Bold

The International Energy Agency (IEA) warned Wednesday that irreversible climate change will occur if bold actions are not taken worldwide within the next five years, but the agency’s chief economist said he’s not optimistic that leaders will make the sacrifices necessary.

Tulsa-based Williams has launched a bold campaign to become a leader in building out North America’s natural gas infrastructure, CEO Alan Armstrong said last week.

Tulsa-based Williams has launched a bold campaign to become a leader in building out North America’s natural gas infrastructure, CEO Alan Armstrong said Tuesday.

Global credit woes continue to seep into the public-sector utility space where the electrics made bold natural gas hedging plays in recent years, and at least one of the major ratings agencies, Moody’s Investors Service, on Thursday downgraded several of the utilities in California and elsewhere around the nation. The hedges were bad enough that one municipal said it was closing up its hedging program.

Global credit woes continue to seep into the public-sector utility space where the electrics made bold natural gas hedging plays in recent years, and at least one of the major ratings agencies, Moody’s Investors Service, on Thursday downgraded several of the utilities in California and elsewhere around the nation. The hedges were bad enough that one municipal said it was closing up its hedging program.

While it is pursuing a reduced carbon power generation portfolio that includes a bold nuclear power plant play, Princeton, NJ-based NRG Energy, Inc.’s aggressive 10,000 MW, $15.9 billion long-term development plan is weighted toward an expectation that most of its new megawatts will come from natural gas- and clean coal-fired generation with a healthy dose of wind, according to a presentation Tuesday by CEO David Crane at NRG’s first day-long conference for financial analysts.

California regulators Thursday unanimously took a bold step to transform all private-sector energy utility customers to interactive, two-way metering systems over the next five to seven years, authorizing a $1.74 billion, five-year transformation for Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s nine million electric and natural gas meters. The other major utilities regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) are expected to launch similar programs next year.

California regulators Thursday unanimously took a bold step to transform all private-sector energy utility customers to interactive, two-way metering systems over the next five to seven years, authorizing a $1.74 billion, five-year transformation for Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s nine million electric and natural gas meters. The other major utilities regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) are expected to launch similar programs next year.

Adding to the growing Western paranoia regarding China’s bold energy plays internationally, the northern Alberta, Canada oil sand deposits are now receiving hundreds of millions of dollars for development from the Chinese government, according to a report in Monday’s Los Angeles Times, citing growing concerns in the Bush Administration, which is monitoring the situation closely.