General
Schumer slams ‘stunt’ Green New Deal vote as moderates fret
Anthony Adragna, Politico
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats would not be intimidated by the “cynical stunt” of voting on the Green New Deal resolution, even as moderate members of his caucus distanced themselves from the sweeping climate change goals.
Brent oil briefly hits $65 as production cuts fuel 2019 high
Noah Browning, Reuters
Brent crude oil briefly reached 2019 highs above $65 per barrel on Friday, as OPEC-led supply cuts and the announcement of a higher-than-expected cut by Saudi Arabia this week encouraged investors.
Oil and Natural Gas
Texas fines Chevron Phillips Chemical, others for environmental violations
Erin Douglas, Houston Chronicle
The company, which is jointly owned by Chevron Corp. and Phillips 66, will pay a little under $250,000 to the state for air quality violations stemming from its failure to comply with allowable emissions limits, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state’s environmental agency, decided at its bi-monthly agenda meeting.
Canada Can’t Capitalize on Crude Shortfall Created by Venezuela Sanctions
Vipal Monga and Rebecca Elliott, The Wall Street Journal
U.S. sanctions on Venezuela have American refiners scrambling to find new sources for the dense crude oil they need to make fuel, but Canadian producers are finding the opportunity too expensive to exploit.
U.S. shale executives predict oil production constraints to remain
Collin Eaton, Reuters
Drilling curbs by oil producers in the largest U.S. shale field will continue until transport bottlenecks ease and investors stop punishing companies for increasing capital spending, executives at an energy conference said on Thursday.
On offshore drilling, Mark Sanford and Joe Cunningham find their legacies are linked
Emma Dumain, McClatchy DC
The congressman from South Carolina’s 1st District, just weeks into the job, was planning to announce legislation to impose a 10-year ban on oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts — a version of the bill Sanford had championed when he was a member of Congress.
Keystone operator TransCanada profit beats on higher pipeline demand
Staff, Reuters
Canadian pipelines are running at full capacity due to a production surge in Alberta, forcing the provincial government to order production cuts at a time when crude demand from the country has risen, following U.S. sanctions against Venezuela’s state oil company.
Findings released regarding governor’s bid to fire head of state oil and gas watchdog agency
Elizabeth Harball, Alaska’s Energy Desk
The state Department of Law has released a “findings of fact” report on whether Gov. Mike Dunleavy has grounds to remove the head of a state oil and gas watchdog agency. The report supports some, but not all, of the governor’s charges against the chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Hollis French.
Utilities and Infrastructure
Duke Energy misses the mark on 2018 earnings
John Downey, Charlotte Business Journal
The reported earnings were lower than a year ago, when Charlotte-based Duke (NYSE: DUK) reported close to $3.1 billion in net income, or $4.36 per diluted share, on revenue totaling $23.6 billion.
Murkowski ‘frustrated’ by FERC impasse, pushes White House for nominees
Gavin Bade, Utility Dive
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters that some issues are “perhaps deadlocked right now” due to a vacancy at the five-member commission, but said the White House and Senate leadership have not communicated with her about potential FERC nominees.
Net-zero energy homes have arrived — and are shaking up the US housing market
Noah Higgins-Dunn, CNBC
If you buy a new house in California within the next few years, there’s a good chance it will be built along similar lines. In December, California instituted a new requirement that calls for most new homes and multi-floor residential buildings up to three stories high to include solar rooftop panels beginning in 2020.
PG&E’s Bankruptcy Shows Blindspots in Green Investing
Rob Curran, The Wall Street Journal
The bankruptcy filing by PG&E Corp. is the latest stumble by a company rated highly by environmentally focused investors, further exposing a weakness in a scoring system meant to measure risk for shareholders.
Renewables
Lyft to woo investors with fast U.S. growth in IPO race with Uber
Heather Somerville and Joshua Franklin, Reuters
Lyft Inc will pitch investors on its fast growth in the United States as it seeks to beat out Uber Technologies Inc to become the first publicly listed ride-hailing company, according to people familiar with the matter.
Equinor, 3 JVs vie for offshore wind power park in New York
Nerijus Adomaitis, Reuters
New York State said on Thursday it had received proposals from Norway’s Equinor and three joint ventures to build its first offshore wind power park of at least 800-megawatt capacity.
World’s Biggest Battery to Boost Solar in Texas Oil Country
Chris Martin, Bloomberg
The 495-megawatt storage system would be built in tandem with a solar farm of the same size in Borden County, Texas. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc., which operates most of the state’s grid, posted the details in a chart that shows the state’s battery storage will surge more than sixfold to 584 megawatts when the projects are completed in 2021.
PGE, NextEra team up for largest wind-solar-storage project in US
Robert Walton, Utility Dive
Portland General Electric (PGE) is planning to develop a first-of-its-kind renewable energy facility that would combine utility-scale wind, solar and energy storage. Once completed, PGE will be able to supply about 50% of its customers’ electricity needs with emissions-free generation, the company said on Tuesday.
VW Targets Carbon-Neutral Production for First Electric Car
Chris Reiter and Brian Parkin, Bloomberg
Volkswagen AG plans to save 1 million tons of carbon-dioxide emissions a year by making production of its first electric model carbon neutral, part of an effort to clean up its image in the aftermath of the diesel-cheating scandal.
Coal
Interior announces new coal leases after Trump loses bid to save Kentucky plant
John Siciliano, Washington Examiner
Thursday’s project approvals will ensure that the mines remain operational for years, while providing jobs and affordable energy to the people of Utah, Bernhardt said.
Environmentalist coal executive behind bid for Kemmerer mine
Heather Richards, Casper Star Tribune
Virginia billionaire Tom Clarke — a businessman-turned-environmentalist-turned-coal executive — is undergirding a stalking horse bidder for Wyoming’s Kemmerer mine, according to court documents filed Wednesday in the Houston bankruptcy court.
Nuclear
Forget the $1,000 checks. SC ratepayers could pay SCE&G millions more in 2021.
Andrew Brown, The Post and Courier
A group of state lawmakers and a number of customers continue to gripe about the fact Dominion Energy isn’t going to send out $1,000 checks as the utility giant promised before it took over South Carolina Electric & Gas in the wake of the state’s nuclear boondoggle.
$10 billion Hanford nuclear reservation contract put out for bids
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
The winning bidder could perform cleanup tasks at Hanford over a decade.
Climate
Some GOP lawmakers are thawing on climate change
Jacob Holzman et al., Roll Call
Rep. Mark Meadows, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who has denied the science behind climate change, told reporters Wednesday he was open to confront the peril of the warming planet.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
We Can’t Depend on a Few Fuels to Make Our Electricity
Winston Porter, Morning Consult
You have perhaps noticed that with the electricity system, things do not always happen as planned. For example, despite federal subsidies and state mandates requiring the use of renewables, solar and wind combined produce just 8 percent of the nation’s electricity.
Nuclear energy is a critical investment
U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), The Hill
President Trump rolled out his vision for American energy dominance early on in his administration. Much has been made about that vision’s regulatory approach, which is rooted in getting the government out of the way of entrepreneurs, responsibly producing our domestic resources, and leveraging those strengths in the global arena.
Green New Deal: Reality Continues to Leak from American Life
George Will, National Review
The GND has no practical importance but much significance. First, it underscores the rise of the politics of gestures that are as flamboyant as they are empty: Donald Trump has his wall, the left has its GND.
Is Gavin Newsom Right to Slow Down California’s High-Speed Train?
Nathan Heller, The New Yorker
During his first State of the State address, this week, Gavin Newsom, California’s newly sworn-in governor, covered immigration, energy, and water policy, but the remark that made the headlines was about the ghost of a long-promised train.
Research Reports
Reviewing Grid Modernization Investments
The Brattle Group
Several utilities and commissions across the U.S. have made investments into new grid technologies over the past decade. There is now significant experience from grid modernization investments that can be used to develop trends and best practices.
|
