Gas

Battered by stubbornly low natural gas prices and regulatory headwinds, coal-fired generation fell into a near-tie with natural gas in 2015, according to data released on Feb. 26 by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). For all of 2015, coal generated 1,356 TWh, while gas-fired generation produced 1,335 TWh, giving coal a slight 33.2% to 32.7% […]

New reports released this week see big growth in renewables from the recently extended federal tax credits, but big uncertainty due to the possible end of the Clean Power Plan (CPP). New York-based consulting firm Rhodium Group says investment plans in the power sector will be radically different if the Clean Power Plan doesn’t happen. […]

A proposal put forth by China—and one that it says has received “positive responses” and substantial backing from international groups, including the United Nations—foresees a global smart ultra-high-voltage (UHV) grid that transmits only “clean energy.” The Global Energy Interconnection (GEI) outlined by State Grid Corp. Chairman Zhenya Liu on February 25 at the IHS CERAWeek […]

Dynegy Inc. and Energy Capital Partners (ECP), through a newly formed joint venture, have agreed to acquire ENGIE’s U.S. fossil-fueled power generation portfolio, consisting of 8,731 MW of capacity located in the ERCOT, PJM, and ISO–New England transmission regions. The $3.3 billion deal was announced on February 25, with an expected closing date in the […]

  Power generators consumed 34% of total U.S. energy uses from fossil fuels and accounted for 39% of the nation’s carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion in 2014—a fraction of a percent more than in 2013—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in its newly released Greenhouse Gas Inventory report. In 2014, 2,054.8 million metric tons […]

Despite the unprecedented stay by the Supreme Court, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan will withstand legal challenges “based on its merits,” predicted the agency’s head, Gina McCarthy, at the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston. McCarthy discussed the plan and other recent initiatives to stem greenhouse gas emissions—including recently announced rules to curb […]

Shortly after 4 p.m. on February 23, part of the boiler house at the Didcot A Power Station in Oxfordshire, UK, unexpectedly collapsed, killing one person. Three others are missing and feared dead. The plant—located about 55 miles west of London—was closed in March 2013 and was in the process of being demolished by Coleman […]

The OPEC secretary general and Saudi Arabia’s minister of petroleum shared their views on low oil prices, shale, and climate change at IHS CERAWeek.

We live in a world of “slow growth and volatility,” said Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric, but there’s an opportunity to “make a lot of money” if you have courage in such times.

Mexico’s ongoing energy reform is a “paradigm shift” in the way the country obtains, transforms, and exploits its energy resources, President Enrique Peña Nieto told attendees at IHS CERAWeek on February 22. The reform allows the state to maintain ownership of hydrocarbons underground, but it also encourages private participation in the entire hydrocarbon value chain […]