Michael Giberson [UPDATE: Pickens now says he is delaying, not dropping plan to build his wind farm.] Boone Pickens is dropping his plan to build a huge, 4,000 MW wind power farm in the northeast corner of the Texas Panhandle. Among the reasons: his plan to build his own transmission line fell through, the transmission …
Pickens New Plan: Not to Build the World’s Largest Wind Power Farm Read More »
Michael Giberson The chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Gary Gensler, has announced that the agency will hold a series of meetings in July and August to consider how it can use its existing statutory authority to “ensure the fair, open and efficient functioning of futures markets.” The first of the meetings will focus …
CFTC to Consider Position Limits on Energy Futures Contracts Read More »
Michael Giberson The New York Times observes that crude oil price volatility has been exceptionally high for the last eighteen months. (Hmmm. Eighteen months ago … January 2008 … the Iowa caucuses … the U.S. presidential primary season gets underway in earnest … nahhh, couldn’t be all due to presidential politics.) Actually, eyeballing the chart …
Michael Giberson The New York Independent System Operator – the folks the manage the electric power transmission system in the state – has released a report on the potential effects of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) on New York power systems operations. Given the very early stage of technology development – if there are any PHEV’s …
Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles and the New York Electric Power System Read More »
Michael Giberson Robert Rapier asks what is likely the least frequently asked question ever: “What if I’m wrong?” Rapier explores that question with respect to his beliefs on peak oil and global warming, but it is good, all-around, general purpose question that should be put to more frequent use.
Michael Giberson From Platts Power Line blog, a discussion of the 1958 law banning of futures trading in onions and suggestions that Congress should contemplate the lessons from that experience before it gets too exciting about clamping down on speculation in energy commodities. The ban on onion futures trading, introduced by freshman congressman Gerald Ford …
Michael Giberson Natural gas has become cheap enough relative to coal that some gas-fired electric generators are able to underbid baseload coal generators. Market-based switching from coal power to gas has increased demand for gas by three billion cubic feet per day according to a Merrill Lynch analysis cited in the Wall Street Journal today. …
Michael Giberson Kristen Hays reports on the current natural gas supply conditions in the Houston Chronicle: rig counts down, production remains strong, and natural gas in storage is increasing. The US Department of Energy predicts natural gas consumption will fall 2.2 percent this year and grow slightly in 2010. While drilling rigs are being shut …
Michael Giberson I know we have a few economic historians among our readers. You may be interested in Alexis Madrigal’s blog, Inventing Green, which he describes as research notes for his forthcoming book on the development of energy technology and institutions (previously mentioned here in an earlier post). Recently he wrote: The deeper I get …
What Are the Best Books on the Economic History of Energy Technology and Development? Read More »
Michael Giberson The ethanol industry is suffering and The Wichita Eagle asks, “Will wind energy follow ethanol’s path?“ The answer is: Possibly. It depends on politics, the health of the credit markets and the price of coal, oil and natural gas. Oil prices are moving up, recently exceeding $70 bbl in NYMEX trading, but gas …
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