[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Green Business]
NEW YORK
Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:44pm EST
NRG wants CPS decision on new South Texas reactors
NEW YORK (Reuters) - NRG Energy Inc's nuclear development partnership wants San Antonio's CPS Energy to decide whether it is in or out of the planned expansion of the South Texas nuclear power plant to help keep the project's place in line for federal loan guarantees.
The CPS municipal utility is a 50-50 partner with Nuclear Innovation North America (NINA), a partnership between NRG and Toshiba Corp, to build two new reactors at the South Texas nuclear plant.
"Time is of the essence in making the determination of whether CPS Energy is in or out of the project," said Steve Winn, CEO of NINA, in a release late Wednesday.
"The Department of Energy is only going to select two projects for loan guarantees. STP was number one and now is second with another project close behind. Further delays could move STP to third place, losing the loan guarantee and reducing the value of both parties investment to zero," Winn said.
The U.S. Department of Energy has the authority to dole out $18.5 billion in loan guarantees to jump start construction of the first new nuclear plants since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979.
NINA and CPS planned to spend about $10 billion to have Toshiba build two 1,350 megawatt reactors at South Texas, but a spate of higher cost figures leaked in October made some officials in San Antonio, which gets 14 percent of CPS' revenue, question the project's cost and its impact on customers' bills.
Citing the higher cost estimates, CPS said it would reduce its ownership in the project and earlier this month, the municipal utility filed a lawsuit against NINA to clarify the partners' liability if either tries to withdraw from the venture.
Both NRG and CPS have said they are looking for partners to help fund the new units.
The lawsuit escalated late Wednesday when CPS amended its filing, claiming NRG, NINA and Toshiba failed to disclose critical cost information and disparaged CPS to hurt the utility's ability to sell part of its stake in the nuclear project. CPS seeks $32 billion in damages, according to court documents.
Winn denied the allegations in a statement Thursday.
"The petition is filled with silly conspiracy theories, unfounded accusations and personal attacks," Winn said.
Despite the legal wrangling, both sides said they would favor a settlement to avoid lengthy litigation.
While the cost of new nuclear may not fit in the CPS rate structure, NINA said it believed the cost would continue to move lower and be very competitive to meet future demand.
"There are a variety of options available that would protect CPS from losing its investment and help meet San Antonio's future need for electricity, should the utility decide to pursue a strategy other than full participation in the project," Winn said.
Southern Co, Constellation Energy Group Inc, NRG and SCANA Corp have projects on the short list for federal financing. An announcement could come before year end.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino and Eileen O'Grady; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
[Green Business]
Steven Scheer
JERUSALEM
Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:07am EST
Israel needs to cut electricity demand growth
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel must significantly curb growth in electricity usage or the country will ultimately face higher financial and health costs from its mostly coal-based generation, a RAND Corporation analyst said.
Steven Popper, an economist at the U.S. non-profit group, said RAND has been analyzing Israel's energy sector for a few years as part of a privately funded study.
"There is a quiet energy crisis in Israel in delivering electricity," Popper said in an interview with Reuters while in Israel to deliver the final report to government officials.
"Unless Israel gets control of growth of demand for electricity, it will pay heavy penalties -- financial penalties and air quality penalties," he said.
He noted that growth in Israel's electricity demand has been as much as 6 percent a year on average for more than a decade. That has pushed demand very close to total generating capacity of 11 gigawatts during peak periods and brownouts have occurred.
Ideally, there should be a reserve of 20 percent, Popper said.
"They are pushing so close to the red line that if any one of Israel's five, six power plants went out, you would have a tremendous mess," he said. "The problem is that the ability to generate electricity has not kept up with demand."
While the study was not publically financed, RAND analysts -- in the group's first project in Israel -- worked closely with various ministries, who sought strategies for the use of natural gas through the year 2030, Popper said.
Israel's main problem is that it is isolated and not tied to any other electricity grid in the region. Since electricity demand has grown rapidly, it leaves Israel largely reliant on outside sources for its energy.
"If there is any glitch in the supply stream, it gives power to others who control the supply," Popper said.
About 70 percent of Israel's electricity is produced from coal with the rest from natural gas. State-run utility Israel Electric Corp aims for natural gas to comprise 40-45 percent by 2020 and 5-10 percent from renewable sources, such as solar.
SOLAR ENERGY
Popper believes that while natural gas is better in terms of emissions, coal is a "great fuel" for Israel since it can be easily stockpiled, while natural gas pipelines are expensive.
Exploration groups led by Noble Energy have recently found large quantities of natural gas off Israel's Mediterranean coast. Popper said Israel should increase gas in generating electricity but energy sources -- fossil fuels and renewable -- should be diversified to limit supply shocks.
He recommended to the government that Israel aim for solar thermal to generate 20 percent of electricity by 2030. Many Israeli homes already have solar panels to heat hot water.
RAND also believes Israel should store sufficient quantities of diesel to guard against natural gas supplies. It also says the state should prepare, but not yet build, a liquefied natural gas terminal.
Demand for electricity is set to continue growing. Israel is in the process of setting up a grid to charge electric cars and a drought has led Israel to start building a number of plants to desalinate sea water, which will require electricity.
Popper also noted that in any future peace deal, Israel will likely still supply electricity to the Palestinians.
But demand growth can still be curbed by Israelis switching to more energy efficient appliances and fluorescent light bulbs. Electricity rates could be priced higher at peak times, which would encourage car-charging and using other appliances in the middle of night when demand is low.
"It's possible to do without strangling growth," Popper said. "We recommend they change the way they plan so they can be more adaptive to take advantage of opportunities and avoid unfortunate surprises."
He added that Israel can continue with the status quo. "But Israelis will pay higher and higher prices in economic terms, health terms -- the more you burn the more crud is in the air to breathe -- land use, and energy security terms."
[Green Business]
WASHINGTON
Thu Dec 24, 2009 12:29pm EST
Beef group challenges U.S. EPA climate finding
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A beef industry group has challenged a ruling by U.S. environmental regulators that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, saying the move would hurt agriculture.
The ruling earlier this month by the Environmental Protection Agency earlier opens the way for regulation of six heat-trapping gases without new laws passed by Congress.
Livestock farms emit carbon dioxide from the tailpipes of machinery and trucks, while waste from cattle also emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association filed a petition in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals this week, saying EPA climate regulations would hurt large farms.
"This unilateral move by the EPA jeopardizes our ability to remain competitive in the global marketplace," said Tamara Theis, chief environmental counsel for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
She said potential EPA rules could force many farms to get permits to emit greenhouse gases or slow operations. If farms had to buy the permits in a market or curtail beef output it could help force many of them to close.
The Obama administration has always said it favors climate legislation in Congress over action by the EPA. But the agency made the move as the climate bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate amid opposition from lawmakers in states that produce and burn large amounts of fossil fuels.
By spurring the EPA to act, the administration indicated greenhouse gases will be regulated one way or another. The move was designed to spur businesses to lobby Congress to act on climate legislation, as companies have a bigger say in that process.
But analysts have said that nearly any action the EPA takes on climate before a new bill gets passed would be vulnerable to litigation and Congressional action.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Jim Marshall)
[Green Business]
NEW YORK
Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:44pm EST
NRG wants CPS decision on new South Texas reactors
NEW YORK (Reuters) - NRG Energy Inc's nuclear development partnership wants San Antonio's CPS Energy to decide whether it is in or out of the planned expansion of the South Texas nuclear power plant to help keep the project's place in line for federal loan guarantees.
The CPS municipal utility is a 50-50 partner with Nuclear Innovation North America (NINA), a partnership between NRG and Toshiba Corp, to build two new reactors at the South Texas nuclear plant.
"Time is of the essence in making the determination of whether CPS Energy is in or out of the project," said Steve Winn, CEO of NINA, in a release late Wednesday.
"The Department of Energy is only going to select two projects for loan guarantees. STP was number one and now is second with another project close behind. Further delays could move STP to third place, losing the loan guarantee and reducing the value of both parties investment to zero," Winn said.
The U.S. Department of Energy has the authority to dole out $18.5 billion in loan guarantees to jump start construction of the first new nuclear plants since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979.
NINA and CPS planned to spend about $10 billion to have Toshiba build two 1,350 megawatt reactors at South Texas, but a spate of higher cost figures leaked in October made some officials in San Antonio, which gets 14 percent of CPS' revenue, question the project's cost and its impact on customers' bills.
Citing the higher cost estimates, CPS said it would reduce its ownership in the project and earlier this month, the municipal utility filed a lawsuit against NINA to clarify the partners' liability if either tries to withdraw from the venture.
Both NRG and CPS have said they are looking for partners to help fund the new units.
The lawsuit escalated late Wednesday when CPS amended its filing, claiming NRG, NINA and Toshiba failed to disclose critical cost information and disparaged CPS to hurt the utility's ability to sell part of its stake in the nuclear project. CPS seeks $32 billion in damages, according to court documents.
Winn denied the allegations in a statement Thursday.
"The petition is filled with silly conspiracy theories, unfounded accusations and personal attacks," Winn said.
Despite the legal wrangling, both sides said they would favor a settlement to avoid lengthy litigation.
While the cost of new nuclear may not fit in the CPS rate structure, NINA said it believed the cost would continue to move lower and be very competitive to meet future demand.
"There are a variety of options available that would protect CPS from losing its investment and help meet San Antonio's future need for electricity, should the utility decide to pursue a strategy other than full participation in the project," Winn said.
Southern Co, Constellation Energy Group Inc, NRG and SCANA Corp have projects on the short list for federal financing. An announcement could come before year end.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino and Eileen O'Grady; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
[Green Business]
Steven Scheer
JERUSALEM
Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:07am EST
Israel needs to cut electricity demand growth
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel must significantly curb growth in electricity usage or the country will ultimately face higher financial and health costs from its mostly coal-based generation, a RAND Corporation analyst said.
Steven Popper, an economist at the U.S. non-profit group, said RAND has been analyzing Israel's energy sector for a few years as part of a privately funded study.
"There is a quiet energy crisis in Israel in delivering electricity," Popper said in an interview with Reuters while in Israel to deliver the final report to government officials.
"Unless Israel gets control of growth of demand for electricity, it will pay heavy penalties -- financial penalties and air quality penalties," he said.
He noted that growth in Israel's electricity demand has been as much as 6 percent a year on average for more than a decade. That has pushed demand very close to total generating capacity of 11 gigawatts during peak periods and brownouts have occurred.
Ideally, there should be a reserve of 20 percent, Popper said.
"They are pushing so close to the red line that if any one of Israel's five, six power plants went out, you would have a tremendous mess," he said. "The problem is that the ability to generate electricity has not kept up with demand."
While the study was not publically financed, RAND analysts -- in the group's first project in Israel -- worked closely with various ministries, who sought strategies for the use of natural gas through the year 2030, Popper said.
Israel's main problem is that it is isolated and not tied to any other electricity grid in the region. Since electricity demand has grown rapidly, it leaves Israel largely reliant on outside sources for its energy.
"If there is any glitch in the supply stream, it gives power to others who control the supply," Popper said.
About 70 percent of Israel's electricity is produced from coal with the rest from natural gas. State-run utility Israel Electric Corp aims for natural gas to comprise 40-45 percent by 2020 and 5-10 percent from renewable sources, such as solar.
SOLAR ENERGY
Popper believes that while natural gas is better in terms of emissions, coal is a "great fuel" for Israel since it can be easily stockpiled, while natural gas pipelines are expensive.
Exploration groups led by Noble Energy have recently found large quantities of natural gas off Israel's Mediterranean coast. Popper said Israel should increase gas in generating electricity but energy sources -- fossil fuels and renewable -- should be diversified to limit supply shocks.
He recommended to the government that Israel aim for solar thermal to generate 20 percent of electricity by 2030. Many Israeli homes already have solar panels to heat hot water.
RAND also believes Israel should store sufficient quantities of diesel to guard against natural gas supplies. It also says the state should prepare, but not yet build, a liquefied natural gas terminal.
Demand for electricity is set to continue growing. Israel is in the process of setting up a grid to charge electric cars and a drought has led Israel to start building a number of plants to desalinate sea water, which will require electricity.
Popper also noted that in any future peace deal, Israel will likely still supply electricity to the Palestinians.
But demand growth can still be curbed by Israelis switching to more energy efficient appliances and fluorescent light bulbs. Electricity rates could be priced higher at peak times, which would encourage car-charging and using other appliances in the middle of night when demand is low.
"It's possible to do without strangling growth," Popper said. "We recommend they change the way they plan so they can be more adaptive to take advantage of opportunities and avoid unfortunate surprises."
He added that Israel can continue with the status quo. "But Israelis will pay higher and higher prices in economic terms, health terms -- the more you burn the more crud is in the air to breathe -- land use, and energy security terms."
[Green Business]
WASHINGTON
Thu Dec 24, 2009 12:29pm EST
Beef group challenges U.S. EPA climate finding
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A beef industry group has challenged a ruling by U.S. environmental regulators that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, saying the move would hurt agriculture.
The ruling earlier this month by the Environmental Protection Agency earlier opens the way for regulation of six heat-trapping gases without new laws passed by Congress.
Livestock farms emit carbon dioxide from the tailpipes of machinery and trucks, while waste from cattle also emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association filed a petition in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals this week, saying EPA climate regulations would hurt large farms.
"This unilateral move by the EPA jeopardizes our ability to remain competitive in the global marketplace," said Tamara Theis, chief environmental counsel for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
She said potential EPA rules could force many farms to get permits to emit greenhouse gases or slow operations. If farms had to buy the permits in a market or curtail beef output it could help force many of them to close.
The Obama administration has always said it favors climate legislation in Congress over action by the EPA. But the agency made the move as the climate bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate amid opposition from lawmakers in states that produce and burn large amounts of fossil fuels.
By spurring the EPA to act, the administration indicated greenhouse gases will be regulated one way or another. The move was designed to spur businesses to lobby Congress to act on climate legislation, as companies have a bigger say in that process.
But analysts have said that nearly any action the EPA takes on climate before a new bill gets passed would be vulnerable to litigation and Congressional action.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Jim Marshall)
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