Providers

A section of California’s global climate change law (AB 32) empowers state air pollution regulators to charge fees on providers of fuels that contribute to the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But it is still unclear how officials intend to collect an estimated $54 million in fees during the next three years. Natural gas and electric utilities are confounded with the user-fee approach to paying for the six-year implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

A section of California’s global climate change law (AB 32) empowers state air pollution regulators to charge fees on providers of fuels that contribute to the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. But it is still unclear how officials intend to collect an estimated $54 million in fees during the next three years. Natural gas and electric utilities are confounded with the user-fee approach to paying for the six-year implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

Electricity providers around the country, already feeling the sting of abnormally high natural gas prices, are bracing for prices to climb to even loftier levels next year. At the same time they said they don’t anticipate blackouts this summer or Congress passing climate-change legislation.

Electricity providers around the country, already feeling the sting of abnormally high natural gas prices, are bracing for prices to climb to even loftier levels next year. At the same time they said they don’t anticipate blackouts this summer or Congress passing climate-change legislation.

As another sign of the growing carbon-constrained times facing energy providers, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Tuesday approved the latest version of Avista Utilities’ long-range integrated resource plan (IRP) that calls for deemphasizing coal-fired generation in favor of more natural gas and renewable-powered generation. Avista’s IRP serves as its road map for how it will meet customer growth in the next 10 years.

Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman last Tuesday said he expects to see “more mergers and partnerships among power providers that are driven by strong business rationales and that do not depend necessarily on geographic proximity.”

The adage may say “never a borrower or a lender be,” but that doesn’t hold true for the energy business. Producers are chasing assets and capital providers are chasing borrowers at a time when most everyone believes gas and oil prices have reached a new deck. For energy industry capital markets these are “unique” times, and the United States is where the bulk of the action is.

Pipeline/storage providers and certain large shippers believe an industry petition to award blanket certificate authorization to natural gas projects that traditionally have not been afforded such treatment — mainline pipeline expansions, new storage capacity and facilities related to liquefied natural gas (LNG) import projects — has merit and that FERC should move forward with it. But some customers, such as municipal gas utilities, have called on FERC to reject the proposal.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell has called on the state legislature, state utility companies and energy providers to provide an additional $30 million this winter for low income energy assistance because average home heating bills in the state are expected to increase about 48% and the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) will be insufficient to cover the increase.