March 15, 2010

It's an election year and the Obama administration's record is fair game.

A cornerstone of the president's agenda has been making investments in the latest energy technologies -- money that underscores the transformation to the green economy and the creation of jobs and cleaner air. Toward that end, the administration spearheaded a $787 billion stimulus plan that has allocated hundreds of billions of dollars into such things as the intelligent utility, green energy development -- and even subsidies for futuristic nuclear and coal facilities.

March 12, 2010

Getting power generation projects permitted is a headache. That includes wind and solar. But a clever idea is now making headway -- to place such green facilities on land that is now contaminated.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory are now evaluating just how feasible it is to build renewable generation on dirtied lands. The thinking is that these disturbed properties are abundant and located in all 50 states -- typically with the infrastructure already in place and near the population centers that must be served by the electricity. And obviously, the opposition to building in these places would be far less than in unspoiled areas.

March 10, 2010

Both the European Union and Russia are planning for more nuclear energy. It's part of their effort to reduce carbon emission levels. With the two powerhouses dependent on each other to accomplish their respective goals, they have agreed to enter into a "nuclear partnership agreement" to assist in nuclear trade and safety-oriented transactions.

Russian nuclear technology is now considered to be advanced. As such, it has become a leading global supplier of nuclear fuels as well as materials and equipment to Europe. With the exception of a few European nations such as Austria, Germany and Sweden that have expressed opposition to more internal nuclear development, the continent as a whole is working to expand the technology. Member states are free to pursue their own policy, although they are obligated to abide by international carbon treaties.

March 08, 2010

Money is tight. But not necessarily for projects involved with increasing energy efficiency. Some innovative financing techniques are emerging to allow customers to make improvements without incurring initial out-of-pocket costs.

Energy efficiency has emerged as the most palpable and least controversial way to make environmental changes. And even though time to earn a return-on-investment is often short, such projects are often sidelined until homeowners or companies figure out ways to pay for them. Policymakers and businesses are therefore joining forces so as to enable the cost-effective implementation of energy-saving techniques.

March 05, 2010

The economic rebound should correlate with that of the electricity sector and particularly the unregulated component of it. But despite months of uncertainty, those "merchant" utilities played it smart by locking in longer-term contracts prior to the downturn.

That's according to Standard & Poor's Rating Service, which took a detailed look at the nation's merchant generators that are unable to pass along their costs to ratepayers but which are able to charge customers based on market rates. The result of such a strategy is that those companies generally have "stable outlooks."