The economy is making gains on its path to a slow recovery, which means consumers can expect higher gas prices this year. “When the economy improves, we will be using more petroleum,” explains Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com. “It’s all but a certain that prices will likely go up this year.” The Department of Energy released its 2012 oil forecast Tuesday, upping the price of crude oil to $100 per barrel, which could be bad news for consumers because the price of oil directly correlates with gas prices. For 2011, the average price per barrel of U.S. crude oil was $95 per barrel, according to the Energy Department, and according to GasBuddy.com, the yearly average for 2011 was $3.51 per gallon. The current national average of unleaded regular gas two weeks into 2012 is $3.34 per gallon. With the current national average so high at the beginning of the year, DeHaan says things aren’t looking good for motorists. This article is a linkout: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/01/11/expect-higher-gas-prices-this-year/#ixzz1jBnHe6TI
DOE
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By Peter GardettToday (Last Year) in #Energy : Wholesale #electricity prices were mostly lower in 2011 http://go.usa.gov/RIF EIAgov
Alaskans’ way of life is threatened as oil production declines and new pipelines for natural gas remain difficult to justify financially.
Larry Persily, Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects, said only high oil prices are keeping state royalties from dropping even more. The state gets 90% of its General Fund – some $8 billion last year — from oil and gas royalties. Alaskans pay no income or sales taxes, and get an annual cash rebate from the royalty fund. Keep reading →
It’s an all-too-familiar refrain in the United States these days: “Solar is too expensive.” Supporters of solar power have long had to face the argument that conventional energy sources are simply cheaper. This economic reality is a substantial portion of what underlies the sizable government subsidies to solar companies such as Solyndra in the U.S., and why the Chinese government is vigorously subsidizing its own solar industry. A poll conducted in the U.S. by clean-tech communications firm Tigercomm reflects this as well: The majority of respondents said solar power is too expensive, will remain an intermittent source of power, and can’t truly compete directly with coal or natural gas. A mere 41% believed solar was affordable, and only 34% believed it was reliable. But new solar cell technology–specifically improvements involving nanotechnology–may change minds with surprising speed.
New environmental rules will not cause rolling blackouts or hinder electricity reliability, the Department of Energy said, responding to warnings from owners of impacted coal-fired power plants.
In a 33-page report, the DOE said it had considered ‘stringent’ conditions under which power generators would have to comply with the Environmental Protection Administration’s Cross-State Air Pollution rule and the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards as well as other emissions-control measures. Keep reading →
Here at Mintz Levin we have been highly successful, along with Stern Brothers/Krieg DeVault/Westar Trade, in assisting in the preparation and receipt of 3 out of 3 client awards of conditional loan guarantee awards (with a 4th to be issued shortly) from the USDA under its Section 9003 loan guarantee program (which we successfully re-wrote working very closely with USDA to make it a workable program and recently have reached the first project closing thereto) in the FY 2010 round under our credit-enhanced bond finance mechanism.
Further, we recently filed more than 50% of the applicants applications in the current FY2011 Section 9003 round. Each round of these applications represents between $1.5 million- $2 billion in total project costs. Keep reading →
The heat index in NYC reached 106 degrees on Thursday, July 21st and climbed into Friday and the weekend.
According to news reports, Con-Edison started calling clients to cut back on electric usage and maintain the load at a lower level to avoid brown-outs and black-outs. Distributed power generation can help manage power loads for utilities and provide security for large industrial and commercial customers. Keep reading →
The US Department of Energy may have chosen a winner in the renewable energy race.
It will be offering nearly $4.5 billion in conditional loan guarantee commitments for three solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants in California, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced today. The projects include a $680 million 230 MW Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 project, a $1.88 billion 550 MW Desert Sunlight project and a $1.93 550 MW billion Topaz Solar project, all being built by First Solar with Cd-Te thin film solar PV panels. Keep reading →
