Sector | EnergyNorthwest.com

Clean Energy Sector Sheds 106,000 Jobs in March

April 16, 2020

The post Clean Energy Sector Sheds 106,000 Jobs in March appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The renewable energy sector has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 106,000 U.S. workers losing their jobs last month, according to an analysis of unemployment data released April 15 from several clean energy groups.

Wednesday’s report said hundreds of thousands more job losses in the sector are expected in the next several months due to the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns and quarantines, which have disrupted supply chains and created project delays worldwide.

The analysis of Department of Labor data by groups including E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs), the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), E4TheFuture, and BW Research Partnership found that 106,472 workers in clean energy occupations filed for unemployment benefits in March. Those job losses wiped out all 2019 job gains in the clean energy sector, which includes renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean vehicles, energy storage, and clean fuels.

Jobs lost include electricians, HVAC and mechanical trades technicians and construction workers who work in energy efficiency; solar installers; wind industry engineers and technicians; and manufacturing workers employed by electric and other clean-vehicle manufacturing companies and suppliers.…

Tech sector ramps up job cuts: Report – Fox Business

February 7, 2020

| No Comments

| Energy Jobs

Tech sector ramps up job cuts: Report Fox Business
“job” – Google News…

Distress and Deals Continue to Persist in Energy Sector

October 8, 2019

| No Comments

| Industry News

The post Distress and Deals Continue to Persist in Energy Sector appeared first on POWER Magazine.

At the end of last year, the power market began to lose steam. The credit market wasn’t as strong as it was at the start of the year and many people began speculating “doom and gloom” for the market. However, over the last few months, the power market has picked up and is beginning to show resiliency. As we explore below, there has also been a healthy amount of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, highlighting that investor confidence is returning, even if only slightly.

The second quarter (Q2) of 2019, in particular, saw strong deal value compared to Q1, according to a recent report from PwC. The report notes that although overall deal volume decreased in Q2, deal value increased by nearly 55%, making it the highest-value quarter since Q2 2018. This was influenced by the absence of mega-deals ($ 5 billion or more) for the fourth consecutive quarter.…

Power Sector CEOs Join Top Execs in Redefining Corporate Purpose

August 25, 2019

| No Comments

| Industry News

The list of 181 CEOs who earlier this week moved to publicly degrade shareholder value in a bid to redefine the “purpose of a corporation” includes several chief executives from power companies.

The Aug. 19 statement issued by the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs “to promote a thriving U.S. economy and expanded opportunity for all Americans through sound public policy,” moves away from the primacy of shareholder interests. That notion—that corporations exist principally to serve shareholders—has belied principles endorsed by the group since 1997.

Instead, the group sought to outline a “modern standard for corporate responsibility.” While it still emphasizes a commitment to generate “long-term value” to shareholders, who provide capital that allow companies to “invest, grow, and innovate,” the group’s new statement prioritizes delivering value to customers, investing in employees, dealing fairly and ethically with suppliers, and community support.

The shift comes as large corporations face increasing public pressure over their societal impacts, including over working conditions, wages, and product safety.…

DOE Speeds Up Development of Experimental Fast Reactor, Sustain Flagging U.S. Nuclear Sector

August 9, 2019

| No Comments

| Industry News

The Department of Energy (DOE) officially launched development of its Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), a fast reactor that will foster experiments with much higher neutron energy and flux compared to the nation’s existing 35 research reactors to develop advanced nuclear fuel for future nuclear power plants in the U.S. The facility, it says, is necessary to keep the nation technologically competitive with China and Russia.

The agency on Aug. 5 published a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register announcing it would develop an environmental impact statement (EIS) to study impacts of building the novel experimental reactor. The DOE will accept public comment on what the draft EIS should include until Sept. 4, and it plans to issue a draft EIS analysis within “the next several months” for public comment.

On Monday, the DOE also announced that it is considering two locations for the VTR: Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in eastern Idaho, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in eastern Tennessee. Two sites, INL and the Savannah River site in South Carolina, are also under consideration for the fabrication of the fuel needed to run the VTR.…

Wheeler: Keeping U.S. Coal Sector Alive Will Benefit ‘International Environmental Protection’

June 29, 2019

| No Comments

| Industry News

Coal power, which has seen a marked decline in the U.S., is necessary for reliability and energy affordability, and sustaining it could boost pollution technology exports and “improve lives while driving down emissions worldwide,” said Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler in a speech last week.

Wheeler made the remarks at a 90-minute event that the EPA held on June 19 to rationalize why the final Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule is a better option than the Obama administration’s landmark Clean Power Plan. The event, which was streamed live, also featured a long list of speakers from the coal industry and pro-coal states, with coal miners and other stakeholders in the audience.

Like the Clean Power Plan,the ACE rule will regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs), and it will be founded firmly on the agency’s 2009 Endangerment Finding. However, the ACE rule focuses on the nation’s 600 coal-fired units and gives states leeway on deciding how they will meet “emission guidelines” stipulated in the rule.…