April 12, 2010

Nuclear energy development in this country is getting a big boost now that the nuclear loan guarantees are being processed. Southern Co., which snagged the first $8 billion of what will be $54 billion pie, still has to wait about a year for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to okay its license application.

As part of his green agenda whereby the country rescues itself from economic despair and the hazards of climate change, President Obama has started to come on strong for nuclear energy that has relatively few greenhouse gases associated with it. It's a simple but realistic equation: Besides coal, nuclear energy is the only other source of base-load power that can run continuously and serve large populations. By guaranteeing the loans, the government has agreed to pay them off if any private builder should default.

April 07, 2010

Coal's long term future is up in the air. But if it is to continue to serve the American economy and to provide the preponderance of fuel that generates electricity, it is clear that the utilities using it will have to make it much cleaner.

The status quo won't do. Utilities that rely on coal recognize the pressures on them. Some are now investing in the kinds of technologies that seek to reduce emissions and to capture carbon emissions that many say are tied to global warming. To achieve such goals, however, takes time and money -- issues that both state and federal lawmakers must acknowledge and subsequently incorporate into energy laws.

March 29, 2010

With the economy on the mend, investors may be ready to step up and help finance the energy sector's growth. But to do so, they will need greater regulatory certainty both at the state and federal levels so as to encourage risk taking.

National policymakers are wrestling with the direction that environmental laws will take. Until it becomes more defined, utilities will be left in limbo. Likewise, as rates cases before state public utility commissions come forth, companies will argue that they need to earn reasonable returns or else see their cost of borrowing jump. That, in turn, would inhibit their ability to raise money and expand their infrastructure.

March 22, 2010 

With consumer demand for home energy monitoring devices anticipated to grow -- and regulators expected to require utilities to provide consumers with access to the devices and the data needed to make them useful -- the race is on to see which providers place their products in consumers' homes.

In that race, some providers are joining with utilities to obtain consumers' energy usage data.

Giants Microsoft and Google are clearly in the lead. Microsoft has formed partnerships with four utilities and Google has inked agreements with 10 utilities in four countries. Under the partnerships, the utilities offer Microsoft and Google products for free to their customers.

March 19, 2010

First it was appliances, then cars. Now, it is nuclear reactors.

South Korea, which built its first nuclear plant in 1978 using U.S. technology, successfully outbid American-Japanese and French consortia to land a $20 billion order for four nuclear reactors in the United Arab Emirates.

The deal, announced in the waning days of 2009, calls for the reactors to come on stream between 2017 and 2020. The order could be doubled to $40 billion if long-term operating contracts are added, and further reactor construction could be in the offing.