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EPA Mercury Rule for Power Plants Upheld by U.S. Court

Duke Energy Corp. (DUK), Southern Co. (SO) and other energy companies must abide by federal limits on mercury and additional power-plant pollutants, a U.S. court said, upholding a rule regulators say will save lives and the industry claims was illegally drafted. Although the Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2007 that the rule would cost the power-production industry $9.6 billion, its impact is likely to be less because companies are shifting away from coal-fired plants and have budgeted for compliance expenses, according to Paula DuPont-Kidd, a spokeswoman for PJM Interconnection LLC, which coordinates wholesale power markets in 13 states from Maryland to Illinois.

Renewable energy agency warns companies of potential cuts in budget

Companies planning to apply for grants from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency have been warned there is a substantial risk the organisation could suffer even bigger funding cuts in the May budget. ARENA took the unusual step Wednesday of writing to “stakeholders” to advise that “given the fiscal outlook and media speculation concerning the forthcoming budget on 13 May 2014, the future of ARENA’s funding is unclear.”ARENA’s chief executive Ivor Frischknecht told Guardian Australia there was a “substantial risk” his organisation would face more cuts. He said companies needed to be aware of this as they considered spending money on land, permits and feasibility studies ahead of making an application to ARENA for funding.

Bullish Chevron to outspend Exxon

Chevron has long been overshadowed by its larger rival ExxonMobil. Next year, however, it will overtake Exxon on one important measure: capital and exploration spending. This is striking because Exxon is so much bigger: it produces 54 per cent more oil and gas than Chevron and its market capitalisation is 85 per cent bigger. The fact that Chevron is nevertheless planning to invest more than Exxon shows how sharply the companies’ strategies have diverged. Exxon is aiming for stability, while Chevron is going for growth.

Chevron is planning to invest about $40bn per year in 2014-16: slightly less than the $42bn it reported for 2013. Exxon is cutting its spending more sharply, from $42.5bn last year to about $40bn this year, and then an average of less than $37bn per year in 2015-17.

Energy storage, anche il Giappone mette in campo gli incentivi

Dal Governo giapponese un piano incentivante che coprirà per i due terzi il costo di installazione di sistemi di accumulo con batterie agli ioni di litio. Il Giappone si unisce alla Germania e alla California nella schiera dei pionieri che hanno iniziato ad incentivare l’energy storage. In arrivo anche tagli alle tariffe incentivanti per il fotovoltaico. L’installazione di sistemi di energy storage con batterie agliioni di litio da 1 kWh in su verrà supportata in Giappone da un nuovo sistema incentivante, lo ha annunciato il Ministero giapponese dell’economia, il commercio e l’industria (METI).

Centrica chief Sam Laidlaw says household fuel bills to drop

Centrica has said household fuel bills for the past months could be as much as 10 per cent lower than normal because of mild winter weather – a development that may help to alleviate public anger over rising prices from the Big Six energy suppliers. Sam Laidlaw, chief executive, said his expectation was that average winter bills for the group’s British Gas customers would be down 8-10 per cent year on year, thanks to a combination of the weather, greater energy efficiency and a reduction in planned environmental levies. However, he added that it was “too early” to say whether bills for the whole year would be lower.