Corporate

Energy Transparency in the US: Changes are Real

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The world of renewable energy has changed rapidly over the past decade, moving from a marginal issue for environmentalists to a core component of both energy policy and the consumer mindset.

The energy business, which relies on lengthy lead times and regulatory certainty, has often been slow to adapt to the changes in the world around it and embrace renewable energy production or sustainability issues. That is no longer the case, as major corporations embrace direct investment in the sector to avoid an energy sector they increasingly see as adding major risk to operational reliability and customers become attuned to their energy choices. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 28, 2012 at 9:30 AM

Wind Energy and the US Consumer

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When it comes to sources of power for products and services, consumers expressed a very strong preference for clean energy over fossil fuels in the Global Consumer Wind Study.

The overwhelming majority (67%) of respondents said that they would prefer to have their electricity sources supplied by renewables, versus 9% for fossil fuels and 8% for nuclear. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 27, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Shares of Buffett’s Chinese Electric Car Maker Tumble

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Shares of BYD, the Chinese battery and electric car maker in which Warren Buffett is a major investor, tumbled in Hong Kong trading Wednesday after an analyst in China slashed his firm’s target price for the stock to virtually nothing.

 /  Published September 27, 2012 at 10:30 AM

Market Driven: Corporate Sustainability Builds on Data and Metrics

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Recent evidence suggests companies that score highly on sustainability metrics tend to be well run and have solid business models – 655 institutional investors representing $78 trillion in assets appear to agree.

The 655 investors are signatories to the Carbon Disclosure Project, which is a global greenhouse gas emission reporting initiative that incentives companies, governments and cities to voluntarily disclose data pertaining to key sustainability metrics. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 26, 2012 at 2:30 PM

A Guide to End of Term Options in a Solar PPA

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A Power Purchase Agreement (“PPA”) can typically last fifteen to twenty years, but solar PV systems have an operating life of twenty-five years or more. So what happens when the PPA term expires and the system is still operating? The party that purchases the electricity – the “host” or “offtaker” – usually has three options at the end of the PPA term: (i) renew the PPA, (ii) purchase the system at fair market value, or (iii) have the equipment removed.

Renew the PPA Keep reading →

 /  Published September 26, 2012 at 1:30 PM

Key Uranium Deals May Point Towards Greater Demand and Higher Prices in 2013

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During the month of August, the Australian uranium mining company Paladin Energy released some news that sent a much-welcome shock wave through the industry: Not only had it entered into an agreement to supply about 14 million pounds of uranium to a major utility, but it would be receiving $200 million as a pre-payment-even though the actual delivery of uranium would not begin until the year 2019.

The confidence in the marketplace reflected by the Paladin deal represents major news for an industry whose product is thought by several analysts to be significantly undervalued. In the wake of the Paladin announcement, for example, both Credit Suisse and RBC agreed that uranium prices could potentially rise as high as $80 to $90 per pound in a healthy market-up from $48 per pound as of mid-September 2012. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 26, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Renewable Energy: Corporates, Financials and Technology Firms Take the Lead

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Companies are at the leading edge of wind globally, not least in the US. Starbucks recently sent a joint letter with 18 other US companies to Congress to request an extension of the Production Tax Credit which has helped grow installed capacity.

Ben & Jerry’s, Clif Bar, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss & Co, The North Face, Sprint, Starbucks, Symantec, Timberland and Yahoo! are just a selection of household corporate names that understand the value of a sustainable wind industry to the consumer and the bottom line. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 25, 2012 at 2:30 PM

The Supposed Decline of Green Energy http://s.hbr.org/VCXj49

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The Supposed Decline of Green Energy http://bit.ly/RUWjKw HarvardBiz

 /  Published September 25, 2012 at 1:45 PM

Despite Current Arbitrage Opportunities, Don’t Lunge Towards LNG

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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 →

 /  Published September 25, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Renewable Energy Realities: US Energy Transparency Infographic

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During this year’s presidential campaign, the renewable energy industry and the tax credits that support it receives have become a hot political topic.

Renewable energy enjoys broad support in the US where people expect the government to support emerging clean power technologies and the 2012 Global Consumer Wind Study would make useful reading for both candidates. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 24, 2012 at 12:30 PM
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