July 16, 2010

Coal's future may not be as cloudy as some would think. It still ranks as the number one energy source for electric generators while 38 states here import the fuel from either other states or other nations.

Utilities are under lots of pressure to reduce their emissions regulated under the Clean Air Act. That movement alone would cause companies to shy away from coal and toward other, less polluting sources. But those same enterprises are trying to install new technologies that would lessen their releases. As such, the majority of the states that import coal from elsewhere may stay the course for a while.

Below are a few letters received at EnergyBiz Insider on topics that appeared in the past few weeks. They capture the essence of how many readers say they feel.

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July 14, 2010

To the ongoing conversation on how consumers behave, what they think and how to engage them, let's add a new Accenture study.

In January, Accenture surveyed consumers in 17 countries, including the United States, seven European nations, China, Japan and South Korea on residential energy management attitudes, knowledge and practices.

"We wanted to step back from the smart grid and its technologies and survey customers and consumers on barriers to changing behavior around energy usage, because -- especially in North America -- utilities are responding to pressures from various stakeholders to reduce use," says Greg Guthridge, managing director for Accenture's retail and business services for utilities.

July 12, 2010

Long before carbon cap-and-trade or renewable energy mandates became part of the utility lexicon, California was out in front developing green energy. California is still way out in front in one important way, but there are plenty of followers, with utilities everywhere building and buying renewable energy assets from coast-to-coast.

With mandates for renewable energy in 29 states (called a renewable portfolio standard, or RPS), California is the leader with a target of 20 percent by the end of this year and 33 percent by 2020. The state is at a pace that's way ahead of everybody else's, but the significance is diminished when so many others are doing the same thing, though at lower levels. There's an expectation in the industry, even today after climate legislation became bogged down in Congress over the past year that some form of carbon regulation is inevitable. And with big-ticket nuclear still a few years away and new coal construction at a virtual standstill, utilities are in the renewables game, whether they like it or not.

July 09, 2010

Tougher air regulations that hover over the utility market place are pitting the fossil fuels against one another. Environmental disasters are furthermore compounding the issue and forcing coal and natural gas to square off.

The battle has begun: The natural gas industry is saying that new exploratory technologies are allowing non-traditional forms to be discovered safely -- at levels that increase the supplies for decades to come. Coal representatives are responding that coal still provides twice the electricity of other fuels and that it will remain comparatively inexpensive -- and become much cleaner.