Archive for September, 2007
Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 26 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: Energy, Opinion
TCS.com:
People are saying that there are a new set of economic assumptions surrounding energy use. Oil prices are very high. There’s all the concern about global warming. Therefore, they say, we need to invest more in this area.
There’s been fantastic growth in wind, solar, ethanol. We have government subsidies for all of these things, which encourages people to invest in them even at high levels. And you can see it crossing over into the popular culture. It’s not just business publications. It’s everywhere you look - TV, radio, newspapers, company’s websites. Everybody is talking about producing alternative energy, using alternative energy.
So, I think the stars are aligning for a bubble in alternative energy.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 25 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: Energy, Nuclear, Environment
Forbes.com:
Indeed, it is difficult to see how we can overcome climate change without nuclear energy being part of the solution. Nuclear power is green power. It is the only proven, available technology capable of producing vast quantities of safe, reliable and affordable energy with near zero-carbon emissions.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 17 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: General, Energy
The New York Times:
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has opened an investigation of five large energy companies, questioning whether their plans to build coal-fired power plants pose undisclosed financial risks that their investors should know about.
Mr. Cuomo, using the same state securities law wielded by his predecessor, Gov. Eliot Spitzer, to investigate corruption on Wall Street, sent subpoenas late Friday to the top executives of the five companies, seeking internal documents.
The companies, which have projects in various states, are AES Corporation, Dominion, Dynegy, Peabody Energy and Xcel Energy.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 11 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: Electric, Energy, Environment
The New York Times:
American Electric Power, a coal-burning utility company that is looking for ways to connect more wind power to its grid, plans to announce on Tuesday that it will install huge banks of high-technology batteries.
The batteries are costly and their use at such a big scale has not been demonstrated, but they may be an essential complement to renewable power, experts say.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 07 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: Energy, Nuclear
The Economist:
America’s nuclear industry is about to embark on its biggest expansion in more than a generation. This will influence energy policy in the rest of the world.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 07 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: General, Electric, Energy, M&A
Dallas Morning News:
TXU Corp. shareholders voted to sell the company to private investors in the biggest leveraged buyout ever.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 06 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: Water
Water Tech Online:
Some members of both parties in the US House of Representatives are forming a Congressional Water Caucus to promote scientific information and discussion about water resources and use, a September 3 report in the American Water Works Association’s WaterWeek newsletter said.
Co-chairs of the new caucus, launched in mid-August, are Reps. Bart Stupak (D-MI), John Linder (R-GA), Jim Costa (D-CA), George Radanovich (R-CA) and Grace Napolitano (D-CA). The caucus has 29 other original members — 17 Democrats and 12 Republicans.
In a letter to House members, the caucus members set forth 12 principles of water policy they will pursue, including: ensuring an adequate supply of fresh water for all US citizens, considering “all available technologies” for increasing the water supply while safeguarding the environment, implementing strategies for water reuse, reducing bureaucratic “red tape” for local communities seeking to build water infrastructure, encouraging federal support for “groundwater banking” for sustainable water supplies, and collecting and sharing water data to determine the effectiveness of policies.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 06 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: General
UTC.com:
UTC’s latest research report, The State of Utility Fiber 2007, authored by KEMA Inc. for UTC, finds that utilities are expanding fiber only when partners help them share the costs of buildout, or when transmission-line builds present opportunities to install fiber cost-effectively. Utilities that sell excess fiber also sometimes find customers who can help recover the cost of a build. When fiber is added, utilities typically expand fiber routes and capacity through tradeoff agreements: either fiber for utility right-of-way, or an exchange fiber in utility cable for fiber in the partner’s cable.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 04 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: Telecommunications
Forbes:
The Bush administration wants the power to grant legal immunity to telecommunications companies that are slapped with privacy suits for cooperating with the White House’s controversial warrantless eavesdropping program.
The authority would effectively shut down dozens of lawsuits filed against telecommunications companies accused of helping set up the program.
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Posted by Edward G. Lanza on 04 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: General, Electric, Energy
The New York Times:
More than a decade after the drive began to convert electricity from a regulated industry into a competitive one, many states are rolling back their initiatives or returning money to individuals and businesses…
Of the 25 states, and the District of Columbia, that had adopted competition, only one, California, is even talking about expanding market pricing.
The main reason behind the effort to return to a more regulated market is price. Recent Energy Department data shows that the cost of power in states that embraced competition has risen faster than in states that had retained traditional rate regulation.
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