Energy Insider Keeps You Current on the Rapidly Changing Energy Industries
by Bob Shively, Enerdynamics President and Lead Facilitator
You are fortunate to be in the energy industry at a time of true fundamental change. No longer is this a staid slow-moving business. To help those in the
industry keep track of key developments, Enerdynamics provides a quarterly newsletter called Energy Insider. The latest edition was released yesterday. Here are some key stories featured in the Q1 2018 Energy Insider:
Electricity
Not too long ago, utility executives were planning ongoing expansion of coal baseload power plants. And there was even talk about a nuclear renaissance as utilities in Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia began construction on new nuclear units. But now the discussion is very different. As reported in Utility Dive's 2018 State of the Electric Utility Survey, energy company executives are now focused on renewables, storage, and distributed energy resources for new supply. Results of the survey show that the percentage of respondents expecting moderate or significant growth in non-traditional supply resources is as follows:
- Utility-scale solar: 92%
- Distributed generation and storage: 90%
- Grid-scale energy storage: 85%
- Utility-scale wind: 77%
This suggests a dramatically different grid is coming our way, and we explore the implications in our current Insider.
Read the full article.
Natural Gas
In recent decades, the U.S. has been a significant net natural gas importer. But beginning in 2018, the U.S. is expected to be a net exporter due to expanded exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline exports to Mexico. In our current Energy Insider we explore the implications of U.S. LNG exports including:
- Ties between the U.S. and Asian gas markets
- Shortened LNG contract terms
- Movement to gas indexed pricing
- Growth of hedging tools
- Expansion of LNG as a marine fuel
- A possible second wave of North American LNG export projects
Read the full article.
The Future of the Energy Business
Utilities’ path to growing earnings under cost-of-service ratemaking was once very clear. Expansion of approved capital assets resulted in growing earnings. But now, utilities are finding that contracting for services in areas such as Information Technology (IT) and Non-wires Alternatives (NWAs) has the potential to disfavor shareholders when utilities make the best decision for consumers. Regulators and utilities are working to find new regulatory practices that align shareholder incentives and ratepayer benefits while maintaining the traditional cost-of-service model.
Read the full article.
Have topics you’d like us to cover in the future? Let us know at info@enerdynamics.com.
