The Permian Needs A Lot Of Electricity -- February 19, 2019

Paying the banks to "watch" your money: over at the Wall Street Journal. Negative yields mount along with Europe’s problems The proliferation of negative-yielding government bonds underscores the uncertainty over the growth prospects in much of the developed world. This is an old story; not sure what's particularly new about it. Perhaps it is because of the widening gap between that of the US and the EU when it comes to banks paying interest. From the article:

Investors around the globe are effectively paying governments to hold more than $11 trillion of their bonds, a fresh sign of ebbing economic confidence in Europe and Japan.

Negative-yielding government bonds outstanding through mid-January have risen 21% since October, reversing a steady decline that took place over the course of 2017 and much of last year, according to data from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. While the stock of negative-yielding debt still remains below its 2016 high, the proliferation of these bonds—which guarantee that a purchaser at issuance will receive less in repayment and periodic interest than they paid—underscores the uncertainty over the growth prospects in much of the developed world.

“Europe is an absolute quagmire,” said Matt Freund, co-chief investment officer at Calamos Investments. “There are significant headwinds that we’ve been talking about for a long time—now they’re showing up in the numbers.”

Illinois:  this is another old story but recently more articles on the subject. I won't provide any links. One can google the story if interested, but Illinois is talking about taxing retirement funds. Their argument: the federal government taxes retirement funds and many states do, so why not Illinois. The "courts" in Illinois have ruled that pension plans cannot be cut.

Driftwood LNG liquefaction and export facility, data points:

• near Lake Charles, LA
• proposed project
• 276-mtpa would also include natural gas production, gathering, and processing infrastructure as well as the 96-mile Driftwood Pipeline
• deadlines approaching; if approved could be operation by early 2023
• Tellurian, Inc
• Petronet LNG Limited INDIA may invest in proposed project
• Petronet: India's largest LNG import

Solar: world's biggest battery could be built in Texas, data points:

• the Permian needs a lot of electricity
• to meet this need, solar energy proposed along with world's largest battery
• 495-watt storage system would be built in tandem with a solar farm
• Borden County, TX
• Borden County has a population of less than 700, is located in the heart of the Permian; about 70 miles south of Lubbock
• IP June, a unit of San Francisco-based Intersect Power LLC; a 400-MW solar complex
• Texas state's batter storage will surge more than sixfold to 584 megawatts wehnt he projects are completed in 2021
• recent battery-backed solar projects have, at most, 100 megawatts of panels and 30 megawatts of storage
• the project underscores Big Oil's huge demand for power in the Permian (readers may remember the same issue in the Bakken during the early days of the boom)
• currently, the largest battery storage facility in Texas ia 10-megawatt system, recently completed by Vestra Energy Corp
• by the way, in California, Vestra is planning a battery storage comples at the Moss Landing power plant in California which would store 300 MW for as long as four hours when completed next year

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Rock Climbing Over The Weekend

Sophia goes rock climbing every weekend. She has her own gear (harness and shoes) so her only "cost" is the annual fee. She is four years eight months old or thereabouts.