U.S. | EnergyNorthwest.com

U.S. LNG Exports Surge in 2016—But Not Where They Were Expected

January 6, 2017

The U.S. took a big step toward becoming a major exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in 2016 as Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass export terminal in Louisiana came online early last year and upgrades to the Panama Canal that opened in June made shipments to the Pacific region considerably easier. Data from the Department of Energy (DOE) through December 2016 show the U.S. exported 109 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of LNG through December 16, an average of about 0.3 Bcf/d for the year as a whole.

But the predominant destinations were not what most experts had predicted. Despite signs that U.S. LNG would seek out high-priced markets in east Asia and lower-priced-but-still-attractive markets in Europe, the majority of exports went somewhere else entirely: Latin America.

DOE data show that only two shipments went to Europe (one to Spain and the other to Portugal) while only a single one went to China, for a total of just 9.7 Bcf. Four shipments went to India, totaling 13.8 Bcf.…

U.S. Electric Markets in Transition

January 2, 2017

| No Comments

| Industry News

The U.S. market for electricity is trifurcated. More than half the country is served by competitive generators bidding against each other in wholesale markets. Almost half is served by conventional state-regulated, vertically integrated utilities controlling generation and transmission. The rest, a much smaller portion, consists of government-owned and customer-owned utilities, some of which are generators and most of which serve retail customers. All categories are in transition.

In October 2016, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) offered Akron-based FirstEnergy a five-year, $ 600 million subsidy to be paid by the utility’s customers. The move was designed to compensate for the investor-owned utility’s (IOU’s) large, baseload coal and nuclear plants’ inability to compete in the PJM competitive wholesale market against low-cost natural gas.

Consumer groups slammed the PUCO order as “corporate welfare.” Tony Addison of AARP said the PUCO decision means that “Ohioans should subsidize the failing business model of FirstEnergy.” This, Addison said, “creates a terrible precedent by PUCO and others to bailout companies threatening to leave the state, on the backs of the people that work hard and pay their bills every month.”…

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Finalizes Rule on Wind Turbine Eagle Deaths

December 14, 2016

| No Comments

| Industry News

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on December 14 finalized the latest version of its rule governing permitted levels of eagle deaths at wind turbine farms.

The rule, first issued in 2009, governs the FWS’s administration of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which makes it a criminal offense to kill or injure a bald or golden eagle. However, the law allows for certain “incidental take”—unintentional deaths due to otherwise lawful activities—leaving it to the FWS to decide what activities qualify and how they are to be monitored.

Contentious Issue

The deaths of eagles and other birds at wind turbine farms has become a highly charged issue in recent years, one that cuts across many of the usual political battle lines. Some environmental and wildlife groups have lobbied for stricter controls while others have argued the impact of replacing fossil fuels with wind represents a net gain for bird populations. Many of the companies that own and operate wind farms in the U.S.…

Natural Gas and Wind Are Cheapest Sources of Power in Majority of U.S.

December 12, 2016

| No Comments

| Industry News

In a finding that is likely to boost controversy over the future of U.S. energy policy, a comprehensive study of the full levelized cost of energy (LCOE) from various sources of electricity conducted by the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s Energy Institute found that wind turbines and natural gas combined cycle power plants (CCPPs) provide the least expensive options for new generation across a large majority of U.S. counties.

The study, “New U.S. Power Costs: By County, with Environmental Externalities,” is part of an ongoing initiative at UT that attempts to take a “holistic approach” to calculating both direct and indirect costs of generating electricity.

The Institute has placed the results online in the form of an interactive tool that allows comparison of the LCOE for various options and adjustment of fuel costs. (The tool also makes some assumptions about the suitability of certain generation in various locations; for example, there are areas that would be unsuitable for fossil plants for environmental reasons.)…

SLIDESHOW: An Alarming Trend Affecting U.S. Baseload Power

September 18, 2016

| No Comments

| Industry News

States, regulators, and market participants have in recent years called attention to a trend concerning uneconomic baseload generation in organized wholesale markets, specifically in ISO New England, New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), MISO, PJM, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO).

Cheap natural gas, low power demand growth, increasing operating costs owing to state and federal rules, and market design issues are affecting bottom lines and forcing some power companies to withdraw generating capacity or reconsider participation in these competitive markets.

” data-cycle-speed=”750″ data-cycle-center-horz=”true” data-cycle-caption=”#gslideshow_captions” data-cycle-caption-template=”{{alt}}”

1. An alarming trend. This baseload exodus could have a worrying impact on reliability, as shown by summer planning reserve margin projections (%) from the North American Reliability Commission's 2015 Long-Term Reliability Assessment. Source: POWER

<

>

7. ERCOT.

A September 2016 report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) projects that seven aging coal-fired power plants in Texas—a total 8.1 GW that represents about 40% of coal-fired capacity in ERCOT—will likely be retired due to their inability to compete in the Texas electricity market. Among “forces arrayed against coal-fired generation” that suggests the plants’ retirement is likely are increases in natural gas generation, increased competition from new wind and solar resources, and generally, “low energy market prices in ERCOT’s deregulated wholesale markets,” IEEFA said.

…

U.S. and Canada Follow Different Climate Policy Paths—Does One Offer a Competitive Advantage?

August 25, 2016

| No Comments

| Industry News

Although the U.S. and Canada are both aiming for similar greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, the two countries are embarking on decidedly different approaches to reaching their goals, according to a report released on August 23.

IHS Markit—a company that provides information, analytics, and solutions to customers in business, finance, and government—developed the report, titled “The State of Canadian and US Climate Policy.” One reason it cites for the different emissions reduction methods is that the makeup of the power sectors in the two countries is vastly different.

In the U.S., the largest GHG emitter is the electric power generation industry. Historically, coal has been the most prominent fuel source for U.S. electricity production, and it is a heavy GHG emitter. As natural gas supplies have increased and the cost of renewable energy has decreased, replacing coal with these lower- and zero-emitting resources has resulted in a natural decrease in GHG emissions.

Canada, however, gets about 80% of its electricity from resources that have always been low- or zero-carbon emitters, mainly hydropower.…