EPA Blesses Fracking
Natural gas producers today have the wind at their backs, with production rising as America turns to cleaner energy. But any misstep could set the industry back, which is why it needs to work closely with the White House and the environmentalists, both of which have real concerns.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent study on hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) appears really as just a careful continuation of what it has been saying all along – that the drilling techniques used to retrieve shale gas are pretty safe. Thus, while it hedged a little, EPA emphasized that there’s no “widespread” problems associated with fracking and drinking water supplies.
Southern Sees the Light
More than 95 percent of consumers will still be connected to the centralized network for the foreseeable future. But it won’t diminish the trend toward distributed generation – and the attempts by both unconventional parties and power companies from getting into related businesses.
When most people think of Georgia and energy, they think of Southern Company and coal. Well, all that’s changing now that the state is about to embrace a new law on July 1 to allow utilities to sell rooftop solar energy.
Transactions (June 2015)
Duke Energy completed the sale of its non-regulated Midwest Commercial Generation Business to Dynegy for $2.8 billion; Sempra U.S. Gas & Power acquired the Black Oak Getty wind project in Minnesota from Geronimo Energy; Dominion acquired a 20-MW solar facility in California from E.ON North America; Plus debt offerings from Alabama Power, CONSOL Energy and Appalachian Power.
Digest (June 2015)
Duke Energy completed the sale of its non-regulated Midwest Commercial Generation Business to Dynegy for $2.8 billion; Sempra U.S. Gas & Power acquired the Black Oak Getty wind project in Minnesota from Geronimo Energy; Toshiba received an order to supply two sets of 175-MW steam turbine and generators in Chihuahua, Mexico; Alstom Grid was awarded a $23 million contract to supply the first 500 kV substation a substation near Bogota, Colombia; SunEdison agreed to construct and install three solar power plants in southern Utah with a total capacity of 262 MW; Mississippi Power plans to build utility-scale solar farms with a combined capacity represent the largest solar installation in the state; Phoenix Energy's joint venture, North Fork Community Power's project was awarded a $4.9 million grant to construct one of the first forest-sourced biomass gasification plants; Westinghouse Electric will increase the capacity of the cooling system at the Central Interim Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel (Clab) located in Sweden.
Washington Can't Save Utilities from the Solar Onslaught
If energy storage succeeds, it’s a new battlefield.
Solar rooftop installations are fraying the very fabric of the utilities and their business models and, for the first time in a long time, the powerful lobby that is EEI cannot help.
Estimating the Longevity of Commercial Nuclear Reactors
A demographic analysis of plants in the U.S.
The question of the life span of these resources is highly pertinent, given efforts to subsidize nuclear units in New York and Illinois. Are these subsidies for five years or 30 years? There is little research on the life expectancy of the average commercial reactor.
Grid Reform to Date
How the feds opened the supply side.
The sheer scale of growth put a ‘stake through the heart’ of the old view.
Distribution Optimization: Ready for Takeoff
Part 1: How markets today are out of sync.
The time has come to consider options for optimizing distributed energy resources, with the intent of supporting a least-cost, reliable, and clean system that delivers more choice and control for customers.
Open-Access Chronicles: The Backstory Behind Electric Restructuring
Part 1: Sharks, Whales and Minnows
In 1995, the pitched battle that played out between Peco and PPL became the functional equivalent of an advertising blitz in support of electricity restructuring, and planted the seeds for Enron to get involved in utility regulation.