Consumer electronics could be the winners in the quest for energy storage – cleantech’s holy grail – rather than electric vehicles or the integration of renewables.
Dan Adler, president of the influential California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), told last week’s Cleantech Forum in San Francisco: “It is the holy grail and that’s why we continue to focus on this notion that there’s some piece missing.” Keep reading →
North America’s emerging oil shale abundance can fundamentally alter the US’s energy landscape, but experts say the road ahead may have a lot of detours.
The issues start with how much new supply can get to market. Keep reading →
A court battle over whether to build a natural gas pipeline in north-central Pennsylvania could have wider effects on gas industry regulation, attorneys for both sides said.
Central New York Oil and Gas wants to build the 39-mile MARC1 pipeline to connect three interstate pipelines carrying gas from the Gulf Coast, and to take locally produced gas to Northeastern markets. Keep reading →
The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), stung by a federal regulatory ruling regarding its treatment of Northwest wind power producers, is proposing new measures-including splitting the cost for lost revenue-to mollify the wind producers when an overabundance of hydroelectric power leads BPA to curtail the wind turbines in the region.
BPA sells power from dozens of federal hydro projects in the Northwest, and it controls most of the transmission lines in the region. Federal regulators in December said BPA acted unfairly in shutting off wind power in spring 2011 when a big snowmelt gave it more electricity than it said it needed. BPA’s action was opposed by wind generators, led by Portland, Oregon-based Iberdrola Renewables, many of whom lost federal production tax credits and state renewable energy certificates when their turbines were shut down and who worried that BPA’s policy could set a precedent that would stifle future support for the industry in the region. Keep reading →
As utilities generate more electricity from natural gas, the potential is emerging for freak weather or other events to cause problems for both delivery systems and create a cascading regional disaster, industry officials and regulators concluded in a “stress test scenario” played out in Washington, DC this past Sunday.
Planning to avoid such events, in which problems in the gas system aggravate problems in the electric system and vice-versa, is complicated by the two energy systems’ significantly different regulatory structures, officials said. Keep reading →
The wind energy industry was abuzz last week with the release of a map from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory showing the extent of wind resources in the US.
The map represents the result of the first comprehensive update of potential wind power resources since the early 1990s, with the important addition of new technology and scale in the wind sector making the potential even greater. Keep reading →
Could New York City’s rivers power its famous lights?
A new tidal energy project located in New York City’s East River has the potential to create electricity that would be one of the first commercial installations of “hydrokinetic” projects in the US. The wave and tidal energy business, which is still in early stages of development, has been divided between large-scale installations and a focus on cheaply-deployed units that could be more easily installed to take advantage of the natural movement of waves and tides. Keep reading →
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 →
Though Duke and Progress Energy have been pursuing a merger for nearly a year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stalled it significantly this Wednesday claiming it would not allow for fair competition in local electricity markets.
The decision, based on FERC’s 1996 Merger Policy Statement, comes at a time of increasing consolidation and specialization in the energy industry and will set a new standard for future merger proposals. Keep reading →
Get used to the tail wagging the dog.
Until a few years ago, renewable energy resources were like a small tail on a big dog–utility owned and operated fossil-fueled generation. With their increased penetration in many parts of the world, the tail has grown big relative to the dog. In a few cases, the tail is now wagging the dog, rather than the other way around. The trend can only grow over time with important implications for both the dog and the tail. It is already happening in certain places and during certain times. With passage of time, it will become more commonplace, and troublesome. Keep reading →
