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Utilities and Providers

Article, Economy / Finance, Energy, Government and Politics, Utilities and Providers

Wind power prospects may hinge on gas price, government

Fresh government support and growing interest from the utility industry is building expectations that wind power will thrive in the U.S. in coming years. Among the latest such assessments is a new report from Fitch Ratings, which sees the industry steadily expanding its share of the nation’s electricity market. “We see this environment remaining very positive for wind power for the next three to four years,” said Maude Tremblay, director of corporate finance at Fitch, an author of the report. (Read more)

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Article, Corporations, Energy, Utilities and Providers

Growth powers natgas, renewable-energy mergers

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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Article, Consumer, Energy, Technology, Utilities and Providers

Can N.Y. solar-electric deal recharge U.S. green-energy effort?

The head of the leading rooftop solar company in the U.S. told me last year that one of his top priorities was to strike deals with electric utilities that would make them partners rather than rivals in the changing power sector. “I’m very interested in finding a utility that we can work with that wants to solve problems, not prevent change,” Lyndon Rive, the co-founder and chief executive of SolarCity, said in June. “It would be learning for both of us.” Well, Rive got his wish last week as SolarCity and two other solar developers, SunPower and SunEdison, joined six New York utilities in announcing their formation of the “Solar Progress Partnership.” (Read more)

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Article, Economy / Finance, Energy, Utilities and Providers

Nat gas prices hit by surplus, mild winter

With the warmest winter on record this year and continued high levels of natural gas production, the U.S. ended the season with more gas stored than ever before. By producing so much gas and putting so much away, the industry is likely to face continued low prices for the commodity, not encouraging news for the sector. But the combination of factors also means more opportunities to sell gas to power plants, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says in a new report. (Read more)

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Article, Consumer, Energy, Regulations, Utilities and Providers

Staid power industry is branching out

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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Article, Corporations, Energy, Government and Politics, Utilities and Providers

Loveless: Battle over big energy infrastructure heats up

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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Article, Consumer, Economy / Finance, Energy, Utilities and Providers, Weather

Winter of discontent for oil and gas producers

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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Article, Consumer, Energy, Utilities and Providers

Huh? Utilities spur power savings, see profits

For nearly 125 years, electric utilities have operated according to one basic business principle: the more power they sell, the more money they make. But the industry founded by Thomas Edison in 1882 now faces the potential for the kinds of upheaval that have transformed telecommunications, transportation, TV programming and other industries. Will the utility as we know it disappear? (Read more)

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Corporations, Energy, Podcast, Utilities and Providers

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

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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Article, Consumer, Economy / Finance, Policy, Regulations, Utilities and Providers

2016: Another volatile year for energy

The year 2016 promises to be an eventful one for energy in the U.S. and nations throughout the world, with more turbulence in oil and natural gas markets, new opportunities for solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy, and increasing challenges for the electric grid. The extraordinary slump in oil and natural gas prices is likely to continue this year, with both good and bad implications, depending on which side of the pump is important to you. For consumers, low prices will mean more savings when they fuel their vehicles and homes. But for oil and gas producers, and the entire industry that supports their operations, low prices will dampen the resurgence of U.S. production and lead to more layoffs, bankruptcies and mergers. How extensive is the toll of the price decline on the U.S. shale revolution? How quickly…

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