WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 06, 2024

CenterPoint launched a “Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative” following Beryl, and it said last week that it had completed “core resiliency actions” ahead of schedule in the first phase of the program.

“We have heard the call to action from our customers and elected officials, and we are responding with bold actions. Our defining goal, going forward, is this: to build the most resilient coastal grid in the country,” CenterPoint President and CEO said in a statement.

The PJM Interconnection on July 30 announced that capacity costs will soar to $14.7 billion for the 2025/26 delivery year — the 12-month period that starts June 1 — up from $2.2 billion in the previous auction.

The next capacity auction for the 2026/27 delivery year is set for early December and there’s no reason to believe the resulting prices won’t be at least as high, which could lead to about $30 billion in capacity costs over two years, according to vice president of transmission and regulatory affairs for American Municipal Power.

The Sierra Club on Thursday filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court challenging Arizona regulators’ decision allowing UNS Electric to expand its gas-fired Black Mountain Generating Station without obtaining a certificate of environmental compatibility.

The decision “overturned the existing environmental review process for gas plants that has been followed for decades, setting a dangerous precedent,” Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter Director said in a statement.

Amid hybrid working policies and lower office utilization, building owners are under pressure to operate facilities efficiently and not waste resources, pushing energy management to the forefront of their minds, Verdantix analyst said in the release.

Operators can “take a fresh look” at addressing the environmental impact of their buildings by “moving their HVAC systems away from consistent 9-to-5 schedules.”

The PJM Interconnection should include power plants with reliability must-run contracts in the grid operator’s upcoming capacity auctions, a move that could lower capacity prices, according to state ratepayer advocates.

Unlike grid operators in California, New England and New York, PJM doesn’t include RMR resources — power plants that have been given contracts to continue operating past planned retirements — in their resource procurement mechanisms, ratepayer advocates said in a letter to PJM on Friday.

Oregon’s first offshore wind lease sale will be held in October, with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management planning to auction two areas totaling around 195,000 acres and offering up to 3.1 GW of capacity.

BOEM announced the sale Thursday, and in today’s Federal Register said that the five companies eligible to bid in the auction are Avangrid Renewables, BlueFloat Energy Oregon, OW North American Ventures, US Mainstream Renewable Power and South Coast Energy Waters.

Crude oil prices extended a decline that began earlier this week today as pessimism about demand, especially from China, deepened while expectations arose that Libya could resume its oil exports.

West Texas Intermediate had dipped below $70 per barrel earlier today, with Brent crude sliding below $74 per barrel, after Libya’s rival governments reached a deal to appoint a governor to Libya’s central bank, which would resolve the dispute that prompted the shutdown of oil fields and export terminals last month.

The acquisition includes approximately 550 miles of natural gas pipelines and associated compression, 400 million cubic feet per day of active cryogenic gas processing capacity, and 12,000 barrels per day of liquids fractionation capacity.

Importantly, the acquisition also includes the Carthage Hub, an integrated natural gas trading and delivery hub capable of handling over one billion cubic feet per day.

In a statement sent to Rigzone recently, the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) said it applauds actions taken by the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to advance Texas Energy Fund Projects.

In a release posted on its X page last week, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) announced that it had selected the projects that will advance to the next phase of the application review process for the Texas Energy Fund In-ERCOT Generation Loan program.

See more Notable News articles such as these via Utility Dive, OilPrice.com, BIC Magazine and Rigzone.