Sector

Shale-inspired historic low prices for natural gas are reconfiguring the electricity generation sector, particularly for renewable or clean power, according to Sacramento, CA-based consultant/independent power entrepreneur Mark Henwood. The market is beginning to notice what Henwood called “this rapid shift in natural gas economics.”

Shale-inspired historic low prices for natural gas are reconfiguring the electricity generation sector, particularly for renewable or clean power, according to Sacramento, CA-based consultant/independent power entrepreneur Mark Henwood. The market is beginning to notice what Henwood called “this rapid shift in natural gas economics.”

As a further indication of the private equity sector’s growing interest in energy infrastructure, First Reserve Corp. and the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) have partnered to acquire natural gas-fired generation plants and transmission lines from ArcLight Capital Partners.

Crestwood Midstream Partners LP is a bit of an anomaly in the midstream sector as it is focused exclusively on shale plays, CEO Robert Phillips told financial analysts last week. It’s the only partnership that does so, save for the much larger Chesapeake Midstream Partners, he said.

Crestwood Midstream Partners LP is a bit of an anomaly in the midstream sector as it is focused exclusively on shale plays, CEO Robert Phillips told financial analysts Tuesday. It’s the only partnership that does so, save for the much larger Chesapeake Midstream Partners, he said.

Already a large player in the U.S. natural gas-fired power sector, Siemens Energy Inc. raised it bets this month on future gas growth with the opening Wednesday of its $350 million expansion of its turbine manufacturing facilities in Charlotte, NC.

Nevada’s two major private-sector electric utilities, both operating under corporate parent NV Energy, will merge into one utility headquartered in Las Vegas. Sierra Pacific Power Co., a combination natural gas and electric utility in the north, will be consolidated into the larger electric-only Nevada Power Co. utility in the south, said NV Energy CEO Michael Yackira. Filings to the Nevada Public Utilities Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are to be made by the end of this year.

For the third consecutive year, Oregon state regulators on Monday lowered the retail charges in natural gas rates for two of the state’s three private-sector gas distribution utilities. The lower charges are effective Tuesday and will bring continued lower winter gas bills, although the rates for one utility stayed essentially flat.

Despite a lukewarm economic recovery and a higher risk of recession, the credit quality for the U.S. oil and gas sector should remain relatively stable in 2012, according to an industry report card by Standard & Poor’s (S&P).