Segment and Conquer
To measure efficiency, you needn’t count every customer.
True believers don’t respond much to urging – they will save energy regardless. So why not just ignore them in measuring the success of energy efficiency programs?
Law & Lawyers
Keeping a Lid on Coal Ash
EPA’s rule said to favor repurposing and recycling – over landfills or disposal ponds.
The EPA’s new final rule marks a turning point in the handling of coal fly ash. EPA has tried to balance the needs of utilities with existing coal ash deposits and the needs of communities that are worried that such ponds will leak into waterways, or even worse, burst open and wreak havoc. In the process, it’s pleased few.
Have Mandatory Standards Improved Reliability?
Evidence, findings and raison d’etre.
The benefits don’t nearly justify the costs, and may even provoke unintended adverse consequences.
Coal to the Rescue
A proposal to enhance European energy security.
A proposal to enhance European energy security by lessening dependence on Russian fuel imports – via coal-based production of synthetic natural gas, plus injection of captured CO2 for enhanced recovery of North Sea oil.
Digest (February 2015)
Europe’s largest battery-storage project was officially opened in England; CODA Energy announced operation of the largest behind the meter lithium-ion energy storage system in the Los Angeles basin; FERC approved construction of Constitution Pipeline’s natural gas pipeline to New York and New England markets; FERC approved a facilities construction agreement for Minnesota Power’s Great Northern Transmission Line; General Electric received an order from the Tennessee Valley Authority for two high-efficiency 7HA.02 gas-fired turbine generators; A Renewable Energy Southern Company subsidiary plans to develop a 131- MW PV solar project in Georgia; GE Global Research and others partnered on a research project to improve reliability and resiliency of electricity delivery in northern New York; Duke Energy Renewables acquired the Halifax Solar Power Project from Geenex and ET Solar Energy; Dominion Resources agreed to purchase Carolina Gas Transmission from SCANA Corp.; and others...
The View from Here
What an editor learns about human nature.
For me, editing has always been about sharing the joy of learning with others.
People (February 2015)
Xcel Energy named Christopher Clark president of Northern States Power Co. Minnesota; Bill Way became president of Southwestern Energy; FirstEnergy elected Anthony J. Alexander executive chairman; The U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Colette Honorable to join FERC; Virginia Lodge and Ronald Walter became members of the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors; Changes at Mississippi Power; AES Corp., and CMS Energy. And others...
Transactions (February 2015)
ONEOK Partners completed its acquisition of assets from Chevron affiliates for about $800 million; Dominion Resources agreed to purchase Carolina Gas Transmission from SCANA Corp. for about $492.9 million; Entergy subsidiaries acquired the Union Power Station for $948 million; ALLETE Clean Energy acquired a 108-MW wind generation facility; Duke Energy Renewables acquired the Halifax Solar Power Project from Geenex and ET Solar Energy; Pattern Energy Group acquired the 200-MW Logan’s Gap Wind project in Texas for about $113 million; An affiliate of Starwood Energy Group Global agreed to acquire a 369-MW portfolio of three natural gas facilities from Lakeside Energy; NextEra Energy and Hawaiian Electric Industries agreed to combine.
Our Nuclear Lifeline
Learning from the tragedy of Vermont Yankee.
Learning from the tragedy of Vermont Yankee. Can merchant nuclear operators compete in the market place with cheap natural gas and subsidized renewables?
New York's Natural Gas Path
The state is diverging from the national trend.
New York is taking its own path and outlawing the use of high-volume natural gas fracking. Yet, the state will remain a voracious consumer of natural gas that is fracked elsewhere. What gives?