Reports | EnergyNorthwest.com

Reports: Perry Will Resign as Head of DOE

October 4, 2019

The post Reports: Perry Will Resign as Head of DOE appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Several news outlets on Oct. 4 report that Energy Secretary Rick Perry could step down from that role as soon as November.

The Washington Post on Friday said Perry plans to step down by year-end and return to the private sector. The Post cited four unnamed individuals who it said had been briefed on Perry’s plans. The Politico news outlet late Thursday reported that Perry plans to leave the Department of Energy (DOE) next month.

Shaylyn Hynes, a DOE spokeswoman, in an email to media said: “While the Beltway media has breathlessly reported on rumors of Secretary Perry’s departure for months, he is still the Secretary of Energy and a proud member of President Trump’s Cabinet. One day the media will be right. Today is not that day.”

Should Perry resign, he would be the latest of about a dozen Cabinet members to leave their positions during the Trump administration.…

Reports: Trump Administration Supports GE Over Siemens in $15B Iraq Deal

October 21, 2018

| No Comments

| Industry News

Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding on October 15 to develop power plants in the country with General Electric (GE). The Financial Times on October 18 said the $ 15 billion deal was brokered after senior officials in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iraq that relations with the U.S. would be threatened if Iraq signed an agreement with Munich, Germany-based Siemens instead of GE, which is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Siemens in 2016 said it had about 50,000 workers in the U.S. and reported 2016 revenue from its U.S. operations, including more than 60 manufacturing sites, at $ 23.7 billion. GE last year reported it has about 106,000 U.S. employees.

Bloomberg on October 18 said two Trump administration officials who asked not to be identified said senior U.S. officials warned Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi not to move forward with Siemens. Bloomberg reported the Trump administration suspected Iran was pushing Iraq to accept a deal with Siemens “as a way of undercutting ties with the U.S.,”…

Reports of the Electric Grid’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

March 28, 2017

| No Comments

| Industry News

There have been numerous pronouncements recently about the upcoming demise of the bulk power grid as consumers are projected to move toward decentralized green energy sources. We don’t believe that the end of the electric grid is nigh upon us.

Investment in Transmission Grows

In the last decade, low load growth in the U.S. has been accompanied by continued transmission growth. Although the percent of load growth is declining or flat nationwide, investment in the transmission system is increasing. In addition, recent trends suggest that decarbonization efforts—installation of renewable resources and distributed energy resources—will likely be accompanied by increasing transmission expansion. Other factors are contributing to the increased transmission system investment as well.

Annual electric load growth has trended downward over our lifetimes, from 9.8% annual growth in the 1950s to 0.7% in the first decade of the 21st century. Nonetheless, the load itself continues to grow as does transmission system investment. Annual investment in the transmission system increased from around $ 2 billion in 1997, to $ 14 billion in 2012, an annual growth rate of almost 14%.…