The Latest

Pennsylvania Wind Farm Will Rise Thanks To Unlikely Partnership

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A private-equity firm, a wind energy developer, a state funding program, an agricultural community leader and a group of university administrators have all been part of the story behind a 30 MW utility-scale wind farm going up in three townships in rural Pennsylvania.

Patton Wind Farm plans to sell power into the merchant market, Brooklyn-based developer OwnEnergy said in announcing today the sale of the project to European private equity firm Terra Firma’s EverPower Wind Holding subsidiary. The project already has an interconnection with local electricity market operator PJM Interconnection. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 20, 2011 at 9:45 AM

Recurrent Diversifies From US Markets With Mizuho Financing For Canadian Solar Projects

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With TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline under scrutiny and Canada announcing its exit from the Kyoto Protocol, the fossil-fuel-rich country often surprises observers with its commitment to renewable energy investments as well.

On Monday, California-based Recurrent Energy announced that it has secured $250 million in financing for twenty utility-scale solar developments–producing a total of 200 MW of power–in the Canadian province of Ontario. The funds, from Mizuho Corporate Bank, are being transferred as a four-year construction revolver credit facility, one of the largest of its kind in North America. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 20, 2011 at 6:00 AM

John Krenicki Powers Up GE

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(Fortune Magazine) I’m on a reporting trip in Angola, a place where the State Department advises travelers to “never touch anything that resembles a mine or unexploded ordnance.” I have brought a guidebook. It says Angola is “not a holiday destination for beginners.” I am traveling with a team of GE executives led by John Krenicki, CEO of the company’s energy unit. We’ve sat through a lecture on an especially virulent strain of malaria in the region. We’ve had two days of back-to-back meetings, visited a power station floating on a barge, and toured a liquefied natural gas plant on the banks of a tributary of the Congo River, downstream from Livingstone Falls, named for the explorer who died of dysentery. We’d had to leave behind two members of the team whose visas to Angola hadn’t come through. And now we’re in a chartered jet, homeward bound, getting ready for takeoff. A crew member comes into the cabin with an announcement. The flight will be delayed. There are wild dogs on the runway.

 /  Published December 20, 2011 at 6:00 AM

ConEd: Access The Funds For Energy Efficiency Projects

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Ultimately, you want an energy efficiency plan for your business – understanding it makes good business sense to lower your energy consumption, to save money, improve your bottom line and protect the environment in the process. You followed the preliminary steps of benchmarking to see how your building compares with similar buildings in your area. You’ve also had an energy audit to get a handle on what upgrades your building needs.

After looking at the laundry list of inefficient equipment and building systems that need improvements and the associated costs, you start to conceptualize the various ways to shuffle the budget to find capital for these improvements and make it work! Keep reading →

 /  Published December 20, 2011 at 6:00 AM

AEP Bolsters Transmission Business With Leadership Shakeup

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Power utilities are beginning to focus more attention on transmission as the aging system tries to keep up with increasing renewable energy generation as well forecasts for increased overall demand for electricity.

Giant power company American Electric Power announced last week that it was restructuring some of its executive leadership to reflect a renewed commitment to transmission projects both within and outside its power generation region. Among the changes, AEP’s SVP of Transmission, Michael Heyeck, will also become president of Electric Transmission America, a joint venture of AEP and MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, effective January 1, 2012. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 19, 2011 at 3:30 PM

Obama Aides: Keystone Pipeline Inclusion ‘Is Absolutely Not A Blink’

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At a press conference on Dec. 7, President Obama warned congressional Republicans not to attach a controversial crude oil pipeline from Canada through the U.S. to a bill extending a year-old break on people’s payroll tax. “Any effort to try to tie Keystone to the payroll tax cut, I will reject,” the president said, standing next to his Canadian counterpart, Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Ten days later, Republicans, with the help of sympathetic Democrats and lawmakers who just wanted to get a deal done, did just that. By a vote of 89 to 10, the Senate voted on Saturday morning to extend the payroll tax cut for two months. Included in the bill was language requiring the State Department to issue a permit within 60 days to proceed with the 1,700-mile oil pipeline. The inclusion, on its surface, goes directly against the president’s veto threat. But the White House has no plans to torpedo the measure. At a briefing with reporters following a short statement by the president, senior administration officials made the case that their position on the pipeline had not been affected. This article is a linkout.

 /  Published December 19, 2011 at 1:15 PM

Keystone Pipeline: How Many Jobs Would It Really Create

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The Keystone pipeline project is back in play as part of the payroll-tax cut debate, and Congressional Republicans say it would create jobs. But there’s a wide range of estimates, with one forecast that Keystone could actually cost jobs. The 1,700-mile long pipeline would transport crude oil from Canada’s oil sands region in Alberta to refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Obama administration pushed back the project last month pending a review from the State Department, but Republicans want to bring it back as a sweetener to approve an extension of the payroll-tax break and federal unemployment insurance. The House passed a measure Tuesday that would tie tax cuts to Keystone approval. TransCanda (TRP), the company that wants to build the pipeline, says Keystone would create 20,000 “direct” jobs. That includes 13,000 construction jobs and 7,000 jobs making stuff like pump houses and the pipe itself. This article is a linkout.

 /  Published December 19, 2011 at 11:30 AM

PJM Capacity Market Faces Uprising

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The theory of capacity markets is simple: in a competitive market, electricity prices for future supply will rise as shortages loom, drawing in competitors to profit by building new generating capacity.

In practice, it may not be working out that way, and simmering discontent over how much consumers are paying for future reliability, and what they’re getting for it, may become open, and bipartisan, rebellion in 2012. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 19, 2011 at 11:00 AM

Congress invests $59 million in hydropower research and development

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Congress invests $59 million in #hydropower research and development bit.ly/ty0VWq @NatlHydroAssoc

 /  Published December 19, 2011 at 10:00 AM

Gehrlicher Solar Enters US Market With Two Projects

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The US solar market has become so hot its attracting foreign developers hoping to win a piece of the pie.

German solar photovoltaic (PV) company Gehrlicher Solar announced on December 15 that it has successfully entered the US market with two solar installations completed and six more under construction. Gehrlicher Solar America, based in Springfield, New Jersey, was officially formed in late 2010. Keep reading →

 /  Published December 19, 2011 at 9:30 AM
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