Changing the Electric Utility Financial Paradigm
And how the market has outmaneuvered the political forces, so far.
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) joined U.S. Secretary of Energy, Dr. Ernest Moniz, to formally launch the U.S. Department of Energy's Partnership for Energy Sector Climate Resilience. SDG&E will collaborate with the Department of Energy (DOE) and 16 other utilities to improve the resilience of the nation's energy infrastructure against extreme weather and climate change impacts. Under the partnership program, owners and operators of energy assets will develop and pursue strategies to reduce climate and weather-related vulnerabilities.
Lessons learned for U.S. utilities – drawn from first-person fact-finding.
The CEO Power Forum: Not all utility CEOs are created equal...
"Given that we and other utilities are involved in planning to meet other pollution regulations, as well as soon adding new generation to meet growing demand, we need greater certainty regarding what these CO2 regs will require."
Not just ‘all of the above,’ but ‘how much of each?’
Could carbon taxes emerge in the election aftermath?
Since Obama won reelection, we must ask whether we’d rather have EPA cracking down on carbon emissions, or whether a legislated framework would be better for everyone.
On Sept. 16, 2011, the Supreme Court of Virginia became the highest state court in the country to rule on the issue of insurance coverage for climate-change claims under a general liability policy. In AES Corp. v. Steadfast Ins.
Integrating renewables in New York.
New York has developed new market mechanisms intended to effectively incorporate large amounts of renewable energy in the future — up to six times the current levels of intermittent energy without impacting system reliability. New York ISO executive Rana Mukerji explains how the market will drive new investment in renewable energy in the state.
Government incentives are smothering free enterprise.
When Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) announced legislation in November 2009 aimed at doubling America’s nuclear power capacity within 20 years, he compared the clean-energy challenge to fighting a war. “If we were going to war, we wouldn’t mothball our nuclear navy and start subsidizing sailboats,” he told attendees at the American Nuclear Society’s winter meeting. “If addressing climate change and creating low-cost, reliable energy are national imperatives, we shouldn’t stop building nuclear plants and start subsidizing windmills.”