Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Wind Energy PTC Extension Underlines Lobby’s Growing Heft in DC

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They took it right to the edge, but the US wind energy business managed to rescue the production tax credit around which many of their projects and manufacturing investments are structured. In the process Capitol Hill supporters of the sector rescued a claimed 37,000 jobs and the supply chain for a rapidly expanding form of power generation.

The effort to rescue the wind energy PTC and the also-extended investment tax credit (ITC) was not directly linked to the fiscal cliff debate, but became intertwined with the calendar-driven effort to prevent earlier tax cuts and credits from expiring without any replacement policy in place. The inclusion of the wind energy PTC, which was thought to be sufficiently likely to expire that companies spent significant sums as they rushed to turn on wind farms before the end of 2012, speaks to the expanded power of the wind industry groups in Washington, DC and the increased centrality of the wind energy business to major infrastructure and engineering firms with substantial US manufacturing operations including GE Energy, Siemens and Vestas. Keep reading →

 /  Published January 2, 2013 at 11:00 AM

Top Energy Stories of 2012

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The past year has proved a fundamental pivot in North American energy markets, and set the stage for the coming years to look very different from the past four decades of US energy industry history.

I’ve reviewed the ways the changes that originated in 2012 will affect the political scene in the US here, but in looking through our most popular and most compelling posts on Breaking Energy in the last year I noted how many of them supercede easy categorization. Stories about fracking cut across the buckets in which we seek to put our daily dose of energy news, analysis and discussion, but so have stories about the wind industry, financial shifts and smart grid technology. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 31, 2012 at 1:00 PM

Get Ready! FERC Spotlights Three Major Challenges for Utilities

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The bad news – there are big, big challenges looming for the electric utility industry. The good news – agencies and regulators are increasingly aware of these painful truths and, therefore, increasingly willing to discuss solutions. That was the message from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff during a briefing on Capitol Hill this week.

1. Falling load growth. Wellinghoff cited a recent study from the Brattle Group that confirms a 30-year trend of falling growth in energy usage. Today, the average growth is roughly 1% per year, down from the 5-10% common in the middle of the last century. And no, today’s anemic growth is not due just to the recession. It is an unstoppable result of our march to energy efficiency, as evidenced by LED lights, Net Zero buildings, variable speed motors, and more. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 21, 2012 at 2:45 PM

LNG Project Angst Builds in US Energy Industry

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As of the end of October, the Department of Energy (DOE) had 18 applications pending for authority to export liquefied natural gas (LNG).

International demand is growing and expert studies say the LNG market will need 15 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) more in five years. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 7, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Federal Regulation of Natural Gas Faces Dilemma of Abundance

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What happens when federal regulation designed to guard against national shortages of a critical fuel runs headlong into fuel surpluses?

That’s what the US is finding out now with natural gas, and nowhere is the dilemma more clearly on display than the issue of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 6, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Canada’s Petronas Acquisition Decision Will Impact North American LNG Exports

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With global LNG demand projected to exceed supply by a wide margin, the prospects for North American exports of liquefied natural gas are exceptionally strong. But an unexpected development has raised a question about Canadian participation in this emerging export opportunity.

The question is: Will the Canadian government decide to block any of the pending acquisitions of its E&P players by foreign energy majors? Keep reading →

 /  Published November 30, 2012 at 1:45 PM

Disruptive Energy Technology: GTL Promises Gas Revolution

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The nation is flooded with natural gas. For the last twelve months, the amount of gas available to the market exceeds five-year averages. With more gas than anyone can use, producers are now looking for new consumers. Two new opportunities have emerged and one could disrupt the nation’s economy in some very positive ways.

Less than five years ago it looked like North America’s natural gas market was going to become highly dependent on foreign imports. Anticipating a growing need to offset declining natural resources, investors built eleven liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals along the east coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Seven more were approved by federal regulators. But during the last 12 months, very little LNG was imported. Keep reading →

 /  Published November 29, 2012 at 1:00 PM

Distributed Generation Alternatives Take Spotlight at NARUC

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The daunting cost of getting new transmission lines built is spurring the search for alternatives that not only cost less but can make the electricity system more resilient in the face of natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy.

Proponents of distributed generation, like rooftop solar panels, have been promoting many of these options as clean energy. But Doug Hurley, senior associate with Synapse Energy Economics, told the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) in Baltimore this week that cost alone will drive the power industry toward “non-transmission alternatives” (NTAs). Keep reading →

 /  Published November 21, 2012 at 10:30 AM

Opportunity and Challenge: Coordinating Smart Grid Innovation with Legacy Systems

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For 100 years, Americans have lived with what amounts to a corner store for electricity, but the smart grid means someone, somewhere, will start building Walmarts.

And the Sam Waltons of the power grid won’t wait for a regulatory invitation to start.
Steve Corneli, Senior Vice President, Policy and Strategy of NRG, challenged the experts gathered at GridWeek 2012 in Washington, DC last week to think of the smart grid as an interstate highway that will enable entire new forms of commerce. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 8, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Duke’s Boardroom Battles Risk $32 Billion Merger Deal

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Duke Energy President and CEO Jim Rogers (3rd L) testifies with (L-R) Alcoa Inc. Global Issues Director Meg McDonald, Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke and ConocoPhillips Senior Vice President Red Cavaney before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill April 22, 2009 in Washington, DC.

July 2 was not supposed to be an ordinary day for Bill Johnson, the former chief executive of Progress Energy. But it ended in an extraordinary way that even he hadn’t expected. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 26, 2012 at 8:30 AM
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