The energy game took almost no break for the short holiday week following US Independence Day on July 4, with a host of new environmental regulations hitting the books just as companies completed deals for new renewable energy generating capacity.
Energy players traditionally slow down for the summer, though in recent years a series of crises and sustained, if localized, strains on summer generating capacity have limited executives’ and regulators’ capacity for relaxation.
We Come Together
The federal government, criticized under the leadership of the Obama Administration for its lack of clear direction on energy, took several steps to regain center stage this week and, in the words of one executive “get in front of the parade.”
Federal actions in the week were both forward looking and retroactive. New rules from the Environmental Protection Agency roused cries of protest from many in the coal-fired power industry, with the surprise inclusion of Texas power plants sparking particular objections there. Nearing the end of a lengthy process on studying electricity demand response, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finally submitted the tertiary component of its studies on proposed federal action to bring energy efficiency efforts out of the realm of theory in the US.
In most cases federal proposals see more regulation and more centralization as the key to increased efficiency and renewed operations. Without proposed legislation from Congress on energy the White House is limited in the scope of action it can take, President Obama told Twitter’s Jack Dorsey in a novel experiment with direct questions for the White House. Twitter was a popular mechanism for energy communication this week, with the Department of Energy answering several Breaking Energy-posed questions directly over the social media platform.
Because Opposites Attract
Increased centralization under the federal government met with criticism from highly influential energy industry leaders, including former New York Governor George Pataki, who told Breaking Energy that he is considering a run for president because of his dissatisfaction over energy policy and the national debt.
The Republican Pataki told Breaking Energy he sees a chance for a highly productive national conversation on energy in the US during the upcoming 2012 election cycle, and that US consumers still believe in the power of markets and transformational technology before they trust government directives.
Signs of an emerging coalition approach on energy issues emerged from normally combative Capitol Hill, where Congressman from both sides of the aisle joined the Defense Energy Security Caucus.
Do Not Pass Go
Despite signs of a slow awakening in Washington, DC to the slowly building energy shortage and the prospect for energy becoming a flash-point in the upcoming president elections, developers and operators of energy infrastructure in the US continue to face a dizzying array of risks.
In the absence of a clear energy policy developers of all kinds face uncertainty, but biomass project developers faced down challenges to the entire science underpinning of their industry this week with a new Environmental Protection Agency rule that opened up the fiercely complex subject of carbon accounting for up to three years.
For now, companies and investors continue to struggle for clarity on energy policy in the US, and try to play the energy game for high potential rewards.
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