Earlier this month, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) denied a water permit renewal to the Indian Point nuclear power plant, declaring that the plant’s method of drawing water to cool its towers violates the Clean Water Act. The DEC maintained that the plant’s water intake process destroys plankton, eggs and small [...]
Category Archives: Energy
New York DEC Decision Raises Questions on Indian Point’s Future
Also posted in Current Affairs, Greenhouse Gas Emissions Leave a comment
U.S. Energy Department Affirms Wind Power Potential
According to a study released by the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, wind could produce 20% of the electricity required by households and businesses in the eastern U.S. by 2024, although this would require a $90 billion investment in the power grid. “We can bring more wind power online, but if we don’t have [...]
Also posted in Current Affairs, Energy Sourcing, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, NuEnergen, Renewable Energy Leave a comment
Getting Smarter - Smart Grid on the Rise
While the original electrical grid facilitated the industrial innovations of the 20th century, the smart grid will inspire the green advances of the 21st. “Without it, most of the other green technology won’t work,” says Ben Kortlang of KPCB, a Silicon Valley venture-capital firm. While technologies in fields such as communications and medicine have steadily [...]
Also posted in Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Renewable Energy Leave a comment
New Natural Gas Supplies Delay Energy Crunch
Global supplies of natural gas may be much larger than once thought. Breakthrough technology in gas exploration and production has advanced much more rapidly than predicted, which will unlock vast fields of previously irretrievable fuel. A new process known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, which involves injecting liquids, sands, and chemicals underground to [...]
New York City Increases Sales Tax Rate on Gas and Electricity
On July 13, 2009 the New York State Senate passed A.B. 8615, A.B 8866, and A.B. 8867, which modify the New York City sales tax code. Effective August 1, 2009, the New York City sales tax rate increased from 4.0% to 4.5%. The combined state and local sales tax rate effective in New [...]
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Cold Winter for East Coast Predicted
The USA’s East Coast could shiver under a blanket of unusual cold this winter, according to forecasters. The impact of this forecast is already being seen in the pricing of Natural Gas and Electricity futures as they’ve doubled from the August lows.
“It could be one of the coldest (U.S. winters) in this decade, depending on [...]
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The Electricity Market - Our Perspective
The overall direction of the commodities markets has changed very little over the last few months, with prices continuing to fall for most terms driven by weak demand, a weak economy and uncertainty regarding the potential for a turnaround in the short-term.
Natural gas prices started off in January at $5.971 for the prompt month and [...]
