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The year 2015 is turning out to be a tough act to follow for new investments in clean energy in the U.S. and around the world. A report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance reveals that financing for solar, wind and other alternatives to fossil fuels in 2016 is down substantially from last year, when a record $348.5 billion was dedicated to projects. (Read More)
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A $1.5 billion deal between Southern Company and Kinder Morgan this week is one more sign of the growing importance of natural gas to electric power generation in the U.S. Atlanta-based Southern Company, the second-largest utility company in the U.S. in terms of customer base, agreed to pay cash to Kinder Morgan for a 50% equity interest in the Southern Natural Gas (SNG) pipeline system. (Read More)
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Eight months in her new job as head of a start-up at General Electric hasn’t spoiled Maryrose Sylvester’s positive attitude about tackling the challenges she faces. “One of the things about being a good business leader is you have to be incredibly optimistic and paranoid at the same time. I’m both of those things,” says the president and CEO of GE’s new division Current, laughing at GE’s office in Washington the other day (Read more)
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With oil markets stuck in a slump for two years now, it’s easy to forget how much a sudden loss of supply can impact prices. But the U.S. Energy Information Administrationreminds us of that risk in a new report that puts “unplanned” oil supply disruptions throughout the world at a five-year high in May. (Read more)
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With some of the most ambitious clean-energy goals among U.S. electric-power companies, NRG Energy sees itself as a trailblazer in the industry. But pursuing those objectives has been difficult for NRG, whose board sacked its CEO, David Crane, last December. Now, with a new boss, one of the nation’s biggest independent power companies sees itself as still on course — but taking a more cautious approach — to a greener energy future. (Read More)
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The concept of sharing is a growing one in global economies, with increasing opportunities to divvy up the use of cars, homes and other goods and services. So, why not extend that same type of opportunity to energy — specifically energy generated from solar panels mounted on houses and other buildings? That was the idea behind Yeloha, a Boston-based startup that last year began organizing a network in which building owners with solar panels could make their excess energy available to people without such systems. Calling their business the “Airbnb for Solar Energy,” Yeloha CEO Amit Rosner and the company’s other founders promised the first such sharing arrangement in the U.S. (Read more)
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The annual Offshore Technology Conference in Houston is one of the premier expositions of breakthroughs that enable oil and natural gas producers to reach deeper into the ocean faster, cheaper and safer. Unfortunately for the vendors displaying new implements at NRG Park this past week, the prolonged downturn in oil and gas prices makes it difficult for producers to expand their tool kits when they’re cutting investments and personnel. Bernard Looney, the chief executive for BP’ s global upstream operations, acknowledged as much in his presentation at the event. (Read more)
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The biggest blackout ever in North America happened 13 years ago when high-voltage power lines brushed against overgrown trees in northern Ohio, triggering breakdowns on the grid that turned out lights in New York City and across eight states as well as Ontario, Canada. The incident in August 2003 demonstrated the importance of trimming trees adjacent to electricity transmission and distribution lines, and the difficulties of doing so when millions of trees dot hundreds of thousands of miles of lines. But now a Palo Alto, Calif., company is teaming up with the U.S. electric-power industry to test the effectiveness of using unmanned aerial vehicles – commonly known as drones – to help utilities scan power lines faster, cheaper and smarter. In the process, the collaboration between Sharper Shape and the Edison Electric Institute could help enable greater commercial use of…
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The growth in natural-gas and renewable-energy trade in the U.S. is driving mergers and acquisitions to high levels in North America. That includes increasing interest from investors in Canada and other countries in assets in the U.S., where a relatively stable regulatory environment and low interest rates make American pipeline, transmission and distribution companies attractive targets. A new report from the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers puts the total value of North American power and utilities deals at $41.4 billion in the first quarter of 2016, compared to $11.5 billion in the previous quarter. (Read more)
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For the makers of solar, wind and other forms of clean energy, the future looks bright, with all-time-high investments and expanding markets throughout the world. That was evident at a conference in New York held by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, where more than 1,000 producers, investors and others involved in cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels met to discuss the progress that has taken place so far and the opportunities that continue to unfold. No one is more bullish about the industry than Michael Liebreich, the chairman of BNEF, who founded the energy information and research company in 2004 and sold it to the media giant Bloomberg in 2009. (Read more)
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