Grapple

As California lawmakers grapple with different legislative proposals to codify the state’s 33% renewable portfolio standard (RPS) goal for 2020, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told lawmakers he won’t sign any bills that don’t unshackle the retail electricity market by repealing restrictions imposed during the 2000-2001 wholesale energy market crisis. Schwarzenegger wants all residential and core customers to pay equally for the new RPS goal and for limited retail customer choice to be reopened.

As temperatures rise, concerns continue among the Pacific Northwest utilities hit by record demand and thousands of outages in the wake of a freezing Arctic storm that drove through the region at the beginning of the week. In eastern Washington, a spokesperson for Avista Utilities said the next potential problem is freezing rain that would ice up power lines and cause them to sag or come down from the weight as happened in the western portion of the state.

As his company continues to grapple with a heavy debt load, the CEO of Allegheny Energy last week was unable to completely rule out the possibility of Allegheny selling one of its core assets in order to shore up its tattered balance sheet. Specifically, Allegheny CEO Paul Evanson mentioned the possibility of the company’s parting with one of its core properties located within PJM Interconnection.

Consultants at Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA) expect gas storage levels to drop to near record lows at 600 Bcf by the end of the traditional withdrawal season under normal weather conditions because of an alarming decline in U.S. natural gas producing capacity.