Mixture

Higher electricity prices are inevitable, and it is a matter of choosing the right mixture of power generation sources to keep retail rates from increasing as much as 80% by 2020, according to a draft study released in June assessing Arizona’s energy future. The “Powering Arizona: Choices & Tradeoffs for Electricity Policy” study was conducted by Arizona State University (ASU) and a California-based nonprofit group, The Communications Institute.

Referencing the always combustible mixture of rising natural gas prices and below-normal water levels, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) late Tuesday announced it had filed with state regulators for a retail electric rate increase of approximately $482 million, or roughly 4.5%, effective Oct. 1. The San Francisco-based utility called the gas prices “skyrocketing” and the hydroelectric situation “lower-than-expected.”

Keying off mixed futures market activity on Friday, the cash market on Monday continued its recent trend of “following the screen,” recording a mixture of gains and losses across the country. While the East and West recorded mostly gains, some as high as half-a-dollar, the rest of the country’s regions produced a wide range of ups and downs.

There is a global theme with a mixture of hard asset and financial players in some of the recent consolidation among energy marketing/trading firms, according to the representatives speaking on a natural gas buying panel at GasMart 2007 in Chicago Thursday. Fortis Energy Marketing/Trading, Integrys Energy Services Inc. and ScottishPower’s U.S.-based PPM Energy all are the product of recent consolidations.

There is a global theme with a mixture of hard asset and financial players in some of the recent consolidation among energy marketing/trading firms, according to the representatives speaking on a natural gas buying panel at GasMart 2007 in Chicago Thursday. Fortis Energy Marketing/Trading, Integrys Energy Services Inc. and ScottishPower’s U.S.-based PPM Energy all are the product of recent consolidations.