Category

Corporations

Article, Corporations, Economy / Finance

Loveless: $6.8B Pepco-Exelon deal took a toll

April 4, 2016

Having just completed a $6.8 billion acquisition, Exelon CEO Chris Crane is as convinced as ever that consolidation is critical to electric power companies in the U.S. But he’s not in a hurry to make another deal. “If you look at the last few (utility) deals since we announced ours, the premiums are getting very high. So you have to be very prudent and diligent about further acquisitions in this environment,” Crane said Monday. “So, we’ll just focus on what we have right now.” What Crane has now is a new addition to Exelon, Pepco Holdings, which provides electricity to 2.2 million customers in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and the District of Columbia. (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, 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, Corporations, Economy / Finance, Energy

Oil sector may see spurt in M&A activity

February 1, 2016

Shareholders for the British-based BG Group paved the way for the biggest energy merger in more than five years the other day when they approved the acquisition of their oil and gas company by Royal Dutch Shell for $50 billion. When Shell announced plans for the takeover last April, the proposed deal was widely seen as a possible harbinger of mergers and acquisitions across the industry. But aside from an earlier and still pending bid by the oil service provider Halliburton to buy one of its rivals, Baker Hughes, for $35 billion, no such trend has emerged, despite the plunge in oil prices that has taken place over the last 18 months and its devastating impact on many companies. (Read More)

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by Bill Loveless
Corporations, Energy, Podcast, Utilities and Providers

Columbia Energy Exchange: Nick Akins, CEO, American Electric Power

January 19, 2016

Responding to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan is just one of the major tasks for U.S. electric utilities in 2016. New technologies and customer expectations, not to mention shareholder demands, are presenting new challenges and opportunities for the nation’s utility executives. In this episode of the Columbia Energy Exchange, a podcast at the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy, host Bill Loveless interviews Nick Akins, the chairman, president and CEO of American Electric Power, one of the largest investor-owned utilities in the U.S., and the chairman of the Edison Electric Institute. (Listen Here)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Consumer, Corporations, Economy / Finance, Energy, Government and Politics, Utilities and Providers

Cheap gas, oil craters: 2015 rocked energy sector

January 3, 2016

The year 2015 has been a tumultuous one for energy throughout the world, including in the U.S. A new era of abundant supplies is emerging here, bringing with it low prices, at least for now. All this comes as the U.S. and other nations take stock of climate change, and the role that producing and using energy plays in the phenomenon. With that in mind, here’s a look back at 10 big developments in energy in the U.S. in 2015. (Read More)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Corporations, Energy

U.S. impact after oil exports resume? Jury’s out

December 16, 2015

U.S. oil producers are preparing to celebrate the end of 40 years of restrictions on exports of crude oil, thanks to a provision in a massive government spending bill awaiting congressional approval. With oil prices recently at seven-year lows and showing no signs of recovery soon, domestic producers say the policy change would give them the same access to global markets that their foreign competitors have enjoyed for years. But the benefits may be more hypothetical than certain, at least for now. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Corporations, Energy

Energy industry loses an executive-suite maverick

December 6, 2015

The resignation of David Crane as chief executive of NRG Energy last week illustrates the risks that leaders of U.S. electric-power companies face in a changing industry. Crane stepped down amid a nosedive in the company’s stock, a slump that reflected investor discomfort over his efforts to transform the company from a traditional supplier of electricity to one increasingly focused on rooftop solar systems, electric-vehicle charging and home energy management. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Corporations, Economy / Finance, Energy, Technology, Utilities and Providers

Electric execs get charge out of tech possibilities

November 16, 2015

Top executives from investor-owned electric utilities across the U.S. gathered in Hollywood, Fla., last week for the annual financial conference held by their trade association, the Edison Electric Institute. They spent hours meeting with analysts, investment bankers and ratings agencies regarding their utilities’ financial returns and the outlook for capital spending, revenue and earnings. That’s the sort of talk that’s characterized the EEI meeting since it began 50 years ago. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless