October 19, 2007

If the market thinks $88 for a barrel of oil is high, it should wait a little longer. By year-end 2008, some economists say that it will hit $100 a barrel as global demand surges ahead of available supplies. When boiled down, the basic choices involve conservation, drilling for more oil or identifying and deploying more alternative fuels.

The time to start preparing for higher oil prices and possible oil shortages is right now. Not only will western nations continue to advance, but the developing countries will also do so and at rapid rates. Meanwhile, the oil producing countries of the Middle East (OPEC), Mexico and Russia are also growing. They will first and foremost attend to their own domestic needs before parceling out fewer barrels of oil to other nations.

October 17, 2007

All eyes are on the energy sector. A host of issues are in the spotlight ranging from climate change to advanced energy technologies. Utilities may not control the airwaves and printing presses, but they can influence how their customers respond.

Indeed, power and gas companies are uniquely positioned to reach the masses. To be effective, though, they must accept political and cultural shifts and unite those realizations with the mechanisms offered by the New Economy. Consumers are bombarded with all kinds of messages and ideas. The emergence of the alternative media is a positive and one that democratizes the spread of information. Research can be combined with creativity and entertainment to win the hearts of the people. But, the overarching goal remains informing people in a responsible way.

An act to add Section 25402.10 to the Public Resources Code, relating to energy.
[Approved by Governor October 12, 2007. Filed with Secretary of State October 12, 2007.] legislative counsel’s digest

AB 1103, Saldana. Energy: commercial buildings: consumption.

Existing law declares that electrical energy is essential to the health, safety, and welfare of the people and the economy of this state, and it is the state’s policy to promote all feasible means of energy conservation.

This bill would require electric and gas utilities, as defined, on and after January 1, 2009, to maintain records of the energy consumption data of all nonresidential buildings to which they provide service, in a format compatible for uploading to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager (Energy Star Portfolio Manager), for at least the most recent 12 months. Upon written or secured electronic authorization of a nonresidential building owner or operator, on and after January 1, 2009, an electric or gas utility would be required to upload all of the energy consumption data for a building to the Energy Star Portfolio Manager in a manner that preserves the confidentiality of the customer. The electric and gas utilities would be encouraged to work with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and their customers to develop reasonable reporting options that would maximize efficiency and minimize overall program cost.

The greening of suppliers is back in the news. Last week, several large companies, including Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever, announced that they would soon embark on a campaign to press suppliers to report greenhouse-gas emissions. The initiative, called the Supply Chain Leadership Coalition, would press suppliers to release data about carbon emissions and climate-change-mitigation strategies.

Not long before, Wal-Mart announced that it would measure the energy use and emissions of the entire supply chain of seven product categories, and find ways to increase their energy efficiency. Over time, the initiative is expected to spread to many other, if not all, products carried by the company.

NEW YORK - Almost all Americans will pay a lot more to heat their homes this winter, even though temperatures are expected to be warmer than average.

That's the sobering message from an Energy Department report Tuesday that estimates heating oil costs are likely to jump 22 percent and natural gas bills, on average, will rise 10 percent between October and March.

And while the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast a milder than average winter in most parts of the country, the agency also predicted Tuesday that temperatures will be 1.3 percent colder than last year.