Solar

For the Big Oil majors, the portfolios are shifting considerably over the next decade toward natural gas and low breakeven oil, but they also are eyeing more penetration in renewables as investor sentiment toward carbon hardens, Wood Mackenzie researchers said Monday.

Driven by natural gas and renewables, the U.S. power grid added more than 27 GW of electricity generating capacity last year, the largest amount added since 2012, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Monday in aToday in Energy note.

Drawing praise from its senior U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, Nevada’s sole large private-sector power utility has accelerated its move away from coal and to natural gas and renewable-based electricity supplies, it said Monday.

Predicting long-term low natural gas prices and declining costs of solar energy, researchers at the Brattle Group have concluded that gas-fired and renewable-sourced generation can satisfy Texas’ future electricity needs.

Predicting long-term low natural gas prices and declining costs of solar energy, researchers at the Brattle Group have concluded that gas-fired and renewable-sourced generation can satisfy Texas’ future electricity needs.

Wind accounted for the largest share of U.S. electric generation capacity additions in 2015, followed by natural gas and solar, according to a note published Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The Missouri chapter of the Sierra Club has filed a resolution with shareholders of Ameren Corp., in an effort to compel the utility to generate more of its electricity through renewable energy sources, specifically wind and solar.

Solar power is close to accounting for 1% of power generation in the United States and is on pace to reach 4-5% by 2020, but that trend may also displace as much as 5 Bcf/d of growth in natural gas demand in the sector by that same year, according to an analyst with Raymond James & Associates.

A group of analysts on Tuesday threw a wet blanket on the chances of growth in natural gas-fired generation in the West, particularly California, blaming it on the sun and the wind.