Electric utilities are facing an unprecedented set of challenges. Demand for electricity, which had risen in a fairly steady manner for decades has flattened. Some of this can be attributed to the lack of economic growth. Increasingly, however, this has been caused by growth in energy efficiency and distributed generation. Another important dynamic, but one… Keep reading →
Dear State Public Utility Commission Chairmen and Chairwomen, Risk management isn’t a new concept for any of the utility companies you regulate, nor I’m sure, is it new for you and your team. When large storms or fires cause power outages, you monitor how quickly electric utilities return service to customers. When proposals for new… Keep reading →
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s has released a report that seeks to answer an important question: are there any more big, profitable shales on the order of a Bakken or an Eagle Ford to be found in the US? The primary feature of the two plays that makes them so attractive is their oil… Keep reading →
The first visible chink in the oil and gas sector’s stance on the Keystone XL pipeline project’s inevitability turned up this week in that house journal of capitalism, the Wall Street Journal. In his provocatively titled article, “U.S. Refiners Don’t Care if Keystone Gets Built,” Ben Lefebvre lists the host of ways that the sector… Keep reading →
Accounting giant Ernst & Young’s latest United States renewable energy attractiveness index confirms commonly understood perceptions of which states are friendliest to renewables, such as California and Hawaii, but also shows remarkable progress by individual states and the solar industry as a whole. The top ten states on the All Renewables Index, which you can… Keep reading →
Carbon dioxide emissions costs have been possibly the great ‘unpriced externality’ for the energy business for more than a decade. Companies have resisted complex and cumbersome government plans only to end up with regional patchworks and failed private pricing mechanisms for the greenhouse gas that scientists have held most directly responsible for the lion’s share of human-contributed… Keep reading →
In recent weeks, debate between between utilities and the residential solar industry has reached fever pitch and escalated to a full-throated public standoff in several states. Across the country, utilities are renewing efforts to roll back or address net metering (NEM) policies; in particular, APS in Arizona and Xcel Energy in Colorado both submitted plans… Keep reading →
Think of an industry dominated by huge, established firms reliant on distribution models that have been in place for more than a century. Or one where customers pay a premium for the reliability assured by known brands despite little difference in delivered product. Or one where financing huge upfront costs depends on both that premium… Keep reading →
A year ago, it was common for energy executives, regulators and critics to marvel at the sense of whiplash they felt from the extraordinary revival of North American natural gas production. Technology shifts long in the making but broadly below the radar of markets underpinned an expansion of the fuel’s market share amid low pricing… Keep reading →
Keystone XL and US Politics: A Sad State of Affairs
By Jared AndersonRyan Lizza’s New Yorker article about the Keystone XL Pipeline project is both insightful and depressing. The piece dissects the issue’s genesis and history, finding the proposed pipeline to be a climate change symbol seized by wealthy activists seeking to influence national politics, while advancing their own political ambitions. Unfortunately, in selecting Keystone XL opposition… Keep reading →