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Article, Consumer, Energy, Regulations, Utilities and Providers

Staid power industry is branching out

April 3, 2016

Selling electricity was once a relatively simple proposition. A utility fired up a power station with coal, natural gas, oil or some other fuel, and sent electricity down a wire to customers. But the business model for the electric power industry has changed dramatically in the U.S. over the past 25 years, with deregulation opening markets to competing sellers of electricity, and new technologies offering a dizzying array of options for consumers. The latest sign of change in the industry is the announcement by Edison International of a new subsidiary called Edison Energy that sells “energy as a service” to commercial and industrial customers throughout the U.S. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Corporations, Energy, Government and Politics, Utilities and Providers

Loveless: Battle over big energy infrastructure heats up

March 29, 2016

That was the case for an independent transmission company called Clean Line Energy and its proposal to ship wind power from Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle across Arkansas to the southeastern U.S. Five years ago, regulators in Arkansas turned down the so-called Plains & Eastern project, saying Clean Line Energy didn’t qualify as a public utility serving the state’s electricity consumers. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Corporations, Defense, Energy

Lockheed sharpens its energy-tech efforts

March 20, 2016

Lockheed Martin has developed and sold energy technology for years but never made a concentrated push into that market, until now. The defense giant announced the other day the consolidation of its various energy businesses into a new entity called Lockheed Martin Energy, one that aims to take advantage of sweeping changes in energy, particularly in electric power. “For decades, we have been investing in smart, natural and safe energy technologies,” Frank Armijo, the newly appointed vice president of Lockheed Martin Energy, said in a statement from the Bethesda, Md.-based corporation. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Economy / Finance

A bottom for oil prices? Producers seek signs

March 16, 2016

The recent oil price rally raised hopes among producers that the worst may be over when it comes to a slump that has persisted for 14 months now. Even the venerable International Energy Agency suggested recently that oil prices may be on a rebound after having fallen below $30 a barrel earlier this year. “For prices, there may be a light at the end of what has been a long, dark tunnel,” the IEA said in its March oil report. “But we cannot be precisely sure when in 2017 the oil market will achieve the much-desired balance.” (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Consumer, Economy / Finance, Energy, Utilities and Providers, Weather

Winter of discontent for oil and gas producers

March 13, 2016

U.S. consumers saved substantially on their heating bills this winter, as the country enjoyed its warmest winter ever. But with the first day of spring just a few days away, not everyone is rejoicing. “If you’re a consumer, it’s great. But if you’re the guy responsible for producing the stuff, it’s not. This is a rough time,” said Porter Bennett, a longtime analyst of U.S. energy markets. In fact, Bennett’s firm, Ponderosa Energy, just put out a report whose title sums up the situation confronting oil and gas producers: “Winter of Discontent”. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Climate, Corporations, Energy, International

Wind power prospects get a Norwegian nudge

March 8, 2016

It’s a tiny investment for a global oil and natural gas company, but one that nevertheless reflects big changes underway in U.S. energy markets: The Norwegian producer Statoil announced this week that it would provide $3 million to a Brooklyn-based company that installs small wind turbines on farms and other rural properties in the U.S. For Statoil, the investment in United Wind is the first from a new $200 million venture capital account set up to support “attractive and ambitious companies in renewable energy,” ones that could help Statoil expand its own clean-energy push. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Consumer, Economy / Finance, Energy, Government and Politics, Technology

Clean-energy effort avoids D.C. dystopia

March 7, 2016

Democrats and Republicans agree on little when it comes to government policy, including how Washington should influence the ways that Americans produce and use energy. But one exception is a relatively small program at the U.S. Department of Energy that invests in early-stage technologies with the potential to provide new forms of low- or no-carbon energy efficiently, economically and satisfactorily. Established with bipartisan support in Congress in 2007 and first funded two years later, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy has awarded $1.3 billion to more than 475 projects formed by teams from academia, private industry and national laboratories with ideas for technologies in such fields as biofuels, energy storage, superconducting wires, and solar and wind systems.

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Economy / Finance, Energy, Government and Politics

Oil, gas production ramping up in the Gulf: Here’s why

March 2, 2016

The U.S. government will open nearly 45 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural gas development later this month, at a time when low prices are forcing producers to cut back sharply on their exploration budgets. But the industry’s troubles have had little impact so far on oil output in the region. In fact, unlike onshore production, which has been tapering off as oil prices decline, Gulf of Mexico production is on its way to setting a record in 2017. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Economy / Finance

Lending limits may spur oil industry shakeout

February 14, 2016

A semiannual bank review of credit lines for U.S. oil and natural gas producers may go a long way toward determining whether there will be a shakeout in the industry this year and how extensive it might be. In a new report, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services said it expects the  “borrowing bases” for 45 speculative-grade producers will fall by an average 20%-30% when banks take a fresh look in April, making it difficult for some companies to stay in business. (Read More)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Economy / Finance, Government and Politics

8 states take a big budget hit due to falling oil prices

February 7, 2016

It’s no surprise that the slump in oil prices, now 20 months old, is taking its toll on states that are particularly dependent on oil production to balance their budgets. But the impact is becoming clearer than ever, especially when you factor in steep declines in natural gas and coal prices over the same period. A new report from the Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York suggests growing trouble for the eight states where oil, gas and mining account for 10% or more of gross domestic product. (Read More)

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by Bill Loveless