California’s Governor is expected soon to appoint a “clean energy jobs” czar to his cabinet, according to officials in Jerry Brown’s economic development office.
Mather Kearney, deputy director at the governor’s Office of Economic Development, said that Governor Brown’s shortlist had been narrowed to three candidates but that the scope of the role had been widened beyond clean energy alone to encompass the broader unemployment crisis. Keep reading →
Dan Adler is president of the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), a $30 million non-profit venture capital fund created to accelerate investment in the state’s clean energy economy.
CalCEF was formed after the California electricity crisis of 1999-2000 as part of the bankruptcy settlement negotiated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). Keep reading →
Private investors in the nuclear industry could still take advantage of federal tax credits before a 2014 construction deadline, despite permitting delays after the Fukushima disaster.
Alan Lederman of the Florida-based Gunster law firm said yesterday that section 45J, the nuclear reactor tax credit, presents investors with great income potential despite the “cloud” currently over the industry. Keep reading →
In energy, government can mean business.
Public policy is paramount in creating new markets and new business models within the energy sector, according to a former chief of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Keep reading →
California wants private companies to take the lead on investment in energy efficiency.
California’s critical investments in energy efficiency must come from private debt and equity markets, rather than the government, said the state’s most recently appointed public utilities commissioner. Keep reading →
The US is poised to become the Saudi Arabia for natural gas and has the potential to quickly become a net exporter as shale reserves are exploited.
“It’s clear from the supply side that the US is the Saudi Arabia of gas we have based on the most recent estimates at least 40 years of supply from shale alone based on current demand in the economy,” Deutsche Bank vice president and senior research analyst Nils Mellquist told Breaking Energy. “China has around 400 years of supply based on their relatively modest gas demand.” Keep reading →
Google says “no” as often as it says “yes” as it expands its profile in the energy business. Keep reading →
NRG Energy is a massive and diverse power generation company with assets ranging from lignite coal-fired units in Germany to solar generation in California. Keep reading →
Predictions about the future of the electric grid could turn out to be “very wrong”, the directors of California’s smart grid programs admitted earlier this month.
“That’s the risk that we’re running; Information technology – which is what the smart grid is leveraging – moves very, very fast,” Lee Krevat, smart grid director at San Diego Gas & Electric, said. “It’s very hard to predict where it’s going.” Keep reading →
Government policy initiatives have had a more powerful effect on the Chinese renewables industry than direct investment in research and development, said the founder of the world’s largest solar photo-voltaics (PV) company. Keep reading →
