Clearlead

Smart Grid Backers Push for Job Growth

Very good article. I strongly believe smart grid is coming...so is the plug-in hybrid, note that Edison Electric Institute and majority of the CEOs of the investor-owned utilities in the U.S are meeting this week and have announced this to be the industry's #1 priority recognizing the reality of a carbon-constrained world, not the temporary price of oil.

Crude Oil Inventories: I Can Tango, Can You?

yet while USO goes down, the Oil stocks go up (e.g., HAL) ???? huh?

Three Stocks to 'Weatherize' Your Portfolio

wonder why not cover OC given it's exposure to insulation.

Recent Announcements Will Spark Electric Car Sales

Electric cars are patriotic....I love the idea of my car running on American power, whether coal, nuclear, gas, or renewables. I love the concept of charging my car at night off a smart grid, that provides demand response to customers as well as better service from the utility. I love the idea that an electric car will not be laying off environmental costs on the world, and will allow Americans to look much better as a nation. Yes, electric cars are part of national security and restoring America as leader nation.

Driving cars on oil, just makes no sense, it's killing our world and enriching our enemies. The cost of a gallon of gas needs to reflect the real environmental costs, as well as the cost of the military, etc., but until then we are just subsidizing big oil and nations like Iran.

Our Biggest Infrastructure Need? Think Broadband

Absurd, you can't use the phone, tv, computer without electricity, and our nation's grid needs modernization.

Solar, Wind ETF Growth Could Suffer from Creaky Power Grid

No, utilities build transmission sufficient to maintain reliability, regardless of whether the utility owns the generation in its service territory, which is a matter of what region you are looking at in the nation. Fact is that transmission companies will do "economic" expansions of the grid if generators are willing to pay the cost. transmission companies will build back bone when it makes economic sense...take a look at AEP and it's 765 Kv projects.

The author has a point with respect to demand response and efficiency measures in lieu of major capex expansions of transmission, this is the view point of the current FERC commissioner Wellinghoff. Hardly as sexy as wind, but demand response and efficiency is going to have a place in our new energy future.

My U.S. Infrastructure and Employment Plan

Excellent article, and I quite agree with the above comments on rail upgrades and electric cars (which are quite related b/c fact is those electric cars are going to run on coal for a long time to come, not just wind or natural gas, or solar....yes, coal)....

I'd also be watching PWR since someone has to do the transmission work....and ABB since someone has to supply the power grid equipment.

Which Energy Trusts are More Vulnerable to Distribution Cuts?

PGN is a utility not an energy trust, and it is located in the Carolinas and Florida. Huh?

Unconventional Energy Still Attractive - UBS

AEB makes excellent points, but even with gas trying to hold in the 7's on the Hub (or bottoming at in the 6's), alot of companies earnings projections are based on an average of 8, so I wouldn't take the $7.30 last week as dispositive, plus not all E&P companies will end up hedging ineffectively as may be the case with CHK. That said, I think AEB is dead on with respect to the overpayment for leases/deals. So kudos to AEB for a great post on a rather weak article.

2 Top Energy Sector Bets

Electric cars driven by wind, and solar, biomass, natural gas and nukes means less coal burned, which means less carbon. Easier to deal with pollution at the utility level than at the retail level, sorry, there's a strong case that electric cars are good for national security and a big step in the right direction of reducing the impact of transportation in terms of environmental costs.

Sarah Palin: Wall Street's Candidate

I thought Wallstreet rewarded the "best qualified," which certainly is not Palin and is certainly an insult to leaders like Sen. Kay Bailey-Hutchinson or even Secretary of State Condi Rice. Also, what CEO would hire a VP after a single meeting....why would the Street trust such a CEO or a company, and then why would the Street trust this ticket, it sounds like reckless investing!

Wind Turbine Market Estimated To Reach $60.9 Billion by 2013

A detail in the Wind story is that transmission capacity must be available, which means constructing new transmission lines and upgrades to existing ones: ABB and PWR are well positioned for this work. Oh and since wind is intermittent, which presents a reliabilty challenge for grid operators, utilities will need baseload plants as backup, and those plants are likely to be fueled by natural gas (hello, GE dual cycle combustion turbines).

NBC Refuses Pickens Plan Ad

Energy independence should not be a partisan issue, despite the fact that the current administration was 100% negligent in failing to make this a national security priority after 9/11. That said, Gore is correct that America needs to use its natural gas for power generation that can fuel electric cars that cause less pollution than using this fuel directly for transportation uses (just b/c Iran is doing it, doesn't make me think that it necessarily the way to go). Let's face it, whether McCain or Obama are in the Whitehouse, the issues related to climate change and carbon capture are going to be addressed as part of our energy security, and if Mr. Pickens wants to be a part of that discussion, then more power to him!

Atlas Energy: More 'Criminally Undervalued' Than Cramer Realizes

Very nice article (but Jack Y. has a good question above), you hit on a major element that I look for with respect to energy suppliers -- adequate access to low cost infrastructure for delivery of the commodity. That has led me to take a like EP and WMB, and now ATN as a Marcellus Shale play, so thanks!!

Game Changer in Solar Energy: PG&E Inks Deal

note, just the other day, DUK announced a pilot program whereby it will own all the solar panels that are installed on residential buildings, take all the power generated, and pay $50 a year in rent to the owner of building. The idea is that DUK will then gain the experience with running its transmission system with lot of distributed intermittent solar generation. Let's face it, the utilities are serious players, and conservative ones at that, who have to meet their RPS requirements by least cost or get dinged by their public service commissions.