The companies developing the Leviathan field off the coast of Israel have reportedly signed an initial agreement with a Jordanian power company for a multi-billion dollar, long-term natural gas supply deal. “Under the terms of the latest agreement, the gas is to be sold at oil-linked prices and will be delivered to a border location… Keep reading →
A new study using flyover methodology found methane emissions from oil and gas development activity in Colorado’s Front Range exceed estimates by regulators. “These discrepancies are substantial,” said lead author Gabrielle Petron, an atmospheric scientist with NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. “Emission estimates or ‘inventories’ are… Keep reading →
Google struck a deal for 407 MW of wind power – reportedly its largest clean energy contract to date – with MidAmerican Energy, a firm mostly owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate. The power will be used at Google’s Iowa data center. “The deal includes both direct energy generation from MidAmerican’s wind farms and… Keep reading →
More nukes are shutting down than getting built. Cheap and plentiful natural gas accomplished what thousands of anti-nuclear protesters could not: shut down the Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Vernon, VT. In late August 2013, the operator of the plant, Entergy Corp., the second biggest operator of nuclear reactors in the US after Exelon, announced that the decision… Keep reading →
While the nation has been focused on new sources of natural gas and shale oil, few noticed the slow decline of an older energy source, nuclear power. Today, commercial nuclear power is struggling to stay in the game.
The power markets are hammering the nation’s nukes. Over a decade ago, several regions decided to create Regional Transmission Organizations (or Independent System Operators) and use the market to set power prices. Today, North America has ten independent RTOs/ISOs, where wholesale power is auctioned every few minutes. Keep reading →
Power prices are too low. That’s what utility executives believe. They need prices to increase for their generators to return healthy earnings. Otherwise, they will have to retire plants and exit the market.
Dominion Resources decided not to wait. They recently announced plans to retire their Wisconsin-based Kewaunee Nuclear Power Station 21 years early. Dominion concluded they would not be able to achieve any earnings for their 556-megawatt unit, they might even lose money and they could not find anyone to buy it. They had no choice but to shutter and decommission Kewaunee. Keep reading →
In the United States, utilities have been switching fuels for the power generators. While many commentators believe the motivation to switch is regulatory, the primary incentive is economics.
Of course, the Environmental protection Agency’s (EPA) new coal and coal-fired power plant rules influence a utility, but the markets are the primary driver behind utilities to seek fuel options. EPA’s rules are not the prime mover, at least not now. Keep reading →
On the surface, LNG appears to represent a new opportunity where easy profits are for the taking. In reality, producing and delivering LNG is a difficult business, and that business will only get harder as time goes on.
Unlike natural gas, where prices are established regionally, LNG is becoming a global commodity. Market prices depend on global supplies and demand. It is expected supplies will remain constrained for the next three years. Keep reading →
Power companies threatened US power regulators with the potential of rolling blackouts and unreliable electricity supply if they are forced to comply with what they claim are tight deadlines for meeting new emissions rules.
The companies told a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hearing they need more time to comply with new environmental regulations that would require the retirement or retrofit of hundreds of coal-fired plants. Emissions of mercury and other pollutants from those units would exceed the new standards. Keep reading →
The North Anna nuclear plant took a step toward normal today as Dominion Resources canceled the emergency alert declared yesterday when a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck just a few miles from the site.
But the quake is giving the Nuclear Regulatory Commission new reasons, and new data, to reassess whether older US nuclear plants have enough safety margins to withstand expected earthquakes. Keep reading →
