Category: News

August 24 2017

Why Energy Traders Got the Eclipse So Wrong

Grid operators and traders thought they were totally prepped for the historic U.S. solar eclipse. There was just this one thing they didn’t completely factor in: “irregular human-behavior patterns.” That’s the technical definition, from the folks who manage the electricity network at the Southwest Power Pool, for the conduct of millions of Americans who were outdoors […]

August 23 2017

Nine U.S. States Seek 30% More in CO2 Cuts as Trump Pushes Coal

Nine states in the U.S. Northeast plan to bolster their target for cutting carbon-dioxide emissions, even as President Trump seeks to revive a coal industry suffering from competition and efforts to stem greenhouse gases. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which auctions permits for utilities to buy electricity produced at plants that produce greenhouse gases, proposed […]

August 23 2017

Tantalus Buys Energate, Expanding Utilities’ Smart Grid Services

Tantalus Systems Corp., a closely held, British Columbia-based technology supplier that helps utilities manage their power systems, has bought a firm that’ll help them monitor and control their customers’ energy use, too. The purchase of Ontario-based Energate Inc. gives Tantalus clients access to information about power demand inside homes and businesses. Utilities will have data […]

August 23 2017

Brazil Power Wizard Takes Center Stage in Eletrobras Shock

It took less than 10 days to decide to privatize Latin America’s largest power company.  Fortunately for the Brazilian government, with its fiscal accounts in dire straits, it already had someone enthusiastic for the job. When the Energy Ministry came to him with the proposal, Eletrobras Chief Executive Officer Wilson Ferreira Jr. jumped on board to […]

August 23 2017

Exxon Duped Public Over Climate Concerns, Harvard Research Says

Exxon Mobil Corp. spent the last 40 years undermining public concern over climate change, even as its own scientists determined man-made global warming was real and a serious threat, according to Harvard University researchers writing in a peer-reviewed journal. “Exxon Mobil contributed to advancing climate science — by way of its scientists’ academic publications — […]

August 23 2017

Europeans Are Abandoning Their Utility Companies in Droves

Home energy use is finally exciting to people. Unfortunately for the traditional utilities, it’s not because of them. A combination of new technology and a push toward low-carbon energy has caused customers at Europe’s largest and most-established utilities to flee. The average annual rate of leavers is nearly 12 percent, more than double the rate […]

August 23 2017

Buffett-Backed BYD Wins First Overseas Contract for Monorail

BYD Co., which counts Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. as a shareholder, won its first overseas contract to build a monorail as the Chinese electric-vehicle and battery manufacturer pushes further into municipal public transportation. The Shenzhen-based company will construct a monorail in Iloilo, the Philippines, and expects the first phase of the 20-kilometer (12-mile) system […]

August 23 2017

Hanergy to Partner With Audi to Put Solar Cells on Car Roofs

Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd., the Chinese solar equipment maker whose shares were suspended more than two years ago after they lost almost half their market value in a single day, said its U.S. unit, Alta Devices Inc., will work with Audi AG to outfit the rooftops of select models from the German car maker […]

August 23 2017

Hunt for Next Electric-Car Commodity Quickens as Prices Soar

Niche metal cobalt is leaving bigger names like copper and lithium in its dust, triggering a hunt for new deposits from Idaho to Chile. As one of the key components in the new breed of rechargeable batteries and with supply dominated by the Democratic Republic of Congo, prices have surged at four times the pace […]

August 23 2017

Hong Kong Issues Highest Typhoon Warning as Trading Scrapped

Hong Kong upgraded the storm warning to the highest for the first time in five years and canceled its morning trading session as Severe Typhoon Hato drew closer to the financial center. A man tries to walk against the winds from Typhoon Hato. Photographer: Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images The Hong Kong Observatory issued No. […]