Impacting

Moody’s Investor Services downgraded the credit rating of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). BPA goes to an “Aa1” rating from “Aaa,” impacting $6.3 billion in outstanding debt. The outlook was set at “stable.” Moody’s said the downgrade reflects BPA’s increased “hydrology and market price risk,” which has eroded its credit quality during the last several years. Financial reserves available to handle increased risk have dropped by 36% during the two-year period ending with fiscal year 2010, Moody’s said. The ratings agency said it expects the challenges for BPA to continue in the form of “low natural gas prices, sustained lower demand and increasing amounts of wind generation during BPA’s peak surplus energy sales season.”

Shale gas is already impacting the Northwest; the question is whether it can realize its full potential, said a regional gas industry trade group head.

Heavy rainfall in the West is producing potential record hydroelectric supplies that are impacting natural gas-fired power plant operations in California, according to senior officials at Houston-based Calpine Corp.

In the midst of a global climate change strategy among policymakers, the demand for fossil fuels is surging, which in turn is impacting the deployment of clean energy technologies, according to a report released Wednesday at the second Clean Energy Ministerial in Abu Dhabi.

Energy executives seem to be feeling more confident about the future, evidenced in recent surveys and sealed by the surge in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity since late 2009.

Energy executives seem to be feeling more confident about the future, evidenced in recent surveys and sealed by the surge in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity since late 2009.

Wall Street has a closer eye on the nation’s energy utility sector and the kind of state regulation impacting it, and so far in the new year it doesn’t necessarily like what it sees, according to John Bohn, a member of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) who recently returned from a week-long series of conferences and meetings with financial analysts in New York City.

Wall Street has a closer eye on the nation’s energy utility sector and the kind of state regulation impacting it, and so far in the new year it doesn’t necessarily like what it sees, according to John Bohn, a member of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) who recently returned from a week-long series of conferences and meetings with financial analysts in New York City.

Partly as a result of Tropical Storm Ida impacting some receipt points on its system, Florida Gas Transmission issued an Overage Alert Day for market-area customers Monday, noting that linepack was low and highs in the mid 80s were forecast for Florida. The tolerance for negative daily imbalances was set at 15%.