Category

Energy

Article, Consumer, Corporations, Energy, Utilities and Providers

GE startup injects life to efficient-energy efforts

June 19, 2016

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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by Bill Loveless
Article, Consumer, Energy, Technology, Utilities and Providers

Personalized power usage? There’s an app for that

June 15, 2016

Should managing your energy needs at home be as easy as booking an airline flight or monitoring your bank accounts with a mobile app? For most consumers and electric utilities, the answer is probably “yes.” But despite all of the advances in information technology over the years, and the proliferation of mobile apps, utilities is seen as one sector where such innovation is still lacking. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Consumer, Corporations, Economy / Finance, Energy, Government and Politics, International, People

Oil supply uncertainty helps pump up prices

June 13, 2016

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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by Bill Loveless
Article, Corporations, Energy, People, Utilities and Providers

What’s next for NRG after Crane removal?

June 8, 2016

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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by Bill Loveless
Article, Defense, Energy, Government and Politics, International, Technology, Utilities and Providers

An attack on the grid? Power execs push back on Koppel claims

June 5, 2016

Eight months after veteran broadcast journalist Ted Koppel published a book predicting a devastating cyberattack on the U.S. power grid, leaders of the utility industry are sounding off over what they say is an exaggerated claim. “We’re speaking out on it now because we think there is an important story to tell,” Scott Aaronson, the managing director for cyber and infrastructure security at the Edison Electric Institute, said last week at a briefing for reporters. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Energy, Podcast, Technology

Columbia Energy Exchange: Ellen Williams

May 31, 2016

Breakthrough technologies can transform the way that energy is produced and consumed. But pursuing them is often beyond the means of the private sector for a host of reasons. Enter the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy, a program at the US Department of Energy founded in 2009 that supports high-potential, high-impact technologies with funding, technical assistance and market preparedness. On this episode of Columbia Energy Exchange podcast, host Bill Loveless sits down with Dr. Ellen Williams, Director of ARPA-E, to discuss the future of energy technology. (Listen Here)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Energy, International

Green-energy gathering aims to build on Paris plan

May 29, 2016

Six months after the Paris climate talks, government officials from around the world will gather in San Francisco this week to try to build more momentum for the development of cleaner energy technologies. The 7th Clean Energy Ministerial will include representatives of the U.S. and 22 other countries and the European Commission, all focused on policies, technologies and networks that would make energy less polluting, and more affordable and efficient. “It is a fact that coming out of Paris, nearly every country in the world is committed to a low-carbon trajectory,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, who will host this week’s gathering. “That means those markets are going to start growing even faster.” (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Energy, Government and Politics, International

Trump’s take on oil, OPEC? N.D. speech may offer details

May 22, 2016

As is the case with most of his policy stands, Donald Trump has spoken only generally about how he thinks Washington should treat energy production in the U.S., expressing strong support for the oil, natural gas and coal industries, and promising to cut funding for what he sees as excessive regulation. But this week in North Dakota, the presumptive Republican nominee for president may reveal more about his views on promoting domestic energy, and perhaps take another shot at Saudi Arabia, the leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless
Article, Corporations, Energy, Technology

Lessons from a solar startup’s failure

May 17, 2016

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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by Bill Loveless
Article, Economy / Finance, Energy

Oil industry problems, prospects keenly felt in N. Dakota

May 15, 2016

Oil prices have rallied lately, but not enough to convince U.S. oil producers that hard times may be over soon. That’s evident in shale regions like North Dakota that have driven a resurgence in U.S. oil and natural gas production over the last few years. Lynn Helms, the director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, told reporters the other day that producers won’t begin to ramp up activity until they see oil prices holding steady at more than $40 a barrel for 90 days or so. (Read more)

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by Bill Loveless