The Energy And Market Page, T+252 -- September 29, 2017

Wow! NYSE -- 173 issues hit new 52-week highs, including: CAT, FedEx, Home Depot, D.R. Horton, Navistar International,

• new lows: 7

The Trump rally continues to broaden -- Bloomberg. The S&P 500 Index, Nasdaq Composite Index and Russell 2000 Index all moved into record territory, with the S&P 500 benchmark on track for its eighth straight quarterly gain. Financial shares helped spearhead the gains as the KBW Bank Index leaped to the highest since March.

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All aboard! Full steam ahead on UNP dividends -- Morningstar.

Starbucks is changing coffee-purchasing habits: WSJ link. Starbucks is no longer on my daily (or even weekly) things to do. I go to Starbucks when it's about the only option I have (for what I need to get done). I last visited our local Starbucks while waiting for our minivan to have new brakes installed and I noted that things had improved with regard to mobile ordering. From the linked article:

When it comes to mobile payments Starbucks has succeeded where Silicon Valley has generally struggled. But the coffee giant’s advance-ordering process via smartphones hasn’t always run smoothly. Earlier this year, the company admitted that it was getting so many advance orders that the whole process was hurting the in-store experience for those who wanted to wait on line and buy their drinks the old-fashioned way. 

Biomass. If Minnesota doesn't want it, no one wants it. Look at the cost of biomass energy. A huge "thank you" to Don for sending me the link. I would have missed it. But look at the cost of biomass energy -- no wonder a Minnesota utility wants out.

Minnesota utility regulators are studying a proposal by Xcel Energy to close two biomass plants that could mark a turning point for the industry here, particularly as prices for renewable energy drop.

The proposal — which has approval by the state legislature and the communities affected — would close Benson Power, which burns turkey waste and wood, as well as a biomass plant in northern Minnesota owned by the Laurentian Energy Authority (LEA).

Closing the two plants, which make up half of Minnesota’s biomass generation, could cost hundreds of jobs, and state forest management officials and the poultry industry say it will create turmoil among various suppliers to the plants. Their message is simple: slow down.

Xcel has contended the contracts — which in both cases would have lasted roughly another decade — cost too much, especially in light of low wind energy prices. Xcel spokesperson Randy Fordice said in a statement that the “energy generated from these facilities is the most expensive energy on our system and is more expensive than other cleaner renewable sources.”

New wind energy costs Xcel an average of $15 to $25 per megawatt hour (MWh), while biomass is around $150 MWh. All other sources of generation — nuclear, solar, natural gas and coal — are also less expensive than biomass.

Reminder: Europe loves biomass. Europe is paying for wood chips being shipped from southeastern US to the continent. Imagine the additional cost incurred in transporting sawdust.