weekly, February 19, 2020 Global carbon emissions slowed in 2019 after two years of growth as increases in developing nations were offset by a sharp drop in power sector emissions in developed countries led by the U.S., according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The worldwide emissions of carbon…

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New York Mayor de Blasio seeks to end the use of oil and gas in large buildings

New York Mayor de Blasio seeks to end the use of oil and gas in large buildings

Energize Weekly, February 12, 2020 New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is taking aim at fossil fuels seeking to end the use of natural gas and oil in large buildings and banning the development of oil and gas infrastructure in the city. Other initiatives include switching the municipal feet…

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Renewables poised to overtake coal and nuclear power in 2021, natural gas in 2045

Renewables poised to overtake coal and nuclear power in 2021, natural gas in 2045

Energize Weekly, February 12, 2020 Renewables are set to overtake both coal-fired and nuclear generation by 2021 and natural gas-fired generation by 2045, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Wind and solar are leading the surge in renewable generation, which EIA says will account for 21 percent of…

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Last coal-fired plant in New York to close, New England plants not far behind, EIA says

Last coal-fired plant in New York to close, New England plants not far behind, EIA says

Energize Weekly, February 12, 2020 New York State’s last coal-fired power plant is set to close as early as mid-March and coal-fired power is headed in the same direction in New England, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). “As many of the coal-fired power plants in New England…

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Corporate clean energy purchases soared in 2019 to a record 19.5 GW, Bloomberg says

Corporate clean energy purchases soared in 2019 to a record 19.5 GW, Bloomberg says

Energize Weekly, February 5, 2020 Corporations purchased a record 19.5 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy contracts in 2019, a 40 percent increase over 2019, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). Contracts, primarily power purchase agreements (PPAs), were signed by more than 100 companies in 23 different countries, marking a…

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U.S. coal plants pinched between economic pressures and inefficient cycling of the units

U.S. coal plants pinched between economic pressures and inefficient cycling of the units

Energize Weekly, February 5, 2020 U.S. coal-fired power plants – facing economic and operational pressures – are running with more shutdowns and startups, which are less economical and more wearing on equipment, according to a study by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). The study said increases in…

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Climate change threatens profitability of investor-owned utilities, Moody’s says

Climate change threatens profitability of investor-owned utilities, Moody’s says

Energize Weekly, January 29, 2020 From heat to humidity to severe storms investor-owned utilities across the U.S. will face particular regional climate change hazards, according to an analysis by Moody’s Investors Services. A utility in the Southeast, such as Duke Energy, could face risk from heavier storms, floods and storm…

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Oil companies need to investment more in the global energy transition, IEA says

Oil companies need to investment more in the global energy transition, IEA says

Energize Weekly, January 29, 2020 The oil and gas industry needs to be major player in the global transition to cleaner energy, in part to maintain its social license to operate, but barely 1 percent of its capital investment is going to alternative technologies, according to the International Energy Agency…

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Investments in U.S. offshore wind could outstrip offshore oil by mid-2020s, Rystad says

Investments in U.S. offshore wind could outstrip offshore oil by mid-2020s, Rystad says

Energize Weekly, January 29, 2020 Annual investment in U.S. offshore wind – based on projects in the pipeline – could reach $15 billion by the mid-2020s, surpassing offshore oil and gas capital expenditures, according to Rystad Energy. Rystad Energy, an Oslo-based energy consultant, called the trend “a truly remarkable development.”…

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Tri-State clean energy plan includes 1 GW of utility-scale solar, more local co-op projects

Tri-State clean energy plan includes 1 GW of utility-scale solar, more local co-op projects

Energize Weekly, January 22, 2020 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the wholesale power provider for 43 Western electric cooperatives, said it will add 1 gigawatt (GW) of solar generation and open the way for its co-ops to add more of their own renewables. Under Tri-State’s “Responsible Energy Plan,” the association…

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Aging grid challenged by shift to renewable and natural gas generation, ScottMadden says

Aging grid challenged by shift to renewable and natural gas generation, ScottMadden says

Energize Weekly, January 22, 2020 The aging U.S. electrical grid is facing challenges from just-in-time natural gas plant fueling and a growing demand for renewable generation, which it will not be able to meet without new investment and policies, according to a study by business consultant ScottMadden Inc. “The grid…

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Tri-State, facing economic, political pressures, moves to close its last two coal-fired plants

Tri-State, facing economic, political pressures, moves to close its last two coal-fired plants

Energize Weekly, January 15, 2020 Under pressure from market forces, dissatisfied members and environmental policies, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association announced it will close the last two coal-fired plants it operates and move to add more renewable energy. Tri-State said that it will close its Escalante Station, in Prewitt,…

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U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell in 2019, but face a future bump from oil and gas

U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell in 2019, but face a future bump from oil and gas

Energize Weekly, January 15, 2020 The burgeoning U.S. oil and gas and petrochemical sectors are set to add greenhouse gas emissions over the next five years – even as they decline for the power sector, according to two analysis of the country’s emissions. In 2019, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell…

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Global energy consumption set to rise 50 percent by 2050 led by rapid growth in Asia, EIA says

Global energy consumption set to rise 50 percent by 2050 led by rapid growth in Asia, EIA says

Energize Weekly, January 8, 2020 Global energy consumption is projected to grow 50 percent between 2018 and 2050, spurred by a rising demand for energy in Asia and a sharp growth in electricity as a key energy source, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). In its annual International…

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The Hartford to stop insuring and investing in coal and tar sands over climate concerns

The Hartford to stop insuring and investing in coal and tar sands over climate concerns

Energize Weekly, January 8, 2020 The Hartford Financial Services Group said it will no longer insure or invest in companies mining or using coal or developing tar sands oil over concerns about risks linked to climate change. The company, based in Hartford, Conn., said it would not deal with companies…

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Natural gas overtakes coal as a source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and Europe

Natural gas overtakes coal as a source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and Europe

Energize Weekly, December 18, 2019 Natural gas – while helping to lower overall greenhouse gas releases – has overtaken coal as a source of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. and the European Union, according to a report from the Global Carbon Project. While total fossil fuel emissions are projected…

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Oil and gas investments of $1.4 trillion by 2024 will lock in greenhouse gas emissions, report says

Oil and gas investments of $1.4 trillion by 2024 will lock in greenhouse gas emissions, report says

Energize Weekly, December 18, 2019 Worldwide investment in oil and gas production, estimated at $1.4 trillion over the next five years, will lock in carbon emissions that will make it impossible to meet the goals to limit global warming, according to a report by a coalition of environmental groups. “While…

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Trump administration disputes claim solar tariffs led to slower job growth and investment

Trump administration disputes claim solar tariffs led to slower job growth and investment

Energize Weekly, December 11, 2019 The Trump administration’s tariffs on solar cells has blunted the growth in jobs, investment and generating capacity, according to a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). The analysis calculated that the industry has forgone 62,000 jobs, $19 billion in lost investment and missed…

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Employment picture cools in the Permian Basin, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas says

Employment picture cools in the Permian Basin, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas says

Energize Weekly, December 11, 2019 Employment in Texas’ Permian Basin – in a sign of cooling oil and gas activity – declined by 400 jobs through the first 10 months of 2019 after adding 16,700 jobs in 2018, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. For the year, employment…

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