The story of how net metering and onsite residential solar is eating way utilities’ profit margins is getting old, so what can these companies do about it? This piece suggest two strategies. “Clean Power Finance’s new partnership with North American Power demonstrates one of two ways in which a retail electricity provider (REP) can profit from selling solar in deregulated electricity markets, according to Sierra Peterson, CPF’s director of business development. North American Power ranks among the top fifteen REPs in the U.S., serving more than 320,000 electricity and natural gas customers.” [Greentech Media]

Kuwait’s “state oil group” yesterday announced a $3 billion 5-year LNG supply deal with BP, which came on the heels of a $12 billion deal signed with Shell on Sunday. The gas will likely be used to displace oil from power generation and desalination, thus freeing up oil for export. “Kuwait expects to import a total of around 2.5 million tons of LNG per year over the next few years through such contracts, said Nasser Al-Mudaf, head of KPC’s international marketing division. [Reuters via Arab News]

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk raised accused Russia of seizing billions of dollars of Ukrainian energy assets when Putin’s forces annexed the region. “We are ready for a market-based approach and Russia is to stop using natural gas as another, or a new type of Russian weapon,” Yatsenyuk told a news conference with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels. [Reuters via Moscow Times]