Energy markets

Ethanol Comments Supply Evidence That Al Gore Will Never Again Run for Office

Michael Giberson I suppose Al Gore is enjoying life and never expects to run for public office.  Clear evidence of this fact? His recent comments on ethanol: “It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for (U.S.) first generation ethanol,” said Gore, speaking at a green energy business conference in Athens sponsored …

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U.S. Companies Getting into the Lng Export Business

Michael Giberson More evidence that shale gas development is changing the international (not just the United States) natural gas market: A US LNG terminal is spending $2 billion to add export capability.  Currently Freeport LNG has the capability to re-export stored LNG; the new investment will add the capability to liquefy US-produced natural gas. Last Friday, November 19, …

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The Ercot Market in Texas Readies for Change in Market Design

Michael Giberson The ERCOT grid is about to switch fundamental market designs from its current zonal market to a nodal market. Here is a clip from an ERCOT document describing the change:     For a more readable version, check out the full brochure, which is evailable from ERCOT’s website. ERCOT’s “Texas Nodal Market Implementation” …

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Reactions to the 60 Minutes Program “Shaleionaires”

Michael Giberson Last night CBS News show 60 Minutes ran a piece on shale gas development (video link, text link).  The consensus among folks who have been following the issue is that while the story didn’t break new ground, it presumably raised the profile of the issue a bit. The Times-Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) story presents a good …

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University Positions Available in Smart Grid, Power Systems, and More

Michael Giberson Texas Tech University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is seeking applicants for several positions related to electric power and energy systems more generally. Most interesting to our readers may be the new Whitacre Endowed Chair in Smart Grid Technologies position and a tenure track position in power and energy systems. Excepts from the job …

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The Problem with “Peak Oil” from an Economist’s Point of View

Michael Giberson The National Geographic Daily News blog cites a new International Energy Agency report that pins 2006 as the year in which oil production rates attained a pace that will not be again matched. Or, in other words, 2006 was the year of “Peak Oil.”  That projection is just one scenario of several looked …

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Negative Power Prices in Ercot West: 2009 and 2010 Through September

Michael Giberson Below are charts showing data on ERCOT West zone power prices for the 2009 and for 2010 January-September with a focus on negative prices.  The charts were derived from data provided through the ERCOT website, on their “Balancing Energy Services Market Clearing Prices for Energy Annual Report” page. These charts were prepared in the …

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Top 10 Longest Periods with Consecutive Negative Power Prices, Ercot West

Michael Giberson ERCOT recently set a new record for consecutive pricing intervals below $0/MWh for balancing energy market prices in the ERCOT West region: 39.25 hours of negative prices.  The episode started at 7:45 PM on Saturday, November 6  and the negative prices continued until 11:00 AM on Monday, November 8.     The previous record …

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