An award-winning energy journalist known for his compelling news interviews in print and on the air. A thought-provoking moderator of high-level public events addressing leading energy and environmental issues. An insider with extensive connections with prominent lawmakers, policymakers and business executives. A perceptive writer providing critical insight on issues.
From its remote headquarters in Newfoundland, Canada’s largest investor-owned utility is making inroads into the U.S. energy market. Fortis Inc. began trading on the New York Stock Exchange this month, after completing its acquisition of ITC Holdings, the biggest independent electric transmission company in the U.S., for $11.3 billion. (Read more)
Continue readingIn the first episode of a two part series with former U.S. senators on the challenges an opportunities when it comes to energy and the environment for the next president of the United States, host Bill Loveless sits down with Trent Lott, a former U.S. Senate Majority Leader who served his home state of Mississippi in both the House and Senate from 1973 to 2007. They talk about: the breakdown in relations between Republicans and Democrats and whether Congress can work on a bipartisan basis to legislate on energy and the environment; energy challenges since the 1970s, and how Congress dealt with them; how a Clinton and Trump presidency would differ on energy and climate policies. (Listen here.)
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Hurricane Sandy dealt a devastating blow to the U.S. in 2012, leaving about $70 billion in damages, 147 people dead and millions without electricity, mostly in New York and New Jersey. The impact on the electric grid from Sandy’s storm surge and high winds on the Atlantic coast prompted utility executives and government officials to work more closely than ever to find new ways of coordinating their resources and strengthening infrastructure in response to storms. Four years later, those efforts are paying off. (Read more)
Continue readingOfficials from around the world will soon gather in Morocco, a country that is increasingly investing in renewable energy technologies, to discuss implementation of the newly ratified climate agreement reached in Paris last December. On this episode of the Columbia Energy Exchange host Bill Loveless talks with Said Mouline, director general of Morocco’s national agency for the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency, and a member of Morocco’s steering committee. They discussed: What to expect at COP22 in Marrakech and to what extent renewable energy can help address the goals of the Paris agreement; Morocco’s development of the world’s largest concentrated solar plant, the Noor complex; How Morocco might serve as a model for other nations, especially within Africa, to integrate renewables into their energy mix; The role of public-private partnerships in meeting Morocco’s renewable energy goals and the challenges posed by this model. (Listen here)
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Putting a price on carbon emissions remains a divisive topic in the USA, even as polls indicate considerable public support for actions to address climate change. Voters in Washington state may show the way Nov. 8 when they decide on a referendum that would assess a carbon tax on coal, oil and natural gas, a move aimed at lowering emissions that contribute to climate change without digging deeply into people’s wallets. (Read more)
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For General Electric, the timing of its new $125 million oil and natural gas technology center in Oklahoma City couldn’t be better. The oil and gas industry is suffering one of its worst slumps ever, with recovery slow to take hold and unlikely to deliver any time soon the much higher prices producers enjoyed a few years ago. (Read more)
Continue readingThe Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries took many by surprise last week with its decision to consider making cuts in crude oil production to help lift prices and rebalance the market. Now the world will wait to see if a firm decision is made at OPEC’s next regular meeting in November. Host Bill Loveless sits down with one of our Fellows at the Center on Global Energy Policy, Jamie Webster, to discuss OPEC’s decision, a change in course from the last two years of free-flowing oil. (Listen here)
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Integrated oil majors like ExxonMobil, Chevron and Shell once dominated the standings of the world’s leading energy companies, with assets, revenue and earnings far outpacing just about everyone else. That’s not the case anymore, as companies that sell electricity and refine crude oil into fuel are gaining ground, as seen in a new survey by S&P Global Platts, a provider of energy information and benchmark prices. (Read more)
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The OPEC oil cartel plans to hold an informal meeting in Algeria this week to consider whether steps should be taken to stabilize oil prices following a slump of more than two years. Ministers of the 14 OPEC nations flirted with a similar notion earlier this year in a meeting with Russia in Qatar, but the prospect of a freeze in oil output failed because rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran refused to back off on their drives to increase market share, regardless of price. (Read more)
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North Dakota is about as far from an ocean and surfing as any place in the U.S. So why would a North Dakota energy official use a popular surfing term, “hang ten,” to describe the condition of his state’s oil industry? “You have to find the right wave, and generally it’s a big wave,” Lynn Helms, the director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, said the other day, sounding like a surfing aficionado. (Read more.)
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