Electricity

Tres Amigas Transmission Link Overview at Alt Energy Stocks

1 Comment / Electricity, Energy markets / By

Michael Giberson I put together an overview of the Tres Amigas LLC proposal for Alt Energy Stocks, published today: “Tres Amigas Proposes Three-way Transmission Link.”  (Tres Amigas proposes to build a three-way transmission link between the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection, and the Texas Interconnection.) The only company mentioned in the summary with a stock …

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The Solar Panels That Pay for Themselves…

6 Comments / Electricity, Environmental policy, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson From the Texas Energy and Environment Blog, reports that in New Mexico “solar panels on homes can take as little as seven years to pay for themselves in energy savings.”  The post continues: That’s faster than Texas, where even in the best economic case, solar panels take at least a decade to pay …

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Austin Energy’s Future Rate Hikes

3 Comments / Electricity, Energy markets, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson A few years ago Lubbock’s municipal electric utility was in a tight financial spot that threatened to put it and the city into bankruptcy.  When the utility pushed through a rate increase, customers started switching to competing electric utility Xcel.  The dwindling customer base forced the municipal utility to find another way out …

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Local TV News Coverage of the Proposed End of 90+ Years of Electric Competition in Lubbock

2 Comments / Economics, Education, Electricity / By

Michael Giberson I was interested when one of the local news shows  ended their 6 o’clock news segment yesterday on the proposed purchase of Xcel’s Lubbock electric system by Lubbock Power & Light by saying, “Coming up tonight on NewsChannel 11 at ten we hear from an economist and teacher who tells us the other …

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What the Fpl 2009 3q Earnings Call Transcript Says About the Texas Retail Market

1 Comment / Electricity, Energy markets / By

Michael Giberson Seeking Alpha has begun publishing transcripts of quarterly corporate earnings calls. Typically these calls are discussions presented by the CEO and other corporate officers followed by Q&A with financial analysts.  The calls offer a more “inside look” at company operations than you get from reading newspaper or magazine stories or even trade press.  …

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The (soon to Be Revised) History of Electric Competition in Lubbock

2 Comments / Economic history, Electricity, Energy markets / By

Michael Giberson The city of Lubbock Texas has had two competing electric power companies since 1917.  If a just announced deal goes through, competition will be eliminated. The new “official story” is that competition produced inefficiency, but this view is in stark contrast to old “official story” as told in the “The History of Lubbock …

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Breaking News: Retail Power Competition To End In Lubbock After More Than 90 Years

2 Comments / Economics, Electricity, Energy markets / By

Michael Giberson This morning, November 4, municipal utility Lubbock Power & Light and local regulated utility Xcel/Southwestern Public Service announced that the city utility will buy out the Xcel distribution system within the city and LP&L would become the monopoly retail power provider. The press conference hosted by the city emphasized the costliness of maintaining …

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Smart Meter Benefits Should Mostly Go to Utilities, Initially

2 Comments / Electricity, Technology / By

Michael Giberson A week or so ago I posted, “Smart meter benefits mostly going to utilities so far,” riffing off a Forbes.com story, “Smart Meters: Not So Sharp For Consumers.” Today, Tyler Hamilton suggests in a post about smart meters that it is a good idea to focus on the utility benefits of smart meters …

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Taxpayer Dollars to Support Utility Smart Grid Expenses

1 Comment / Electricity, Politics / By

Michael Giberson Rebecca Smith reporting in the Wall Street Journal, “Obama to Name ‘Smart Grid’ Projects“: The Obama administration is expected Tuesday to name 100 utility projects that will share $3.4 billion in federal stimulus funding to speed deployment of advanced technology designed to cut energy use and make the electric-power grid more robust. When …

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Mcardle on the Search for Financial Villians; Indiviglio on Electric Cars and Power Costs

Electricity, Environmental policy / By

Michael Giberson Worth reading: Megan McArdle, “The Search for Financial Villains Founders,” at The Atlantic: Business Channel. Apparently, damning remarks taken out of context from emails are not so damning when considered within the original context. On the other hand, I’m not so convinced by the earlier post at The Atlantic Business Channel by Daniel …

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