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The November wholesale contract rallied again yesterday almost $0.13 before falling back down and settling higher on the day by $0.024. The EIA storage figure was a slightly lower figure of 103 bcf, lower than everyone was forecasting and once the report was released, the natural gas market staged a rally until about mid morning before the sellers came in once again and pushed the contract lower. This storage report is the second +100 Bcf during the month following last week’s record high injection for October of 112 Bcf. The build pushed inventories to 3,624 Bcf, reducing the year on year deficits to 46 Bcf, and implying an end-of-season inventory of approximately 3,750Bcf assuming similar injections as last year for the balance of month. However, last year, the weather was mild in October and heating demand is expected through the end of October according to the weather outlook that continues to look colder than normal in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast in the 6-10 and 11-15 day forecasts.
According to Campbell Soup (that is Mm-Mm good); it has announced that it has agreements with a Massachusetts energy company to construct a 2.3-megawatt solar power system on 14 acres of Campbell's Sacramento facility. Under a power-purchase agreement, Campbell will buy 100 percent of the electricity generated by the system. Over 20 years of the agreement, Campbell projects energy cost savings of approximately $2 million. Officials said the project will also eliminate about 58,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the Sacramento region over 20 years. Earlier this year, Campbell Soup announced construction of a 60-acre, 9.8-megawatt solar panel array adjacent to its production facility in Napoleon, Ohio. According to a Campbell Soup spokesperson, “The planned solar array will benefit our many Sacramento neighbors. When completed, it will have the equivalent effect, in terms of reduction of carbon, of taking approximately 500 passenger cars off the road each year”.
According to Newsweek magazine's 2011 Green Rankings, Con Edison is the "greenest" utility company in the United States. The rankings, which can be found at www.newsweek.com/green, were based on the magazine's ratings of a company's environmental impact, environmental management and disclosure. Newsweek developed a "Green Score" for each of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the United States, and Con Edison scored highest among the 30 utilities rated. The magazine calls its list the most comprehensive rankings of corporate environmental performance. The honor is the third significant recognition Con Edison has gotten for its environmental performance in recent weeks. The Carbon Disclosure Project placed Con Edison first among utilities in the S&P 500 Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index. Con Edison also was the only utility listed in the S&P 500 Carbon Performance Leadership Index. Con Edison's environmental stewardship includes its energy efficiency programs. The company encourages customers to use less, not more energy, and provides rebates for customers to use energy-efficient equipment. The company reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent since 2005, and expects its carbon footprint to shrink further as it shifts to greater use of natural gas at its steam-generation plants.
In the lone star state yesterday, while the Environmental Protection Agency recently relaxed an upcoming power- plant emissions rule, it still threatens the reliability of Texas' electricity grid, a bipartisan group comprising most of the state's U.S. House delegation said. Some power plant operators have warned they will have to shut down generators to meet the new standards under the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. Starting in January it will require power plants in 27 states to shrink emissions of soot- and smog-forming chemicals that can blow across state lines. The EPA recently loosened Texas' required emissions reduction. Thirty-one of Texas' 32 House members said in a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson that "though any relief is helpful," flawed assumptions that went into the original rule caused the agency to overestimate the capacity of the state's grid. The EPA said in a statement that its analysis "shows that Texas power plants can meet this rule's emission reduction obligations while maintaining a healthy annual capacity reserve margin." When power demand approaches capacity, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the grid, can order rolling blackouts to prevent damage and widespread, uncontrolled power loss. That nearly happened on several days during this year's summer heat wave. Dallas-based Luminant, Texas' largest electric generator announced last month it would shut down two units at a coal-fired power plant because of the rule. The EPA said it tried to help Luminant stave off the plant shutdowns.
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