Commercial space in the new apartment building on Williston State College campus is almost filled up.
Liza McLean, WSC Foundation Office Manager, says in addition to the new DMV Office that opened yesterday, other businesses on the 1st floor will be opening soon. "Jimmy John's is currently working on their space. Jason's Barbor Shop is going in one of the spaces and we have another tenant that is looking to go in there."Jimmy John's website.
The six New England governors have set in motion a first-of-its-kind plan to increase the region’s natural-gas pipeline capacity by nearly 20 percent in three years and build at least one major electric transmission line to bring renewable energy from Canada.No new wind farms? No solar farms?
Utility customers would be asked to help pay for the projects, which together could cost billions of dollars, through electricity rates. But the costs soon would be recovered by savings on energy bills as the projects increase supplies of lower-cost power, said Tom Welch, chairman of the Maine Public Utilities Commission and an architect of the plan.It will be interesting how long it takes John Kerry and the president to act on that transmission line from Canada. Let's see, is 2014 an election year?
The plan, made public Thursday, requests that the operator of the region’s electricity grid, ISO-New England, seek permission from federal regulators to charge electricity customers for gas pipeline expansion.
“It’s an unprecedented and remarkable approach,” Welch said. “But it reflects the fact that the price of natural gas drives the price of electricity in New England.”
Natural gas now fuels more than half of all power-generating plants. A shortage of gas in the region on very cold days last year sent wholesale electricity prices up 57 percent over the 2012 average.But the activist environmentalists won't give up:
Maine manufacturers that use a lot of energy say it wouldn’t bring enough gas into the region to erase the wide price difference between New England and other regions. Environmental activists who support a greater shift to wind, hydro and solar energy say it would make New England even more reliant on natural gas.In case you missed it, the professionals say the plan is not "enough." New England will still be "short" the energy it needs.
The widespread propane emergency brought on by freezing temperatures prompted Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst to sign a special declaration that allows other states to tap into Texas’ supply.
The 14-day emergency declaration waives the licensing and rules that prohibit the sale of propane to sources outside the state. The Texas Department of Public Safety has waived restrictions on the hours that propane can be transported for truckers helping with emergency relief.
The shortage has affected 33 states from Oklahoma to Maine. An estimated 7 million homes use propane to heat their homes around the country, which makes the shortage a real health and safety emergency.Third, a personal story from a reader who has a brother in Minnesota in the propane business:
That's the update for the propane story in the Midwest. Next we go to the energy challenge in New England. One can start by reading this recent post: natural gas prices soar in New England. It's gotten so bad in New England, we're seeing emergency measures -- in both policy and technology.Propane is now over $ 5.00 per gallon. "Lake country" propane is going to be over $6.00 tomorrow (Saturday). This particular propane dealer and probably others have sold their pre-buy contract of $1.49 per gallon. Newly purchased propane would be purchased at cash/spot price, which can be tracked here: http://www.propanecost.com/index.php?p=btuCost works out to:
- electricity at 8 cents/KWH = $23.43/mmBTUs
- propane (91,500 BTUs/gallon, at $5.00 = $54.64/mmBTUs
The regional transmission operator is also seeking temporary relief from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to temporarily lift the $1,000 price cap it can pay generators through March 1st. PJM is doing so because available power plants must in fact generate power and submit an offer of no more than $1,000 per megawatt-hour (MWh) into the grid.
However, with natural gas costs so high (a large portion of the generating fleet runs on natural gas), some generators’ operating costs are north of the price cap. Generation costs are high as a consequence of extraordinarily high gas prices. Normally in the $3.50 to $4.50/mmBtu range long-term, spot market gas prices this week have reached$140/mmBtu.Search the blog for "PJM."
The early days of yet another prolonged cold weather snap are causing concerns for grid operators along the East Coast. Daily spot market prices are well above average, but that has not sufficiently dampened demand. Yet again this month, demand response resources have been dispatched. In the PJM power pool that stretches from Chicago to the mid-Atlantic, 150 MW of emergency demand response was called the night of the 22nd. That number was increased to 500 MW on the 23rd, and it was called upon again this morning, according to RTO Insider, a publication that monitors PJM.I suppose one question folks might be asking: could a grid failure in New England cascade through the rest of the region? And then spread from there? I don't know. But the next bit from another Forbes article suggests others are asking.
The grid operators have resorted to some rather unusual steps. Energy Choice Matters reported today that ISO-New England asked Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH – a subsidiary of NorthEast Utilities) to operate its entire generation fleet this week to help keep the lights on. This included firing up several infrequently-deployed combustion turbines which ran on jet fuel.Why?
The return of the polar vortex has brought the return of grid reliability issues. The PJM, New York, and New England power grids have seen significant spikes in wholesale market prices, brought on by huge increases in underlying natural gas spot market prices. In many cases, generators do not contractually have access to natural gas, so they cannot generate electricity. This dynamic is exacerbated in New England, where over 50% of the generation fleet is gas-fired.From The Union Leader:
Public Service of New Hampshire fired up its supplemental, aviation-fueled combustion turbines and planned to run them for about 15 hours Thursday to help meet the demand brought on partly by the cold snap.
“That’s unprecedented,” PSNH spokesman Martin Murray said of the duration of the turbine use.
PSNH has never before been asked a day ahead of time by ISO New England to run the stand-alone units to supplement energy load, Murray said.
The units typically operate 10 to 20 hours over the course of a year, usually when demand spikes, such as a cold snap or a heat wave.And, of course, this all brings us to the next story, which will have a stand-alone post.
| 1/24/2014 | 01/24/2013 | 01/24/2012 | 01/24/2011 | 01/24/2010 | |
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| Active Rigs | 187 | 188 | 203 | 164 | 87 |
You had commented on the potential for this to be a big year for Hess in the Bakken. Here is a link that confirms that: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/hess-sets-2014-capex-5-181005580.htmlFrom the linked story over at Yahoo!Finance reported by Zachs:
Hess plans on commissioning 225 new wells in 2014!
Oil and gas producer Hess Corp. intends to spend $5.8 billion on exploration and production in 2014, down 15% from 2013 as it focuses more on greater efficiency in its U.S. shale fields.
The company targets to spend most of its capital in low-risk, high-growth areas such as North Dakota’s Bakken shale as well as focus largely on discovering and developing energy reserves to satisfy activist investor Elliot Management.
Of the total budgeted amount, Hess plans to allocate $2.85 billion (49%) toward unconventional shale resources, $1.475 billion (25%) for production, $925 million (16%) for development and the balance $550 million (10%) for exploration.
At a very, very superficial level, the 2013 CAPEX works out to $13.095 million/well. For 2014, it works out to $9.778 million/well.As part of its program, Hess proposes to spend $2.2 billion for the development of the Bakken Shale in North Dakota, flat with 2013. Due to lower well costs and reduced investments in infrastructure projects the company plans to operate 17 rigs versus 14 last year and commission 225 new operated wells in 2014 compared to 168 in 2013. Moreover, the company has increased its expenditures in the emerging Utica shale play to $550 million from $455 million last year.
A BNSF Railway Co. train that derailed and blocked tracks in North Dakota may delay crude deliveries by as many as two days from the second-largest onshore oil producing state in the U.S.
Eleven cars carrying corn derailed yesterday while switching tracks at Ross, North Dakota, said Steven Forsberg, a spokesman for BNSF in Fort Worth, Texas. Customers may see delays of 36 to 48 hours, the company said. The main track may reopen at 1 p.m. local time today, BNSF said on its website.
“They’re dealing with extremely cold weather there, so we have to go to winter safety protocols,” Forsberg said. “There’s a limit on how long you can have people out there in severe wind chill. They end up working in shorter shifts.”
North Dakota relies on railways to transport its crude, and the type of oil pumped from shale formations in the state may be more flammable and therefore more dangerous to ship by train than crudes from other areas. Last month, a BNSF train caught fire after a collision, leading to explosions and prompting evacuations near Casselton, North Dakota.
The potential delays due to yesterday’s derailment “apply to all trains that would use that route” and not just those carrying oil, Forsberg said. Most of the trains affected don’t originate in North Dakota and are moving between the U.S. Pacific Northwest and Midwest, he said.
BNSF customers load an average of nine crude-oil trains daily across the company’s network of railways in production basins stretching from North Dakota to Colorado to Texas, according to Forsberg.
Sapphire (Greek: sappheiros, 'blue stone', which probably referred instead at the time to lapis lazuli) is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide (Al2O3).
Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper, or magnesium can give corundum blue, yellow, purple, orange, or a greenish color. Chromium impurities in corundum yield a pink or red tint, the latter being called a ruby.
Commonly, sapphires are worn in jewelry. Sapphires may be found naturally, by searching through certain sediments (due to their resistance to being eroded compared to softer stones) or rock formations. They also may be manufactured for industrial or decorative purposes in large crystal boules.
Because of the remarkable hardness of sapphires—nine on the Mohs scale(the second hardest mineral right behind diamond)—and of aluminium oxide in general, sapphires are used in some non-ornamental applications, including infrared optical components, such as in scientific instruments; high-durability windows; wristwatch crystals and movement bearings; and very thin electronic wafers, which are used as the insulating substrates of very special-purpose solid-state electronics (most of which are integrated circuits).
The sapphire is one of the three gem-varieties of corundum, the other two being ruby – defined as corundum in a shade of red—and padparadscha—a pinkish orange variety. Although blue is their most well-known color, sapphires may also be colorless and they are found in many colors including shades of gray and black.
The cost of natural sapphires varies depending on their color, clarity, size, cut, and overall quality – as well as their geographic origin. Significant sapphire deposits are found in Eastern Australia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, China (Shandong), Madagascar, East Africa, and in North America in a few locations, mostly in Montana. Sapphire and rubies are often found in the same geographic environment, but one of the gems is usually more abundant in any of the sites.So: nothing more than Al2O3 -- aluminum hydroxide, naturally occurring or man-made.
Ruby is the red variety of the species corundum, while any other color of corundum is considered sapphire.That's also what the Los Angeles Natural History of Science also says; until now, I had not heard of padparadschas.
Xilinx, a specialist in complex programmable semiconductor chips, has engineered a positive turnaround.
On Tuesday, the San Jose, Calif.-based firm said fiscal third-quarter sales jumped 15% vs. a year ago to $586.8 million. That marked the fastest increase since the September 2010 quarter and an acceleration from 10% growth in the September-ended quarter of last year.
Earnings increased 76% to 67 cents a share. It was Xilinx's fourth straight quarter of growth following a seven-quarter spell of declining profits.
The “polar vortex” that swept across much of the nation early this month knocked two North Texas power plants offline just as residents began turning up the heat and revving up power use. Grid operators fixed the problem, but not before warning consumers that they were a step away from resorting to shutdowns.
With that, the weather added fuel to a debate about the state’s electricity market and the demands of its soaring population.
“With low temperatures earlier this week, we narrowly escaped rolling blackouts,” a group of electric utilities warned in a full-page advertisement in the Austin American-Statesman just days afterward. “We won’t be so lucky in the years ahead if we don’t take action now.”
As utility companies and big energy users like manufacturers spar in Austin over how best to encourage the building of new power plants, another important question is getting less public attention: How can Texas curb its energy use?
Utilities are pressing regulators to shift the state’s “energy only” market to a “capacity” model, which would pay power plants to maintain reserves and be ready to meet demand peaks — a multibillion-dollar proposition. The utilities say that low natural gas prices have eroded the economic incentive to build plants.
In a private interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr. Rice touched on an array of topics related to GE and its substantial operations in developing markets from China to Turkey. Mr. Rice said that demand in infrastructure in China "remains great."
Mr. Rice said that many governments still haven't figured out the best ways to encourage maximum investment in new energy projects. He cited the U.S., where a controversial wind-production tax credit known as the "PTC" faced annual federal renewals.
"On again, off again approvals was the way to waste billions," Mr. Rice said. "There was no ability to plan."It sounds like Mr Rice is really frustrated with the government's energy policy. Geee....no, not "geee" but GE.
WMB board of directors has approved a regular dividend of $0.4025 on the company's common stock, payable March 31, 2014, to holders of record at the close of business on March 14.
The first-quarter 2014 dividend is an increase of $0.0225, or 5.9 percent, from the previous quarterly dividend of $.38 per share. The new amount is an increase of $0.06375, or 18.8 percent, from the first-quarter 2013 dividend.
The company continues to expect to increase the full-year dividend it pays shareholders by 20 percent in each of 2014 and 2015 – to per-share amounts of $1.75 and $2.11, respectively. Williams' full-year dividend for 2013 was $1.44 per share.
Here at RBN, we have an often repeated view that the flood of oil and gas being produced from unconventional plays will change everything we once knew about energy markets. One such fundamental change is that the U.S. is now producing more natural gas, NGLs and some grades of crude oil than we can use (except for the past three weeks of Polar Vortex weather, of course).
Consequently the U.S. has shifted from a position of hydrocarbon shortage to one of surplus. That is great news. But just down the road there are potential problems developing – distortions in the markets. Some of those surplus products can be exported, some can’t. The rules regarding exports of these hydrocarbon products that we are living with today were all put on the books during the decades of shortage. When you look closely at what those rules really say, you’ve got to scratch your head. Today we begin a series to examine those rules.And, of course, that in bold will be the issue.
| 1/24/2014 | 01/24/2013 | 01/24/2012 | 01/24/2011 | 01/24/2010 | |
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| Active Rigs | 187 | 188 | 203 | 164 | 87 |
Federal safety investigators called on railroads to route oil-filled trains around heavily populated areas as part of a series of recommendations to reduce risks from the growing business of shipping crude by rail.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that transportation regulators should work with railroads to reroute oil trains and should ensure that railroads have plans in place to handle "worst-case" accidents or spills. It also called for new testing practices for oil being shipped by rail, in the wake of several serious accidents recently in which crude oil exploded after trains derailed.Keystone decisionas
The Obama administration is set to complete a critical phase of its Keystone XL pipeline review next month, setting the stage for President Barack Obama to make a call on the politically charged decision in the thick of the midterm campaign season.
The State Department, which has been studying the project for years, aims to release on the environmental impact of the proposed pipeline extension in early or mid-February, people inside and outside the government familiar with the decision said Thursday. That would put Mr Obama on track to make a decision by May or June.LOL.
The software giant posted surprisingly strong sales of its Xbox videogame consoles and Surface tablet computers, helping drive quarterly revenue and earnings that topped Wall Street expectations. In response, Microsoft's shares rose about 4% in after-hours trading Thursday.The numbers were good.
For the fiscal second quarter ended Dec. 31, Microsoft's revenue rose 14% to $24.52 billion. Net income climbed to $6.56 billion, or 78 cents a share, compared with $6.38 billion, or 76 cents a share, a year earlier.
Analysts, on average, estimated Microsoft would post earnings of 68 cents a share on revenue of $23.7 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.Target data breach adds to CEO's sack of woe. One misstep after another. Where's Mr Icahn?
For decades, Mexico's state oil company, Petróleos Mexicanos, had the best customer an oil company could want: the U.S. But now the U.S. energy boom is curtailing the country's demand for imported oil, and Pemex is being forced to look farther afield.Where's Jane Nielsen?
For the first time, the company is negotiating to sell its extra-light Olmeca crude oil in Europe, according to Pemex officials. The first shipment will go in the second half of February to the Cressier refinery in Switzerland, the company said.
The software behind the attack at Neiman Marcus Group lurked in the luxury retailer's payment system undetected for months, scraping data from as many as 1.1 million accounts and ending its mission before it was discovered. The software was clandestinely inserted into the system and worked from July 16 to Oct. 30. Software to help the program work was slipped in even earlier. Neiman didn't even know the software was there until Jan. 1.
The increase in insurance coverage reported by Gallup underscores the slow nature of Obamacare’s rollout. Initial projections by the Congressional Budget Office forecast that some 7 million people would sign up by the time the law’s open enrollment period ends on March 31. Enrollment nationally is behind that forecast, in part because of the breakdown of the enrollment website in October and November. Even if the law reaches the 7-million mark this year, several more years will be needed to make a big dent in the uninsured population. About 45 million people in the U.S. lack insurance, including roughly 29 million potentially eligible for coverage under the exchanges.
