Energize Weekly, December 18, 2019 NorthWestern Energy is set to file an application with the Montana Public Service Commission to purchase Puget Sound Energy’s share of the Colstrip power plant for $1. The deal helps Bellevue, Washington-based Puget Sound Energy meet a Washington state law requiring utilities to stop using…
Energize Weekly, December 18, 2019 U.S. shale oil production will continue to grow over the next few years, despite weak investment and commodity prices, while increases in shale gas production will slow. That is the picture drawn by an analysis of shale oil by Rystad Energy, an Oslo-based energy consultant,…
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…
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…
Energize Weekly, December 11,2019 NV Energy has received the go-ahead from Nevada state regulators for 1,190 megawatts (MW) of new solar renewable energy twinned with 590 MW of energy storage. The new capacity – solar and storage – will be in three projects located in southern Nevada and are set…
Energize Weekly, December 11, 2019 The U.S. has seen more than a fifth of its coal-fired generating capacity closed since 2011, and plants with higher operating costs were more vulnerable to closures, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). Between 2011 and the end of 2017, the total coal-fired…
Energize Weekly, December 11, 2019 Nearly 700 companies around the world are moving to adopt “science-based targets” for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions with 40 percent already having plans in place, according to the non-profit and governmental groups sponsoring the initiative. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) – a collaboration…
Energize Weekly, December 4, 2019 Clean energy investment in developing countries dropped by more than 20 percent in 2018 to $133 billion, while coal-fired generation surged, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) survey. “Both suggest that despite considerable recent progress, developing countries’ power sector CO2 emissions are rising…
Energize Weekly, December 4, 2019 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved three new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in Texas at its November meeting over the objections of one commissioner, who said the decisions failed to take into account their impact on climate. The commission also rejected arguments from…
Energize Weekly, December 4, 2019 In an effort to avoid a court condemnation proceeding, Boulder, Colo., which wants to create its own municipal utility, upped its offer for the purchase of Xcel Energy’s infrastructure to $94 million. It is the third offer the city has made to Xcel, which currently…
Energize Weekly, December 4, 2019 Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy-related activities in 2018 rose in the U.S. for the first time in five years, posting a 2.7 percent annual increase to 5.27 billion metric tons, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). Driving the increase were higher emissions…
Energize Weekly, December 4, 2019 The gap between international efforts to curb greenhouse gases (GHG) and the growing emissions has grown so large that dramatic reductions over the next decade are needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, according to a United Nations (UN) report. Under the 2015…
Energize Weekly, November 27, 2019 New York City’s biggest solar array will be built at the John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) – a 13-megawatt (MW) array with 7.5 MW of battery storage, the New York Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced Nov. 18. The project will…
Energize Weekly, November 27, 2019 Prices for home-heating oil and propane are starting this winter heating season at lower prices than a year ago, with heating oil 10 percent cheaper and propane down 22 percent, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). The winter heating season runs from October…
Energize Weekly, November 27, 2019 The biggest coal-fired power plant in the West – the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) – beset by uncompetitive economics, closed permanently on Nov. 18 after 45 years of operation. The 2,250-megawatt (MW) plant located on the Navajo Nation, east of Paige, Ariz., was once a…
Energize Weekly, November 27, 2019 Debt instruments fostering sustainable projects and development reached $1 trillion in 2019 – with more than 30 percent of those loans coming this year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). “Reaching the trillion dollar milestone is a key moment for the sustainable debt market…
Energize Weekly, November 27, 2019 Wind speeds in the mid-latitudes have increased 7 percent since 2010, a welcomed boost for the wind power business, according to an international team of researchers. Based on the increase in wind speed, the researchers calculated that a typical wind turbine receiving the global average…
Energize Weekly, November 20, 2019 The cost of wind and solar generation continues to fall, though at a slower rate, and they are becoming competitive even without subsidies under “certain circumstances,” according to the financial consultant Lazard’s annual costs analysis. The Lazard “levelized cost of energy” (LCOE) analysis covers eight…
Energize Weekly, November 20, 2019 Coal – despite the rapid growth in renewable and natural gas generation – still accounts for the majority of the world’s electricity and is projected to increase at a compounded annual rate of 1.1 percent through 2030 to 2,345 gigawatts (GW), according to analytics consultant…
Energize Weekly, November 20, 2019 New natural gas pipelines are projected to add between 16 billion cubic feet a day and 17 billion cubic feet a day of capacity in the U.S. in 2019, with most of that as takeaway capacity from supply basins, according to the federal Energy Information…
Energize Weekly, November 20, 2019 While federal clean energy policy has stalled, local governments are pushing forward, and more than a third of the U.S. population lives in jurisdictions – states, districts, territories, counties and cities – with 100 percent clean electricity goals. “A growing number of cities are choosing…
Energize Weekly, November 20, 2019 Even if all the commitments made by countries to cut carbon emissions and provide dependable energy were enacted, the world would still fall far short of having clean, reliable energy in 2040, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The IEA placed all those emission and energy…
Energize Weekly, November 13, 2019 Global demand for jet fuel will continue to be the fastest-growing transport fuel through 2050, with the biggest growth coming in China and Southeast Asia, according to the federal Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) International Energy Outlook. The EIA projects that jet fuel consumption will more…
Energize Weekly, November 13, 2019 Local power providers in the San Francisco Bay area are looking to install 30 megawatts (MW) of residential and commercial battery storage in the wake of the widespread power outages made by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). The three community choice aggregators (CCA), local organizations…
Energize Weekly, November 13, 2019 U.S. production of uranium concentrate plummeted 27 percent in the third quarter of 2019 to 32,211 pounds after the Trump administration balked at setting quotas for uranium imports. Production was down 94 percent when compared with the third quarter of 2018, according to the federal…
Energize Weekly, November 13, 2019 Invenergy’s proposed, large-scale, natural gas-fired power plant in Rhode Island was undone by delays that enabled renewable power and market efficiencies to overtake the project, according to state regulators. In August, the Rhode Island Energy Siting Board voted to deny Invenergy a permit for the…
Energize Weekly, November 13, 2019 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association continues to face pressure from some of its members as two of its largest electric cooperatives last week filed complaints with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) seeking reasonable exit fees from the association. Brighton, Colo.-based United Power, the largest…
Energize Weekly, November 6, 2019 The battery demand for lithium chemicals – now in the doldrums – could reach 700,000 metric tons by 2025 and along with 300,000 metric tons for non-battery uses, making for a tight market, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) analysis. Lithium prices have…
Energize Weekly, November 6, 2019 U.S. natural gas exports – bolstered by new terminals and pipelines – averaged 4.1 billion cubic feet a day for the first half of 2019, more than double the rate for 2018, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). In 2017, the U.S. became…
Energize Weekly, November 6, 2019 Primary energy intensity, a key indicator of how much energy is being used by the global economy, was down 1.2 percent in 2018 – the slowest improvement since 2010, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). It marked the third year in a row of…
Energize Weekly, November 6, 2019 A string of coal mining company bankruptcies in the Powder River Basin (PRB), straddling Wyoming and Montana, has changed the basin’s competitive landscape, but not its “poor overall long-term trajectory,” according to an analysis by Moody’s Investor Services. “All of the rated coal companies that…
Energize Weekly, November 6, 2019 The stock and bond markets continued to cool for oil and gas drillers in the third quarter of 2019 with $495 million raised in equity, a 79 percent decline year-over-year, according to a report from Enverus, an industry analytics firm. Bond offerings for “upstream” drillers…
Energize Weekly, October 30, 2019 The world’s total renewable generation is set to grow by 50 percent or 1,200 gigawatts (GW) between 2019 and 2024 driven by solar installations, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) market report. Photovoltaic (PV) solar is projected to account for 60 percent of the…
Energize Weekly, October 30, 2019 U.S. crude oil exports increased to an average 2.8 million barrels a day for first seven months of 2019, sending oil to as many as 31 different markets per month, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). The U.S. is now exporting oil to…
Energize Weekly, October 30, 2019 Indiana electric customers could save $12 billion if the state’s utilities moved directly to renewable generation and skipped the strategy of using natural gas-fired plants as a bridge, according to a report to the task force developing a statewide energy plan. The report, done for…
Energize Weekly, October 30, 2019 Electric customers of regulated utilities in four of the biggest U.S. wholesale electric markets shouldered a $3.8 billion burden for inefficient coal plants between 2015 and 2017, according to a Sierra Club analysis. The Sierra Club report focused on the “shelf-scheduling” of coal plants by…
Energize Weekly, October 23, 2019 Dominion Energy has received approvals from federal regulators for the design and installation of its 12-megawatt (MW) Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) development, making it the first U.S. project to receive these permits. The project is being developed in cooperation with Ørsted, Denmark’s largest energy…
Energize Weekly, October 23, 2019 U.S. Gulf of Mexico crude oil production set a record in 2018 at 1.8 million barrels a day, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) Short-Term Energy Outlook. The record-setting trend is forecast to continue in 2019 with production hitting 1.9 million barrels a…
Energize Weekly, October 23, 2019 Turning electric vehicle (EV) batteries into a source of electricity during peak demand hours – making them “virtual power plants” – can shave load and save money, according to an analysis by energy consultant Jackson Associates. The study took customer data – hourly loads, commuting…
Energize Weekly, October 23, 2019 An International Monetary Fund (IMF) analysis says that a $75-a-ton tax on carbon emissions or a comparable fiscal policy needs to be in place by 2030 to limit global warming to 2 degrees centigrade, though it will lead to sharp increases in electricity and gasoline…
Energize Weekly, October 23, 2019 The Midwest could see a surge in solar installations with 100 gigwatts (GW) of capacity being added in the next 10 years, according to management consultant Fitch Solutions Macro Research. Fitch noted that there are already 546 proposed utility-scale projects with a total capacity of…
Energize Weekly, October 16, 2019 Retail electricity purchases of renewable energy through green power markets rose 20 percent in 2018 to 134 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy compared to 2017, according a federal National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) market trends report. The number of customers participating in these markets also…
Energize Weekly, October 16, 2019 U.S. natural gas demand and supply are both forecast to hit record highs this coming winter – the result of growing exports, more gas-fired power generation and increased production from Texas’ Permian Basin, according to the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA). The association’s Winter Outlook…
Energize Weekly, October 16, 2019 Five states have now moved to provide financial aid to their economically challenged nuclear power plants, according to a federal Energy Information Administration (EIA) report. In July, Ohio joined Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Illinois in offering financial relief or other assistance to their…
Energize Weekly, October 16, 2019 Coal production in the U.S. is projected to fall 159 million short tons in the fourth quarter of 2019, a 17 percent drop when compared to the same period in 2018, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). For the year, the EIA is…
Energize Weekly, October 16, 2019 New England will have to increase the pace of renewable energy generation installations by four to eight times to meet 2050 goals to cut carbon emissions, according to a study by the Brattle Group, an economic and regulatory consultant. The region has a goal, as…
Energize Weekly, October 9, 2019 Utah Municipal Power Agency (UMPA) has entered into an agreement with Salt Lake City-based sPower for the development of an $80 million solar facility in rural Juab County. The 80-megawatt (MW) Clover Creek Solar project will be located on a 560-acre site on the west…
Energize Weekly, October 9, 2019 The total share of electricity provided worldwide by renewable generation is projected to grow to nearly 50 percent in 2050, compared to a 28 percent share in 2018, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). The bulk of that energy will be provided by…
Energize Weekly, October 9, 2019 Despite a string of bankruptcies and red ink, the future for U.S. shale drillers is not bleak, according to Oslo-based energy analyst Rystad Energy. “In a nutshell, we do not believe the recent bankruptcies that have beset a number of shale players are indicative of…
Energize Weekly, October 9, 2019 U.S. oil and gas sector mergers and acquisitions (M&A) ticked up in the third quarter of 2019 to more than $17 billion, putting M&A activity for the year-to-date at $85 billion, according to Enverus, an industry analytics company. After a weak start to the year,…
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