Energy In-depth: Final Clean Power Plan Shifts Burden Among U.S. States, Compliance Challenges Remain
by October 16, 2015 8:00 am 132 views
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FINAL CLEAN POWER PLAN SHIFTS BURDEN AMONG U.S. STATES, COMPLIANCE CHALLENGES REMAIN: The final version of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, released in August 2015, significantly shifts the burden of mandated carbon reduction goals among states, according to a new report by Fitch Ratings. The states whose utilities will be most challenged to preserve financial margins while complying with reduction goals are Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia. Those least challenged include Washington, Oregon, Virginia, Maine and Illinois.
In January 2015, Fitch’s Carbon Cost Reduction Index (CCRI) initially estimated that Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Mississippi and West Virginia would be most challenged to preserve credit quality, based on the EPA’s draft of the Clean Power Plan. However, changes to states’ mandated carbon reductions in the final version and revised cost estimates shifted the CCRI’s results.
The full report, “The Carbon Effect 2.0: Re-Assessing the Challenges for Public Power,” is available at www.fitchratings.com.
ENTERGY TO CLOSE MASSACHUSETTS NUCLEAR PLANT BY JUNE 2019: New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. announced this week that it will close its Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Mass., no later than June 1, 2019, because of poor market conditions, reduced revenues and increased operational costs.
The utility giant notified the independent system operator of the electric grid, the ISO New England Inc., that as of that date, Pilgrim would not participate as a capacity resource in the market. The exact timing of the shutdown depends on several factors, including further discussion with ISO-NE, and will be decided in the first half of 2016.
UA TO LEAD NEW CYBERSECURITY CENTER TO PROTECT NATION’S ENERGY GRID: Thanks to a multi-million dollar award from the U.S. Department of Energy, the University of Arkansas will lead a new national center that will focus on upgrading and protecting the nation’s energy grid from cyber-attacks. UA officials said the new educational venture is made possible by a $12.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, augmented by $3.3 million in matching funds from research partners.
BHP EXEC: FAYETTEVILLE SHALE PRODUCTION COULD LAST ANOTHER ‘HALF A CENTURY’- In a presentation to Wall Street investors, the head of BHP Billiton’s global petroleum operations said the Australian mining giant’s dry gas assets in the Fayetteville and adjacent Haynesville shale plays could support production for another 50 years.
“The resources of the Haynesville and Fayetteville fields are vast,” Tim Cutt, president of BHP Billiton’s petroleum operations, told investors and Wall Street analysts at the 2015 Barclays CEO Energy Power conference in New York City. “Our U.S. dry-gas resource of 25 trillion cubic feet could support half a century of production at twice our current production rate.”
OPEC CUTS CRUDE PRODUCTION IN SEPTEMBER, NO POLICY CHANGE EXPECTED AT DECEMBER MEETING: Oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) totaled 31.2 million barrels per day (b/d) in September, down 60,000 b/d from August as Saudi Arabia further reined in supply, according to a just-released Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts.
Saudi Arabia was the only member country to reduce supply last month. Small increases totaling 80,000 b/d came from Angola, Iran, Libya, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). OPEC ministers are next scheduled to meet in Vienna on December 4.
As OPEC’s December 4 meeting approaches, market-watchers will be looking for signals as to the likely outcome. But, nearly a year after the Saudi-led oil producer group decided to defend its share of the world oil market rather than cut production, there is no sign that a policy change may be in the offing, Platts analysts said.